#Ancient Literature

[darcysolace]

do you ever think about how the key motif in the odyssey is a sailor who got lost at sea, but found his way home and how that was an incredibly popular motif in ancient greece, because they had a lot of sailors who often got lost at sea and a lot of hope that they'd come back? like this wonderful, complex, poetic poem that is the base for even modern-day fiction and is beloved today as it was 1000, 2000 and more years ago was written on the basis of everyday people's undying hope that their family members would return.

[madame-helen]

[yuinevo]

Another Odysseus, it’s been a while (yes this is my new favourite pose to draw)

[freshminttea]

When he heard the death rattle, Gilgamesh moaned like a dove. His face grew dark. "Beloved, wait, don't leave me. Dearest of men, don't die, don't let them take you from me."

-Epic of Gilgamesh

[artandbeauty71]

(Long post ahead)

"He's half of my soul, as the poets say" this, "Name one hero who was happy" that...

But like, can we talk about how beautifully tragic and tragically beautiful some of the original quotes from the Iliad are too?? And these are not even all of them!

"Oh, how I wish that neither the Trojans nor the Achaeans could escape death! If only the two of us survived, so that we could bring down the sacred walls of Troy together, the two of us alone..."

"But his mother hadn't told him about the tragic event yet; he wasn't still aware that the most beloved [philtatos] of all his comrades had died."

"As Achilles heard those words [about Patroclus' death], a dark, deadly cloud of anguish engulfed him; with both hands he grabbed plenty of dust from the earth, letting it fall upon his head and smear his marvelous face and clothes. He flopped down onto the ground, disfiguring his body with his hands, tearing the locks of hair out of his head. [...]

Meanwhile, Antilochus sobbed and cried silently, holding tightly still the hands of weeping Achilles, preventing him from grabbing a blade and slicing his own throat.

He let out a heart-wrenching cry, so loud that his mother heard him from the bottom of the ocean."

"What sweetness, what kind of relief is left for me, if my dear Patroclus is no more, him whom I cherished more than all my comrades, whom I valued as my own life, loved as my own soul? I have lost him. [...] And now I shall go find that killer [Hector], the man who deprived me of my dear life."

"She found her beloved son laying down with his arms wrapped around Patroclus' body, crying bitterly. And so did many other companions weep around him."

"You shall all die a bitter death by my hand, each one of you shall pay for what you did to Patroclus, killing him by the ships while I was not there."

"But I will never forget Patroclus, not as long as I live, not as long as I'm steady on my limbs. And even in death, in the realm of Hades where the dead are forgotten, the memory of my beloved comrade will live for all eternity."

[Patroclus' ghost appears to Achilles in a dream]

"You're sleeping, Achilles: have you forgotten about me? You cherished me while I was alive; are you going to neglect me now that I'm dead? [...] Give me your hand, I beg you. For once my body is properly burned, I shall no more come back from the realm of Hades. No more shall we take sweet counsel as we did when I was alive, the two of us alone, away from our comrades. A terrible Fate has caught me, one I was predestined to since birth, and it will soon be your turn to fulfill your destiny, and die by the walls of Troy. So I am asking just one more thing of you, I beg you, grant my wish: don't let my bones be separated from yours, Achilles. Let them rest together, just as we grew up together in your house [...] I would like one single urn to bring together my ashes and yours; the golden urn your mother gave you."

[And Achilles replies]

"Why, my beloved soul, have you come to me, why are you giving me such orders? Of course, I'll obey, I will do everything you wish. But now, come here, come closer to me. Let me hold you: and let us forget about our sorrows by holding each other, at least for a short while.

Thus he spoke, and immediately tried to reach out to him: but he couldn't. The soul slipped away from his grasp, screeching and disappearing back inside the earth, dissolving into smoke. Achilles' hands clasped involuntarily, and he stood up, full of surprise and pain. He felt the urge to cry again."

