#I have been researching greek statues

[eternallytired17]

Quill and Ink:

A Masters of the Air / Bridgerton AU sequel to Amongst the Vines - WIP

John’s hands immediately fell to grip Gale’s thighs, allowing Gale to easily catch both of them by the wrists and pin them on either side of John’s head. He heard a rumble rise in John’s throat as he rutted up against him, the roughhousing having evidently aroused him. “You’re a crafty little fox, aren’t you?” He said, leaning down along the length of John’s body to murmur lowly in his ear. “Why must you always misbehave?” John grinned up at him, opening his captive hands in mock surrender. “Perhaps because I know for a certainty that you won’t hesitate to put me in my place.”

A few years into their respective marriages, Gale, John, Marjorie and Helen are spending the off-season in the privacy of Gale’s country estate, Boeing Hall. While Gale attempts to finalize the estate’s accounts in his private study, John makes it his personal mission to distract Gale from his work.

Based on the 'Chaise Lounge' prompt chosen from the vote a few weeks ago.

[wanderinggoddess]

Arun, in Mughal Era dress

(i had fun researching the fashion history so im gonna include a bit of info under the cut for anyone interested!)

First, Armand is dressed more typically for the upper class or royalty, but I wanted to paint him all dolled up. This would have been somewhat typical dress for Mughal Empire (roughly the 16th-18th centuries) royalty. Men of all classes would typically wear the Jama (the overcoat). I depicted this one as made of Dhaka Muslin, one of the finest and rarest fabrics produced from the Dhaka region. The technique has since been lost, but at the time was incredibly sought after. So much so that during the British colonizers would take the artisans and materials and force them into reproducing the fabric for little to know compensation. Dhaka Muslin was so fine that it was practically transparent, and was worn by members of the upperclass across the world. I read somewhere that it was used to dress statues of greek goddesses. Another little detail is that Armand's Jama is fastened to the right, typical of a Muslim man, rather than to the left (a Hindu man).

I based this loosely off of Caravaggio's Bachus and Depictions of Prince Salim.

All the info I got was from these three youtube videos, so it's not like any serious research!

[alphajocklover]

Hey dude, I got invited to a Halloween party and I was thinking of dressing up like Hercules, the real god not the Disney character. But I don’t feel like my costume fits very well. Do you think you could help it look better on my body? Truck or treat, your choice.

You had to admit, going to a museum to research a Halloween costume might have been taking things a little too far. You weren’t usually this intense about costumes, but you wanted this Hercules costume to be extra authentic. Part of the reason for this was your step brother. The two of you had never gotten along, him being an arrogant muscle man and you being an intelligent, fairly scrawny nerd. Your step brother always went out of his way to annoy you, and this year he did it by making fun of something you love: Greek mythology. Your idiot step brother was going as the hercules from the Disney movie, without knowing a thing about the actual mythology, because he knew you hated that movie and because ‘Hercules is hella buff’ as your step brother said. You knew the only way to really shut him up would be to wear a Hercules costume that was much better than his, but… you did not have the body to pull it off. At all. So you had to make the costume as authentic as physically possible. Sadly, your trip to the museum did not encourage you.

Every statue of Hercules just reminded you of how much of an advantage your step brother had, how much more he looked like your favorite god than you did. You stared at a bust of Hercules, one that particularly reminded you of your step brother, and silently prayed that something would change. Without thinking you reached out your hand… and were surprised hen the statue literally shocked you!

You pulled your hand back as you felt the electricity begin to spread throughout your body, causing you to grow quickly. Before you even understood what was happening… you had been changed. Your looked at your body, your mind in a daze. The muscles, the hair, the handsome jaw line… You looked like a Greek god!

You smirked as you flexed one of your biceps. What the fuck were you doing in a fucking lame museum? You and your twin brother were supposed to be getting costumes! You were gonna go as twin Hercules, him as the cartoon version and you as the original. You knew together the two of you would get a fuck ton of pussy. And if not, while you always had each other. Gods hooked up with each other all the time after all.

[genericpuff]

Hey Puff,

I'm someone who has always struggled with how to do research "correctly," but have lurked around the community enough to know RS had a real tendency for… not doing enough. Do you have any recommendations, not necessarily specific to Greek mythos, on how to just do research? Is Wikipedia even a good jumping off point?

Thanks!

Biggest thing, at least for me, is being thorough! The reason a lot of folks tend to side-eye Wikipedia as a "source" isn't just because it's relatively easy for anyone to edit, but also because Wikipedia itself is a library of sources and not the source itself.

Wikipedia can be a perfectly acceptable jump off point, as long as you're actually jumping to the places it can lead to - and you can do that through References.

Let's use the Wikipedia entry for Persephone as an example.

Sourcing "improperly" through Wikipedia would be to simply source directly from one of the sentences listed here and calling it a day. No further digging on where the excerpt comes from, no cross-referencing with other material, just reading the part on Wikipedia that says she was a vegetation goddess, slapping it into an essay or adaption or whatever, and then not confirming it further or picking apart the why of her status as a vegetation goddess through extended research.

Sooo what do we do to find that info? Let's search the word 'vegetation' and see if anything else comes up.

There we go, that has a bit more detail. And from here, we can click the little '19' at the end of the paragraph, which will take us to the References section at the bottom of the page.

Aaaand boom! Now you've got an actual source that you can dig into further, if you so choose. There isn't a whole lot that I can access of this sourced book online, but I was able to find an excerpt where the author sourced Cicero, a Roman poet and philosopher (among other things) who lived during the rise of the Roman empire:

That said, sometimes these sources aren't quite so easy to track down. That's where cross-referencing can help - but that means leaving Wikipedia!

Where this concerns a Greek goddess, let's see what we can find on Theoi, another great resource specifically pertaining to Greek / Roman / etc. deities, stories, and customs.

Though it's not quite as clickable as Wikipedia, Theoi also does a good job at outlining sources in their descriptions. Though Bennett isn't mentioned here, Hesiod and Cicero are, and wouldn't you know it, they're sourced on Theoi as well.

So there you have it! Even though Bennett is from the early 2000's, he did his own work to outline and source poets and academics whose work he was now documenting himself. This means the odds of Bennett simply making shit up are low because he sourced from the preserved works of the era he's speaking on and those works are referenced again through other resource libraries such as Theoi.

What ALL that helps with at the very least - aside from the opinions one could have about the sources themselves (Ovid 😒) - is to legitimize the research. We know without a shadow of a doubt that Persephone was attributed to vegetation and the harvest because there are so many sources across different cultures and backgrounds and generations stating it as such. It thus makes the conclusions a lot more credible, even when they're coming from a more modern source, because that source was built on their own research and sources from the Greek/Roman/etc. documents that have been preserved (and there's still new stuff being found!!!)

Obviously there are always arguments to be made about the material itself, especially when it comes to the debates over translations and cultural contexts, but actually following up on initial searches with referencing and cross-referencing is a lot more reliable and credible than simply taking something from Wikipedia and saying "I read it on the Internet."

As much as the effectiveness of Google and Wikipedia as legitimate research sources is frowned upon, they are incredibly effective, you just need to know where to look and how to find it, and most importantly - how to verify it.

And that's just the online stuff! Libraries are still alive and well! Many universities contribute to search engines like WorldCat which are designed specifically for research papers, published articles, and textbooks! Point is, the world around us is full of knowledge and resources, so the key is to learn how to navigate it so you can get the most out of it!

This is ultimately why it's so important to not restrict yourself to the first Google result - I know it's "easier" due to the convenience of it all, but you're also robbing yourself of the opportunity to really expand your knowledge beyond the summary of a targeted first result, and it runs the risk of sourcing from illegitimate sources or sources that are controlled by Google's own self-interests (protip: have a very specific problem but Googling it just gets you a bunch of automated sponsor posts and completely useless results? add 'reddit' to the end of your search, you'll get human answers from real human beings and there's always at least ONE other person who's had the same problem and posted about it to reddit LMAO seriously this one's saved my skin so many times)

And when you learn to do research the way that works for your brain? It's really, really fun. A lot more fun than public school led many of us to believe. If you learn best from talking and engaging with people, then go talk to people! Participate in groups and forums that are dedicated to the topic you're researching! If you learn best from listening to audio material, then try out audiobooks, they can often be found online through various means (🏴‍☠️) BUT ebooks and audiobooks are stocked at libraries too!

But of course, that leads us to what makes for bad research, and I obviously can't use any other example in this context than Rachel herself, whose "research" is evidently often the first recommended result that pops up on Google. And yes, I can say evidently because we've proven this when she tried to source the term 'xenia' into LO as a definition. Not only was it copy pasted to the point of still containing typos, but it was sourced plainly from a Princeton study guide that is now severely outdated - not the work that that study guide was sourcing from in and of itself.

(notice how she just sourced it as "princeton.edu" and not the specific URL that it came from)

If she really wanted to sound well-researched with the cheeky insert of the definition of xenia linking to a smart-sounding location (we're gonna ignore that it ruins the flow of the comic) then she could have sourced it from literally any of these:

But instead she did the equivalent of an 8th grader copy pasting a sentence from Wikipedia and calling it "research". It's not research. It's a lazy shortcut and it doesn't facilitate any real learning.

This can be seen in other instances as well, such as Metis' design:

As well as Leto, who I kinda think Rachel mixed up with the Full Metal Alchemist character of the same name when googling her because I can think of no other explanation as to why she's a sun goddess in LO when she has zero affiliation with the sun in the myths aside from being Apollo's mother-

(I can't prove that this is what happened but it's hilarious to think about; I'm also low key suspicious that Rachel accidentally mixed in some sources of the Métis people because Metis' design is very... Indigenous-coded 🤨)

^^^ This. This is all bad research. It's not a bad thing if Rachel's interest in Greek myth started through works like Hercules or other creative adaptions, that's actually how it starts for many of us. Where she failed was by trying to sell herself as a "folklorist" and her work as a "retelling", without actually following through in her research. She would often only do just enough to make herself seem well educated on the subject to anyone whose knowledge was as basic - or less - than hers, but not enough that it could actually hold up in a real discussion about Greek myth with other people who are more read up on it than her. Rachel's self-proclaimed "folklorist" title is only validated by the lowest common denominator of readers, who 99% of Lore Olympus ended up being made for in the end, while those who actually understood the myths deeper than their Wikipedia summaries pulled their hair out in frustration every time Rachel tried to make some sly reference to a myth or attempted to speak about it in interviews.

Comparisons aside, the best part is that this research process doesn't have to be exclusive to studying historical stuff! Writing a story that features a disabled character, but you yourself are not disabled and are worried you're going to misrepresent? Search up articles and posts that pertain to the specific disability you're trying to write; I guarantee you that there are people living with that disability offering up that information completely for free because they want to see more representation for themselves in media. Trying to learn how to draw characters of different body types / skin colors / etc. from your own? Seek out the works and advice of those who do have those physical differences and learn from them.

It's about being thorough. It's about opening yourself up to things you may have been blind to before. It's about embracing the learning experience as a positive sign of growth, not a negative sign of failure. It's about taking the opportunity to learn every time it presents itself, even if those opportunities are small and passive. A person who doesn't know is just a person who hasn't learned yet (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و

[uselesssomebody]

𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕤 - young!marcus acacius x priestess!reader

complete masterlist | pedro pascal masterlist

words || 𝟏.𝟗𝕜

summary || in which the reader meets a young soldier under the watchful eye of cupid

taglist || @shesservingcvnt

a/n || ancient greek/roman settings are so goated lol

➵ this one's a bit short and shit lol i think i've forgotten how to write non-sexually charged fics. happy to expand with a part 2 when marcus is a general if there is interest; please show this through messages, comments or reblogs!

➵ obviously set before the events of gladiator II, which i haven't watched yet so if anything is not canon-compliant, oops! also, i did a lil research on the life of priestesses, but have no clue how actually accurate this is haha

➵ send me requests if you have ‘em. enjoy!

warnings || fluff/a wee bit of angst

work at the temple of venus and roma is hardly quiet and calm. right next to the colosseum, the girls can hear the roars of the crowd and watch the drunken crowds as they leave the fights. some stumble their way into the temple, looking for a quick round with a courtesan, but the high priestess pushes them off. an older lady, still as gorgeous as the day she started, was adamant about the kind of rendevouz' that the women in her temple would entertain.

"help me with this, will you?" the girl is broken from her listening to the cheers of the crowd next door by another priestess, struggling with a large platter of fruit. she quickly rises to her feet, helping the other girl with her task. they place it down at the feet of the statue, and she sits beside her as she recites a short prayer. good fortune and love, prosperity and the continued beauty of rome. there's another roar from the crowd.

a beautiful city tainted with blood.

she still wasn't used to all the customs. coming from a small town, she had come in the cart of a merchant passing through. an undeniable beuaty, when the high priestess found her, she promised her a life of pease and devotion to venus, and she had agreed - it being better than her prospects on the street as a prostitute, or as a seller of wares.

she had been working at the temple only a few short weeks, and seen that these priestesses were nothing like the women of the other temples - they enjoyed the sex, they enjoyed the attention, and they welcomed the advances of the worthy men. soldiers, merchants, the occasional politician. they all filtered through the temple, as was their place.

it was not a lonely life. the girls were kind, and sweet - truly devoted and their beauty shone both through their radiant appearance and their glimmering personalities.

they watched the temples at night in pairs. there's usually not much incident, save for the occasional drunk or vandal, but they rarely worried of that. they were easy enough to tame. they watched women and men pray at the feet of the goddess, late into the night. sometimes, it was from a place of elation, and other times, of anguish.

today, she watches on along with one of the other priestesses, keeping up with the nightly cleaning. the other girl had a suitor, who would join her in the late nights. she at least had the courtesy to let her know if she was leaving early, and tonight was one of those nights. left alone in the temple, she tended to the candles and the cleaning. it's been quiet, and no one had come in yet, until she hears loud steps up the stairs.

glancing back, she sees the silhouette of a young man. he had something in his hand, and the moonlight shone on his armor. a soldier.

not the most common visitor to venus, but not uncommon, either. she stays quiet, watching him lower to his knees and murmur a prayer to the goddess.

she places a new offering at her feet, as the man's prayer ends. as she turns to step away, he takes her hand, head tilted up to her, still on his knees.

