Greek myth - Ganymede and his family
Nov. 12th, 2020 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparklightI got an ask on Tumblr for Ganymede's relationship to his family, in general and individually, and I got to delightfully go on a self-indulgent ramble for this. :)
In general, I think they were a rather harmonious family and pretty close-knit? Not everyone to the same degree, but as a baseline background “feeling”, yes. For Ganymede’s place in that (and my interpretation of him), I’d say it definitely helped that Ganymede was the youngest son and not the oldest one. It means he’s got less pressure on him to be the perfect heir apparent, though there are other positions a younger son in that culture would be expecting to take to help their older brother. I lean more towards a Luwian/Hittite culture, if not actually that pantheon, for Troy/the greater Troad, so as a younger son Ganymede has at least one military-leaning position he could/should have taken up at some point...
But since he is the youngest son and very well-loved, his father isn’t particularly upset at Ganymede being unlikely to be suitable for such a position (I always interpret him as being flat out terrible at fighting. Not a pacifist or anything, just shitty at it even if he would try to fight if threatened/in combat) - there are other places he can do good work for Troy, after all.
Individually, then!
Callirrhoe - Ganymede loves his mother, absolutely, but he can get a little avoidant (especially the older he gets) because he can absolutely tell that she’s Very Worried about him and that expresses itself in some amount of emotional and physical overprotectiveness. Both parents can tell Ganymede’s looks might lead to trouble, but Callirrhoe is the one explicitly connecting that to (and maybe also connecting with) the sort of trouble women can very often be subjected to, especially in this time.
Tros - closer to him than his mother, if partially because Tros doesn’t let his brief bouts of overprotectiveness out so obviously, or in ways Ganymede doesn’t chafe at in the same way as his mother’s. He’s simultaneously worried about disappointing his father and also utterly sure his father loves him as he is, knowing he will do what he can for Troy. Tros is just more concerned over finding some place that might fit Ganymede, in the middle of pretending he isn’t worried about his youngest son who, even among the general attractiveness of the Trojan royal family, is clearly Way Too Pretty.
Ilus - nine years older than Ganymede, so way too young for Ganymede to be “interesting” as a playmate. He quite quickly grew protective of the youngest anyway and made sure Ganymede got to tag along some of the time, when he and Assaracus played (or sparred). Is torn between thinking Ganymede needs to grow up and wanting him to just get to do whatever the hell makes him happy because his little brother’s smile is the cutest, okay?
Assaracus - seven years older, they have a slightly more contentious relationship if only because Assaracus very rarely wanted this BABY to disrupt his and Ilus’ playtime. He does love Ganymede, but he’s got quite a bit less patience and thinks some things Ganymede does are more of a choice than not, so he should suck it up and take things seriously. Would still murder anyone who looked at his little brother wrong, and Ganymede loves him almost as much as he does Ilus. Only partially because Assaracus teases him more.
Cleomestra - four years older and oldest sister, and while she’s technically closer in age for being a playmate, they never really gelled that way. Loving but in a sort of ‘passing planets in orbit’ way. She has no interests similar to Ganymede, so she was just too much of a “girl” for him, so to speak. Ganymede is still very invested in Cleomestra’s happiness, however.
Cleopatra - three years younger and, since she was a little hellion from the start they’re nearly as close as Ganymede is with his brothers, and there’s a lot less expectations involved here so they can just “be”. And do stupid things, like taking his little sister out to hunt when she wants to know how that works.
The River Gods:
Ganymede is closer to Scamander/Xanthos, both because he’s his grandfather and because Simoeis is more aloof in general. He didn’t, however, get to know them very well or meet them often until after he ended up on Olympus. I figure the River Gods, even if they’re vaguely involved in Troy and Dardanos’ royal houses, only meet with the mortal members of the family rarely.
Ganymede, upon becoming immortal becomes more of a fixture - and that is the same in reverse for Ganymede, since they (especially Xanthos) becomes the one firmly extant vector of his family he has around, even more so after the Trojan War.
Meta thoughts:
Obviously for those who go to check, I included a more obscure option to include two daughters, but I liked the idea of there being more than just one daughter, and it allowed for some contrast (back when I was writing the fic focusing on Ganymede's family and his relationship with them) and individuality.
As a random aside, I feel like the Trojan (and Dardanian) royal family got "stuck" with divine beauty, especially on the male side through the generations, possibly aided by the fact that they kept marrying naiad nymphs. Usually (male) demigods seem to mostly be given some extra strength etc, but considering that you have Ganymede, Tithonos and Paris who are all noted for their beauty, even long past any direct higher divine interference in the bloodline it just seems to fit.
