Board Thread:The Trials of Apollo/@comment-25155763-20170503162614/@comment-31691276-20170506215059

Hello, I am going to join in this chat because I am really liking this conversation topic, it has me hooked.

Now, time for a really long reply.

I remember Rick saying that there are a million different versions of Greek Mythology, and that he goes with the version of the tales that he thinks best fits with the story. In other words, what you said about most Hunters being lesbians may be true in a different version of Greek Mythology. I was a little hesitant to bring this up, because I don't have a lot of evidence to back it up, only assumption, but this could be one reason why Artemis looks down on love in TDP.

About Zeus disguising himself as Artemis to lure Callisto, it doesn't the necessarily mean that the Hunters have a sexual relationship with Artemis. It could be possible that Callisto secretly had a crush on Artemis, which Artemis was unaware of, and Zeus knew this and used it against her. Callisto might have been too blinded by lust or something along those lines to realize that Artemis would never do that.

You also have to remember that some girls might have been very hurt by a boy in the past, which contributed to why they joined the hunt. That was the case with Zoë, and I wouldn't be suprised if at least 1/3 of the Hunters were also hurt by a boy in the past, so they turned themselves away from the company of men. By joining the hunt, they are, in a way, preventing themselves from being around men enough that they would develop feelings for them, and so they're protecting themselves from getting hurt.

As for the girls who weren't hurt in the past and aren't aromantic or lesbian, you have to think about it this way; if while they're in the hunt, they're away from the company of men, how would they gain feelings for them? We already know that Hunters refuse to travel with men, since they wouldn't let Percy join the quest in Titan's Curse, and the odds that they'll be hunting in public places where they might happen to meet some men are unlikely. I think that Artemis encourages them to not to be around men so that they'll stay Hunters (which, I'll admit, is a little selfish of her, but that's just my analysis).

While I would love for all the hunters to be aromantic asexuals, since I am one, but I agree that it does seem kind of unlikely that they're all like that.

And about Artemis hating men, I think that part of it has to do with how men acted in the ancient times. They thought they were superior and that women were just adorable dolls who stayed at home and took care of the house and kids. A lot of times, one person's actions can taint your view of the whole group, which I think has a lot to do with Artemis' feelings towards men. I don't think it's appropriate for her to instantly hate all of them (which might not even be true, as Commander Tool Belt pointed out) but she might have some justification.

By the way OceanHalo, I headcanon that Artemis is aromantic, too, but I really hope that Artemis' negative reaction towards people having a crush on men isn't the only reason you think she's aromantic, because that's really not true for all aromantics, including me.