"a priestess?" his voice is gruff, but not ornery. there's that lilt of curiosity that young men tend to have. she nods silently, and she can see the hint of a smile on his shadowed face. "then you know the story of mars and venus, of course." he continues.

her brows furrow.

"of course." her voice is quiet, confused, but not dismissive.

"the most passionate of lovers." he starts to muse, rising to his feet. he towers over her, but she can't tell if that's his height, or his presence.

"did you wish to place an offering for the goddess?" she points to the bundle in his hand. he tilts his head, and hums.

"yes... but i feel that she's telling me it would be better suited for you." her eyes widen in shock, until he procures flowers. she purses her lips.

"it's not right to take a goddess's offering." her murmur is quiet, but makes him laugh.

"my prayer was for her to send me a pretty woman. and she has done so without offering." her cheeks warm, and she giggles.

"leave them at her feet, soldier." he nods obediently, carefully placing them on the feet of the statue.

"would she approve me stealing one of her priestesses away?" he asks, after doing so, and she rolls her eyes.

"hardly. and if she's not angry, then the high priestess will definitely be." he shrugs.

"i must be back in the barracks by morning. perhaps i can keep you company until then?" his suggestion makes her perk up. company from an attractive soldier who was obviously entranced by her? it was almost as though cupid guided her head to nod.

he's respectful as she finishes her tasks, before they sit on the steps on the side of the temple, used to go up to the upper floors.

"so... mars and venus?" he continues, once he's sat down with her, thigh, only partially covered by rough undercloth, brushing against hers.

"indeed. a pairing born out of an affair." she reminds playfully.

"well... sure, but mars was doing venus a favor." he argues, and she laughs.

"hardly. he got venus. she was doing him the favor." his brow raises, and he smiles.

"i suppose we will both argue for our favorite." she shifts to face him.

"i am her priestess, it would be blasphemous to not." he shrugs.

"i'm a soldier. i'm like a priest of mars." she looks at him in such a way hat he immediately retracts the statement. "okay, fine. just a follower." she smiles, nodding in agreement.

"better." she decides, "how long have you been a soldier."

"just a year." he shrugs.

"been outside of the empire yet?" he shakes his head.

"not yet." her eyes follow his strong jawline, strong nose, strong arms and strong legs. he's imposing, and seems to hold more authority than he does.

"did you really come in here tonight to ask venus for a pretty girl?" he looks over, a little sheepish.

"well... yes, i suppose. but i also figured there'd be a lot of pretty girls as priestesses." she rolls her eyes playfully, pretending to be disappointed.

"you men." she shakes her head, scolding him, and he laughs, taking her hand.

"why must you women be so pretty, hmm? have you asked that?" he kisses her knuckles. "and i think i've found the most beautiful to enjoy a hardened soldier's company."

"hardened? you've hardly been a soldier for a year!" he pouts playfully.

he comes the next night, and the night after. and then he comes in the mornings too, with a bundle of wild flowers for the goddess, with one that he always reserves for his priestess. the other girls talk, but she hardly minds that, spending her free time in the courtyard with her soldier.

one night, he's tracing the lines on her palm. it's a quiet night, and the fabric of her robes rustle in the wind.

"you're quiet tonight." she murmurs, and it's true. he'd usually speak of his training, his mates, his hardass of a general.

"i wish not to speak." he sighs, almost defeated. she blinks in confusion, looking over at him.

"what happened?" she shifts closer, hand on his arm. he sucks in a deep breath, not looking at her. he stares out into the empty courtyard.

"i must go, in two days. to egypt." she blinks in shock. of course, she'd anticipated it, but not so soon. and she never thought about facing it head on.

"why didn't you tell me?" he closes his eyes.

"i don't want to have to think of being away from you." he whispers, a vulnerable crack in his arrogant shell. she places her head on his shoulder.

"mars will see that you're back soon."

"and will venus make sure you'll wait?" he asks, and she suddenly realizes his worry.

"of course i'll wait, marcus." she promises. feeling slightly less conflicted, which she can tell by the way his shoulders loosen, she presses a small kiss to his cheek, and he pulls her closer by her shoulders, peppering kisses to her hairline.

"wait for me, my priestess." he doesn't pull away, he can't imagine he will until the sun comes up.

"always."

"when i'm back..." he starts tentatively, "i'll wed you." her eyes widen in shock.

"you will?"

"if you'll have me." he pulls away to look into her eyes, and he's uncharacteristically sheepish.

"i'll have you, my soldier."

it's a painful year of not knowing what had happened to him. her peers noticed the bout of depression that hung over her for the first few weeks, and the devout praying she would stay up to do every night. they girls understood, but they all usually knew better than to get attached to soldiers - the empire's war fodder. still, they would add a small prayer for the peace of mind of their young friend.

it's a sweltering day that she's been having, and she's waiting impatiently for the cool breezes of the night. it's a quiet day, and again, she hears the roars - human and animal - from the colosseum. she's broken out of her thoughts by one of the girls struggling with a platter of fruit. she springs up to help her, and an almost eerie shiver runs up her spine, the deja vu leaving her star struck for a moment after she places it at the feet of the goddess.

the night is similarly familiar, but she chalks it up to routine. her peer has left with the same boy, a thought that makes her heart ache at her own uncertainty over marcus. she's saying a prayer as she hears footsteps enter, but they don't bother her.

finishing the prayer, she clears the older offerings to make space for the morning's new ones, and the man steps forward. the shine of the moonlight illustrates the yellows and blues of the flowers he places, and she catches it out of the corner of her eye. he steps back, staring up at the goddess, before approaching he. she hardy notices, until she sees the single remaining flower in his hand, that he offers.

she adjusts to the shadow cast on his face, and immediately feels the overwhelming recognition wash over her, jumping into his arms.

"marcus?" almost as though she can't believe it.

"it's me." he assures, voice soft. kind and breathy - almost elated. he tucks the flower behind her ear, pulling away to look at her: that same face, as perfect as he'd remembered it, eyes brimming with - hopefully - joyous tears.

"you came back." she giggles softly, over them moon.

"and you waited, my love." he presses a kiss to each cheek, and she presses a chaste one to his lips.

"i think that means you have a promise to fulfil."

"i suppose it does."

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Miss Raven! I’m new to twisted wonderland, so I’m still confused by a lot of things, and I still can’t understand Idia’s curse and what it exactly does. Also, I don’t understand, why his friends memories will be erased? Can you explain it to me? I’m really lost

I believe you’re bringing up some points I mentioned from this post (since I got this ask shortly after that original post went live)?

Your questions are answered in book 6 of the main story. However, I realize that not everyone has access to the game, the time to read/watch it, and/or the cards to power through to that deep in the story. It’s easy for newcomers to understand the gist in the beginning (~prologue and book 1), but books 6 and 7 are packed with detail and lore that can be overwhelming to understand without sufficient context.

Firstly, the Shroud family curse originates from the Age of the Gods. The Shrouds are considered a branch family to the Jupiter family, and during this time period they attempted to overthrow them. For their defiance, they and all their descendants were inflicted with a curse which quickly burns away blot (the byproduct of magic). This seems like a strength (since that means it’s hard for a Shroud to overblot), but in reality it condemns them since their bodies will start to burn away at their own magic/life force if there isn’t any blot around to consume. In other words, the curse is detrimental to the health of Shroud mages.

Back when mages were still feared and the relationship between magic and lot was not well understood, the Jupiters sealed away overblots and a Watchman (from the Shroud family) was appointed to guard them. Over time, the Watchmen would become Styx, a secret independent organization that researches blot. Some Shrouds they could perhaps find a cure for their curse through these endeavors. Being around blot for their work also technically benefits them, as their bodies would burn the blot in their environment, thus making it less burdensome on the Shrouds’ physical status. However, Idia often phrases their circumstances as shackling and restrictive, as the Shrouds have basically been put in positions they cannot escape from due to the nature of their curse. His childhood is also presented to us as very dreary, as he grew up in Styx HQ, isolated from the real world and in a sterile environment surrounded by Styx staff.

In book 6, Idia reveals himself to the OB boys up until that point as the acting director of Styx. He then proceeds to conduct experiments on them and they goof off a little as well. Ortho expresses hope that Idia could maybe become friends with the OB boys, to which Idia is pessimistic and claims it’s pointless to try since they’ll “be sent down the River Lethe” eventually. In Greek mythology, that river is said to wipe the memories of those that submerge itself in its waters; in TWST, it’s a special program thar Styx uses to purge the memories of outsiders brought into their HQ. This would allow the outsiders to return to normal life without issue while also preserving the secrecy of Styx. It’s like… the ultimate NDA 😂

Because the OB boys are outsiders, Styx has to wipe their memories as a safety precaution before they can be released. This means that all of the fun times Idia spends with them in Styx will be forgotten too, so Idia doesn’t believe it’s worth it to make an effort to befriend them. It’s implied that Idia has always been pessimistic about his chances at forming friendships because of his isolated upbringing in combination with the expectation that he is going to become the future director of Styx—a thankless job that forces him to toil in a cold, dark place, far away from any intimate human connections.

Hope that helps ^^

[seospicybin]

REWIND.

PART II

Hyunjin x reader x Seungmin. (s,a)

Chapters: Part I

Synopsis: As a part of a research team that works on a memory-erasing machine, you work alongside the professor whom you greatly admire and a computer geek who relentlessly flirts with you. But the one that you want is the one that you can't have. (10,1k words)

Author's note: Happy reading! Let me know what you think of this fic after :)

Hyunjin almost slips as he runs in his socks and when he returns to the staff lounge, he finds you lying on your stomach on the sofa.

He can see the shape of your body basked in the faint moonlight that shines through the floor-to-ceiling window like a beautiful nymph out of Greek mythology.

He loses track of time just standing there, staring at you with admiration pooling in his eyes. He would have mistaken you for a marble statue if you weren't moving, propping a hand under your head, and turning your head his way.

"Are we going to use that condom or what?"

This is what he's been waiting for but he wouldn't mind if you changed your mind, he would love to just lie next to you and stare at your face all night.

But Hyunjin simply can't resist feeling the softness of your skin under his fingertips and the way you whimper under the faintest of his touch. Oh, he's in too deep!

"I'm afraid you have to make me wet again," you playfully say as you lay back on the sofa facing up.

"That wouldn't be a problem," he says, planting his mouth on your stomach and blowing air on it.

You laugh at how tickling it is and put your hand over your head, "My dad used to do that when I was a kid. Oh no, you make me think of my dad," you croon.

It's a good thing that Hyunjin knows how to take your mind off things, he puts his mouth on your cunt and wets it with his slick tongue.

Your hand reaches for his head and you pull him, making him hover above you so you can kiss him. He can feel you licking your essence off his lips then mix it all up in a deep kiss.

You spread your legs open and wrap them around his dainty waist, drawing him closer and closer until there's not even an inch left between your bodies.

Before Hyunjin forgets, he reluctantly breaks the kiss and props his elbow against the sofa.

"Wait a minute," he says.

"You make me wait again," you complain with an adorable pout.

He softly laughs then rips the foil packet with his teeth and carefully takes the rubber out.

"Need my help?" You offer with a soft scratch on his head.

Hyunjin doesn't answer but sits on the sofa, putting all of his focus on rolling the rubber down his length and pinching the end to make a little space.

He settles himself between your legs as you put them on each side of his waist. He doesn't hesitate to insert his fingers inside you again, feeling you clenching as he curls them inside

"Fuck..." he lowly hisses.

He pulls his fingers out only to see they're coated with your essence, he puts them in his mouth next, licking them clean.

"Do you think you can take me?" He asks with a hand that runs down the valley of your breasts.

You're slyly smiling and nodding at his words with a finger tugged between your teeth.

He uses the tip of his cock to tease your clit, "But you're so little," he says.

You prop your elbows against the sofa and reach for his cock, repeatedly rubbing it down your folds to lubricate it with your wetness, then slowly, you push it inside you.

You lean back down as you calmly mutter, "You can do the rest."

It's only the tip but Hyunjin already feels like he's about to lose it. He grips your thighs as he slides in the remaining length, little by little with his eyes intently watching his cock disappear into you.

"Oh, my God! Yes..." you breathlessly moan.

He glances up and sees you touching yourself with your eyes closed, seeing you enjoying yourself reminds him that he should be enjoying it too.

Don't think too much, he reminds himself.

He pushes in until his cock is buried inside your tight, warm walls. He has to take a moment just to try to calm down. He lets his body hover above you with a hand propped next to your head to not put his whole weight on you. He can't seem to gain any of his senses back.

Suddenly, he feels a finger pressing on his forehead, then he hears your laugh.

"You have this crease on your forehead," you tell him, dropping your hands around his neck to pull him close.

He lets out a shy laugh and hides his head in your neck, "It's just— you just feel so good," he mutters.

The two of you stay like that for a moment until Hyunjin is sure that he has some self-control in him to continue. He looks at you, slowly lowering his mouth on yours as he starts moving his hips.

It's not the first sex he's having but it's the first time Hyunjin doesn't think about his own pleasure. He wants to make you feel good, more importantly, he wants to make this special.

His thrusts are slow and steady yet they're enough to make you a moaning mess under him. You're whimpering against his lips, your hands are clawing at his back and your legs are locked around him.

At times, he wants to follow his greed, having all of you at once but he reminds himself that you're not just some girl, you're the girl. You're the girl he likes and adores, you're the girl that he believes is more than just one of his passing fancy.

