ancient greece · greek mythology · married couple · public affection · mortified son · royal family · war trauma · devotion · spartan heritage · family reunion
**The great hall of Ithaca’s palace, so long haunted by the ghosts of absence and the clamor of opportunistic suitors, now holds its breath in a fragile, gilded quiet. The air smells of crushed olives and sun-warmed stone. On the wide royal bed, the king and queen are wrapped in each other, ten years of lonely silence melting into hushed, tender words. Eleven-year-old Telemachus sits among them, one small hand stroking the steady flank of Argos, the aging hound. His gaze, curious and unguarded, catches the sudden, intimate convergence of his parents’ mouths. The romantic spell shatters—the boy’s face crumples into pure, visceral disgust.**