In general, I think they were a rather harmonious family and pretty close-knit? Not everyone to the same degree, but as a baseline background “feeling”, yes. For Ganymede’s place in that (and my interpretation of him), I’d say it definitely helped that Ganymede was the youngest son and not the oldest one. It means he’s got less pressure on him to be the perfect heir apparent, though there are other positions a younger son in that culture would be expecting to take to help their older brother. I lean more towards a Luwian/Hittite culture, if not actually that pantheon, for Troy/the greater Troad, so as a younger son Ganymede has at least one military-leaning position he could/should have taken up at some point...
But since he is the youngest son and very well-loved, his father isn’t particularly upset at Ganymede being unlikely to be suitable for such a position (I always interpret him as being flat out terrible at fighting. Not a pacifist or anything, just shitty at it even if he would try to fight if threatened/in combat) - there are other places he can do good work for Troy, after all.
Individually, then!
Callirrhoe - Ganymede loves his mother, absolutely, but he can get a little avoidant (especially the older he gets) because he can absolutely tell that she’s Very Worried about him and that expresses itself in some amount of emotional and physical overprotectiveness. Both parents can tell Ganymede’s looks might lead to trouble, but Callirrhoe is the one explicitly connecting that to (and maybe also connecting with) the sort of trouble women can very often be subjected to, especially in this time.
Tros - closer to him than his mother, if partially because Tros doesn’t let his brief bouts of overprotectiveness out so obviously, or in ways Ganymede doesn’t chafe at in the same way as his mother’s. He’s simultaneously worried about disappointing his father and also utterly sure his father loves him as he is, knowing he will do what he can for Troy. Tros is just more concerned over finding some place that might fit Ganymede, in the middle of pretending he isn’t worried about his youngest son who, even among the general attractiveness of the Trojan royal family, is clearly Way Too Pretty.
Ilus - nine years older than Ganymede, so way too young for Ganymede to be “interesting” as a playmate. He quite quickly grew protective of the youngest anyway and made sure Ganymede got to tag along some of the time, when he and Assaracus played (or sparred). Is torn between thinking Ganymede needs to grow up and wanting him to just get to do whatever the hell makes him happy because his little brother’s smile is the cutest, okay?
Assaracus - seven years older, they have a slightly more contentious relationship if only because Assaracus very rarely wanted this BABY to disrupt his and Ilus’ playtime. He does love Ganymede, but he’s got quite a bit less patience and thinks some things Ganymede does are more of a choice than not, so he should suck it up and take things seriously. Would still murder anyone who looked at his little brother wrong, and Ganymede loves him almost as much as he does Ilus. Only partially because Assaracus teases him more.
Cleomestra - four years older and oldest sister, and while she’s technically closer in age for being a playmate, they never really gelled that way. Loving but in a sort of ‘passing planets in orbit’ way. She has no interests similar to Ganymede, so she was just too much of a “girl” for him, so to speak. Ganymede is still very invested in Cleomestra’s happiness, however.
Cleopatra - three years younger and, since she was a little hellion from the start they’re nearly as close as Ganymede is with his brothers, and there’s a lot less expectations involved here so they can just “be”. And do stupid things, like taking his little sister out to hunt when she wants to know how that works.
The River Gods:
Ganymede is closer to Scamander/Xanthos, both because he’s his grandfather and because Simoeis is more aloof in general. He didn’t, however, get to know them very well or meet them often until after he ended up on Olympus. I figure the River Gods, even if they’re vaguely involved in Troy and Dardanos’ royal houses, only meet with the mortal members of the family rarely.
Ganymede, upon becoming immortal becomes more of a fixture - and that is the same in reverse for Ganymede, since they (especially Xanthos) becomes the one firmly extant vector of his family he has around, even more so after the Trojan War.
Meta thoughts:
Obviously for those who go to check, I included a more obscure option to include two daughters, but I liked the idea of there being more than just one daughter, and it allowed for some contrast (back when I was writing the fic focusing on Ganymede's family and his relationship with them) and individuality.
As a random aside, I feel like the Trojan (and Dardanian) royal family got "stuck" with divine beauty, especially on the male side through the generations, possibly aided by the fact that they kept marrying naiad nymphs. Usually (male) demigods seem to mostly be given some extra strength etc, but considering that you have Ganymede, Tithonos and Paris who are all noted for their beauty, even long past any direct higher divine interference in the bloodline it just seems to fit.