He knows you've just climaxed for the second time just now from the way your walls tightening around him. He immediately slows down, giving you a moment to relish the immense pleasure.

"I'm cumming," you breathlessly inform a little too late.

"I know" He murmurs, then presses a kiss on your lips.

You eagerly return his kiss with your hand taking a fistful of the hair on the back of his head, a kiss that turns into a slow, sensual making out in the middle of sex.

You gasp for air when you let go of the kiss with your eyes still closed and he uses the opportunity to remove the strands of hair covering your face, putting them to the side and holding them there.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," he mutters with a low sigh.

When you open your eyes, you catch him staring at you and smile, "What? Lose your virginity?"

Hyunjin cracks a laugh and softly caresses your cheek, "Yeah, that."

"Let's switch positions," you say, not waiting for his approval to turn over without pulling out of him.

With you on top of him, Hyunjin can see all of you, the shape of your body against the soft moonlight and the eyes that looking down on him, full of glint, lustful, and alive.

Never in the times he thought of you, you would be on top of him and slowly rocking your hips back and forth, feeling his full length inside you.

"Oh..." His moan is quivering.

You maliciously smile knowing what you're doing to him and now, rolling your hips in slow, circular motions.

Hyunjin's hand immediately grips your waist to stop you because he knows if you keep doing it, he won't last long.

"Give me a moment," he tells you with a suppressed grunt.

You take the hand resting on your waist, exploring your body with it, and let him feel you. You run his hand down your chest and cup your breast, letting him knead on it.

You let your hand and let his hand continue its exploration while you lowly moan as he caresses your body with his knuckle.

"Gosh, you're so beautiful," he sighs in disbelief.

Hyunjin can't wrap his head around the fact that not only he can see it, but he can touch and feel it too. He brings his hand to your face and sighs again, "So beautiful."

You lay your hands on his chest and hover above him as he asks, "Let's continue, mmh?"

Not sure if that was a rhetorical question but Hyunjin can only prepare himself for what's coming. You move at a steady pace, making him drown in pleasure and he feels the need to do the same so he uses his thumb to gently circling on your clit.

You keep clenching and unclenching around him and it does nothing but give him the utmost pleasure, he can feel that his release is only a minute away. You pause for a second to plant both of your feet on the sofa to give him more depth and ultimately, more pleasure.

Hyunjin isn't ready for it but seeing the way his cock slips in and out of you is hypnotic, he can't seem to do anything but let the pleasure pull him under.

He blanks out for a moment as waves of pleasure wash over him and finds himself overwhelmed, running out of breath.

You kiss his open mouth and giggle, "Are you okay?"

Can't believe how you casually asked him that when you've just made him cum and it's the best one he ever had. Maybe it's the sex, maybe you're too good at it but he believes it's because he's doing it with you.

He roughly brushes his hair to the back and sighs, "Fuck... That was so good."

Even though he's still catching his breath, he puts his arms around you and draws you close, pulling you for another kiss. He breaks the kiss but keeps your head close to him.

"I can tick it off of my bucket list now," he playfully says, sending you collapsing on top of him, laughing.

Hyunjin comes back from the bathroom to find you in the pantry dressed in his sweater with your black tights on. He sees you taking the leftover pizza out of the microwave and start munching on it.

He sits on the stool and takes the other slice of pizza from the plate, then tilts his head to the side, watching you eating as he takes a bite of his pizza.

Aware of the stare, you're smiling as you chew on your food. You turn away to grab a new can of soda from the fridge and pop it open.

"Now that you've had sex with me, you can stop pestering me," you tell him.

Hyunjin takes the can of soda from your hand and takes a sip, "What if I want to keep clinging to you?"

"Just go..." you grumble, taking your canned soda back from his hand, "like... date someone your age."

Hyunjin hates it whenever you bring it up, not only about it but the way you make it sound like he's a snotty 12-year-old boy. He drops his half-eaten pizza on the plate and leans forward on the counter.

"That's a lame excuse," he says in disagreement.

"What?"

"The age gap thing," he replies.

He stacks his hands on the counter and looks at you, "I'm of age, you're of age," he points out the only fact that matters here.

Hyunjin snatches the can of soda from you again, "I'm hot, you're hot," he lays out another common thing you both shared.

You giggle at that and wipe your hand on a napkin.

"And the sex was great," Hyunjin adds with a lopsided grin.

You raise an eyebrow at him, doubting his remark.

"I know you liked it," he confidently says, finishing the can of soda oda and wiping his mouth after.

He gets off his stool to get another can of soda from the fridge and leans against it as he opens it, "And you obviously know I like you," he lists another one.

Hyunjin calmly sips his drink before coming up to you, standing right close to you as he makes a conclusion out of the list of things that are true between you and him.

"And despite that, I keep annoying you, I know you like me too," he makes a bold statement, ignoring his heart that is pitter-pattering inside him.

The fact that you have nothing to say to that only means it's also true. Despite the way you act annoyed whenever he flirts or teases you, you like him but sure, yeah, not as much as he likes you.

But you like him.

Hyunjin rests his elbow against the counter and looks at you, his eyes crinkling under the fluorescent lights.

"So tell me," he says, "What stopping us from dating each other?"

It's your turn to steal his soda now, taking a long gulp with your eyes locked in a gaze with him. He senses that you have the answer but is reluctant to say it to him and you don't have to, he knows enough from working with you for a few months now.

Hyunjin thinks he knows the reason why.

"My sweater looks good on you," he compliments.

He gets on his feet to stand behind you, wrapping his arms around you, not wanting to think, he just wants to kiss you and exist in this moment with you.

So he does, he crashes his lips against yours and kisses you with all of his heart, even though they won't be enough to change your mind.

"But what's underneath is better, of course," he mutters against your lips as he slips his hands under the sweater, fondling your breasts as he continues kissing you.

The sound of the landline phone ringing echoes through the halls and reaches Hyunjin's ear. He groans because he gets interrupted for the second time, not when his hands are busy getting under your sweater.

You abruptly stop kissing him and gasp, "It must be the Professor!"

You gently push him away and dash to your desk, Hyunjin unconsciously following you there, watching you take a deep breath before picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Professor?" You confirm your guess.

"Hyunjin?" You glance at him, signaling that Seungmin asks for him.

He presses his ear close to the phone to hear glimpses of the conversation.

"He didn't pick up the phone because he's in the bathroom," you cover for him.

Fuck. His phone is in his jeans and it's lying around on the sofa in the pantry, that's why he couldn't hear him calling.

"Yes, yes," you nodding along as you speak, "I'll tell him that."

You slowly turn around to face Hyunjin after hanging up the phone, he can see the slight panic on your face.

"What?" He curiously asks.

"He's on his way here," you answer.

"Professor Seungmin?"

You nod.

"Oh, fuck!" Hyunjin curses, feeling a mix of things but mostly in disbelief that he still decides to come when he could have spent the night with the missus.

"We have uh..." you fumble check the time, "like... half an hour?"

Hyunjin refuses to believe that his sweet dream should end this way. He follows you as you walk back to the pantry.

"Okay then... we still have time for another round of sex," he jokes.

"No..." you grumble.

You pick up his jeans and toss them at him, "We have to start cleaning up!"

Hyunjin puts on his jeans and almost trips on them as he does it in a hurry, "What do you want me to do?" He asks.

You're putting on your skirt as you talk, "You do the main lab and he–" you pause to zip your skirt before continuing, "he wants you to send the system status."

He almost malfunctioned looking at you taking off the sweater next, forgetting what he's about to say to you.

"What are you waiting for?" You ask, perplexed.

"Let me just—" he quickly puts on his t-shirt and brushes his hair to the back.

Even after that, Hyunjin stays there and watches you putting on your bra, swiftly clasping the straps together without looking.

"Hyunjin!" You call him while tossing his sweater back at him.

That works to snap him out of it, getting him moving and realizing that he needs to remove any signs of fun around the place.

However, Hyunjin still needs one more thing. He comes up to you and without thinking, presses a long kiss on you. The kiss certainly takes you by surprise that you can only look at him when he pulls away.

"I'm going now," he breaks into a run before you can complain.

When Hyunjin arrives at his desk and encounters a serious problem, he knows that his sweet moment has finally come to an end.

-

The sheen of sweat is apparent on your forehead, you scoop some water and splash it right onto your face. You fix your hair, tuck your blouse inside your skirt and not forgetting to spray some perfume. You do anything to get rid of any evidence that you’ve just had sex with your co-worker.

You do a final lap and make sure there’s not a single trace of fun that happened in this workplace a while ago and head to the main lab. You spray the place with a can of air freshener to remove the smell of weed that may still cling in the air.

Hyunjin’s head turns in your direction, “We have a problem!”

The last thing you need to hear is there’s a problem and from the look on Hyunjin’s face, you can tell that it’s serious. You sigh and take a stand next to him, “What?”

He types fast on his keyboard and shows you a chart, “He was off the map,” he says.

With your head already filled with worries, you find it hard to focus on it, “What do you mean?”

“He went off the brain map. He was almost erasing the wrong memory,” he explains with his fingers touching his plush lips.

“Almost? That doesn’t mean it happened, right?” you ask with a quivering voice.

“The failsafe… it worked to stop him from going way off and led him back on the map,” he confirms yet he’s not looking so calm about it.

“Then what is the problem?” you meekly ask, knowing that it’s going to be time to dread.

Hyunjin glances at you and pinches his lower lip before speaking, “You know we have to tell Professor about this right?”

“Oh, fuck!” The profanity automatically falls out of your mouth.

Surely, you have the option to not tell him and act like nothing happened but Seungmin would know. He would most likely check it himself and eventually finds out, there’s no way out of this but come clean to him that you both fucked up.

“Oh… fuck…” You meekly curse with your hand massaging your temple.

Now you know how serious it is that your head starts to spin and you get groggy, you blame it on the alcohol and the recreational drug mixed with anxiety, making you suddenly feel sick. If Hyunjin wasn’t there holding your hand, you would have broken down onto the floor.

“It’s okay. We’ll just tell him it happened so quickly that we didn’t notice but the failsafe worked, the procedure is almost done anyway,” Hyunjin resolves, trying to comfort you.

His phone is vibrating on the desk and he goes to check it, reading a text from someone, “Tim said Professor has just come through the gate.”

All of a sudden, you wish you could have smoked that one rolled joint from Hyunjin’s tin can, it would really helped you relax., you run to your desk and put your lab coat on. Seungmin could come any minute now and you check your appearance for one last time, then rummaging inside your bag to put a fresh coat of lipstick and pop two mints into your mouth.

The sounds of the elevator chimes open make your heart drop and you tell yourself that it’s time to put an act. You smack your lips together and turn around on your feet, ready to greet him.

“Good evening, Professor!” You cheerily greet which only makes it seem even more suspicious.

Aware that you’re smiling too enthusiastically, you quickly tone it down a little and clasp your hands together in front of you, letting him know you’re at his service.

As usual, Seungmin avoids looking into your eyes, he swings his briefcase and takes off his coat, putting it down on your desk, “What’s the update?”

Even though you know he’d ask that very question it still catches you off guard, your hands are flailing as you take his briefcase and coat in your hands.

“Uh… they uh… they’re on their ninth and progressing,” you stammer.

Seungmin doesn’t waste time to check it himself, you decide to put his things in his office first and join everyone in the main lab after. You have to go back to retrieve your notebook, in case Seungmin wants you to do something.

As expected, he’s checking everything himself, and from the look of Hyunjin’s face, he told Seungmin about it already.

“I checked everything and nothing else shows up, it’s only that one… I-I’m sorry, Professor, I left for a moment and not…” Hyunjin is babbling, trying to explain himself.

However, Seungmin seems to not hear him, he’s too busy checking everything himself. It would have been great if he scolds any of you but no, he stays quiet with his jaws all clenched and it looks hot on him but gosh, it only makes you more nervous.

Hyunjin throws a glance at you and you take it that he needs you to back him up but the problem is something feels caught in your throat, not allowing you to speak out. You repeatedly gulp air to muster up the courage to open your mouth and

“Hyunjin, I want you to check the log system!” Seungmin orders without looking away from the computer screen.

Hyunjin awkwardly gets up from his chair and scratches his head, “In the server room or…?”

Seungmin turns his head to the side, sharply glancing his way, “As soon as possible,” he says.

Even though Seungmin is not answering his question, Hyunjin immediately scrambles to get his laptop and hugs it close to his chest, “Copy that!”

He heads for the door when Seungmin calls his name again and you exchange a glance with him right before he turns around, “Yes, Professor?”

“Don’t miss out on any details!” Seungmin warns him with an icy glare.

Even if it’s not aimed toward you is already enough to send a shudder down your spine. Feeling bad for not being able to defend Hyunjin, you chase after him as he leaves for the server room in the lower level and grab his elbow, “Hey...”

In response to your sad call, he softly smiles and takes your hand to squeeze it, “I’ll be downstairs. No need to worry,” he says with a playful laugh.

You scoff and reach for the collar of his sweater, fixing it for him, “Okay.”

“Can you tame the beast while I’m away though?” he jokingly asks while keeping his voice low, afraid that Seungmin would hear it.

You doubt you can do that but you stifle a nod, “I’ll try.”

-

One thing you learned from working as his assistant for three years is that when Seungmin is mad, it's better to give him space.

You let him work in the main lab by himself, he'd call for you when he needed you which is a rare thing, and he's doing fine by himself most of the time.

However, you know that you and Hyunjin's recklessness has caused this therefore, you have to try to ease him up and most importantly, apologize.

Watching through the window in the pantry, you see that Seungmin is leaving the main lab and he's most likely going to his office.

You were planning to make a cup of tea for yourself in the hope of helping you sober up but then it seems like a good idea to make one for Seungmin too. who knows a nice cup of tea would help to relax him?

You keep retreating with a tray in your hands, having second thoughts about the tea but you remind yourself that it's not fair that Hyunjin has been taking all the blame himself and you should take responsibility too.

