Deidamia clapped her hands gleefully as Pyrrha screamed and thrashed while
her sisters tried to remove her tunic. Deidamia and her sisters had removed
a brooch when Pyrrha reached out and slapped Hippomedia, Deidamia's
youngest sister, across the face. The girls quickly retreated as Pyrrha
climbed out of the water and ran back into the palace. Hippomedia, the
sister that Pyrrha slapped, started wailing.
Deidamia quickly held Hippomedia to her chest and rocked the four-year-old girl in her arms. Another one of the sisters spoke angrily. "What is with that Pyrrha? She is an illegitimate daughter, yet she thinks she is better than us, the true daughters of Lycomedes and his wife!"
"I don't know," Ganeia said with a frown. The princesses rinsed off, put on their fresh tunics and walked back into the palace.
In the palace, King Lycomedes was standing with a shivering Pyrrha with a cloak draped around her. He looked stern and made the girls sit down. "Daughters, it has come to my attention that you have not been good to your half-sister Pyrrha."
This infuriated the girls. "Father, we tried to be nice to her. She slapped Hippomedia!"
"She was thrashing in the water!"
"We tried to be nice to her!"
"She was the one who wasn't behaving!"
"SILENCE!" The king roared, and the girls quieted down. "Now, what I told you earlier is that you should treat Pyrrha fairly. If she did not want to remove her tunic in front of you, then so be it. From now on, she shall bathe at a different time from all of you, and she shall have her own separate room."
Deidamia stood up. "But father, all seven of us all have to share a room. Why does Pyrrha get a separate room? She isn't a legitimate daughter. She's a bastard!"
A cold silence came over the room and Lycomedes walked over to his third daughter and slapped her across the face so hard that she fell. It felt like a sharp electric jolt had run across her face, and the side of her face went numb with a burning sensation. When she put her hand to her nose and brought it to her eyes, she saw that her nose was bleeding. Her eyes stung and she started to cry silently, tears trickling down her face.
After all, in Ancient Greece, parents were allowed to beat their children. Being a female child, Deidamia was not as privileged as a boy. This was what the king disliked; all his children were daughters, and he lacked a male heir. The heir was always the eldest boy in the family, and if there was none, then it was the husband of the oldest girl. Deidamia's older two sisters were facing the pressure of a forced marriage and a line of suitors eager to inherit the kingdom, even though the oldest sister was 12 and the other was 11. Deidamia herself was just 8 at the time. Being much younger then the other two, she did not face much pressure, but the pressure was enough. The Greek law was that a girl should be married not too long after sexual maturity, and even though none of them had reached the maturity level yet, King Lycomedes persisted on marrying the oldest sister, Delia, as quickly as possible.
The king then faced the other six daughters. "I told you that you must treat your sister Pyrrha with respect. If any of you do anything that angers me, I will make sure to give you a beating much worse than Deidamia." He swept his robes back and walked away, leaving Pyrrha and the seven daughters by themselves. Deidamia's six sisters quickly left the room, while Pyrrha bent down and faced Deidamia, eye to eye.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, and offered a hand to Deidamia. Deidamia jumped up and glared at the illegitimate girl. "Leave me alone." Deidamia said through her tears, and quickly ran off, following her six sisters.
Achilles watched the girls walk off, and slapped himself in the face. Why, why did he have to tell Lycomedes what happened? Lycomedes was doing all this just because he was afraid that Achilles' mother, Thetis, would tell Zeus.
At the particular moment, Achilles hated everything. He hated his mother, the way she decided to send him to this palace. He hated Lycomedes, the coward. He hated the seven princesses, because of their distance toward him. He especially hated Deidamia, because of the way she hated him.
Achilles squeezed his eyes shut. No wait, he didn't hate Deidamia. He liked Deidamia. He loved her, but she hated him. Achilles slowly got up, cursed himself, and walked to his private room.
*End of Chapter 2*
Note: The plotline really did happen. Only the details I added in are fictional. Of the sisters, Deidamia is real. I made up the rest. If you never heard about this story and the plotline, here is what really happened:
Thetis was a sea goddess that both Zeus and Poseidon liked, but there was an oracle that her son would be more powerful than his father, so Zeus made Thetis marry a mortal man named Peleus. The wedding was ruined when Eris, the goddess of discord, threw a golden apple marked "To the fairest" at their wedding. Anyway, Thetis had a son named Achilles, and she dipped him into the river Styx to make him immortal except for his heal. When little Achilles was nine, Thetis learned of an oracle that her son would die in the Trojan War if he fought and killed a man by the name of Hector. She decided to protect him by disguising him as a girl and have her friend, Lycomedes, help with this plot.
Real characters from Greek Mythology: Thetis-sea goddess, Achilles' mother Peleus- mortal father of Achilles, husband of Thetis Achilles- Achean hero during the Trojan War. Lycomedes- Friend of Thetis, helped with the girl's disguise for Achilles Deidamia- One of the many daughters of Lycomedes, Achilles had a crush on her.
