#and a lot of other greek myths

[starlitvick]

The respect I have for people who have actually been able to read The Odyssey and The Iliad is insane.

I was at the bookstore today buying the newest pjo book and I went to the classics section like “hm maybe I can buy The Iliad and The Odyssey so I can finally read them instead of getting all my information on the plot from video summaries, spark notes, and tumblr” then I grabbed both of them and decided to yk sift through to see if I could actually even read it. I in fact, could NOT read those things. Like the style of English and speaking hurt my brain, I thought the spark notes summaries were brain melting but oh lord the book itself hurt more.

So yeah I did not buy either one and only both wrath of the triple goddess lmao, but I did leave with a lot of respect for the people who have been able to actually read the book because I just can’t

But also if anyone has like a translation of either one that’s easier to read please do recommend and I’ll see if I can get it because I would really like to actually have a copy I can refer to when I need it (a copy I can actually understand that is)

[msbunnat]

Love can be as deep as an ocean and as shallow as a puddle, it can be as hard as ice or slip away like smoke through your fingers, as calm or as overwhelming as the waves...

Here my take on Afrodite

[gingermintpepper]

In my Zeus bag today so I'm just gonna put it out there that exactly none of the great Ancient Greek warrior-heroes stayed loyal and faithful and completely monogamous and yet none of them have their greatness questioned nor do we question why they had the cultural prominence that they did and still do.

Jason, the brilliant leader of the Argo, got cold feet when it came to Medea - already put off by some of her magic and then exiled from his birthland because of her political ploys, he took Creusa to bed and fully intended on marrying her despite not properly dissolving things with Medea.

Theseus was a fierce warrior and an incredibly talented king but he had a horrible temper and was almost fatally weak to women. This is the man who got imprisoned in the Underworld for trying to get a friend laid, the man who started the whole Attic War because he couldn't keep his legs closed.

And we cannot at all forget Heracles for whom a not inconsiderable amount of his joy in life was loving people then losing the people around him that he loved. Wives, children, serving boys, mentors, Heracles had a list of lovers - male and female - long enough to rival some gods and even after completing his labours and coming down to the end of his life, he did not have one wife but three.

And y'know what, just because he's a cultural darling, I'll put Achilles up here too because that man was a Theseus type where he was fantastic at the thing he was born to do (that is, fight whereas Theseus' was to rule) but that was not enough to eclipse his horrid temper and his weakness to young pretty things. This is the man that killed two of Apollo's sons because they wouldn't let him hit - Tenes because he refused to let Achilles have his sister and Troilus who refused Achilles so vehemently that he ran into Apollo's temple to avoid him and still couldn't escape.

All four of these men are still celebrated as great heroes and men. All four of these men are given the dignity of nuance, of having their flaws treated as just that, flaws which enrich their character and can be used to discuss the wider cultural point of what truly makes a hero heroic. All four of these men still have their legacies respected.

Why can that same mindset not be applied to Zeus? Zeus, who was a warrior-king raised in seclusion apart from his family. Zeus who must have learned to embrace the violence of thunder for every time he cried as a babe, the Corybantes would bang their shields to hide the sound. Zeus learned to be great because being good would not see the universe's affairs in its order.

The wonderful thing about sympathy is that we never run out of it. There's no rule stopping us from being sympathetic to multiple plights at once, there's no law that necessitate things always exist on the good-evil binary. Yes, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to sufferation in Tartarus for what (to us) seems like a cruel reason. Prometheus only wanted to help humans! But when you think about Prometheus' actions from a king's perspective, the narrative is completely different: Prometheus stole divine knowledge and gifted it to humans after Zeus explicitly told him not to. And this was after Prometheus cheated all the gods out of a huge portion of wealth by having humans keep the best part of a sacrifice's meat while the gods must delight themselves with bones, fat and skin. Yes, Zeus gave Persephone away to Hades without consulting Demeter but what king consults a woman who is not his wife about the arrangement of his daughter's marriage to another king? Yes, Zeus breaks the marriage vows he set with Hera despite his love of her but what is the Master of Fate if not its staunchest slave?

The nuance is there. Even in his most bizarre actions, the nuance and logic and reason is there. The Ancient Greeks weren't a daft people, they worshipped Zeus as their primary god for a reason and they did not associate him with half the vices modern audiences take issue with. Zeus was a father, a visitor, a protector, a fair judge of character, a guide for the lost, the arbiter of revenge for those that had been wronged, a pillar of strength for those who needed it and a shield to protect those who made their home among the biting snakes. His children were reflections of him, extensions of his will who acted both as his mercy and as his retribution, his brothers and sisters deferred to him because he was wise as well as powerful. Zeus didn't become king by accident and it is a damn shame he does not get more respect.

