ari/devouring poetry and fictional men

‘reunion of odysseus and telemachus’ - henri-lucien doucet (1880)

ohhhhhhhhh

So, I was listening to "Just a Man" for probably the thousandth time, as one does, and I was vibing to the ensemble near the end when I remembered one of Jay's recent videos explaining them. That the ensembles were real characters when only human characters are present and that the gods do whatever they want and make their own ensembles.

So does that mean in "Just a Man" it's real soldiers echoing Odysseus' "when does a comet become a meteor...."? Like they're there laying waste to Troy in the background and having these same feelings? Or is Zeus still there in the room with Odysseus as he has a mental crisis, and he's just like "well time to amp up the drama and tension! Can't let this moment go to waste!"?

I love this, and I love the idea that the rest of the soldiers are having doubts and conflicted also! Though it could very well be any of the gods too….

I love the idea of Odysseus's dead soldier buddies being the choir and I'll die on that hill but I also adore the idea that Odysseus is just sitting there having a whole psychospiritual crisis and Zeus is just sitting there like "yk what would make this even more angsty? background vocals"

"Everything's changed since Polites" was a warcrime