What I made up: The names of the rest of the daughers of Lycomedes, they actually did not have names. I just made names because it bugged me to say "daughter of Lycomedes that isn't Deidamia" so I gave them names like Ganeia, Hippomedia, and Delia. Oh, and the number of the daughters was also BS-ed. There were a lot of daughers, but no specific number. Something more than 5, less than 20, so I said 7 so it was easier to keep track of.
Deidamia quickly held Hippomedia to her chest and rocked the four-year-old girl in her arms. Another one of the sisters spoke angrily. "What is with that Pyrrha? She is an illegitimate daughter, yet she thinks she is better than us, the true daughters of Lycomedes and his wife!"
"I don't know," Ganeia said with a frown. The princesses rinsed off, put on their fresh tunics and walked back into the palace.
In the palace, King Lycomedes was standing with a shivering Pyrrha with a cloak draped around her. He looked stern and made the girls sit down. "Daughters, it has come to my attention that you have not been good to your half-sister Pyrrha."
This infuriated the girls. "Father, we tried to be nice to her. She slapped Hippomedia!"
"She was thrashing in the water!"
"We tried to be nice to her!"
"She was the one who wasn't behaving!"
"SILENCE!" The king roared, and the girls quieted down. "Now, what I told you earlier is that you should treat Pyrrha fairly. If she did not want to remove her tunic in front of you, then so be it. From now on, she shall bathe at a different time from all of you, and she shall have her own separate room."
Deidamia stood up. "But father, all seven of us all have to share a room. Why does Pyrrha get a separate room? She isn't a legitimate daughter. She's a bastard!"
A cold silence came over the room and Lycomedes walked over to his third daughter and slapped her across the face so hard that she fell. It felt like a sharp electric jolt had run across her face, and the side of her face went numb with a burning sensation. When she put her hand to her nose and brought it to her eyes, she saw that her nose was bleeding. Her eyes stung and she started to cry silently, tears trickling down her face.
After all, in Ancient Greece, parents were allowed to beat their children. Being a female child, Deidamia was not as privileged as a boy. This was what the king disliked; all his children were daughters, and he lacked a male heir. The heir was always the eldest boy in the family, and if there was none, then it was the husband of the oldest girl. Deidamia's older two sisters were facing the pressure of a forced marriage and a line of suitors eager to inherit the kingdom, even though the oldest sister was 12 and the other was 11. Deidamia herself was just 8 at the time. Being much younger then the other two, she did not face much pressure, but the pressure was enough. The Greek law was that a girl should be married not too long after sexual maturity, and even though none of them had reached the maturity level yet, King Lycomedes persisted on marrying the oldest sister, Delia, as quickly as possible.
The king then faced the other six daughters. "I told you that you must treat your sister Pyrrha with respect. If any of you do anything that angers me, I will make sure to give you a beating much worse than Deidamia." He swept his robes back and walked away, leaving Pyrrha and the seven daughters by themselves. Deidamia's six sisters quickly left the room, while Pyrrha bent down and faced Deidamia, eye to eye.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, and offered a hand to Deidamia. Deidamia jumped up and glared at the illegitimate girl. "Leave me alone." Deidamia said through her tears, and quickly ran off, following her six sisters.
Achilles watched the girls walk off, and slapped himself in the face. Why, why did he have to tell Lycomedes what happened? Lycomedes was doing all this just because he was afraid that Achilles' mother, Thetis, would tell Zeus.
At the particular moment, Achilles hated everything. He hated his mother, the way she decided to send him to this palace. He hated Lycomedes, the coward. He hated the seven princesses, because of their distance toward him. He especially hated Deidamia, because of the way she hated him.
Achilles squeezed his eyes shut. No wait, he didn't hate Deidamia. He liked Deidamia. He loved her, but she hated him. Achilles slowly got up, cursed himself, and walked to his private room.
*End of Chapter 2*
Note: The plotline really did happen. Only the details I added in are fictional. Of the sisters, Deidamia is real. I made up the rest. If you never heard about this story and the plotline, here is what really happened:
Thetis was a sea goddess that both Zeus and Poseidon liked, but there was an oracle that her son would be more powerful than his father, so Zeus made Thetis marry a mortal man named Peleus. The wedding was ruined when Eris, the goddess of discord, threw a golden apple marked "To the fairest" at their wedding. Anyway, Thetis had a son named Achilles, and she dipped him into the river Styx to make him immortal except for his heal. When little Achilles was nine, Thetis learned of an oracle that her son would die in the Trojan War if he fought and killed a man by the name of Hector. She decided to protect him by disguising him as a girl and have her friend, Lycomedes, help with this plot.
Real characters from Greek Mythology: Thetis-sea goddess, Achilles' mother Peleus- mortal father of Achilles, husband of Thetis Achilles- Achean hero during the Trojan War. Lycomedes- Friend of Thetis, helped with the girl's disguise for Achilles Deidamia- One of the many daughters of Lycomedes, Achilles had a crush on her.
What I made up: The names of the rest of the daughers of Lycomedes, they actually did not have names. I just made names because it bugged me to say "daughter of Lycomedes that isn't Deidamia" so I gave them names like Ganeia, Hippomedia, and Delia. Oh, and the number of the daughters was also BS-ed. There were a lot of daughers, but no specific number. Something more than 5, less than 20, so I said 7 so it was easier to keep track of.