#The Book of Wisdom

[danielinza-blog]

Un universo literario te espera en la gran biblioteca del mañana

[chaoticaesthetician]

abnormally large trees please lend me some of your centuries worth of wisdom

[gingermintpepper]

I think, perhaps one of the funniest things to come from EPIC popularising the Odyssey is that now a ton of people think Poseidon wanted to kill Odysseus.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon has no intention of killing Odysseus. In fact, part of the whole reason Zeus lets Poseidon do whatever he wants even though he thinks Odysseus is rad and should get to kiss his wife is explicitly because Poseidon had no intentions of killing Odysseus. Poseidon wanted to pay back the suffering/inconvenience blinding Polyphemus would have caused. It's a really abstract thing tbh. How do you pay back someone permanently disabling your son? Poseidon's solution was just to amputate Odysseus from his other half; i.e. Penelope. The end game was never murder, it was always an endurance race.

(Od. Book 1: Zeus reassuring Athena that he is not, in fact, a part of Odysseus Hater-Nation. Trans. Robert Fagles)

Also, for those wondering if there's any sort of in text reason for why Poseidon wasn't around in God Games - at the time in the Odyssey when Athena petitions Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso's island, Poseidon was -checks notes- on vacation in Ethiopia. Yep. He left to Ethiopia for a festival and thusly was very much absent for Athena's whole "please let Ody go? Please? 🥺" request.

(Od. Book 1: While Odysseus was suffering, Poseidon went to party in the east)

I am begging y'all to read the Odyssey. It's a comedy for everyone except Odysseus and Penelope who are, in fact, suffering 24/7 365.

[somewordsarebiggerthanothers]

[y2kaee]

[jananikjha]

hi guys! it's me, Janani (formerly known as J. Maya) <3 you might know me from my mythology & literary-inspired music, my time as a former pun champion, Survivor, the internet at large, or EPIC: the musical :)

I'm new to Tumblr, and I wanted to come on here and say hi!!!!! in honor of my birth on this site (from chaos and seafoam, much like the lovely Aphrodite herself), feel free to ask me anything in the comments and I will answer to the best of my abilities <3

love you!!!!!

[project-quoter]

IG | Shop | Raw Edge Gallery

[stormbornwitch]

"Let your craft be like a tree, firmly rooted in the old, but stretching into the new. Get your hands dirty, and find out what works and what doesn't work for you."

- Roger J Horne's Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land & the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner

[itsmaats13]

Love Yourself

[refat-ahmed]

Ten wise quotes from Umar Ibn Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه

"The best way to defeat someone is to beat him at politeness."

"The less attachment to the world. The easier your life."

"Sometimes the people with the worst past, create the best future."

"Get used to a rough life, for luxury does not last forever."

"Don't forget your own self while preaching to others."

"The wisest man is he who can account for his actions."

"Do not put off today's work for tomorrow."

"He who wins through fraud is no winner."

"May Allah bless the man who says less and does more."

"Learn the Arabic language; it will sharpen your wisdom."

[wordsmithic]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[jazzy-a]

Since Hermes is essentially the god of tricks/wit, and Ody is his descendant, I just love the idea of him watching parts of Odysseus' journey and excitedly pointing and slapping the god or goddess next to him, like "DID YOU SEE THAT!?"

Think about it: Odysseus literally sacking Troy by hiding in a giant horse; bluffing so well that Athena- goddess of wisdom- falls for it; drugging Polyphemus with lotus wine (Hermes would be proud).

You can't convince me that Hermes wasn't somewhere eating popcorn during "Ruthlessness" and that when Ody opens the mother f-ing wind bag like a cocky little sh!t, Hermes didn't burst out laughing and start applauding.

He fluttered down to Uncle Poseidon after that, like, "Ohoho! My darling little grand-baby just schooled you!"

[melancholypolywog]

i had this idea a while ago where ford invites shermie to visit backupsmore but completely forgets about it. shermie is left stranded in the undulating thickets of hippies until fiddleford mcgucket saves the day by locating ford for him.

[kathasartblock]

Got my wisdom teeth out today and…. um…..

[somewordsarebiggerthanothers]