[olivsie]

Something I like about epic the musical is that it Gives it's changes to the original text an actual Purpose

( The first couple paragraphs are basically a rant regarding retellings. If you only want to hear about epic Skip to paragraph 4)

1. I am a bit annoyed by the lack of. Understanding as to why RETELLINGS aren't the most historicaly accurate things in the world. Sorry to break this to you, but that's both just how they work and I would guess how they reach success. Ancient Greece is a much different culture than our own, And most of us would be terrified to actually live back then. When you are Trying to create content That is based on ancient Greece And you want it to be successful/ At least reach a wide, and notably, MODERN audience. You're likely going to have to take some creative liberty And change a few things. Don't get me wrong, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIKE RETELLINGS KNOWING THAT FACT ( Me personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Miller's novels Even though I do like epic) BUT IT IS SOMETHING TO BE AWARE OF. And because of that I don't think I would ever expect a retelling to be perfectly accurate And I don't. I had interest in mythology LONG before epic the musical But I didn't actually read the Odyssey until getting into epic. I did not expect it To be just like the musical, I knew Odysseus was going to be much more of an asshole, along with other characters. The odyssey and epic are different pieces of media to me And I am not less of a mythology nerd for liking epic ( Though I will admit that sometimes I take tiny little fun facts of mythology And like to think of them in the context of epic, but that's just for fun.)

2. The Only time being a fan of retellings is wrong as if you genuinely believe they are perfectly accurate And refuse to listen to anything else ( Which has definitely happened, And mythology nerds have the right to be annoyed at that)

3. Some people only like to consume real mythology media, Others like both real mythology and retellings, Others only like to engage with retellings (I would hope they have the self-awareness to know It's not real mythology, From what I've seen some do and some don't, Unfortunately)

4. Ok. now on to what the title of this long ass rant says

I like that epic the musical Retells the story, Not only to both cater to modern audience But Also with its OWN purpose of man versus monster.

Obviously, this is not the point of the original text. Mythos Odysseus does not give a single fuck About the stuff that epic odysseus does. I don't know why the creator Decided to rewrite it this way, (If he's ever said why let me know) But I would assume he wanted to make something about the oddessy And this was simply a very creative way to Translate that for modern audience.

I like this because, yes, holy damn. It does have changes from the original text. But it's not JUST changing it. It's changing it with a purpose

It feels reminiscent of some kind of Dramatic play. the way that epic characterizes.

Polites' kind nature is Representative of the Concept of being merciful Represented in his lines such as " This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms" /"There is so much guilt inside your heart, So why not replace it?"

While in contrast you have eurylochus with more ruthlessness and cautious nature, this is Found in some of his lines such as "You rely on wit, and people die on it" /"we don't know what's ahead" / "I say we strike first. We don't have time to waste so lets raid the place-" /"Let's just cut our losses, You and I and let's run"

And then you have Odysseus, the man/monster. The first act of this Musical is his internal struggle With what He should be On that scale. And the other characters Represent this struggle in the song monster

" Is the cyclops struck with gilt when he kills, is he up in the middle of the night? Or does he end my men to avenge his friend and then Sleep knowing he has done him right?

When the witch turns men to pigs to protect her nymphs, is she going insane? Or did she learn to be colder when she got older and now she saves them the pain?

When a God comes down and makes a Fleet drown Is he scared that he's doing something wrong? Or does he keep us in check So we must respect him and now no one dares to piss him off"

He then Applies this to himself

" Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping trojans cause he is vile? Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile?"

And this marks his turning point of deciding that Ruthlessness It's ultimately worth it if it means Getting home, as aeolus says "The end Always justifies the means"

It's in my opinion, a very creative way to go about retelling a myth. Is it accurate? Absolutely not. For example, circe (From what we know) is not protecting When she turns men into pigs, For all we know, she could just do it because Shits and giggles.

Her character and most others in epic is changed from the original. But it's not ONLY changing for the sake of apeling to the modern Western audience and being successful like Many other retellings. It is also and mainly changing for the sake of influencing the plot that Jorge Rivera herrans crafted For the sake of Retelling epic. It is creative and I enjoy it despite knowing it's not accurate.

[echo-stimmingrose]

Actually fuck you. Ares and Hephaestus are amazing. Also you're just gonna forget Hebe like that?

