He Will Forget, And Only I Will Remember

Fanfiction
Title:	He Will Forget and Only I Will Remember
Author(s):	grondfic
Date(s):	19 January 2010
Length:	4428 words
Genre:	missing scene
Fandom:	Mary Renault
External Links:	http://grondfic.livejournal.com/97155.html (Part One) and http://grondfic.livejournal.com/100025.html (Part Two)
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He Will Forget and Only I Will Remember This story was originally posted on grondfic’s livejournal account as two separate parts, and then crossposted to maryrenaultfics. Part One is 2818 words. Part Two is 1610 words.

This story is written from the perspective of Hippon and covers the period from his meeting Theseus in Athens through their time together with the Cranes, on Naxos, and on to Delos. Hippon falls in love with Theseus but his love is unrequited because of Theseus’ heterosexual orientation. Hippon takes a male lover (the Cretan noble Alektryon) who dies when Crete falls. He dresses as a woman and runs with the Maenads on Naxos and couples with the Vine King before he is sacrificed (in this way frustrating a plot for the Vine King to father onto the Athenian ‘maiden’ (who is actually Hippon in disguise) who has joined the Dionysian festival, a god-child who will grow up to become Theseus’ rival. Hippon rejoins the ship just before it sets sail to Delos. There with divine intervention (through the ghosts of his former lovers Alektryon and the Vine King coaching him), he seduces Theseus for one night of sexual pleasure. The story has a bittersweet ending as Hippon realises Theseus remains oblivious to divine intent (“He had conquered and not learned – as always.”).

Comments by readers on Part One include:

• Magnificent writing. The King Must Die is one of my favorites and you have really done it justice here. I like your use of language and all the ancient Greek details. The voice of your main character is great too. A very intense scene with the King Vine. Loved the spinning and the voice. Great job!—elfscribe5
• Oh, I love this. The last line gives me chills.—tekalynn

Comments by readers on Part Two include:

• Oh wow, bloody great ending! How very Theseus to miss the point. — fredbasset
• I absolute love the beautiful, lyrical language you use, not to mention those word pictures (e.g. Eyes of the Sky-Gods) that often seem to crop up with Greek myths and epics, such as The Odyssey. And it's so in keeping with Greek myth for the gods to be manipulating a mortal and playing him like a puppet. Considering the trickster nature of some of them, I almost wonder if they knew from the beginning that Theseus would miss the point. — rusty_armour