✑ application;
.the mundane;
» Name: Katie
» Journal: prosperinne
» Contact: AIM: loveandrespekt
.the myth;
» God(dess): Polyxena
» Reference: 1, 2
» Family: {mother & father} Priam and Hecuba
» Played By: Barbara Palvin
» Human Alias: Portia Troas
» Human Age: 17 (birthdate: January 9, 1993)
» Fitting in: High school student at Trinity.
» History: Polyxena was the youngest daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. It can be assumed that her life went on quite normally up until the war which where her myth begins and ends.
By the time Polyxena was barely seventeen she had seen the deaths of her people, her own position degraded and her brothers die in battle. First the young Troilus, and then brave Hector. Both at the hands of Achilles, on the kill or be killed battlefield of the Trojan War.
It was not long after the death of Hector that Achilles and Polyxena met. Though he had slain her brothers, and her brother had killed his lover Patroclus, they fell in love with each other. A sort of love that grew out of their sorrow, both jaded deeply by the war. They stole away to spend time with each other, and Achilles wanted to marry her. During their time together, Achilles revealed to her his greatest weakness-- his heel. And though they were in love, Polyxena remained a virgin.
Her father Priam attempted to take advantage of this relationship, offering his daughter to Achilles, providing that some peace could be worked out between the Trojans and the Greeks. The deal was that if the Trojans would give back Helen, and Achilles and Polyxena were wed, then there would be peace. Priam refused to give back Helen, however, and that was that.
One day, at the prompting of her brothers Paris and Deiphobus, Polyxena asked Achilles to meet her and Deiphobus at the temple of Apollo after she had completed her devotions, to speak to him of their betrothal. Achilles came as she requested. At the temple, Paris, who was hiding in the bushes, ambushed Achilles and shot him through the heel with a poison-tipped arrow, killing him.
Polyxena's death is up for speculation. One story tells it that at the end of the war, as the Greeks were collecting their spoils and readying for their voyage home, what the Achaeans believed to be the ghost of Achilles appeared and demanded the sacrifice of Polyxena as his part of the spoils and for revenge. In actuality, it was nothing more but a shade of his anger at her betrayal, rather than his actual spirit that had since passed on. The other telling would say that her death was one to mirror that of Iphigenia's, which was required for the Greeks to sail to Troy, and that Polyxena's death was required for them to sail home. For purposes of this game, the reason for her to be killed is partly because of the misinterpreted shade of Achilles' anger as well as it being thought necessary for the Greeks to sail home.
On the fated day, Polyxena was led to Achilles' grave, unafraid having already accepted her fate. The son of Achilles, Neoptolemus, was the one who delivered the fatal blow to the young woman. And though the crowd, once they had caught sight of the beautiful young virgin, felt some compassion, she did not shy away and leant into the blow grimly and bravely.
From there, Polyxena was judged worthy of residing in Elysium for her afterlife, which has been disturbed by being taken from there to modern day New York by Khaos.
» Personality:
Polyxena is first and foremost known for her loyalty to her family. This is both her strength and her downfall. She loves her family deeply and would do anything and give anything for them. Seeing them hurt in anyway is too much for her to bear. She would take their place for anything to protect them, be it taking the blame for any wrong they have done, or taking a blow for them, dying for them. She would do it all without an ounce of fear or a drop of hesitation.
While it may seem at times like she can be quite stoic, it is only because she feels so deeply that it almost crushes her. Her love and sadness for her family is so strong, she betrayed to them the secrets of Achilles so that they might have been able to have some hope or happiness. But she loved Achilles so deeply as well, that she hated herself for her cruel betrayal to him and their love. She felt so guilty that she easily accepted death. Everything she feels she feels so extensively and it often weighs her down. Her stoicism is her cloak that she hides behind when it comes to her feelings. However, often times those feelings still seep out into the light anyway, because they are so strong.
This hyper-sensitivity also makes her keep her guard up constantly. So long as she cannot get close to people or let them in, even her own siblings, she cannot feel more than she needs to. She won't hurt more than she already does. She does not want to make attachments in this world, because she is not of it any longer.
To those who do not know her well, they may still see the sadness that envelopes her every being. She is not an unkind woman, rather she is quite giving and sweet-tempered, but she reacts to everything with a sense of logic and as much level-headedness as she can muster. War has hardened her, she sees the world through a window clouded with pessimism. Opening herself up to others, even her own family, is hard for her. She feels that she has harmed so many, she does not wish to hurt anyone else. She feels the guilt is all her own for the war ending in the favor of the Greeks. She regrets painfully not trusting Achilles to find a way for them to be married, and for their marriage to be what ended the war. She was quite like a pawn during the war, but she willingly accepts such a role, because she loves those who have used her-- Paris and Deiphobus, her father, Achilles-- and wants to make them happy.
Her short time spent in Elysium was a time in which her feelings of guilt and despair were numbed, but she never forgot anything that had happened to her. Being brought from that state where negative feelings were repressed into a place where she can feel it all again has only made it worse. She is, in a sense, drowning from the weight of all the feels. The wounds are all fresh once again. Nothing more does she want but to die again. She had made peace with her fatality before it had even occurred. And though she would not say it aloud, as it is selfish, she wishes for the peace of Elysium once again if she should be judged fit to return.
For all her stoicism and avoidance of others, her guard also allows her to be brave. She has no qualms with standing up for her family and for Troy. Never for herself, but she will not allow others to harm her family. She wants very much to protect them and shield them and will do anything to do so.
Also, having already died once, she is quite fearless. In a way, this makes her a little reckless with her own life. Her only fears are that of hurting her family again. Whatever happens to herself is quite inconsequential to her.
A lot of who Polyxena is has to do with her experiences from the war and because of her time in Elysium. But she was not always so distant and sad. Being the youngest girl in such a great and large family, Polyxena had to work hard to prove herself. She was smart and witty and bold as a child. She loved to laugh and play and dance and was very caring. War made her grow up quickly, though, and most of who she used to be has been repressed. Around her family, this side of Polyxena is more likely to show itself, but it would take a lot for her to ever reconcile her old self with her new self.
» Sample Roleplay:
It is cold and windy atop the roof, the skies cloudy and gray. Near the ledge, only a foot or two away, there is a figure of a young woman, no more than seventeen. She stares out at the city below her, for all its noise the only sound that can be heard here is the biting wind. Her skin pricks with gooseflesh but she does not shiver or move an inch.
A breeze blows the blonde tresses of the still figure, revealing the pale and unreadable face of Polyxena. Once a Princess of Troy. Daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Lover and betrothed of Achilles. Victim of Neoptolemus. There are many things she once was. But now? Now she is nothing but a breathing ghost.
A breath escapes from her chapped lips, visible in the air. She wants for Elysium, where she does not feel the ache that so consumes her now. So much sadness has encompassed the majority of her too-short life. She had welcomed death when it came.
Another particularly rough breeze passes her by again. Blue eyes close tightly for a moment, but she feels herself become dizzy. Polyxena takes a seat on the cold concrete floor of the roof, leaning her back against the ledge. Curling up tight she hugs her arms around her knees.
She does not rest her head, though it is heavy and she wants to. The feeling of blood rushing about from her dizziness is strange and foreign, as is this body. Yes, it is hers, and it is not. She should have no body at all. No body to feel the chill of the wind, or the cold of the concrete beneath her. The concrete that is leaving light bruises upon too-soft flesh. No, she is not supposed to have this body at all.