XANTHOS

Summary

Many find Theseus unbearable. He is loud, rude, arrogant... he refuses to admit when he's wrong and has a tendency towards being self-centered.

Dianthus is a very emotional person, but at the same time, struggles to voice these emotions. When she feels something she feels it deeply, and yet when it comes to putting that into words, she fumbles, or else minimizes how she truly feels. This is made worse by the fact that she's fairly easy to irritate, and when she becomes irritated, this often leads into passive aggression due to her inability to voice her thoughts. She tends to think of herself as someone whose difficult to get along with for this reason. She is flawed, of course, as all people are... but she does not seem to realize just how much the love and comfort she gives to others has impact. She is always willing to lend an ear to listen, to offer words of encouragement, and takes great value in how others have very different experiences from her own; she refuses to judge others for their eccentricites, and is more than willing to learn about things she does not understand.

Core Traits

Anxious
Dianthus gets rather nervous around people she does not know well. While she loves to talk and is usually a bit of a chatter-box, she clams up when encountering strangers- she can talk enough to hold a small conversation or perform a request, but not much more. Truthfully, she struggles to get close to others due to her anxiety.

Arrogant
Dianthus is intelligent and she knows she's intelligent. She's well-read and knows much about the world. But just like any other person, she doesn't know everything. She will sometimes misunderstand something, get the facts wrong, or have something she just doesn't know about.

Curious
Even when it's, frankly, none of her business... Dianthus likes to know things. She is never overly intrusive, but she will poke and prod into other's personal business if it's interesting enough to her. Thankfully, she is curious about much more than just the newest gossip within Elysium... she loves learning about the world itself, the many different countries she never got the chance to visit, how certain animals and insects manage to thrive... everything and anything is interesting to her; there is nothing she loves more than learning.

Comforting
Dianthus is not the type of person who would turn others away in a time of need. She will offer her services in whatever small ways she can, which usually results in her lending an ear to listen to another's problems. She can't offer the best advice most of the time, but regardless, she will give words of encouragement and try, if she can, to lighten the situation.

Adaptable
When placed into new situations, it doesn't take Dianthus very long to adjust. This is something she prides herself on, especially as this adaptability leads into resourcefulness. When solving problems, Dianthus is often able to use whatever tools she has at hand vs. what tools may be necessarily appropriate for the situation.

Clumsy
Dianthus is prone to being... silly. It's not always intentional- she just has a tendency to trip over her own words, or misunderstand something, or trip at a time that just happened to be comically appropriate. She does get embarassed about this sometimes, at the very least, she is capable of making light-hearted jokes at her own expensve every now and again.

art by birthday

Appearance Info

• Dianthus is about 5'4 ft (165 cm) tall.
• Her eyes are a deep forest green, and her skin is in the mid range with an orange undertone. Her hair is "black" (I usually use a dark purple or brown to colour it), and is only ever worn in natural styles (typically jumbo locs, but she'll wear braids as well).
• Her hair is also decorated in a number of golden bangles. The size and amount of these vary day by day. However, she always wears at least two.
• The golden "halo" in her hair is actually a miniature trellis. This trellis typically grows grape vines, but other common flowers upon it are small roses, carnations, and foxgloves. For special occassion, she'll wear the blossoms of the strawberry tree or rockroses- these are Theseus' favourite. And for Asterius, the dandelion or poppy flower, a symbol of his Cretan heritage.
• Dianthus is fat(!) and on the busty side. She feels very proud of the mole near her cleavage.
• Dianthus only wears comfortable, looser clothing. This is the typical style of Greece, of course, but Dianthus does not enjoy wearing tights or other such clothing with her peplos. Additionally, she tends to prefer longer skirts; the only parts of her body she really enjoys "showing off" are her cleavage and her tummy.
• Dianthus' jewelry is typically a layered necklace, large earrings, and a variety of bracelets. The gold bangles she wears on her arms are a gift from Theseus.

Wardrobe

Dionysia Celebrant / Extreme Measures (gifted by Theseus) / Favourite Outfit 1 / Favourite Outfit 2 (originally designed by Witchrot / Outfit worn for dates & special occassions (originally designed by Laurel) / "Champion's Fangirl" (gifted by Theseus)

TWs: Oh god uh... child death (filicide), (attmpted and actual) cannibalism, defenestration, sibling death, sexual coercion (among other consent issues...), murder & death, near drowning, actual drowning (happens later), unhealthy romantic relationships, incestous desire caused by a godly curse, suicide ideation, imprisonment.

Resources Used:

• Hades Game lore (naturally...)- may include my screenshot collection later.
• Plutarch's Life of Theseus
• Pausanias' Description of Greece
• Bacchylides' Ode 17
• Diodorus Siculus' Library Books 1 - 7

Part 0 | The Ancient Past.