Three knocks on his door and you let yourself in, "I made you a cup of tea, Professor," you quietly mutter, almost inaudible.

You have been looking down at the floor but the absence of his answer makes your eyes wander, he only turns the light on this desk and keeps the rest of the room dark.

Through the faint moonlight that shines through the blinds, you see Seungmin's silhouette, the tall figure and wide shoulders. His hands are busy untying his tie open and pulls it around the collar of his shirt.

You have to actively tell your brain to start talking and not just stand there, staring at him.

"Professor, I'd like to apologize for being so careless and putting the test subject at risk," your throat is so clogged up that you find it hard to say those words.

Seungmin doesn't say anything but gets to the coat hanger, putting his suit jacket on there.

"Why? You're not the one operating the machine," he calmly says.

It's like walking on thin ice, one wrong step and you're done. So you choose your next word carefully or else, you'll be drowning in his icy glares.

"Because I was here when it happened and I should've alerted Hyunjin about it," you tell him, taking over the blame from Hyunjin.

Seungmin's head snaps in your direction yet he remains standing there, rolling the sleeves of his shirt to his elbow.

"Do you understand how important this test is?" He asks, his voice is calm yet sharp.

At this point, you just have to follow his words if you want to make it out alive so you meekly nod, "Yes, Professor."

He then goes around the desk, leaning against the desk, and crosses his arms in front of him, "Do you want me to fail?"

You strongly deny with a head shake, "No, Professor."

You look at him even though you can't see much in this dim light, "I know that I disappointed you but it was never my intention to make you fail," you earnestly tell him.

It's kind of offending that he makes it sound like you tried to sabotage him when in fact, you were neglecting your work to fool around with your colleague but you can't tell him that, right? Well, fuck.

Seungmin suddenly lets out a snarky laugh, "You see, the whole world wants me to fail," he says.

You take a step closer to let him see that you mean every word you say, "I don't want you to fail, Professor. I do."

"And why's that?" He asks, sounding a little weary.

Except for the desk lamp that casts a backlight behind him, it seems like Seungmin finds comfort in the dark that lingers in the room so that he can drop his facade and become a man who simply seeks validation from someone.

"Because you're great, Professor," you reply without wavering.

"Your brilliance is just... I don't think I ever met a man who is not just good but also passionate about his works," your words fell apart in the middle because it's never easy to try to fathom your thoughts into words.

"You're amazing, inspiring..." and you don't care if that sounds phony or cliché, you want him to know that.

It's like your body is attracted to him, your feet unknowingly take you another step closer to him and your hand rests on his arm.

"And if only you could see yourself the way I see you, it'd blow your mind," you tell him.

This time, Seungmin holds the gaze longer than a second and it intensifies into a stare that sees right through you and you let him, you let him see the respect you have for him and your pure admiration.

And it's too late to hide those feelings that stem from all that, so you let him see them too.

You break away the eye contact and fumble to recover, "Professor, I—"

Then he reaches for your face, turning your head to make you look into his eyes again, and weirdly, you feel like you already have a home in them.

The next thing you know, your lips are on his lips and you don't care whoever leaning in first, all you can feel is how warm and welcoming his kiss is, it almost feels like coming home.

However, in the next moment, you realize how wrong this is and abruptly stop kissing him. You immediately retreat until the back of your legs hit the sofa.

"I'm sorry, Professor, that was so..."

Wrong? But that didn't feel wrong, it feels right and if anything, it confirms your feelings are true for him.

"I love you, Professor," you blurt out yet letting them out feels relieving like a ton of weight gets off your chest at once.

"In fact, I've loved you for years now," you continue, ignoring how pathetic you spun saying that.

Then you plop down on the sofa and plant your face in your hands, realizing the damage you've done.

"Oh, my God..." You take a shaky breath through your mouth as tears pooling in your eyes.

"I shouldn't have said that," you mutter with the guilt gathering in the pit of your stomach and making you feel sick inside.

There's no turning back now and all you can do is face the consequences, it means losing the job and losing him forever. You feel pathetic for feeling the saddest for the latter.

Seungmin takes a seat next to you on the sofa and his hand holds your chin, gently turning your head his way. You feel so exposed as he looks at your tears-streaked face and how pathetic you look right now.

And you're ready to hear him saying that the two of you can't do this, that he has a wife and this is wrong but instead, you see fondness in his eyes as he tenderly wipes your tears with his knuckle and puts your hair to the side. He holds your face with both hands like you're a fragile object that needs extra care.

You finally find the reason why he kept avoiding your eyes and that's because he feels the same for you, he gets lost in each other's eyes and knows what it would do when that happens.

It's what happening now and it's getting out of control yet none of your hands are going for the steering wheel, you both let it happen, and you let your lips collide in an explosive kiss.

Seungmin kisses you hard and deep like he's been wanting to do that for a long time. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close and tight like he's never letting go. And... oh, the way a heavy sigh slips out of his mouth between kisses only tells you that he wants it just as much as you.

"Call my name," he suddenly mutters against your lips.

"Profes—"

He then puts his thumb over your lips, stopping you from calling him by his title.

"Call my name," he says again then swipes his thumb across your lips.

"Seungmin..." you breathlessly say.

It's the first time you call him by his first name yet it doesn't feel foreign in your mouth, it's a simple thing yet it brings him a lot closer to you.

He hastily presses a kiss on your lips, then rests his forehead against yours as he says, "Say it again."

You softly smile with your eyes closed and say his name again, "Seungmin..."

Seungmin smiles hearing you calling his name and it's the first smile you've seen on him in a long time, it's nice and endearing, but what makes you happy is knowing that you're the one who made him smile.

Without warning, Seungmin crashes his lips on yours again, harder and deeper. He holds your body closer and tighter, not letting you go, and oh... you don't care that you'll end up in flames, it hurts so good.

-

It takes him almost an hour to extract data in the server room and he gets used to the constant whirring of the machinery in there.

When Hyunjin gets out of the room, he is greeted by the eerie quiet of the empty building. The elevator is already on stand-by when he pushes the button up, he gets in right away while hugging his laptop close to his chest.

He pushes the floor number on the panel and waits for the doors to close when suddenly, the doors slide open again.

Hyunjin reckons it's the security taking another lap around the building to make—

His eyes widen when he sees that it's the least person he expects to ride an elevator at four in the morning with. He recognizes her from the expensive bag and the towering heels she's wearing when she has no one to impress.

"Mrs. Kim?!" He awkwardly greets, failing to hide the perplexity in his voice.

"Take me to him," she says, keeping her head straight as she speaks.

There's nothing to see here except that she'll find Seungmin working hard in his lab but Hyunjin also can't help himself thinking, what if...

He anxiously picks at the lint on his sweater the whole elevator and hopes that none of you are anywhere near each other.

The second the elevator doors are open, Hyunjin slips out ahead of her and hurriedly guides her toward the main lab.

"Professor has been working hard in the lab. Please, this way," he says, showing her the way as he walks two steps ahead of her.

But of course, Mrs. Kim is not one to fool, she notices that the light in Seungmin's office is on and decides to check it.

"He's not in his office, he's in the main lab observing the test," Hyunjin insists, trying to avert her attention away when he doesn't even know where the two of you are but his instinct tells him that it's right behind that door.

It's too late for Hyunjin to try to stop her somewhere as she pushes the door open, and lets it fly open.

Hyunjin slowly turns his head and sees his fear become reality. Seungmin is lying on top of you on the sofa with your hands all over each other, not just kissing, but passionately making out like two drunk lovers that they're not aware of people watching them.

"Working hard, huh?" Mrs. Kim says at Hyunjin, throwing daggers with her eyes.

It takes Hyunjin a moment to think of what he needs to do, he aggressively knocks on the door to snap both of you out of your lover's daze.

Seungmin breaks the kiss, he lifts his head toward the door and the moment he sees his wife, his eyes instantly dim like day turns to night.

Mrs. Kim stomps her heels against the floor and it's echoing in the hallway, Hyunjin gets out of the way as Seungmin runs out of his office to chase for his wife.

"Wait, wait, wait," Seungmin shouts as he keeps running after his wife to the elevator.

"I knew it, Seungmin," His wife says as she keeps aggressively punching the elevator button.

"I came here to work. This is a... uh..."

Even a genius such as Seungmin can be at a loss for words when he gets caught in this situation, Hyunjin reckons.

You come out of the office not long after with your hair disheveled and your eyes red like you've been crying, "Mrs. Kim, I'm so sorry, it's my fault, I kissed him first, I..." you run out of breath as you talk fit every word into one sentence.

Mrs. Kim walks past Seungmin and comes at you but maintain a safe space. She looks at you with disgust in her eyes and it goes on for a few seconds until she stops staring and claps her purse in front of her.

"You can have him," she says to you.

That gets you confused, and you blink your eyes unable to respond to that, "But Mrs. Kim... It wasn't my intention. I'm just a stupid girl with a stupid crush, I—"

"YOU ALREADY DID!" She raises her voice at you, making you smaller than her as you shrivel in front of her.

Seungmin grabs her by the elbow but that's not enough to stop her, at least, she calms down as she lets out a heavy sigh.

"You already did once and now you fucking did it again," she may have lowered her voice but it stings a lot more than the previous.

"Wh–What do you mean?" You ask her in genuine confusion while raking your hair to the back.

Mrs. Kim glances at Seungmin, hinting that it's his turn to speak, "Fucking tell her!" She says to him, yanking her hand away from him and entering the elevator.

Hyunjin is caught between you and Seungmin now, the tension is suffocating him but what is unbearable is seeing you hurt.

"Seungmin?" You meekly call him with your eyes glassy with tears.

"You wanted it," Seungmin says.

"What?" You ask in utter confusion.

"You begged me to do the procedure on you," He gives you the full answer.

You stagger to the back and hold the edge of your desk to steady yourself, "What did I–I do?" You stammer.

Seungmin looks at you then towards the elevator, he puts himself in this position where he has to choose between you and his wife.

"Seungmin," You desperately call his name again as your tears overflow your eyes and roll down your cheeks like waterfalls.

"Please..." you sadly beg.

But Seungmin knows better that you're asking him more than just an answer, you want him to stay, you want him to choose you, not her.

Hyunjin watches as the scene unfolds into a gut-wrenching sight as Seungmin makes a final decision, he goes for the elevator and leaves you here, breaking down all alone.

-

"Are you... are you okay?" Hyunjin asks as he helps you get up from the floor.

What is okay about this? He chooses her and not you.

No matter how much you expected this, you can't escape the pain of knowing that he left you after what you both shared a while ago.

What is okay about finding out he's been hiding something from you?

You need to know what she meant when she said you already have him once and you get a hunch that it has something to do with the locked files. It's just been there, speaking out to you, telling you to open it.

"Let's get you a glass of water," Hyunjin says, putting his hand on your back to get you to the pantry but you turn away.

You barge into Seungmin's face and search for his access key, you spill out the content of his briefcase for it and find it tucked in his wallet.

Hyunjin is about to enter the office when you run out carrying the access key with you to the main lab. With your eyes blurry with tears, you access the locked file on the computer and scan the access key to unlock it.

There are files, the same ones a test subject took whenever they get chosen for a test and you open the profile to find yourself on it.

Your heart sinks and it's bringing you down with it, you open the file one after another and your name is written all over it as test subject number 3.

Hyunjin takes your hand away from the computer to stop you from digging further into it but he's too late, you have pressed the play button on a video interview of you and you're dressed in a patient gown.

Then a voice asks, "So... tell me what you remember."

-

SEUNGMIN: So, tell me what you remember.

YOU: [Exhales] We met at a lecture before and I am aware of how important you are, how smart, how respectable you are and I wanted to work with you, and I... I liked you immediately at the job interview.

YOU: A month into the job, I discovered that you're so mature and you're just so... nice. I admire you so much [inhales] I was– I get so tongue-tied around you when all I wanted is for you to think that I am smart [sadly chuckles]

YOU: Oh, Seungmin, I can't do this [sniffles] how can I do this? [Covers face with hands]

SEUNGMIN: It's for the best. You know that.

YOU: Yeah, I know [sniffles]

YOU: [Takes a deep breath] Remember that day when our hands accidentally brushed and we both felt that surge of electricity? You explained that when an atom has protons and electrons in odd numbers, electrons get excited. Then you said... it was you who was excited and in that moment, I just knew, I knew something was going to happen, something wonderful [smiles]

YOU: We took that trip to the beach at midnight and got there when it was time for sunrise, you got mad because I made your slacks drenched in seawater but that day I saw the biggest smile on your face [wipes tears]

YOU: You got this idea that we should live in one of those beach houses so we can watch the sunrise together... [sighs] The next month, you rented one and we went there every Saturday.

YOU: My life only existed every Saturday when I spent the early hours watching the sun rise in your arms in that beach house... [lets out a sob]

YOU: Gosh, we were so happy... we were so happy, Seungmin [sadly smiles]

-

You can't recall those memories in your head but you feel the ache in your chest, you can feel tears begin clogging your throat and it burns the longer you keep it down.

The interview is 98 minutes long and you're only on the first fifteen minutes, you're clutching at your chest as you hit the fast-forward button to the last five minutes of the video.

-

YOU: ...said it's for the best, you offer me to get a procedure done because it's the only way we can get past this [sniffles]

SEUNGMIN: It's the only way. No one will get hurt this way.

YOU: [Nods] I know.

-

You roughly wipe the tears on your cheek with the heels of your hands, then rewind the video a few minutes back to find out the reason that led you to do the procedure with

-

SEUNGMIN: Go on.

YOU: It's so hard [cries into hands]

SEUNGMIN: You can do this.

YOU: That day... that morning, I noticed the symptoms, and I don't know [rubs temples] I think I got too excited and hastily decided to tell you that I'm pregnant. I know I should've confirmed it first but I was just so enthused to tell you we might have a child together, our child, our future... [looks up in tears] There's nothing I wanted more than having a future with you.

