Chapter Text
Nenia: an ancient poem that was chanted at Roman funerals, typically by a priestess of the home’s patron god or a female relative of the deceased. The exact words to the poem are unknown, but I based this version off of other latin poems about death and mourning where they describe unripe fruit falling from a tree, flames being snuffed out, and calling on to Pluto, the Unseen and Pluto the Receiver for a just and merciful passage to the afterlife.
Himation: Long piece of fabric worn in many styles by men of Ancient Greece, usually over a chiton. It was a formal article of clothing, mostly worn by priests and elder men of authority. The way Nico wears it is how priests and certain men of state would have worn it. The hood was meant to be pulled down during ritual inhalant drug use, and the arm-sling was meant to symbolize that the wearer did not have a weapon on them—sorta like they were a man of intellect or whatever.
Obel: An Ancient Greek coin worth about $0.50 USD. Six Obel were worth one Drachma, and it was the smallest currency available in ancient Greece (if u only count the ones that all city-states recognized.) Traditionally, you only need one Obel for the ferry across the Styx but Nico gives each camper two. Is it because of inflation? Is it because he’s trying to incentivize Charon? Who knows.
Hygea: Goddess of hygiene.
Hippocratic Oath: Hippocrates was an Ancient Greek physician who dedicated a lot of his life to trying to standardize medicine and document ailments and treatments. He came up with this really long document that all of his students were supposed to live by. The Hippocratic oath is still in use, but it has many versions nowadays. The original spent a lot of time talking about why poisoning your patients was bad and why abortion was bad and why you shouldn’t participate in magic as a doctor. The exact words “do no harm” was not in the original, (despite that being the most famous phrase used when referencing it,) but the sentiment was 100% there. The original also dedicates multiple paragraphs to knowing when a patient is too far gone, and how to give them a dignified, peaceful death, imploring on physicians that they can, in fact, do more harm than healing by keeping some people alive. The “shall-and-shall-nots” is a real term used for the second section of the oath, the other two parts (“the calling of witnesses” and “the consequences of betrayal”) are just there to emphasize how seriously you’re supposed to take the middle part. In my interpretation, you only get your cool healing powers after you take the oath, which Will took after the Titan War.
“Physician, heal thyself”: A quote from the bible that is often incorrectly attributed to Shakespeare. He quotes the verse in a few different plays, making a lot of people think he’s the one who came up with it, but no, it’s the bible. Will is surrounded by theater nerds, but isnt very passionate about it himself, so he’s probably only heard the quote from Shakespeare plays. This bit is 100% based on a conversation i overheard among theater kids in high school.
“If I deny him his right to a burial, I’d be no better than he was.”: In ancient Greece, the penalty for murder ranged from death to temporary exile, depending on the severity and circumstances surrounding the crime. The penalty for not burying a body, however, was ALWAYS death. The anchient greeks believed that if a body was not buried and given their obel, they would not reach the afterlife, and would not get their just reward. It was like an insult to the gods, and it was also believed to invite death upon the community. So if you saw a dead body and didn’t at least kick some sand over it, you could be put to death. Bryce was accused of murder in the books, leading to his exile, and its implied that he did, in fact, commit the murder. Nico strongly believes in the system his father built, so he believes everyone should get a chance at judgment. He believes that not burying a person is equivalent, if not worse, than murder.
“When he took it for a handshake, she instead gripped him hard by the forearm…”: Certain art from Roman times suggest this is how Roman soldiers shook hands with one another. It’s meant to show how Reyna sees Will as a fellow soldier.
“Should I have worn black or something?”: Anchient Greeks did not wear black to funerals, but Roman men wore something called a Toga Pulla which was a heavy, dark grey, wool toga specifically to signify mourning. In the late Classical period, some women in poetry are described as wearing dark clothing to show they’re in mourning, but I haven’t found any other evidence of dark clothing being a thing for them.