Tantalus, a Lydian king, doubted the power of the gods. Surely they could not truly be all knowing! To test his theory, Tantalus slaughtered his only son, Pelops, and formed his remains into a meal, of which he intended to serve to the gods.

His plan was foolish- the gods, who had history with cannibalism, knew what Tantalus had done. Even Lady Demeter, who was mourning the loss of her sweet Kore, was angered by this act- and accidentally crushed Pelop's shoulder bone. While Hephaestus, alongside other gods, worked to restore the boy, Demeter repaired his bone by filling the cracks with ambrosia, thus giving Pelops some godly strength.

Restored, Poseidon took Pelops under his wing, tutoring him in the ways of a king. When Pelops was a young adult, he returned to the mortal realm. Traveling from Lydia, he discovered that the king of Greecian Olympia was holding a martial contest for the right to marry his daughter, Hippodamia. While he had been trained well by Poseidon, he did not think himself able of winning the contest alone, thus he enlisted the aid of Myrtilus, a son of Hermes. In return for his help, Myrtilus would be allowed a single night at Hippodamia's bedside...
The scheme worked, and Pelops won the princess' hand. But fearing that Myrtilus may desire more than a single night with her... he killed his benefactor, throwing him from a cliff. With his dying breath, Myrtilus cursed the family of Pelops...

Any great man who carried the blood of Tantalus would be forced into sin; their children would die by their own hands.

I. Troezen

Pelops married Hippodamia, and the two had a great many children together. Of these included Pittheus, known for his intelligence, and his twin brother, Troezen. The two wanted to make a name for themselves, sick of living in the shadow of their elder brother Atreus. Their journey eventually led them to the twin cities of Hyperea and Antheia, which were formerly ruled by two quarreling, but by then long-deceased, brothers.

Pittheus and Troezen worked together to build their popularity within this area; Troezen with his natural charm and charisma, Pittheus with his knowledge, and the strange baubles and knick-knacks which he brought along on his journey, items that supposedly once belonged to the gods themselves. Eventually, the two managed to gain the attention of the woman who currently watched over Hyperea; Arsema, daughter of Hyperes, a woman of Ethiopic origins.

Her dark skin and piercing blue eyes made her unique in her beauty; both brothers fell in love with her almost immedietly.

II. Birth of a Prince

Some many years later, Aegeus, King of an ununified Attica, was

Part I | Naucratis (Childhood).

Chloris, a nymph, traveled from her native home to the Ethiopic. She wished to see the world in all its vastness. The rapidly changing culture within her homeland was beginning to make her feel out of place, and so it seemed like the perfect oppurtunity to begin her journey. Her first destination was Naucratis, a Greek-controlled territory within Northern Egypt... she did not intend to stay long. Here, she met Amadis, an African merchant with a deep interest in Greek and Early Roman culture. The two wed, and Dianthus was born from their union.
Amasis' work often had him traveling, and whereas most would have left their wife and child at home, he encouraged Chloris to come along, and their daughter as well. Dianthus' early years had her experiencing different worlds; while his home base remained in Egypt, Amasis and his small family would travel thru Greece, Rome, Lydia... their travels even took them to Eastern Hesperides. Though young, these experiences ingrained themselves deeply in the young Dianthus; her interest in other worlds and cultures would follow her into her adulthood.

While traveling in this way was fun and exciting for Amasis... the same could not be said for Chloris. She had wanted to see more of the world, yes, but while Amasis was able to do his merchant dealings, go off drinking with his friends, and explore the great structures of a grand city...Chloris had to take care of their daughter. She did not once blame Dianthus for this- the young girl had done nothing except be born, after all. But her frustrations with her husband grew deeper and deeper as the years went on.
Amasis seemed oblivious to his wife's growing discontent- or if he did notice, he did not care.

Zephyrus, god of the West Wind, set his sights on Chloris. She was tired of her life as a merchant's wife; it was not what she had wanted for herself. ... Eventually, he brought her to Rome, where she was made into a goddess. Within Rome, she came to be known as Flora.
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Part II | Oenoe

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I. Encounter with the Prince

As Dianthus tried (and failed) to find fufillment within Oenoe, a strange rumour came to nestle within the Deme.
A prince, it claimed, The first born son of King Aegeus is traveling to the Peloponesse. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
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Part III | Blood of a Nymph

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Part IV | Elysium

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THESEUS Beloved
Dianthus adores Theseus. They had both changed in many ways since their chance meeting upon the surface, but that initial spark between them remained all the same. There is nothing Dianthus loves more than having the oppurtunity to support Theseus in all he does; to the uninitiated, she may appear as nothing more than an over-eager fan. And she very much is, in many ways, the king's biggest fan.
"Meeting Theseus was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me, despite everything that happened afterwards. We... weren't meant to be together during that time all those years ago, but sometimes I feel like it was meant to be, you know? Us finally coming together after we've grown and matured more as people... there's something wonderful about that."

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My Writing

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