[apollos-boyfriend]

i just think it’s super interesting how icarus is so widely known as a greek myth, because while don’t get me wrong, it IS, we kind of have like. so little surviving greek texts depicting him. he was alluded to a lot, but the longest text we have with him only mentions his name like, twice, and his appearance lasts for three paragraphs max before his death.

a lot of the prestige and acknowledgement for the mythos comes from roman poets and writers, and i just feel like that’s. never acknowledged. icarus’ fall is kind of THE greek myth nowadays, when really, the fad largely should be attributed to the romans, as it’s their texts that would go onto inspire icarus comparisons and references in literature/media.

[deconstructthesoup]

Broke: Hades is the Evil God because he's the king of the Underworld, aka Hell, and death gods are Always Evil, also he kidnapped Persephone and that's another Evil Thing (totally ignores the fact that almost all of the other male gods have done that and more)

Woke: Hades is actually one of the kindest and fairest gods in the whole damn pantheon and is also one of the only ones that appears to have common sense and actually does his job, and his and Persephone's story is both a lot more tame than you'd expect and suffers from a lot of cultural clash (also, Persephone predates him in terms of worship and the two canonically rule as equals whenever she's down in the Underworld). He doesn't deserve any of his bad rep, and it's really his brothers who you should be giving the side-eye

Bespoke: Hades may not have been a bad guy in actual Greek mythology, but he deserves to snap and be at least a little bit evil in modern adaptations. As a treat.

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

I hate my hangup with reading Wonder Woman comics bc I spent my formative years as a Greek myth lover and I know I'm not going to enjoy the feminist revisionism that seems to be the Greek Pantheon of DC

I want to read her stuff, but dear god I don't want how they write the gods in any story I've heard of

[jacksjargon]

WANNA KNOW SOMETHING THAT REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN GLOSSED OVER IN PJO????? THEM HOLDING THE FUCKING SKY. THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION. LIKE, ANNABETH, EVEN WITH ARTEMIS' BLESSING CARRIED THE WEIGHT OF TGE WORLD ON HER SHOULDERS FOR 22 HOURS. WHAT THE FUCK. PERCY HELD THE WEIGHT FOR A WAY SMALLER AMOUNT OF TIME, BUT ON HIS OWN MOTHERFUCKING STRENGTH. AND??? ANNABETH AND PERCY HAVE SHARED TRAUMA WITH ARTEMIS, NOW???? GREEK GODDESS WOULD-KILL-A-MAN-FOR-BEING-A-PRICK-JUST-AS-SOON-AS-SHED-SMITE-A-FUCKING-GIANT-COUGH-ORION-COUGH ARTEMIS???? AND THAT WASNT REALLY UTILIZED???

ANYWAY, HERES A LIST OF THINGS THAT ARE MY PERSONAL HEADCANONS FOR THE AFTERMATH OF HOLDING THE MOTHERFUVKING SKY:

-BASED ON DIFFERENT TELLINGS OF THE MYTH, ATLAS WAS EITHER HOLDING THE SKY OR THE EARTH, SO GUESS WHAT. THE REASON WHY ITS SO DRAINING ISNT ONLY JUST BECAUSE YOURE HOLDING THE S K Y, BUT ALSO BECAUSE YOURE BODY AND CONSCIOUSNESS IS BEING DIVIDED OVER AND OVER SO AS TO BE ABLE TO HOLD THE ENTIRE SKY, BECAUSE LAST TIME I CHECKED, THE FUCKING SKY WASNT ANCHORED TO ONE POINT. I SAY THAT THAT STUPID MOUNTAIN WAS JUST THE EASIEST PLACE TO ACCESS THAT POINT OF DIVISION

-ALONG WITH THE PREVIOUS ONE, BECAUSE CONSCIOUSNESS WAS DIVIDED, TGE HOLDERS HAVE I N S A N E FUCKING GEOGRAPHY SKILLS. LIKE, PERCY HAD THEM BEFORE, BUT NOW HE AND ANNABETH CAN CASUALLY GO, LIKE, OH, LUXEMBOURG, YEAH THATS OVER BY WHATEVERTHEFUCK. THEYRE VERY POPULAR AT TRIVIA, NOW

-CHRONIC MOTHERFUVKING PAIN. THIS HAS BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE, BUT I'D IMAGINE THAT TGE SKY IS REALLY F U C K I N G HEAVY. THATS GOTTA BE HELL ON YOUR WRISTS AND BACK. ADD IN TARTURUS SHIT AND YOU HAVE CHRONIC PAIN FOR L I F E.