(I did my best, personally translating the quotes from the original Greek text like the literature noob I am lol. bye I'm going to cry again in peace now)

[kusurrone]

little Virgil

[yunsound]

Chinese Mythology- Erlang Shen

If Achilles, Odysseus and Hercules are the Big Three of Greco-Roman mythology, the Big Three of Chinese mythology can probably be considered Sun Wukong, Ne Zha and Erlang Shen. 

Sun Wukong is… Sun Wukong. You know him, you love him, whether as Black Myth Wukong, Son Goku, or just Wukong in all his glory. I also made a post explaining the mythology of Ne Zha, who’s recently risen to fame outside of China due to the movie Ne Zha 2 becoming the 8th highest grossing movie of all time.

Erlang Shen is probably the least well-known of the three. His title, 二郎神, means Erlang (Second Son) Shen (God). He has nowhere near as many adaptations as the other two, and outside of China I doubt anyone knows him. 

This is him! He's usually depicted as young and handsome.

Erlang, Ne Zha and Wukong are unofficially memed as the Heaven Haters, since all three of them rebelled against heaven in some way, or are depicted as rebelling against heaven. Wukong famously smashed the Heavenly Palace up a million times and Ne Zha is all about fuck authority.

Artist 万葉皆秋 on Xiaohongshu and Douyin

Look at this beautiful art. That's Erlang Shen on the left, Sun Wukong in the middle, Ne Zha on the right. I doubt they'd win against the literal Buddha, but with anyone else any of them could kick anyone's ass. Actually in terms of strength Erlang Shen = Wukong > Ne Zha, but that's okay, Ne Zha's still strong.

What about Erlang, though? Actually, he’s the nephew of the Jade Emperor. The same one that got his ass kicked by Wukong. The same one that inadvertently led to Ne Zha having to kill himself. 

Did you play Black Myth: Wukong? Well, I’m sure you remember Erlang Shen as one of the harder boss fights. Wasn’t his eye laser cool?

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity

Erlang doesn’t have one big myth like Ne Zha or Wukong do, and he doesn’t belong to any one major tale like Wukong and Journey to the West. He is also featured in Investiture of the Gods (for more on WTF that is, see my Ne Zha post and my Investiture post) and also fights for the rebellion against the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang. His stories are featured in multiple tales, which I’ll cover briefly.

Table of Contents:

Erlang’s Backstory

宝莲灯 Magical Lotus Lantern

Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods

Erlang’s actual name is Yang Jian 杨戬. (Some interpret Erlang as the deification of an ancient Chinese engineer’s son, but modern adaptations consider him to be Yang Jian. There are multiple backstories for Erlang- this is not the definitive one.)

Other interpretations of Erlang include Yang Erlang (a pretty important guy that’s just also called Erlang with the last name Yang) as well as another guy whose name I don’t remember.

I only know stuff about the Yang Jian version, and it’s generally the most well-known (if you hear Yang Jian, you think Erlang, and if someone asks you what Erlang’s name is, you say Yang Jian. However, the Li Erlang version is also very famous, even though the stories are very similar).

His mother is the Jade Emperor’s sister! As mentioned in the Ne Zha post, the Jade Emperor is the leader of the Heavenly Court. See my Investiture of the Gods post here for details on the background of the Heavenly Court and the structure of the pantheon.

His mother is named Yunhua, and is the younger sister of the Jade Emperor. She fell in love with a mortal named Yang Tianyou, and fled secretly down to earth to marry him. They had a son named Yang Jian. When the Jade Emperor found out about this marriage, he sent armies to kill them because immortals and mortals marrying is against the rules. 

Yang Jian manages to survive- he’s still only a baby at this point. Yunhua, as punishment, gets trapped under a big-ass mountain. 

It’s unclear exactly what happens to Yang Jian after his mom gets the Wukong treatment. He’s raised in the palace, probably, and was taught to fight. Yang Jian is super powerful, and trains very hard. 