YOU: [sobs] [rubs chest]

YOU: I took a test in the afternoon and turned out, I wasn't pregnant, it was... [sniffles] it was a false alarm but you, Seungmin, you were already far gone...

YOU: [choked sobs]

YOU: That's when I realized that I want a man who doesn't want the same thing as me [sobs louder] I was so wrong, I was so wrong to think that I can have it all...

YOU: [Wipes tears with hands] I want what you can't give. I want what I can't have in the first place.

YOU: I want you and it hurts living with that truth [clutches chest]

YOU: The most hurtful thing is I still want you... even to this very second.

-

The sound of your own voice from the video blurs into a background noise as you feel the tightness in your chest and it keeps tightening, making it hard for you to breathe.

Your hand is clutching your chest, hitting at it to help you breathe but it does the opposite, you feel hurt instead.

Tears are dropping onto your hand and the surface of the desk, then you see the access key lying there next to your hand.

You take it, pull out the Polaroid, and turn it over to see that it's a photo of you resting your head on Seungmin's chest and you both smile at the camera, frozen in time.

What you said is true, you and Seungmin were so happy like two people in love.

No matter how many memories you erase, if two people are drawn to each other, there is little that can be done to stop that.

Even though you can't remember those memories, you somehow remember how they feel and they're real. You choke on a sob and fall onto the floor, crying into your hands.

You see, remembering is easy but it also hurts so much.

-

SIX MONTHS LATER

"I can finish this myself," Professor Song says, her red lipstick in contrast to the plain white decor of the lab.

"Are you sure, Professor?" You ask, holding your notebook close to your chest as you watch her perform a dissection on a blue crayfish.

"Yes," she replies as she picks up an iris scissor.

"It's Friday night, a young girl like you should be leaving the office early," she says, turning her head to the side to flash you a smile.

It's been months and you still haven't used to this treatment, not that it's bad, she's nice, almost maternal but most of the time, she feels like a friend that you can comfortably talk to.

"I don't have anywhere to go, Professor," you say with an embarrassed laugh.

"Why not? Get out there, have a few drinks, and flirt with a handsome fella or two," she says, carefully cutting the tail with a cartilage knife.

Scientists are all the same, they work better when they're given the time and space. You have got permission to leave anyway so why should you stay and be a nuisance?

"Is there anything else you want to do then, Professor?" You ask.

She stops bending down and looks at you, "Yes. I want you to send an email to Dr. Lee. Ask him if he has sent the specimens I requested," she orders.

You jot it down quickly in your notebook, "Anything else?"

"No. That's it," she says.

You put your pen back in your lab coat pocket and clasp your hands together in front of you, "Well then, Professor, I'm off to flirt with a handsome fella or two," you poke fun at her.

She hovers to the other table to get a new set of dissection kits, "But remember, only take one home," she warns you.

You chuckle at that and bid your farewell, "Have a great night, Professor!"

"You too, darling!" She says in response.

You return to your desk to do Professor Song's last order of the day and as usual, the girls in the next cubicle are talking about everything they're reading on the internet to pass the time until it's time to clock out.

One of them notices your arrival and knocks on the wall of your cubicle, "Hey, someone came and looking for you," she says.

You stop taking off your lab coat and put it back on, "Yeah. Who?"

"He didn't tell me his name but he's really cute," she answers with a sly smile dancing on her face as if she's amused by her own thoughts.

"Thank you for letting me know," you mutter to her.

From the way she got swooned by the brief meeting, you kind of guess who it is and you'd be devastated if it wasn't him.

Your co-worker pops out of her cubicle again, "Oh and he said he'll be waiting by the aquarium," she adds.

"Okay. Thanks," you mutter your gratitude.

You focus on the task in your hands first, writing an email per Professor Song's request, and leave the second you get the notification that the email has been successfully sent.

The natural history museum you're working in has one floor specialized in sea life and that's the division you're a part of, the aquarium is right below your office.

You skip riding the elevator knowing they'll be crowded with people leaving from work and opt for the emergency stairs. Your heart is racing because what if your guess is wrong?

But also... what if it's right?

The aquarium tends to be dark and the only source of lights are coming from the tanks. You search through the place, among the visitors to find one who has been waiting for you.

And you find him standing by a tank full of seahorses.

Hyunjin looks the same. He's still dressed in oversized clothing and ripped jeans, he still misses his month haircut, except that now, he painted his nails black.

The bluish light of the aquarium casts a glow on his face and he looks so mesmerized by it, quietly observing it with his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans.

You quietly stand next to him, also shoving your hands in your lab coat pockets.

"Do you know that seahorses mate for life?" You utter a random fact to him.

Hyunjin softly chuckles and keeps looking at how the seahorses tangled their tails together to avoid losing each other when they travel.

"I kind of jealous of them," he says.

"Yeah? Why?" You ask.

"Imagine you're a seahorse and one day, you meet another seahorse, you get together and it just... works out," he answers.

"Well, yeah, too bad that you're a tall, sexy computer genius and not a seahorse," you jokingly say.

Hyunjin turns his head at you and your eyes meet, you both burst into laughter almost at the same time. You come to him and throw your arms around him for a quick hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

He holds your hand by the fingers as he speaks, "I didn't– I didn't want to disturb you, you seem busy and all," he answers.

"That didn't stop you from pestering me before," you joke.

Hyunjin takes a moment to look at you, probably making sure that you've been recovering well from that day.

"Wow!" He clicks his tongue as he checks you out.

You suddenly get flustered, "What?"

"I can't believe that I love seeing you in a lab coat," he replies.

It feels good to reunite with him even though looking at him reminds you of that night when everything fell apart. How you said unkind things to him, how you left that night and never returned. You were too embarrassed to call or even text him, you were so mean to him when he didn't deserve any of it.

"Are you busy now?" He asks.

You shake your head, "No, I was actually about to leave."

"Okay, great," he enthusiastically says.

Hyunjin is standing on his tiptoes as he asks you, "Do you want to get dinner with me?"

He must be so used to your rejection and probably think you'd reject him for the umpteenth time. This time it's different, you nod and accept his offer right away, "My treat."

You check the time and it's a little after five which means you're eligible to leave your duty.

"I'm going to get my things and we'll meet in the lobby?"

"Yeah, sure," he replies with a grin.

"See you in five!"

As you're about to leave, you remember something and turn around to look at him. You take something out of your lab coat pocket.

"You can have it while you wait," you playfully say, putting

takes a lollipop out of your lab coat pocket and hands it to him,

-

The dinner went well, you caught up on so many things and Hyunjin was being careful the whole time by avoiding talking about the lab or Seungmin.

The night continues with him treating you with coffee since you paid for dinner. With the coffee shop is crowded, you decide to wait outside next to a newsstand and there you see him, Seungmin.

Seungmin is on the cover of every magazine there is, talking about his success in building a memory-erasing machine. It's either that or the news that he's expecting a child with his wife who would eventually become the heir of her parents' pharmaceutical empire.

You feel happy for him, genuinely happy to know that, at least, one of you is happy.

"Here you go," Hyunjin hands you one of the coffee cups he's holding.

You look away and take the coffee cup from him, "Thank you."

The night is warm so you both decide to take a walk in the park, trying to digest the dinner you both had. You stop by a bench look over the fountain and sit there.

"So you're working with fish now, huh?" Hyunjin says.

"Not fish. It's sea life," you correct him with a dramatic eye roll.

It's amazing that he can finish his iced coffee so fast, leaving only the ice cubes on the bottom of the cup. He puts the empty cup away and leans back on the bench.

"How about you?" You ask.

Hyunjin gulps air, probably hesitating to talk about how he still works for Seungmin. You put your hand on his knee and say, "You know you can stop being careful around me."

He looks at you, making sure that you're okay with it, "Well, we've been working hard on the production of two new machines," he says.

Everything seems to be going as Seungmin planned and as someone who was once part of it, you're proud of what they have achieved.

He grabs your hand resting on his knee and squeezes it, "Are you okay?"

You gave yourself enough time to wail over everything and even though, you haven't fully recovered, you don't intend to waste any of your time on it.

So to answer his question, you can confidently answer, "I'm okay."

He nods and rubs the back of your hand with his thumb, "You still don't remember any of it?"

You shake your head, "No."

If there's one good thing that comes out of it is that the machine worked wonders. You can't extract the memories you mentioned in the video interview but they do evoke certain feelings you didn't know you had.

Now you get why Professor Hale glanced at you when he said the MNE-Machine is a huge success.

"How about—" Hyunjin stops himself from continuing his question.

"My feelings?" You finish his question for him.

You look inside you for an answer, "Forgetting seems to only amplify the feeling of loss but by remembering the pain... it helps me keep moving," you tell him.

You look up at the night sky and inhale the summer air as you talk about the one thing you learn about all this.

"I'm trying to embrace the entirety of my experiences, the good and the bad, the joyous and the painful... I'm learning still," you end with a low sigh.

Hyunjin slips his fingers between your fingers and laces them together, "I think you're doing great," he says.

Another thing that you learn is that these experiences and memories, regardless of their emotional weight, shape our identities, guide our actions, and ultimately, make us human.

And you'll always remember Hyunjin as a kind and warm person, most of the memories you have of him are good ones.

"Hyunjin," you call his name.

"Yes?"

"I'm so sorry for what I said that night," you sincerely apologize.

You remember how he tried to stop you from leaving, driving at dawn while crying and you shoved him hard, cursing at him and telling him to leave you alone.

"Hey, it's okay. I understand that you were so emotional that night and I would have too if I were you," he says.

Hyunjin is always so kind and understanding, you don't know how you failed to notice them before. Oh, well, it's because you were too busy putting all of your attention on the wrong guy.

He then puts his arm around your shoulder and mutters, "I'm glad you're okay," he says.

And in shared experiences like this, both the joys and the sorrows, are what bind the two of you together.

-

The walk to your apartment building is quite far from the bus stop but he's not complaining, he likes it and it means he gets to be with you longer.

"Did you find someone else to pester on?"

Hyunjin is busy wondering whether he should hold your hand or not when you suddenly ask him a question.

"The new assistant is a Star Trek fan and a math enthusiast, hard pass," he answers.

You laugh and grab his wrist to take him to cross the street and Hyunjin uses it as an opportunity to hold your hand. He senses your eyes on him as he confidently intertwines his hand with you and surprisingly, you're not letting go.

"How about Rina? You should ask her out," you recommend again.

Hyunjin rolls his eyes, "I told you, she's not my type."

"Then what is your type?"

"Older and prettier," he shortly answers.

You laugh and swing your clasped hand as you walk the street.

"It's a plus if she's great at sex," Hyunjin adds with an eyebrow raised.

You shake your head and laugh it off, your hand shoots in the direction of a building, "This is me," you say.

Hyunjin is not ready to part yet, he slows down his pace to buy him a minute or two. You let go of his hand to rummage inside your bag for your keys, it's jiggling when you get it out.

He stops at the base of steps that lead to the door of your house and waits as you unlock the door. There's another day and another chance to see you again, but... Gosh, he misses you so much, a few hours aren't enough to cure his longing.

You turn around to face him, walking down one step to be on the same eye level with him, "It's been great catching up with you," you tell him.

So this is it, this is the part where he has to say goodnight and see you again another day. Hyunjin inhales air and puts on a smile, "Thank you for the dinner."

"Thank you for the coffee," you say back.

"Thank you for the fact about the seahorses," he adds with a lopsided grin.

You chuckle and hold your hair from being blown by the summer breeze, you suddenly look him in the eyes as you say, "I can't believe that I'm about to say this."

That gets him curious, he gazes into your eyes and asks, "What?"

You press your lips together and smile, "I'm so happy to see you again," you tell him.

It's not just words, he can see it in your eyes and how they light up as you look at him.

If only you knew how long he's been waiting to see you again. Hyunjin waited because he knew meeting him would remind you of that painful night and that's the last thing he wanted: seeing you hurt.

"Are you going to just stare at me and not kiss me?" You say.

Is it selfish of him to say that despite the hurt, he still remembers the happy moments you both shared that night? He wishes you only remember that and now you said those same words from that night, he knows now you keep those in your memory too.

Hyunjin doesn't waste another second to put his lips on yours and while he pours all of his feelings into his kisses, he feels like his chest starts to fill up with hope in return.

Gosh, you still taste sweet and heavenly, he feels like his feet are floating off the ground as your kisses are taking him out of this world.

When you let go of the kiss, Hyunjin is still reeling from it.

"Do you want to come in?" You ask.

And in a second, Hyunjin finds himself back on earth, in this moment where you finally letting him in.

With all of his heart, Hyunjin answers, "Yes."

-

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[alatismeni-theitsa]

I love your blog! I think this will be a safe space to talk and i will start this discussion in english but i can’t stand international groups mainly english speakers who occupy the ancient greek space whether it is online or academically. We greeks are taunted and patronised about everything, i don’t see people acting the same way to germans or norwegians when they know barely of their pre christian religions or why they arent vikings like the old times, even countries like india who they aren’t anymore like their great past yet get a pass. And in the end of the day they don’t even know anything else aside from the big three as i call them aka Athens,Sparta and Macedon occasionally Thebes but then again ignore many other smaller city states,kingdoms and islands that existed at the same time and had their own unique cultures. I mean even our name “Hellas” came from a funky epirotan tribe that foreigners would deem as un-greek because greekness to them is antiquity period.

True, for the colonizing nations and the empires who wanted to claim ancient Greece as theirs, Greeks can never win. It's been like this for centuries at this point, because arguments like "Greeks are uneducated therefore they don't deserve this heritage" or "they don't look the same is their ancient super idealized statues, so they are not ACTUALLY Greeks by blood, therefore not having a right to Greek heritage although they're culturally Greek" have been already used since the 19th century at least. Another "argument" that servers the same purpose is "Greek culture belongs to everyone", meanwhile they never say this about Norwegian, Egyptian, Indian, Afghani, Chinese, and other cultures 🙄

I think the same argument of the locals lacking some knowledge has also been used used for India and Egypt at some point, when Western Europeans were doing excavations and research there and considered themselves better than the locals who "dared" not having a perfect knowledge of what those buried things in their country were.