-THE GRAY STREAKS SHOULD HAVE STAYED. I DONT GUVE A SHIT IF THEYRE STRESS INDUCED OR WHATEVER. ITS A MAGICAL PHENOMENON, IT CAN HAVE ITS OWN RULES. LIKE THE MARK OF FUCKING ACHILLES, BUT THATS ANOTHER STORY.

-AS MENTIONED BEFORE, THEY PACK BONDED WITH ARTEMIS A BIT??? BUT IT DIDNT COME UP AGAIN??? LIKE, SURE, SHE DIDNT WANT HIM TO DIE, BUT THE THREE OF THEM WERE LIKE??? ALL IN THAT TOGETHER??? AND LOST ZOE?? I DYNNO. MAYBE THATS TOO FAR, BUT STILL

THATS REALLY ALL I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW, BUT IM SURE THERES MORE. BUT WHAT GHE FUCK WAS THAT.

[an-unraveling-unknown]

You ever do something not thinking much of it, but after you do it you realize it was actually like a genius move?

This happened to me with my story: Started it off with a fairly standard conflict; someone wants what Tuon has. But afterward I was like "Oh shit, this is a prime opportunity to show his unyielding guardianship!" But not only that, I also realized that it did a great job at reflecting his flaws and sort of foreshadowing them to the reader

Oh man THATS SO GOOD!! It is so nifty when things work out like that, I hear you- long story relatively short, you betcha.

I had something like that with Aeonian, my Tav for Baldur's Gate 3. One of their quirks that I put down on paper early on was that the places were their muscles would be are rock hard - mainly because of the fact that they're cramming a monolithically sized form's worth of matter down into a humanoid body thats eight times smaller, hence putting a lot of strain on their body as a whole, but also à la a statue for a physical form.

"Statue for a physical form.... death and rebirth themes*......statue made of rock. wait."

Because I cannot escape my hyperfixations, geology was thrown back in my face in whence I was immediately reminded of the ROCK CYCLE:

-which can be pretty well-applied to the whole death and rebirth thing, not to mention a nifty little guideline as to how their character arc can go as well as Aeonian's place as a story in of themselves (long story, involves statues though) and their tendency to 'erode' themselves per se if it means getting where they need to be. Metamorphosis also links pretty cleanly here too, not only because of the metamorphic rock and its processes but because of parallels between Aeonian (embodiment of death [at sea]) and Thanatos, the greek personification of death, who is usually represented by way of butterflies.

I'm real bad at explaining things so I apologize if none of this made a lick of sense, I promise it's a lot clearer in my head and please feel free to ask for clarity on anything!! this is probably some of my favorite character work I've done so far

*dionysus+being the literal embodiment of death [at sea,] longer story

(Please talk more about Tuon he is SO cool and I talk too much, that's some really good character writing)

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Apollo Ascending series

Greek myth inspired fantasy romance series

Apollo is forced to spend a year with the prince of a neighboring kingdom before ascending to godhood, despite hating everything gods stand for and wanting to stay mortal with his sister

Prince Hyacinth is dealing with taking over his father’s responsibilities, and having to host the unruly almost-god, while his sister tries not to be forced into a role and marriage she doesn’t want, as she’s in love with a stablehand

romance, drama, tragedy, and a war against the gods,

5 POVs, m/m m/f & aroace

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

I do see that the series takes some of the themes from Ovid's work and as much as I do have a mixed opinion on it since his work wasn't necessarily supposed to be an official roman version of things but political criticism of the government as well as a way to trash the greeks, it does work well with the overall theme and narrative that Percy Jackson has built up with how gods are fallible and in fact had done a lot of wrong and them ignoring their kids is an awful thing and they should be better parents.

Like, yeah, I do have my own gripes with the usage of Ovid's Medusa rather than the original Greek one in the story, but it does work with the larger narrative of the series so it's not that big of a deal for me.

[gingermintpepper]

Day 4: Aristaeus

Interpretation notes and trivia below the cut!!

All rise for the entrance of my president !! Honestly, of all the figures and characters that were up for debate when I first started thinking about this story and who I wanted leading the charge Aristaeus was not one of them. Originally, I'd always known that Asclepius and Orpheus would be worked in somehow - they've always been favourites of mine in terms of children of Apollo (even if Orpheus as the child of Apollo and Calliope is less popular classically) and I expected my pick for the third child of Apollo to be involved to be similarly mortal like Iamus or Tenes but the more I looked into Aristaeus the more I fell in love with him! Ultimately, he's meant to be both a foil and a reflection of his father - a boy who grows up thinking his father's footsteps would always be warm only to realise that following in them would lead to death and destruction. While his status as a rustic and hunting god is still important here, Aristaeus' interpretation is much more focused on his connection to the Etesian wind and his quelling of the dog star Sirius which is why his hair in particular is so long and spiralling. All in all, more than any other figure I've chosen to interpret and represent in my work Aristaeus is the god I hope more people get interested in and research! I think there are a lot of important stories in his various myths and travels and I definitely want more people to discover and fall in love with them as I have!