OR

He was chased after by the Heavenly Court with his (maybe?) siblings and goes through a hell of a lot of pain trying to not get smited. Along the way, he becomes a super jaded, powerful and generally ruthless warrior.

When he finds out his mom is enduring the world’s worst stone table massage, he decides, fuck it, I’m going to break her out.

He goes down to the mountain his mom is trapped under, Tao Shan (Mt. Tao). This is when we discover Yang Jian is a dramatic sort of guy, because instead of doing the reasonable thing and pulling her out or even lifting part of the mountain, he decides to get a big-ass axe out and split the entire mountain in half.

Seriously, what were you going to do if you cut your mom in half along the way?

That’s Erlang Shen’s backstory! Both exciting and uneventful at the same time. 

Well, how did he get from plain half-human half-god Yang Jian to Erlang Shen? He cultivated and trained so much and became so strong that eventually he ascended naturally, just like Ne Zha- no, his name is not on the Fengshen Bang, and no, he didn’t die to go work a boring government job for the Haotian Emperor.

The Fengshen Yanyi and Journey to the West are still just novels, and it’s unclear exactly how much of this is made-up or inaccurate.

Erlang Shen's defining trait is probably his mythical third eye. It's right smack-dab in the middle of his forehead, and it's called the Tianyan (or Sky Eye, or Eye of Heaven). It can see through disguises- this is how Erlang fights Wukong, who commonly uses disguises.

The third eye can also shoot lasers. Cool.

One of his biggest myths is the story of the 宝莲灯, Baoliandeng (Magical Lotus Lamp). In this story, Yang Jian (he has already become Erlang Shen at this point, through cultivation) belongs to the second category in the backstory options. He also has a sister.

This is an animated children's movie based on the Magical Lotus Lantern made by the same studio that produced Ne Zha Conquers the Sea 1979.

By the way! It is unclear if the Erlang in this story is Yang Jian. As I said, there are very many possibilities as to who Erlang could be. Yang Jian is just one of them. The Erlang in this story (recall, Erlang just means second son, which is a semi-common name) could be the second son of someone else, but in popular culture (NOT necessarily in the myth!) this Erlang is the same Erlang Shen, and is also Yang Jian. 

His sister is called Huayue Sanniang, or Sanshengmu. That’s a long-ass name, right?

Well, Sanshengmu means third saintly mother. Why third? She’s the third child of Mount Hua’s god. As such, Erlang (second son!) is her older brother. They have another brother. 

This is why the Erlang in this myth is probably not the mythical Erlang Shen, Yang Jian- they have different parentage.

However, gradually these two stories merged. Keep in mind that Erlang Shen technically doesn’t appear in this story at all since he’s not actually Sanshengmu’s older brother.

The Erlang here just happens to be another Erlang. The reason why I’m including this tale is because it’s pretty common for these two Erlangs to be combined into one, so in popular culture it’s also very common to see them as the same person and to treat Sanshengmu as Erlang Shen’s younger sister.

In the Tang Dynasty, Sanshengmu meets and falls in love with a mortal scholar named Liu Yanchang. Erlang Shen vehemently opposes this marriage- he’s a pretty ruthless guy. 

Sanshengmu steals the magical lotus lamp, which can trap gods and spirits within it, and escapes to marry Liu Yanchang. They have a son, Liu Chenxiang. 

Here's a TV show filmed based on the same story. The guy at the top with a slit in his forehead is Erlang Shen (the slit is his third eye, which he doesn't ALWAYS keep open).

A few years later, though, Erlang Shen finds them and kidnaps Chenxiang to ask Sanshengmu to return the lotus lamp. She agrees, and in a strangely ironic twist of fate, Erlang Shen traps Sanshengmu under a mountain. 

Chenxiang, after he’s grown up, decides he’s going to kick Erlang Shen’s ass as revenge for his mom. Erlang Shen isn’t Erlang Shen for nothing, though- even though Chenxiang acquires a mythically powerful axe and trains his butt off, he’s still unable to beat him.