The beds and fainting couches inside the tents: In ancient Greece, mourners would lay the body of the deceased out on a high, wooden bed for viewing. For poor or enslaved people, the body was normally just placed on a normal bed they had in the home, but the bed would have to be disposed of later bc of hygiene. Depending on the era and location, the bodies were sometimes covered in a shroud during the viewing and lifted periodically so the loved ones could see the deceased’s face. This was meant to help with hygiene and smell. In Rome, the body was laid on a special funeral couch and set in a “lifelike pose” and not covered in a shroud until burial or cremation. For this reason, I chose not to depict a Roman soldier’s body. Figured that’d be too graphic, especially for poor Will. Also the beds and couches look like they’re made of earth bc zombies made them out of sand and dirt. I also kinda dumbed down Roman mourning practices here because they can get pretty wild and kinda complex. The mourning period is usually seven days, but could be more or less depending on the person’s status. Female loved ones were encouraged to self-flagellate during viewings, sometimes the body would be displayed in the street so people could scream and wail over it. Sometimes they would have theater processions where Funeral Mimes would put on masks and imitate the deceased in an ironic way. You’d have feasts like every day, you’d party like animals, and at the end you’d have to invite a priest over to your home to expel all the dead-person vibes from the place. Of course, this all depended on the era, the class of the deceased, and the location. For instance, unclaimed bodies, the poor, and the enslaved were sometimes just dumped in potters fields outside of town, while mourning processions for heads of state could last weeks. Because of the huge variation, I just had Nico say “man, do whatever feels right, the only consistent rule is that you few the body day one and burn it day two so these people can get to the underworld quick.” He also knows that grieving takes a lot longer than seven days, let alone three, so the schedule wasn’t as strict.
“…Will now noticed that he smelled overwhelmingly like incense.”: Nico discovered a long time ago the smell of incense can disguise his scent from monsters. This meant that he was fully preparing to leave camp the day Will came for him.
The Shiny Diner: actual real place in NC. Top-tier milkshakes. i go there whenever i gotta visit family. The inside of the place is all chrome. Cheerwine is a cherry-flavored soda that i think is only available in NC. I don’t like it, but I still drink it when Im down there bc it’s like. What you do.
“I just needed to- I just wanted to check on you and-…”: Nico is shown, continuously, throughout the series, not being able to let miserable people be miserable alone. He sat next to Hestia, he befriended Bob, he found Hazel in Asphodel. As much as he doesn’t feel comfortable with “the living” he can’t bring himself to let people go through painful things alone. He knows it just makes the pain worse. This is also why he’s comfortable touching Jake Mason as he dies. He doesn’t really LIKE skin-to-skin contact most of the time, but it doesn’t matter to him when someone else NEEDS that connection.
“He hadn’t expected his own raw and shaking rage.”: Both ADHD and anxiety disorders can result in anger issues, especially in teen boys. Nico has a few outbursts when he feels like he’s being pressured, judged, or rejected. Will becomes angry when he sees people being able to mourn in a way he isn’t able to, when he’s reminded of his father and those feelings of abandonment, when he feels like Asclepius is treating him with kid-gloves, and has a violent outburst after feeling like he had failed to save Jake’s life. Will has learned how to regulate his emotions through box breathing and redirection, due to his interest in healthcare, but Nico has absolutely no idea how to stop himself when he gets mad, leading Will to play mediator a few times.
“Will spat into his hand and held it out for the son of Hades to shake.”: I was informed by a European friend one time that this is not common in a lot of countries so I’ll explain it. Idk where it comes from, but a spit-shake is supposed to be a way to seal a deal. It’s supposed to be an alternative to a blood-oath (where both parties cut their hand before shaking them) and it became super well-known bc of western movies. Bc of the cowboy connotation, and the general uncleanliness, it’s seen as like an uncivilized, low-class kind of gesture, but back in the day it was like a very meaningful kind of promise. I just think it’s very funny that Will cares about hygiene but is still a teenage boy so who cares, wear flip flops in the infirmary, spit on your hand, whatever.