31_days Woxin fic

[flemmings]

Title: 'That story is not true'
Day/Theme: Feb. 16 - "Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss"
Series: Woxin changdan/The Great Revival
Character/Pairing: Gou Jian, Fan Li, Wen Zhong
Spoilers: end of series

Title from Stesichorus' Palinode for Helen, only the first three lines of which survive in Plato's dialogue the Phaedrus (/pedantry.) Also

Comments

[rasetsunyo]

That story is not true

But one wishes it were. Lovely.

1. That's weird. Maybe I have to actually create the tage before they can be used.
2. Okay.

[flemmings]

But one wishes it were

The story that isn't true is the one in the series. ^_^ 'Fan Li doesn't go off with Xi Shi because Xi Shi was never a real person' = 'Menelaus didn't sail off with Helen but only the false appearance of Helen' = 'It wasn't the real Daji who did all those nasty things, it was a nine-tailed fox spirit.'

(Thanks. Much faster now.)

[feliciter]

Menelaus didn't sail off with Helen but only the false appearance of Helen

Err...I thought the idea was that she was never even *in* Troy (like Xi Shi never existed and hence was able to appear to everyone as their own ideas of ideal women), hence the Trojan War was fought over a phantom and emphasizing the futility of war and its purpose the glory and property of men rather than a chivalrous defence of a woman's honour etc etc etc (but am probably remembering the wrong thing.)

d'oh!

[feliciter]

apologies, thought you were referring to Menelaus sailing off with Helen *from* Troy at the conclusion of the war (so does that mean that Menelaus married an illusion to start with? *head spins*). evidently I am not suited for Classics study.

[rasetsunyo]

Also, sorry if I'm just being slow, but last bit "Why was I not king enough that she could charm me?" -- missing a "not"?

[flemmings]

No. I am the king, I should have been as charmed by the spirit of my land as Fu Chai was, but I wasn't. Why was I not king enough for her charm to work on me? Confusing English subjunctives is the problem, I think.

[rasetsunyo]

Ah right. Thanks. :D

[i_am_zan]

Lovely! ^__^