However, in the end, Chenxiang manages to use the lotus lamp against Erlang Shen, and wins. Then, just as Erlang did, he splits the mountain in half and frees his mother.

This is a recent animated movie called New Gods: Yang Jian. It's in the same animated universe as New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha (2021). I would recommend this movie: the plot is kind of a mess, but the animation is pretty great!

In Journey to the West, Erlang Shen emerges as one of the gods the Heavenly Court calls upon to try and beat Sun Wukong after he begins to rampage through heaven.

Although Sun Wukong is seen as the peak of fighting capability in Chinese mythology, Erlang Shen is actually just as strong- he beat Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, albeit with the help of some other gods.

In Black Myth: Wukong, Erlang "rematches" Wukong since Wukong was technically beaten.

Actually, Erlang Shen in Journey to the West is a bit of a crazy guy. He’s usually always seen as the trademark killing maniac (maybe not killing maniac, but definitely a little sadistic) since he literally set Huaguo Mountain (the mountain Sun Wukong lived on with his monkeys) on fire after he beats Wukong.

Later, however, he helps Wukong fight off another guy and the two become buddies. Funny how that works out. 

If you remember, in Black Myth: Wukong, he had a dog with him!

In all of Chinese mythology, probably the only famous figure that has a dog is Yang Jian, Erlang Shen. His dog is called Xiaotian Quan, or Howling Celestial Dog, is Erlang Shen’s companion, who fights with him. 

This is why when the Black Myth: Wukong official account said they wouldn't spoil the next boss but that he had a dog, Westerners were confused but all of China was like. Bro, who else could it possibly be, the only dog dad in all of mythology who has anything to do with Wukong is Erlang Shen.

It was a bit of a Givenchy Ariana Grande situation.

In Fengshen Yanyi, Erlang Shen also fights with the Chan Sect and Ne Zha against the King of Shang. There’s one tale he’s famous for, where he’s the key figure in overturning the tide in a particular battle.

Erlang Shen had learned how to transform into 72 different living things, and he allowed himself to be eaten by his opponent’s spiritual beast. Then, he killed the beast from inside, transformed himself to look like it, then tricked his opponents and stole all their fancy shit. 

He also used the 72 transformations against Wukong in Journey to the West.

Erlang Shen, Sun Wukong, and Ne Zha have all gotten recent modernised adaptations, and all three of them go against "traditional Chinese values" and still manage to be widely beloved and respected characters.

(Sun Wukong's most recent modernised movie is the 2015 Monkey King: Hero is Back, which was translated horribly since it really means something more like The Return of the King. The movie's plot is great, but the animation isn't as good as New Gods Yang Jian or Ne Zha 1/2.)

Look at that. Good movie, I hope they make a second one, and maybe they can get some advice from Jiaozi on how to improve the animation. I mean, it's not bad, but it's certainly not as good as it COULD be.

As such, the Heaven Haters boy band has officially debuted. Be sure to check out their debut album, "Fuck the Emperor", currently no. 1 in ancient China.

Wukong is still my favourite, just because he's the no.1 in every Chinese person's heart, but Erlang Shen and Ne Zha are also great.

Who doesn't love a crazy hot killing machine? Or a murderous fiery iPad kid on wheels?

Erlang Shen summarised:

A (slightly) ruthless but powerful righteous warrior with a third eye in his forehead that can shoot lasers and see through disguises. He fights with a cool mythical spear and has a super cute and super strong dog.

More on the Heaven Haters boyband later. I might make a big post as to why them hating heaven is significant.

[lionofchaeronea]

Reading the Complete Poems of the Sumerian priestess Enheduana, the world's first named author, as edited and translated by the Sumerologist Sophus Helle. Call me corny if you like, but I get a genuine chill thinking that this woman is speaking to me (and to every reader) across the gulf of four millennia.

