Earlier this summer I was looking for tragic love stories, and everything I googled were like Lancelot and Guinevere and Romeo and Juliet, which are all very tragic, but I was looking for a love triangle like Marius/Cosette/Eponine, Tristan/Isolde/Iseult.
Then I had this theory that behind every epic and celebrated love story was the woman that everyone forgets about. I googled some famous love stories, lo and behold: behind many EPIC love couples stands the woman who was scorned. Some were less screwed than others, some were pretty kickass, and some probably had it better off with their stupid douchebag lovers chasing after someone else...but still. Fuck the actual tragic love story, the real tragedy lies in these girls.
Marius and Cosette - Eponine, she died by jumping in front of a bullet to save Marius's life. The only reason she was in such a dangerous position in the first place was cos Cosette sent her to send a letter to Marius to tell him she, Cosette, was safe.
Romeo and Juliet - Rosaline, loved first by Romeo, also a Capulet. Romeo sees her at a party, then sees Juliet, and Rosaline is forgotten. But in the end, luckily she still lived.
Paris and Helen - Yeah yeah Trojan War, but Paris had a wife. She was a mountain nymph, A NYMPH WITH MAGICAL POWERS IN PROPHECY AND HEALING, and he abandons her for Helen. Oh, they had a son too. When Paris abandons her, she sends their son to a) guide the Greeks to Troy, and b) Stop Paris from sleeping with Helen. Paris doesn't recognize his son and kills him. So later on, when Paris gets an arrow in him, he goes to her to heal him. She's like "Uh, NO" and Paris stumbles off and dies. But she feeling remorse throws herself onto his funeral pyre (*sigh* girls who can't get over their men)
Mark Antony and Cleopatra - Fulvia, his wife. She was the most powerful woman in the Roman Empire and can be credited with why Antony himself became so powerful. As in without her, he would be nothing. She was the first non-deity woman to be put on a coin too. Basically she had been married twice before, but each husband died in war (sad, seriously, but she was still pretty kickass). She managed to maintain the loyalty of all her husbands' old supporters so that when she married Antony he had a large group of supporters. Thus when Caesar died he was the most powerful man in Rome. Antony's political enemy, Cicero, was frequently silenced by Fulvia's own campaigns for Antony. When Rome needed money, Fulvia went and scared it out of people. And when Antony wanted to form the Trimuvirate? Fulvia married their daughter to Octavian and STOPPED Octavian from taking full power. So Antony and Octavian go off to kill Caesar's assassins and Fulvia is left in Rome to tend to basically the Roman Empire. There were two consuls, but everyone knew the power was in her hands. Octavian comes back first and decides to divide up the lands for the Trimuvirates and tries to take some of Antony's, and Fulvia was like "Bitch, please, these lands are mine!" and starts a war. This is where it gets a bit sad. So she escalates the war to get Antony's attention, cos the only reason he's not home to defend his lands is cos he's off fucking Cleopatra. Antony sails back, yells at Fulvia for starting a war and goes off to finish the war. She gets sick. And he's sailing back to see her again, and she dies. Hah, screw you Antony.
Lancelot and Guinevere - Elaine, I feel a little less bad for this girl, you'll see why. Lancelot saves Elaine from a burning bath, she falls in love with him.He of course is in love with Guinevere. So Elaine gets her lady in waiting or whtever to get Lancelot drunk, she wear's Guinevere's ring and tricks him into thinking she's Guinevere and sleeps with him. Lancelot threatens to kill her, but Elaine is like: NO I'M PREGNANT. She's preg with Galahad, who apparently is some famous-ass knight later on. Elaine is then always at court and Lancelot basically ignores her. She is sad, tricks him again to sleep with her. But this time, Guinevere walks in on them, she gets mad, tells Lancelot she'll never see him again. Lancelot goes mad, jumps out of a window. Later he goes on this quest to seek the Holy Grail. He shows up insane, in Elaine's garden. Elaine shows him the Holy Grail, and he is cured! They live together for 10 years, raising their son as man and wife. Also, I am forgetting, King Arthur is being scorned here too, by his wife. This one is just a doubly tragic thing.
Orpheus and Eurydice - Hecate, not much can be found here. Apparently he goes to Tartarus, charms Hecate and then later falls in love with Eurydice. Hecate, a goddess of the underworld (she's the one they call upon for like witchcraft), puts a spell on that god who falls in love with Eurydice, causing her to be bitten by a snake on her wedding day and die.
Odysseus and Penelope - actually here I think Penelope got screwed cos Odysseus slept around with a bunch of goddesses while she was at home weaving a loom. But, before Penelope, there was Helen. Odysseus was in love with her...huh. Figures.
Jason and Medea - Medea actually. She agrees to help him only if he marries her when he succeeds, so he does. She helps him on his epic quest for the Golden Fleece (playing many important roles, esp cos she's smart and pretty much a demi-goddess) but when he arrives in Corinth he falls in love with the king's daughter and marries her instead. Medea gets upset, sends the princess a poisoned crown and then kills Jason and her's children.
