#Classical mythology

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Crouching Figure of Atlas Artist: Baldassare Peruzzi (Italian, 1481-1536) Date: unknown Genre: figure study; mythological art Period: High Renaissance (Cinquecento) Medium: Pen and brown ink, over leadpoint or black chalk Dimensions: 20.6 cm (8.2 in) high x 13.4 cm (5.3 in) wide Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

[cjbolan]

We need more aged Penelopes . I swear every Odyssey movie/TV adaptation makes her look no older than 40. Not a gray hair in sight. Even after her son is 20 and she waited for Odysseus for 20 years. Meanwhile Odysseus himself gets to age (un)gracefully.

[zarekthelordofthefries]

You don't get Hestia as an option because what, you think I'm gonna make this EASY on you?

[glossc1]

born from an egg 🥚

[toyastales]

Beautiful craftsmanship and artistry.

[little-miss-sad-eyes]

Just here to publicly thank Homer for giving us the best homosexual love story ever written (the Iliad) and the best heterosexual love story ever written (the Odyssey)

[wordsmithic]

unpopular opinion but with the new tide of Greek mythology stories and retellings, Greek Cultural Sensitivity Readings are absolutely necessary. We are in 2024, with thousands of fics and retellings out there!! How is this not a thing yet?? There's vast improvement one can achieve by working professionally on their text with a Greek. I've seen it so many times!!

Also, duh, I'm offering the service BUT I want you to know that the situation with the inaccuracies of SERIOUS works is so dire that initially I didn't even do it for money. As a writer I just wanted to... fix things, to set a new standard for writers and the industry that sells us the most heavily Americanized pop-culture material and passes it as "authentic vibes of Greek mythology". (And of course there were writers who wanted to do right by their story and they had reached out to me. So kudos to them as well!)

Okay, but why does Cultural Sensitivity Reading make a vast difference and it's not just smoke and mirrors?

As a Greek, I am tired of well-meaning writers and authors butchering very basic elements of my culture. It's not their fault exactly, since they were raised in another culture with a different perspective. And nobody clued them in on how different Greek culture is from theirs, so writers sometimes assume that their culture is the default and they project that into ancient Greece. (Even published professionals like Madeline Miller have written "UK or US in antiquity" (with a very colonialist flavor) instead of writing "Ancient Greece". (Looking at you, Circe!)

Even writers who researched a lot before coming to me still had a lot of misinformation or wrong information in their text, easily verifiable by the average Greek. Again, not their fault. They can only access certain information, which does not include Greek scholarly work and scientific articles that DO offer valuable context.

Translation, accuracy, and meaning: If you ever wondered what a word means or how to pronounce it, here's your chance! There are Greeks like me who are knowledgeable and have a keen interest in antiquity and they will be able to read and compare ancient texts, and dive deeper into the work of Greek scholars regarding those texts.

If you want to create new words, you can do that as well! (It doesn't always work, but we can try. Greek is a really rich language and has a word about everything) If you use existing words, I can help you separate reality from fantasy in the context of your story.

(Do not assume we Greeks are ignorant of our heritage, or that we don't know how to research! Our archaeology sector is huge and archaeological museums are closer to most of us than your local Target is to you)

I guarantee there are things you never thought about Greece and the Mediterranean - from the ancient to the modern era. Sprinkling elements like phrases, types of interactions, customs, songs, instruments, dances, etc , into your text will make your text absolutely rich in culture.

Names matter!!! The genders of the names matter, diminutives matter (If I see one more "Perse" for Persephone I will claw my eyes out along with a few thousand Greeks), naming traditions matter!!! In many cases you should not even use a diminutive!!

You will be able to write about a foreign culture easily! Because of the continuity of Greek culture, you can even write a few more recent Greek elements to fill in the gaps. I can make sure they are not mismatched, and they will complement your ancient setting. I have observed a few things I didn't know we had since antiquity, but they make sense because our land has certain characteristics.

Non-Greek writers often miss the whole context of Greek culture! Do you know how Greek respect towards deities and parents looks like? What tones we use when we talk to our elders? When to use honorific plural - if your setting is more modernized?

Oh, and please let's avoid caricatures when describing Greeks?? (even fantasy Greeks) There can be heavy exotisation and odd descriptions of Greeks, as if we are another species. Even in published works. For many western writers it's difficult to catch, unfortunately.

The whole process is actually way easier than you think. You send me a text, I make notes and then we have some discussion on your vision.

It's always okay to seek guidance from the locals! You are not "guilty" when you admit you don't know! How can you know if you don't ask?? You can't imagine what relief and "πάλι καλά!!!" I read/see from other Greeks when I tell them another foreigner is using me for cultural sensitivity? Greeks want you to seek help and will NOT shame you for it!

(On the contrary, you have no idea how many eye-rolls Greeks do when they see a blatantly wrong thing in a story... Which has happened pretty often for many years now. Can we do better as an industry?? Please???)

You can send me a personal message to share your story, or ask what this whole cultural sensitivity thing is all about, or ask about what I have done so far and how I can help. But for the love of all that's good, don't let your story be another "generic greek myth retelling"! And don't let others sell you their generic greek myth retellings!!

[helpmeimblorboing]

Had a dream that Epic had an unfinished song called Love Remains in which the ghost of Achilles tells Odysseus that over the years he has been dead, all the desire for honour and glory he once held close had faded away, and the only thing that remained was the love of Patroclus, and I kind of wish I was a better songwriter because damn

[t00thpasteface]

CHAKA!! tell her something good...

[doodlerose]

This is supposed to be children of Hero's who were killed by their parents, chilling in a field. Hopefully having a much peaceful afterlife compared to their lives.

Hippolytus- son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyte - who was killed by Poseidon as a wish from Theseus after being falsely blamed for Phaedra (Theseus's wife) suicide.

Iphigenia- daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra - who was killed in a sacrifice to Artemis in order to sail to Troy.

and Medea's and Jason's sons- who were killed by Medea for revenge against Jason, and after researching were not able to find definitive names for them in the play which is tragic. But I haven't read the play so I could be wrong.

Feel free to correct me if I got any information wrong :).

[lionofchaeronea]

Venus and Minerva, Pellegrino Tibaldi or circle, between ca. 1590 and 1620

[cjbolan]

Reblogging bc why not

Homer after listening to all the changes made to his poems in EPIC: The Musical :

[Image description: a man angrily yanks off a pair of headphones. End description.]

[hades-bat]

Apollo served by the Nymphs, by Girardon and Regnaudin, 1666, Versailles 🌞

[flowersforfrancis]

“In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”

- Madeline Miller- The Song of Achilles

[jacobpking]

After 170 hours and 2 different drawing tablets, its finally here: My Illustrated guide to the Odyssey!🌊

This is the single biggest proejct I've ever made, it almost took as long as both Trojan War pieces combined. Needless to say, it'll be a long time before I make another big project like this

I also want to give a huge thank you to @katerinaaqu who's been brilliant in giving me lengthy odyssey quotes translated from the original greek, and helping me brainstorm character designs. She's been incredible and this project wouldn't be as good as it is now without her

[firnen-the-teragram-teabag]