Locals don't have an obligation to have perfect knowledge of their heritage in order to have a right to it.

Those who you can expect an almost perfect knowledge from are scholars, who are specifically getting paid to devote most of their time in the subject. And, of course there were always Greek scholars who studied their antiquity. Not to mention, even scholars can't know everything and have to devote their attention to certain periods.

[legendaryfugitives]

Athena’s Exes

So, I recently noticed people agreeing that Goddess Athena is Asexual, but from mythological sources like the stories about Pallas, there are hints that she was not aromantic. During a long research spree and reading other people's opinions, I've noticed she'll be considered a Biromantic Sapiosexual Asexual. AKA, not into the, how do I say this in PG language, bedroom stuff due to being a Parthenos, but shows romantic interest to anyone with brains. These are just notes I made while researching this topic. I encourage you all to do your own research. I'm willing to make a part two post of links if anyone needs them. Warning! Greek Mythology is known for incest included in their stories. You've been warned! Please let me know if there is anyone else I missed so I can update this post. Hephestus will not be included since Athena was not in love with him in any way. Now, let's move on to my notes of a few examples.

Pallas, The Lost BFF

When Athena first burst out of her father's head, Zeus, she was taken in by Triton, her cousin and son of Poseidon. Triton also had a Nymph daughter named Pallas. The sources are borderline on how Athena and Pallas viewed each other. Some say they were sisterly best friends, and some say they were more than friends. What the sources have in common is that the two girls practice sparring and compete together.

Fate: During a sparring contest or a friendly sparring practice match Zeus attended or happened to be watching, Athena and Pallas’s fight got heated. Scared for Athena's life, he used his aegis to distract Pallas. Unfortunately, this caused Athena to accidentally impale and kill her best friend. To make it up to Athena, Zeus gave her his aegis, which we see Athena wear to this day. Athena later created the palladium, a statue that looked like Pallas, and Athena took the name Pallas as her epithet.

Prometheus, Thief God of Fire and Hearts

There are a few theories about these two. Especially since Athena helped Prometheus steal the fire. There was one story in which Prometheus had a crush on Athena, which is why he was punished. And believe me, Prometheus and Athena were not on my Bingo Card this year. However, it makes sense since the two have a lot in common, they have worked together many times, and both played a role in creating a new version of humans. Another variation of Athena's birth myth is Prometheus freeing Athena instead of Hephaestus, or he does help out in the process of freeing Athena from Zeus's head. Yes, you may say, “But didn’t accident resources say Prometheus was married and had a son?” Remember, these stories have changed and merged over time with different variants. Some sadly lost to time. Ultimately, we are left with our imaginations when approaching these stories as long as the original culture is respected. But it does make things complicated. Prometheus and his wife, Pronoea or Hesione, never got married or divorced. Be free to come up with theories, everyone.

Fate: After getting caught afterward, Prometheus was punished by getting chained to a rock, and his liver was eaten by an eagle. Then, Prometheus's liver regrows overnight, but his torcher continues each day until he is finally freed. But unfortunately for the rebel titan, it ended his relationship with Athena. To make things worse, Athena was part of making Pandora, so Athena was punished at the end of the day, too.

Myrmex, Maiden Heartbreaker

In an insect origin story, Myrmex was a young Attican maiden who became the goddess' favorite. She was known for her cleverness and her chastity, a significant reason why Athena had a love for the maiden. Athena showed humans how to sow their fields when she created the plow. However, Myrmex was greedy on the inside. Myrmex went behind Athena’s back, stole some sheaves, and claimed she invented the plow to the public in conman fashion.

Fate: Heartbroken, Athena turned Myrmex into an ant, cursing her for stealing other's grain forever. So, talk about the worst breakup of the year there. The lesson is don't break the heart of someone who cares for you, romantically or platonically, because the betrayed will get petty revenge.

Phereclus (or Phereclos), the Shipbuilder of Tragic Dreams

Although one line mentions this, the Illiad mentions a Trojan shipbuilder, Phereclus (or Phereclos), who once made well-balanced ships. According to the different translations of Book V, Athena had “a special love for him,” “for Pallas Athene loved him above all men,” or “Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him.” Either he was her protégé, there was something more, or both.

Fate: According to Book V of the Illiad, Phereclus was killed by Meriones since it was one of Phereclus’s ships that Paris used to kidnap Helen. And if you read it, it’s pretty graphic. People can form their theories on the subject despite just that one line.

Hercle (aka Etruscan version of Heracles/Hercules), A Lover in Question

Disclaimer! This is from the Etruscan sources. I do not ship Hercle/Heracles/Hercules with Menrva/Athena/Minerva. Please do not attack me, people! In the Etruscan religion, Athena was not viewed as a Parthenos. Some sources hint at the two being romantically involved despite being siblings or half-siblings. Even having a blood or adopted kid together named Epiur??? But the two Gods were probably Epiur's protectors instead. Hercle and Menrva were Gods of protecting children back then to the Etruscans. Epiur is still a big mystery, so people, please do your research!

Fate: If we go with Hercle's Greek Version, Heracles had a crazy death, but he became a God, and then he ended up marrying his other half-sister, Hebe, the daughter of the Goddess who was out for revenge on Heracles, Hera. Yeah, this family tree is messed up for the wrong reasons, and I don't want to elaborate further.

That's it for now! Criticism is welcome if I get something wrong and need to fix it. I'm willing to post the links if anyone is curious about these details. Studying Athena's past friends or possible past lovers was an interesting rabbit hole to explore. If I inspired you in any way, please use these ideas as long as you respect original sources and know Athena is a Parthenos. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk of Athena's Exes for now!

Edit: To Epic the Musical fans, be free to use this for any of your theories because these losses may have affected Athena.

[theoihalioistuff]

In the post you made debunking the claim of Ares being the protector of women, you have written that secrecy and disposal of the child born point to rape. Can you please elaborate a bit as I'm having a hard time understanding how exactly? Especially with the latter, is it because the conception of the child happened without the permission of the father of the woman (I've heard even if woman slept willingly, without her father's assent then it would have been considered rape)?

TW for Rape and Infanticide. (My eyes actually started watering and I had to stop several times while researching this ask)

There's a lot to discuss in here, and I'm afraid a Tumblr post from someone who's not a classicist won't cover all that needs to be addressed, so for further reading I recommend Rape in Antiquity (1997) edited by Susan Deacy and Karen F. Pierce, and their follow-up Revisiting Rape in Antiquity (2023), Edited by Susan Deacy, José Malheiro Magalhães and Jean Zacharski Menzies, a series of collected essays regarding Sexual Violence in Greek and Roman Worlds.

Broadly speaking, our modern concept of Rape (criminal act defined by the lack of consent during sexual intercourse) does not have a strict ancient greek equivalent (bearing in mind that "ancient greece" covers large periods of history where attitudes almost certainly differed from time to time and from place to place). Nor is there a greek match found for the english word 'rape' – derived from the latin rapere "seize, carry off by force", which was used for both people (in the sense of abduct or kidnap, only rarely denoting sexual violence) and objects (in the sense of plunder). The latin words most commonly used to denote rape were stuprare "defile, disgrace, rape," which is related to stuprum "illicit sex" (also to stupere "to be stunned, stupefied", origin of the word stupid) and violare "maltreat, profane, infringe, violate".

In ancient greek several words could be used to denote what we today would call rape: Biazomai (βιάζομαι - inflict violence, force, constrain), Harpazo (ἁρπάζω - snatch away, seize, carry off; from where the Harpies get their name, later used to refer to the christian rapture), Hybrizo (ὑβρίζω - outrage, dishonor, affront, treat as an inferior; related to hybris, a complicated word), Moicheia (��οιχεία ‐ adultery, illicit sex) or Phthora (φθορά - ruin, damage, destroy) were all words that, to a greater or lesser extent, were used to refer to violent or illicit sex. These last two concepts, though intimately related to our definition of rape, can be considered distinctly, especially when approximating a definition of "rape" in the classical world: e.g. the forcing of a slave was not morally wrong or illegal, while consorting with a free married woman was. Willingness did not define the crime, rather status and ownership did.

Regarding this last point, women's sexual and reproductive rights belonged to their kyrios (κύριος - guardian, master, head of the household), generally fathers and husbands, but failing that brothers (e.g. Apemosyne and Althaimenes) or sons (e.g. Penelope and Telemachos). Moreover a woman's virtue and reputation were primarily linked to her sexual activity: chastity, modesty, shame and obedience being her main ethical concerns. Therefore, when it came to sexual relationships outside of marriage, it was narratively "preferable that a woman should be raped [be unwilling] rather than seduced" (The Portrayal of Rape in New Comedy, Karen F. Pierce), thus preserving the moral virtue of "respectable" characters like goddesses or heroines. This is not to say every sexual interaction in greek mythology is presented as a rape, that obviously varies from telling to telling and depends on the myth, but it explains the narrative predilection for it. It should also be remembered that plenty of these unions are ambiguous as to whether rape or seduction take place, primarily because it's not usually of interest to the narrator unless the virtue of the women is being discussed (e.g. the centuries long discussions on Helen that survive to this day, and even then the distinction can be dismissed as irrelevant or nonexistent; "We think that it is unjust to carry women off. But to be anxious to avenge rape is foolish: wise men take no notice of such things. For plainly the women would never have been carried away, had they not wanted it themselves." – Hdt. Histories 1.4.2).

When it comes to panhellenic myth, sexual unions between gods and women are primarily framed as extramarital (beffiting a monogamous culture where gods' official consorts where to be found elsewhere), without the κύριος knowledge or consent (for a reversal see Hyg. Fabulae 129), and therefore under the umbrella of illicit sex (i.e. Rape). Recurring motifs are attached to these kinds of stories, which give us narrative context to identify (or at the very least be suspicious of) similar accounts in other myths where no explicit word denoting rape is used (as is most common in surviving works of mythography, that prioritise genealogy and gloss over instances of sexual assault). One of the most common tropes is that of exposure.

Myths of exposure in greek mythology usually come in three flavours. Either the child is exposed because of some prophecy (e.g. Paris or Oidipous), because it is born female (e.g. Atalanta or Iphis) or, in the majority of cases, because it is the product of rape (see below). As you noted the most frequent reason given for the exposure is fear of the κύριος discovery, who, in instances where he does find out about the rape, either does not believe the victim or is indifferent to her plight, and in either case kills her or attempts to do so (some examples below):

[Apemosyne: killed by her brother Althaimenes after she is raped by Hermes] "Not much later he became the murderer of his sister. Hermes loved her, but she ran away, and he could not catch her (for she was faster than him at running). So he spread freshly stripped hides along her path, and when she was coming back from the spring, she slipped on them and was raped. She told her brother what happened, but he thought the god was just an excuse, so he kicked her to death." (Apollod. 3.2.1)

[Auge: sentenced to death by her father Aleos after she is raped by Herakles] "After Auge was raped by Herakles, she concealed her baby in the sanctuary of Athena, whose priestess she was. But the land remained barren, and the oracles revealed that there was some ungodly thing in the sanctuary of Athena, so Auge was found out by her father, and he handed her over to Nauplios to be put to death. Teuthras, the ruler of the Mysians, received her from Nauplios and married her." (Apollod. 3.9.1)

[Psamathe: killed by her father Krotopos after she is raped by Apollo] "Psamathe the daughter of Krotopos got pregnant by Apollo [in Statius' Thebaid 1. 562-669 she is explicitly raped beside a river] and because she feared her father she exposed the child, whom she named Linos. The shepherd who received him raised him as his own, and one day the kings sheepdogs tore him apart. Maddened with grief, she was detected by her father, who [after she had bared her breasts and told him all] sentenced her to death, assuming she had been a harlot and lied about Apollo." (Conon. Narrations 19)

[Alope: killed by her father Kerkyron after she was raped by Poseidon] "Since Alope, daughter of Kerkyon, was very beautiful, Poseidon lay with her, and from this embrace she bore a child which she gave to her nurse to expose, since she did not know its father. When the child was exposed, a mare came and furnished it milk. A certain shepherd, following the mare, saw the child and took it up. When he had taken it home, clothed in its royal garments, a fellow shepherd asked that it be given to him. The first gave it without the garments, and when strife rose between them, the one who had taken the child demanding signs it was free-born, but the other refusing to give them, they came to king Kerkyon and presented their arguments. The one who had taken the child again demanded the garments, and when they were brought, Kerkyon knew that they were taken from the garments of his daughter. Alope's nurse, in fear, revealed to the king that the child was Alope's, and he ordered that his daughter be imprisoned and slain, and the child exposed. Again the mare fed it; shepherds again found the child, and took him up, and reared him, feeling that he was being guarded by the will of the gods." (Hyg. Fabulae. 187)

Not every account of exposure explicitly denotes rape (as mentioned before the nature of the union generally goes uncommented), and sometimes depending on the version seduction is to be better understood. Though both are interchangeable narrative-wise, frequently other details lead may us to suppose the stock character of the unwilling (raped) maiden is being portrayed, I'll use the example of Phylonome again:

"Phylonome, the daughter of Nyktimos and Arkadia, was wont to hunt with Artemis; but Ares, in the guise of a shepherd, got her with child. She gave birth to twin children and, fearing her father, cast them into the [River] Erymanthos. By some divine providence they were borne round and round without peril, and found haven in the trunk of a hollow oaktree. A wolf, whose den was in the tree, cast her own cubs into the stream and suckled the children." (Ps. Plutarch. Greek and Roman Parallel Stories. 36)

1. Phylonome is explicitly mentioned as a huntress companion of Artemis (presumably sworn to chastity). The sexual vulnerablility of Artemis' companions is a common trope; see Kallisto, Daphne, Arethousa, Britomartis, Kyrene, Syrinx, Nikaia, Pholoe, etc.)