[paiawon]

babes wake up new euripides just dropped

[ohdearwhatacatastrophe]

Agamemnon and Achilles watching Antinoös and his ilk entering the underworld like:

[teenaged-athena]

two of my opinions about the secret history that nobody asked for:

part of the reason Bunny is so-called might be that it is an Australian (I think??) slang word for a victim, and in British slang it can mean one who gossips (as in 'rabbiting' on about something), as well as being a reference to Edmund 'Bunny' Wilson

the murder taking place in April might be a reference to T.S Eliot's 'The Waste Land' ('April is the cruellest month', which is in itself a Chaucer reference)

[catsandwitches]

greek mythology hyperfixation coming back STRONG i am going to reread both the iliad and the odyssey this year

[greekmythcomix]

I just had a look online to find if anyone had made a list of all the names of fighters in the Iliad, and I discovered that someone in fact had.

I had.

Me.

In 2015.

I have absolutely no memory of this.

I made a spreadsheet, and even wordclouds ffs.

It’s even got what side they’re on, where they’re originally from, their epithet and patronymic if they have one. Wow.

And, you can filter it by any of these to find which version of a character you need.

Oh my god I even put if they brought SHIPS? I made an excel spreadsheet of the CATALOGUE OF SHIPS. (I’m Dyscalculaic though so they might be wrong ha!)

Anyway, thanks, past-fugue-state-me?!

I’m sure I used it to make the Deaths in the Iliad infographic: https://www.tumblr.com/greekmythcomix/722650261704867840/death-in-the-iliad-an-infographic-originally

Anyway, the ‘names in the Iliad’ post is here with links to the spreadsheet: https://greekmythcomix.com/2015/07/21/fighters-in-the-iliad/

Have fun with it!

[ditoob]

Had to re-read The Epic Of Gilgamesh (This time the Sophus Helle translation) for class, so here are some of the doodles I made along with my notes

[rael-f-wae]

A foolish man is all night awake, pondering over everything, and when morning comes, all is lament as before.

The Elder Eddas

[paganimagevault]

Tocharian B Love Poem, manuscript B496, 6th-7th C. CE

"…a thousand years, [you will] tell [our] story. [I thus announce, [here]tofore there was no human being dearer to me than [you]; likewise hereafter there will be no one dearer to [you] than [me]. [Your] love, [your] affection, [my] jubilant song rises up! Along with life [itself], this should not come to an end for [my] whole life. I was thinking: “I will live with one love well [for the whole of my] life, without any deceit, without…” The God [of Karma] alone recognized this, my thought. Thus he provoked a quarrel; it ripped out my heart [that belonged] to [you. I]t led [you] afar, it tore me apart, it turned me into a partaker of all sorrows; he took away the consolation [I had] in thee… my life, spirit, and heart, day-by-day…"

"Tocharian B: …(ya)ltse pikala watäṃ ·e – ci(ṣṣ)e /// /// – – ·nts· p(o) ask(a)sk(au) (mā) ñ(i) (ci)sa noṣ śomo ñ(e)m(wno)lme (l)āre tāka mā ra postaṃ cisa lāre mäsketär-ñ : ciṣṣe laraumñe ciṣṣe ārtañye pelke kaltta-(r)r«†ä» śolämpa ṣṣe mā t(e) stālle śol wärñai : 2 taiysu pälskanoym sanai ṣaryompa śāyau karttse(ś) śaulu-wärñai snai tserekwa snai tā – : yāmor-ñīkte ṣe cau ñī palskañe śarsa tusa ysaly= ersate ciṣy= araś ñi sälkāte : wāya ci lauke tsyāra ñiśwetke «k»ly«†k»autka-ñ pāke po läklenta«nt»s ciṣe tsārwo sampā(te-ñ) – – – – – – ·e śol pals(k)= araś ñī kom-kom mī-"

-Cf. the transcription and translation in J. P. Mallory and Victor H.Mair, The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West (London: Thames & Hudson, 2000), p. 273.