Some fun trivia:

Apollo's firstborn son. Because he was born mortal on account of his very mortal mother, Apollo immediately took him to Olympus to eat ambrosia to begin his transition into divinity. Apollo would continue to feed Aristaeus small amounts of ambrosia and nectar for the next ten years until the child fully shed his mortal skin and was reborn as a god.

Due to the nature of making mortals deathless (namely the fun part of the process where they are completely remade and lose their mortal memories) Aristaeus spent most of his early life with his mother and siblings where they all pitched in to reteach him his family, his hobbies, his favourite things and ultimately how to live and love. Aristaeus was very attached to his maternal family because of this and his early acts of ingenuity were mostly born from his wish to make things easier for his family.

Aristaeus is the only one of his children Apollo hand raised full time. In those days, Aristaeus adored his father and believed him completely upright and blameless, the true face of a benevolent deity and the kind of man he aimed to be when he was full grown.

They would later have many bitter arguments and conflicts, the first and perhaps most impactful of all being their disagreement over Actaeon, Aristaeus' firstborn son. He wanted Apollo to teach him stating that it was a normal thing for a grandfather to do but Apollo vehemently refused to have any part of Actaeon's rearing, stating that he was not his child and that it was highly inappropriate for him to educate another god's son. When Actaeon later dies, Aristaeus blames a not insignificant part of that on Apollo - something that only worsens when he learns that it was Artemis who cursed the boy and that Apollo was always aware Actaeon would die young.

Spends most of his time travelling from place to place. Doesn't really like Olympus and prefers to spend his time minding animals or tending to fields. Is on wonderful terms with Demeter and Persephone and often makes decadent exchanges of olive oil and preserved meat for exotic flowers and fruit for his bees.

Big fan of wind and percussive instruments. Never liked the kithara because of how finicky it is and far prefers the hand drums and reed flutes of his mother's country. Exceptional dancer.

Will sell prized cattle for high quality and highly unique jewellry. Doesn't much care for gemstones but is an absolute gold fiend and has a massive collection of bracelets, anklets, nose and lip adornments and rings. Has never been north enough to hit India but got a ton of rare and different adornments from his Phoenician in-laws when he was married to Autonoë.

Hates dogs but doesn't mind wolves. Not a big horse fan either

Unlike other winds, he cannot transform into various animal forms. He's close enough to the Anemoi that he keeps up with the gossip but he's only really friends with Notos. Gets along poorly with Zephyrus whose preference for pretty youths has often led to them getting into physical altercations when they were younger. Aristaeus still holds a bit of a grudge about it.

Has a big stupid crush on Dionysus which is embarrassing because Dionysus also put him out of a job. Due to Dionysus' relative youth, he feels a bit conflicted about such feelings - mostly because Dionysus is on extremely good terms with Apollo and Aristaeus doesn't want him to get burned.

Despite kinda despising his father, Aristaeus is a pretty decent eldest brother and regularly keeps in contact with a lot of his siblings. He often delivers mead, flavoured honey and olive oil and uses it as an excuse to chat and catch up. Currently in a bit of a tiff with Asclepius because he's worried about him and his family.

Favourite colour is the rich gold of purified honey, favourite food is lokma and his favourite time of year is winter.

[lowcallyfruity]

have you ever heard of/watched hadestown before? I think you would like it!

Oh yeah!! My partner was obsessed with it during middle school so I’ve heard about it! I think I know a few songs?

[mysticwiki]

i've been re-reading all of the percy jackson books, like starting with the original series and i got the sequel series too (heroes of olympus). i read all of PJO when i was in 8th and 9th grade, then kinda stopped after it was done and never really read the sequel series so that'll be interesting 🤔

ANYWAY i just finished the 4th PJO book and i'm about to crack open the last one........ and i just wanted to share how funny this looks, this entire shelf on my bookshelf is just mythology retellings at this point huh

[demento-mori]

Also. Ive been keeping notes on the game as ive been playing (themes, motifs, imagery, literary allusions, stuff like that) and ive come to some......... worrying conclusions.

... I think I might know how the game ends and it scares me.