2. Ares transforms/disguises himself to approach her (perhaps the most common trope of all), and conceals his identity in the guise of a shepherd (a disguise otherwise used by Zeus to approach Mnemosyne; Ovid. Met. 6.103-128, Clement. Recog. 22)

3. After giving birth she casts her children into the river Erymanthos. The reasoning is the typical stock example, fear of her father, though in this case the form of infanticide is much more direct than exposure: she casts them into the river to drown. As usual with these stories the children are saved by divine intervention, and are nursed by an animal and later raised by shepherds.

Again, no verb denoting rape is ever explicitly used, yet the context of the story is enough to reasonably suppose it was considered as such. Other examples of myths where babies are exposed are listed below, many of them are explicitly rapes, almost all the rest can be inferred as such (I can't for my own sake provide references for all of them, so those interested must do their own research):

Koronis exposes Apollo's son Asklepios on a mountain near Epidauros according to a local legend, Psamathe exposes Apollo's son Linos, Antiope exposes Zeus' sons Zethos and Amphion, Alope exposes Poseidon's son Hippothoon, Akakallis exposes Apollo's son Miletos, Tyro exposes Poseidon's sons Pelias and Neleus, Kreousa exposes Apollo's son Ion, Pelopia exposes Thyestes' son Aigisthos, Auge exposes Herakles' son Telephos, Evadne exposes Apollo's son Iamos, and Phylonome "exposes" Ares' sons Lykastos and Parrhasios (this list is by no means meant to be exhaustive).

My post confronting fake claims that Ares was the protector of women can be found here.

[wheeloffortune-design]

So, about the greek muses, I have a whole theory about why we don't need to adapt them to newer forms of art like cinema and cartoons or just illustration or sculpture.

You have some of them that seem outdated, like Polyhymnia with sacred poetry, or why is there a muse of Astronomy, that's not an art (Urania baby I didn't mean it).

So well, my theory is that the muses are not the patrons of the ways we create, but of the reasons we create.

Calliope, epic poetry: Tales of combat, wars and adventure, sculpture of heroes, action movies, action videogames.

Erato, lyric poetry: For emotions, all the emotions. This is what inspire romance stories, sad tales, political slam poetry, etc.

Polyhymnia, sacred poetry: The sacred, may it be religious or spiritual, has always been a source of inspiration for artists and creators.

Melpomene, tragedy: Listen, life is hard and you die at the end, here's an opera, a sad novel, a statue of someone holding their dead son.

Thalia, comedy: What are you talking about, life is hilarious. Here, have a comic, a cartoon, and a limerick.

Clio, History: Doesn't seem like an art, but recording History, rewriting it, reimagining it, has been an inspiration for great paintings at the Louvres, to documentaries on Netflix, to that one novel you're writing set in 1865 where you spent so long researching to get the details right.

Urania (astronomy): The stars are beautiful, the moon deserves sonnets, but in a larger approach, the universe is vast and immense and so, so inspiring.

Euterpe (music) and Terpischore (dance):.. Music and dance don't need a reason, they exist just to exist. They inspire each other.

.

This list is not exhaustive, you are not limited to one muse, most creations find inspiration from many things at the same time.

So, next time you're at the village market place, think about how many goats you'll need to sacrifice to be sure they keep inspiring you.

[cecilioque]

VOLO’S OUTFIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BAD. And here is why I think so...

To begin, we are not talking about the Ginko guild design, we are talking about the “final boss” fit. We all know that Volo’s outfit is dumb, but I’m mad because it  was actually thought out and VERY symbolic in the sense that it essentially represented things Volo said/wanted.

I, like everyone else looked at this outfit and went “wow, that is dumb” and then hated on it.  Although it is not the most appealing or cool outfit, there was actually a lot of thought that went into it. I could be really over analyzing this, but here is my interpretation.

To begin with, the concept art is a lot more revealing about the intention of the design then the actual game play.  On a surface level we see Volo in what I can only assume is a Arceus gijinka cosplay.  So the hair, the stars, and color scheme are all elements of Arceu’s  design.  Cool. Good job especially since Volo had in fact never seen Arceus before.

To fully understand this outfit we have to go back to Hisui and the remains of this so called “ancient civilization”. In the Pokemon world, there is this general idea that the ancient culture was either Roman or Greek inspired. We see evidence in Legends of Arceus by the obvious column heavy architecture and use of Greek Doric columns ( one of the earliest styles of columns used for temples) and in the ruins and temple. 

The Temple of Sinnoh is obviously based off of the Parthenon. It’s funny because game freak went as far as to even mimic both Ionic and Doric styles in the Temple of Sinnoh just like the Parthenon. I will go as far to add that the Sinnoh temple is much simpler than the Parthenon due to the fact that it was not embellished with an elaborately carved frieze or any decoration on the exterior for the most part.  Bizarre when even the broken ruins have evidence of some sort of ornamentation. It makes complete sense why the game developers chose this style seeing how is is know for being very simplistic.  But it also dates it in context.  It makes the Temple of Sinnoh the first temple that was build and the others that followed were build as the civilization grew ( thus more elaborate but we can only see the crumbled remains).

I will be ignoring the Snowpoint temple because it is a weird combination of styles and almost seems alien and out of place which very much fits the Regi theme.  It is also based on the early game design which was limited and blocky for game space sake.

Ok, heavy Greek and Roman influence. Back to Volo and his obviously Greek and Roman fit.  Volo’s name itself means “I wish”  in latin and could possibly be a reference to the phrase “volō, ergo sum” (I wish, therefore I am). Very in character since it is the wish for more” and he did everything he could to achieve that.

The actual influence for the design is more Roman in nature. This bothered me because we can see that research and thought went into it, but they just simplified it. And this actually has a point.

To begin with the obvious stuff, we see that volo’s shirt is definitely toga like. It even goes so far to be decorated with a Fibula (brooch)in a way that indicates a higher rank or status.  Cool Volo, we get that you think highly of yourself. Color choice is also same as Arceus, but we also know that white togas were also used by senators and high political officers.

Next , the shoes.  These are just the basic stereotypical Spirit Halloween Greek god/goddess type of sandals you can get at your local costume shop.  This was actually the most disappointing part of the outfit for me. But it makes sense they went with the most simplified and recognizable style.  They wanted us to look at this outfit and go “ Wow, Volo has been studying his myths and recreated an outfit”. This is what you could expect someone to create with just a written description of the clothing used during that time.

The necklace is interesting because it stands out so much compared to the gold colors. I am no sure what they were going for here by making it so prominent, but it brings us to an interesting thought.  If they necklace does have meaning, it is related directly to the design/shape.  The waterdrop could be the Greek symbolism for "tears of grace” or in a sense “gods grace”. The idea that the tears of god water the harvest and provide life. Alternate interpretations could simply be water as a source of life, or a symbol or sadness a mourning.  If it is a symbol of of mourning, this might be a clue to why Volo might desire to rewrite the world so much.

Last but not least, the pants. I think we can all decide this is one of the worst parts of the outfit, and to me it is just straight up confusing for two main reasons.  For starters, the color green is so prominent when green is an accent color on Arceus.  So maybe the color has meaning itself.  But if you look at the image above, the color mainly refers to life and “the harvest” (possibly like the necklace).  It has a weird connections to life and creation itself, which probably is why it was included in Arceus’ design and makes sense as Volo essentially wants to become the creator of life in a new world.

But this isn’t the part that gets me the most. The second thing that confuses me is the fact that the Greeks and Romans did not use pants.  This was because pants were associated with non-Roman/Greek cultures (the Germanic tribes and Vikings) who they looked down upon. On top of that, the Greeks thought pants were feminine and silly.  This could also just simply be a design choice because they didn’t wanna draw Volo in a full toga and accidently make him look like Christ. But this leads to my final point of the physical outfit itself.

VOLO’S OUTFIT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK DORKY AND BAD BECAUSE IT WAS FLAWED! This is based on the real world cultures it was based on. And although Volo may have done a lot of research, he still didn’t completely understand ancient culture.  It’s bad because Volo made it himself. His outfit was flawed just like his ideology. It is his own interpretation of a culture that he had idolized without truly understanding that this great and ancient culture crumbled. And based off of the architecture of the ruins and temples, it never even reached a prime before it fell.

But Volo thinks its correct/cool/accurate. He is being a fool about it because he didn’t understand the bigger picture and had become consumed with this desire for power and control.  This as an idea is really cool and I find it funny that you can also wear the outfit. Its essentially mocking him. If we look at the outfit in this light, the design was a success in getting us to dislike it and evoke this distaste. We didn’t know why, but this is why.

SO IN SUMMARY, OUTFIT WAS BAD ON PURPOSE. It wasn’t thoughtless, in fact there was a lot of research behind it and yet that seems to be thrown out to simplify the design in a way that looks like someone hand made it based off of what they had put together themselves.

But this isn’t my favorite part  of the concept art.  My favorite part is the hands.

Look at his hands. Why are they in those positions? Wouldn’t it have been easier to create more standard poses?  To me the hand gestures here are just too specific. So I started digging around for what they could be on a Art history level.  I looked at Non Christian art first and then Christian symbolism within their mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings. And I found some verrrry interesting similarities.  I am not trying to make this religious. I just found some interesting similarities between old Christian art and Volo’s design.  Which makes sense if we go back to this Greek/Roman influence because these cultures eventually converted to Christianity.  And Arceus is kind of a weird goat god Jesus.

The left hand is where the biggest symbolism is.  Basically, this hand gesture has been used to indicate “the hand of god” or the “hand of justice”.  Christ sometimes is draw with a similar hand position and could be a sign of the cross, but this would also refer to some sort of divinity.  I will also note that Volo is in no way making the classic “blessing” hand gesture.

As for the right hand he is making what I assume is a Greek/Roman orator (speaker) gesture. This would mean that Volo is calling for attention. Note, that I didn't’ compare this to prophets. That’s because orators speak for themselves and prophets for god.  And Volo thinks he is god.

Under this context, in the concept art Volo is essentially saying “I am God”.  If we add the symbolism of his outfit, it only further solidifies this idea.  Volo’s outfit/concept comes together and screams “behold, I am god , the hand of justice. I will be the creator or the new world”. Which is so freaking clever because that’s literally what he tells you. 

Sure his hands are switched and lowered compared to actual real world art examples (thank you Game freak for not throwing in actual religious symbols/gestures), but I think the intention is still there.  It’s so good that I am mad.  So as much as I hate this dumb outfit, I cannot deny that it was well thought out, that the character was well thought out.

To conclude, these are my assumptions. I am not an expert on art history or religion.  If you have further insights on this feel free to share. I’d be interested with what others had to add.  I the end this could all be wrong and just crazy for overthinking the designs of a pokemon character, but it just seems too intentional to be carelessly thrown together. This is just one possible interpretation.

Though its just more evidence in my mind that a lot of love and care went into developing Legends of Arceus. Despite their limitations and resources.

[ofowlsdinosaursanddragons]

Toxicchaintober day 27: Pheasant

Feronychus.

“The Spectral Claw Pokemon”

Steel/Ghost

“The last of a lineage of ancient bird-like lineage, these Pokémon are reclusive and will slash at anything that it deems as an aggressor. They are sought out by many ghost-type trainers for the ancient power they can carry.”

“A living fossil, these Pokémon’s ancient status puzzles many researchers on how they were able to survive up to the present day. There have been tales of these creatures serving different roles. One of these includes a Feronychus that eventually became the being known as Fezandipiti after joining with a certain peach.”

The third, and final of the new fakemon made for Toxicchaintober prompt of the day! For the inspirations for Feronychus, the main inspiration is of Therizinosaurids, more specifically, of Beipiaosaurus, a dinosaur from ancient china, Along with Nothronychus from a preshistoric North America.

Other design inspirations that I included are of the Styphalian bird from Greek mythology, along with having traits from the goth aesthetic.

It also acts as a foil to the more of a kimono motif that Fezandipiti has where Feronychus with the rebellious goth type style

Prompt by @tealmaskmybeloved

[gemsofgreece]

Hey! This is a linguistic ask, I think? I actually have another question as well, but since it has nothing to do with this topic, I'll send a separate ask. Anyway.

Could you tell me the meaning of βασιλεύοντες? When I looked it up, it appeared that this word is plural and that it would be translated more literally as "reigning ones". The pages showed me that it can be written as something like basileus. The specific phrase is "παρεγένοντο δὲ εἰς Σπάρτην ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλένης γάμον οἱ βασιλεύοντε ς Ἑλλάδος. From what I understand, Ἑλλάδος is Hellas, i.e. Greece. So βασιλεύοντες Ἑλλάδος would be something like "those who reign over Greece". In the English translation, it's usually "Kings of Greece". However, if it's indeed basileis, from what I have researched this term is not literally "kings", since, for example, basileus/basileis was used for Byzantine emperors and for other authority figures other than kings in Ancient Greece, such as certain types of leaders. With that, my question is the following: does this word necessarily imply royalty or at least something equivalent to royalty in the society in question? Or, for example, can it be used to designate a noble? If it's exclusively royalty, it could apply to a prince (since in this context it's being applied to princes, including). Another intriguing thing is that one of the characters designated as such is actually illegitimate. In case the characters so named are needed for the interpretation, this is about Helen's suitors and in this source they are: Odysseus, Diomedes, Antilochus, Agapenor, Sthenelus, Amphimachus, Thalpius, Meges, Amphilochus, Menestheus, Schedius, Epistrophus, Polyxenus, Peneleos, Leitus, Ajax son of Oileus, Ascalaphus, Ialmenus, Elephenor, Eumelus, Polypoetes, Leonteus, Podalirius, Machaon, Philoctetes, Eurypylus, Protesilaus, Menelaus, Telamonian Ajax, Teucer, Patroclus. The source is Pseudo-Apollodorus' Library.

The other term that is present in The Iliad and is διογενὲς, which can be written as diogenes. The translation, from what I researched, would be something like "sprung from Zeus", "Zeus-descendent" and similar things. While researching if this meaning was literal or could have another possible connotation, I found the following suggestions:

The term describes characters who have Zeus in their bloodline in some way.

The term describes heroes in general in a complimentary way, regardless of their association with Zeus.

The term describes characters of royalty, as royalty comes from Zeus.

In the English translations, Caroline Alexander translated it as descended from Zeus, Zeus-descended, seed of Zeus and god-cherished (it's the same word in all cases), Martin Hammond translated it as Lord, Richmond Lattimores translated it as illustrious and Robert Fagles translated it as Prince. My doubt arose precisely because the translators seemed to have different interpretations and so did the academics (which is where I got the 3 theories suggested above from. It was from articles). Lattimore seemed to interpret it as a way of designating praise, Fagles seemed to interpret it as something that designates royalty, Hammond seemed to interpret it as something that involves status and Alexander simply went with the most literal idea, although in the case of god-cherished she may have interpreted it as designating someone divinely favored (in the sense of support). In The Iliad, this term is used in several characters, such as Achilles, Odysseus, Patroclus, Menelaus, Telamonian Ajax, Euaimon, etc. In The Odyssey, it's used with Odysseus.

I tried to research to see if perhaps some Greek scholar had given their own interpretation, but I couldn't find anything, probably because it hasn't been translated into other languages. So I'm curious if there was any Greek professional who suggested some possible meaning for this term? Is it to designate heroes? Is it a compliment? Is it literally someone who is descended from Zeus? Is the character royalty?

Many thanks in advance!

Hello! Welcome to Greek semantics haha

a) Βασιλεύοντες

Βασιλεύοντες is the plural masculine present participle of the verb "βασιλεύω" (basileúo) which means "I reign". Consequently, it means indeed "the men who reign over". Participles are extremely important in Greek and they replace common nouns very often. In this case, it could have been βασιλείς (basileís), kings, and it would not make any difference in the meaning of the text whatsoever. The choice could purely be aesthetical, personal, even instictual, without much thought put into it. Of course, the participle offers one additional information; time, those are the men who are currently reigning.

Who and what can a basileus (king) be in Greek history is pretty fluid. In general, it means the person who rules a particular state or region, no matter how small or vast. It is not always that or just that though. In Mycenaean Greek, the same word (in the form of something like quasireu) was to describe a nobleman of authority but quite probably not the king. This was the anax. The anax barely makes it to the early Archaic Homeric Greek. While various characters are basileis (most are the ones you are inquiring about) and by that time it really means kings, only Agamemnon is referred to as anax if I remember correctly, and Priam from the Trojans.

So, here's how that worked more or less. All of them were kings to their respective regions. Hellas and Argos (Central and South Greece, at the time) were always divided in smaller kingdoms where a chieftain, a warrior king ruled. These small kingdoms were technically the predecessors of the Greek city-states. Agamemnon was a basileus like everyone else. He could not really meddle at the inside matters of, say, Ithaca instead of Odysseus or Phthia instead of Achilles. However, when an issue greater than each's inside issues arose, when multiple basileis had to face a challenge together, when there was need for a common policy, then Agamemnon had the first say amongst them and he would take the final decision. He was the anax, the "king supreme" of Hellas and Argos. (Around that time both Hellas and Argos start being used interchangeably to define all of central and south Greece too and by the time of pseudo-Apollodorus Hellas was by far the most prevalent term to use.) The usage of anax soon faded after Homer. It interestingly made a comeback in Byzantine Christian context later. For example, the Virgin Mary is sometimes called "Ánassa", Queen (of Heavens). Derivative words from anax are present in modern Greek, i.e anáktoron, royal palace.

After the drop of anax, basileus was the only and general word for king. In Greek it resolutely does not matter how vast his land and how many people or ethnicities the basileus rules over as long as he is the supreme ruler in his region and answers to no one. This is why in actuality the obvious distinction between king and emperor that exists in western European languages are nowhere near as clear in Greek. In fact the Greek word for emperor αυτοκράτωρ (autokrátor) was a term coined in the Roman period to translate the Latin term imperator (commander, used for the Roman emperors). Αυτοκράτωρ means "the one who has all the power to himself". In other words, it was not a word that held a distinct meaning than that of the king. It was a coined term to emphasize on the power of the emperor, who in the eyes of the Greeks was... a king, but a strong one. This is why there are instances of the title ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ (basileus autokrator). It techinically means "the king of all power". After the division of the Roman Empire and the fall of the western part, Greeks just kept calling the emperor βασιλέα (accusative case), as was their way. Especially once Greek became the official language in 610 BC, this was the official title for the emperor; Βασιλεύς Ρωμαίων. Modern Greek has probably been influenced by the western perception in this and treats βασιλιάς and αυτοκράτορας (the casual modern nominative cases) as different types of royalty and power like in the west, however this wasn't the case up until the Middle Ages.

Now, you are also right that sometimes the word addressed noble people without them being strictly royalty. It could be if the person had the utmost authority for a considerable area or if they were just royal, as in kin to an actual king or connected to them. It has always been even used as a compliment for commoners as well, "kingly". This belief has very old origins, certainly already in early archaic times. Someone kind and civil in their behaviour, someone with grace, bravery and other virtues, someone beautiful was thought to descend from royal genealogy or was praised as "fit for a king", "fit for a queen", even "fit for a prince or princess". This association never went extinct, it very much exists in modern Greek folklore. Furthermore, the names Basíleios (Basil, kingly), Basileía and Basiliké (queenly, royal) are some of the most common in Greece.

b) διογενές

Here it would be useful to have the full phrase you encountered this to know how literally or figuratively the word is used. And are you sure it's διογενές and not διογενής? Because the former is neuter. Both ε and η are transliterated as e in English.

If it's literal then yes, we are talking about a descendant of Zeus or something made by Zeus.

If it's figurative, then the explanation of this word will be consistent with the last paragraph above. Here I invite you to consider whether you have also stumbled onto the word δῖος (díos) that describes Homeric heroes several times, most of all Odysseus. And perhaps you know that Διογένης was a pretty common Ancient Greek name. Okay, keep this thought in mind for later.

Zeus' name ultimately derives from the PIE Sky Father god Dyeus. Its root can be better seen in the conjugation of Zeus' name (Greek proper nouns have declensions too). In Latin characters, it goes like Zeus Dios Dii Dia Zeu. Now, this di- root that has PIE origins meant "shine, brilliance, skylight". It is why the most important god is called as such because after all he is the God of the Heavens, THE God. (Other sky deities like Ouranós, unfortunately transliterated to Uranus, were later developments as Greeks were expanding their perception of their theogony).

So, δῖος means something like "divinely luminous", "god-like", "godly", "brilliant". It kind of means all those things. This is why Lattimore translated it as "illustrious", because it has the meaning of "great, renowned" and it is also through the same reasoning and a similar etymological concept, as it derives from a word that means shine, bright in Latin. Illustrious though misses a little on the divine connotations and the connection to Zeus in comparison. BTW no I did not forget this is about διογενές (diogenés) instead but the second part of the word is very easy to explain. In short, in this context it means birthed, produced, descended. So since δῖος and Zeus have the same etymology, you can say that it either means produced / descended from Zeus (literally or figuratively) or "made of (Zeus) divine brilliance". The most important thing here is that it does not matter much. Yep. The reason it does not matter is because if it's figurative then it absolutely designates praise. Godly. Divinely brilliant. God-luminous. A proper descendant of Zeus. Not that he certainly is. But he is magnificent enough that he could be. That's the point of these words. So whether Alexander's "seed of Zeus" is poetically accurate or not depends on the context of the full phrase, which I do not have.

Coming back to the beginning, a proof that it was often meant as praise and not always as a literal conviction that the character in question necessarily came from the (admittedly massive) genealogy of Zeus is how common the name Diogenes was in the real Ancient Greek world. All these common people did not actually claim ancestry from Zeus or that they were made of his divine skylight. It was a figurative form of praise, like names usually bear positive connotations.

Now, Hammond's and Fagles' Lord and Prince are way too liberal translations (another way to say they were wrong), however their reasonings are not all that far off. It's not that the terms δῖος and διογενής-ές designate royalty or status but they were definitely praises more frequently associated to nobility and royalty. This is because Ancient Greeks thought that their legendary heroes and kings and noblemen were superior to the mere humans that they were. After all many of them seemed to actually descend from gods according to the Greek myths. They were imagined as mortal humans but with some presumed distant divine intervention in their genealogy that made them more glorious human beings. This is a recurring positive association to nobility and royalty, which in turn evolved into this association of virtuous, gifted common people with a presumed relation to nobility and royalty that I described in the first answer. So, yes, it was commonly used as praise for royalty but no, it did not in itself mean royalty.

From a figurative perspective, Lattimore's "illustrious" is the closest interpretation however it misses on the divine aspect of it, which is the most important. It is unlikely you will find various interpretations from Greek professionals because the understanding of the word is pretty unanimous in Greece. Διογενής as an adjective is not in use in Greek anymore probably due to its direct association to Zeus, however there is the just as ancient synonym θεογενής [descended from god(s)] which also produces proper names such as Θεογένης or Θεαγένης, which mean the same thing except it comes from the most generic term for the god θεός and not specifically Zeus the Sky god (which are interestingly believed to come from different PIE roots despite sounding so similar). The connotations of it being overwhelmingly figurative and designating praise are clear to us because such adjectives associated to divinity ie θεϊκός, θείος meaning divine, god-like etc are very common in Greek and are used very liberally and expressively all the time.

The reason I focused way more on the figurative explanation is because the fact that we get four so different interpretations probably means the context of the phrase wasn't that of a character that we already know that was an offspring of Zeus. And because the literal meaning is so much easier lol

Okay for you and anyone who made it this far, congrats, you made it through a massive post with Greek semantics!

[themoonking]

i know its been years but actually im never going to get over psyche being illiterate because not only is it really yikes that the one (1) character of color in this neon rainbow hellscape cannot fucking read, but its a perfect example just how little research into ancient greek culture and religion rachel smythe actually does bc a single google search will tell you that psyche, as a wealthy woman of high social status, would have absolutely been taught how to read and write.

[gyudons]

i’m sorry but this is the FUNNIEST THING i’ve ever read… a bunch of academics peering at this wooden dildo and having Intense Discussions about it

GUARDIAN - Archaeologists believe they may have found the only known lifesize Roman dildo, discovered in a ditch in what were the farthest northern fringes of the empire.

If it was not used as a sexual implement then the 2,000-year-old object may have been an erect penis-shaped pestle, or it could have been a feature from a statue that people touched for good luck.

What it definitely is not is what it was catalogued as after its discovery at the Roman fort of Vindolanda in Northumberland in 1992: a darning tool.

“I have to confess,” said Newcastle University archaeology senior lecturer Rob Collins, “part of me thinks it’s kind of self-evident that it is a penis. I don’t know who entered it into the catalogue. Maybe it was somebody uncomfortable with it or didn’t think the Romans would do such silly things.”

If they did think that, they could not be more wrong given that two- and three-dimensional representations of phalli were ubiquitous in the Roman world, whether in mosaics, frescoes, pot decoration or pendants worn around the neck.

The Vindolanda phallus is 16cm long but, researchers say, was probably larger because archaeological wood is prone to shrinkage and warping.

It has been examined by researchers at Newcastle University and University College Dublin. The analysis has revealed it to be, at the very least, the first known example of a disembodied phallus made of wood recovered anywhere in the Roman world.

The phallus was found in a ditch along with dozens of shoes and dress accessories as well as craft waste products such as leather off-cuts and worked antler – perhaps one reason for it being seen as a darning tool.

“What makes this a first is that it is not a small, miniature phallus,” said Collins. “It’s lifesize. It’s also important because wood just doesn’t normally survive … we couldn’t find any parallels.”

The size and uncertainty of function was fascinating, he said. “Often in archaeology when we find an object we can tell what it was used for or deduce what it was used for. That wasn’t the case for this object. We have had to cast our nets wide in thinking what would a six-and-a-half-inch wooden carving of a phallus be used for.

“We had some very interesting discussions.”

Ancient phallic objects were often used for warding off evil. The analysis showed the Vindolanda phallus had notably smoother ends, indicating it was used for something over a period of time.

The team has alighted on three possible theories, all of which are outlined in a detailed discussion paper published in the journal Antiquity.

One theory is that it was used for sexual reasons. That could mean it was a sex toy although some caution is needed, said Collins.

“Sometimes they [dildos] weren’t always used for pleasure … they can be implements of torture so I’m very conscious of using the term sex toy. Hopefully that is what it was used for. That is the most exciting and intriguing possibility.

“If that is the case it would be, to our knowledge, the first Roman dildo that’s been encountered from archaeology. We know from Greek and Roman poetry and Greek and Roman art that they used dildos. But we haven’t had any archaeological examples found which is intriguing in itself.

“If it is that and it is found up here on the northern fringe of the empire and not down in the rich heartland of Roman Italy … it is kind of astounding.”

Theory two is that the object was used as a pestle, either for culinary purposes or to grind cosmetic or medicinal ingredients. Its size would have made it easy to use and the shape would have imbued the food or ingredients with perceived magical properties.

The third option is that it was meant to slot into a statue which passersby would touch for good luck or to absorb or activate protection from misfortune – which was common throughout the Roman empire.

If that was the case, the statue would probably have been located near the entrance to an important building but the evidence indicates that the phallus was either indoors or at least not in an exposed position outside for any length of time.

Researchers hope the Vindolanda phallus will prompt a search for similar objects in other collections. In the meantime it has gone on display at the Vindolanda museum.