#apollodorus

[dionysusmybeloved]

I decided to make a post on this since I kinda forgot to make a separate one from the master-list, but I wanted to share that I've made a free library of resources to use!

Which includes:

• The Theogony, Works and Days, The Shield

• The Odyssey and Illiad

• The Homeric and Orphic Hymns

• The Library by Apollodorus

• Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship

and many more books / plays (Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Sophocles), secondary resources on Dionysus, etc.

also, you can message me to add some books and resources, I'll try to add it to the best of my ability (I'm uploading Euripides I to IV tomorrow probably)

[oddyseye]

Hey EPIC fans who may not have had the pleasure of actually reading the Odyssey (or who just like the idea of it but prefer the fanfic versions) and are curious about Calypso’s backstory!

Do you want to know more mythology about this goddess? It might not be what you want to hear, but hey, this is for those of you who want to know the real deal about Calypso. I will cite my sources at the end.

First things first: who actually is Calypso?

Calypso is a character introduced in Homer’s Odyssey, composed around the 8th century BC, and she doesn’t show up in any earlier mythological texts. In the story, she’s a nymph who lives on the island of Ogygia. She’s depicted as beautiful and powerful. When Odysseus washes up on her island after being shipwrecked, she takes him in and keeps him there. She falls in love with him and, using her divine powers, keeps him captive, making him live with her for years while he longs to return home to Ithaca. She's a rapist. Let me say that again for the people in the back: Calypso rapes Odysseus. You can’t romanticize this. She literally traps him on her island, and despite his desire to leave, she won’t let him go. She keeps him as her lover, against his will, using her divine powers to hold him captive. This isn't just a "love story" where the two are tragically torn apart by circumstances. She has no interest in letting him leave, and in fact, actively stops him from doing so, which is rape:

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπέβη κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης: ἡ δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ Ὀδυσσῆα μεγαλήτορα πότνια νύμφη ἤι᾽, ἐπεὶ δὴ Ζηνὸς ἐπέκλυεν ἀγγελιάων. τὸν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀκτῆς εὗρε καθήμενον: οὐδέ ποτ᾽ ὄσσε δακρυόφιν τέρσοντο, κατείβετο δὲ γλυκὺς αἰὼν νόστον ὀδυρομένῳ, ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι ἥνδανε νύμφη. ἀλλ᾽ ἦ τοι νύκτας μὲν ἰαύεσκεν καὶ ἀνάγκῃ ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι παρ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλων ἐθελούσῃ: ἤματα δ᾽ ἂμ πέτρῃσι καὶ ἠιόνεσσι καθίζων δάκρυσι καὶ στοναχῇσι καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἐρέχθων πόντον ἐπ᾽ ἀτρύγετον δερκέσκετο δάκρυα λείβων. Thus, having spoken, the mighty slayer of Argus went away, and the goddess, the queen nymph of great Odysseus, went to him, after hearing Zeus' message. There she found him sitting on the shore; his eyes were never dry, for tears flowed, as sweet life drained away, mourning his homecoming, for the nymph no longer pleased him. But for sure, at night he slept in the cave, forced, though unwilling, by the nymph, who had her way; and during the day, sitting on the rocks and shores, he tore at his heart with weeping and groaning, gazing at the endless sea, shedding tears. (Translation by me.)

Let us think about what she’s doing here: Odysseus is clearly not happy to stay on her island. Homer even makes it clear that he yearns to return home. He’s crying, he’s miserable, and yet, Calypso still keeps him there, for years. She uses the one thing she can offer him (comfort, beauty, and whatever else she thinks he might want) as a means of trapping him. The fact that he eventually gives in and even sleeps with her is not consent. It’s not a moment of mutual love. It’s survival under duress. He’s trying to find a way out, and she’s keeping him locked in, controlling the situation with her power and influence.

Misconceptions about Calypso:

#1: Calypso is cursed to never leave her island because of the Titanomachy, where she supported her father. Nope. Absolutely not. This is a Percy Jackson invention, where they love to take pieces of ancient mythology and twist them into some modern version of the story that makes it feel more dramatic or “tragic”. In The Odyssey, The Theogony, or even in Bibliotheca by Apollodorus, Calypso does not have any curse placed on her because of the Titanomachy. There’s nothing in any real ancient myth that says she’s stuck on her island because of some ancient grudge. She’s a nymph living on her island with no restrictions on leaving. Homer doesn't mention any past conflict that would tie her to a curse. In fact, Calypso is depicted as living peacefully on her island with no mention of any curse from the gods or the Titans. She’s simply there. She’s not trapped by some divine punishment; she just... exists. #2: Calypso is cursed to fall in love with any man who washes up on her island. Again, no. This is another piece of modern fanfiction nonsense, likely a Percy Jackson concoction, that people seem to think is canonical. Calypso doesn’t have any curse that makes her fall in love with every shipwrecked man she encounters. In fact, ancient sources never suggest that Calypso is cursed at all. She doesn’t have some magical compulsion that makes her fall in love with any man who happens to stumble upon her island. The reality is far more straightforward: she’s just a nymph living on an isolated island with her fellow nymphs, and when Odysseus washes up there, she falls in love with him. But that’s her own doing. There's no divine law forcing her to fall for him, no curse. She just sees him, desires him, and takes him in. The whole curse thing is a modern layer of drama that doesn’t exist in the original myth.

The truth: Calypso just lives on the island with other nymphs. Calypso isn’t trapped, she’s not cursed, and she doesn’t have to constantly fall in love with shipwrecked men. She’s just a nymph who lives on her island, Ogygia, surrounded by other nymphs. It’s not a punishment, it’s just where she resides. There is no grand backstory or divine interference that keeps her on that island. It is her home, and she’s just living her life until Odysseus washes up there. And let’s be clear, there’s no narrative implication that this is her “punishment” for any past sins or mistakes. She’s not being punished for supporting her father during the Titanomachy, nor is she cursed to fall for random men. She’s just living until Odysseus shows up, and then, of course, the whole situation turns complicated. I don’t know why this curse business keeps getting attached to her, but it’s not in any of the actual ancient sources. She is not a tragic character because of some godly revenge; she’s a character trapped by the narrative Homer constructs for her. And as much as people want to romanticize her or give her some tragic backstory, the truth is that she’s simply a nymph who had a shipwrecked man wash up on her shores. There’s no elaborate mythological reason for her being there, and there’s no curse making her fall for him.

Calypso and her lack of mythic pedigree.

I mentioned that Calypso doesn’t show up in earlier sources, but let’s dig deeper into the implications of that. Homer introduced Calypso in his Odyssey, but prior to that, there is no record of her in any mythological cycle. Calypso is Homer’s original character in the truest sense of the term. Homer needed a figure who could keep Odysseus stranded on his island for a prolonged period of time, and so he invented a goddess who could hold him there, ensnare him, and prevent him from moving forward. But unlike many other mythological characters who were integrated into the larger mythos and had complex roles within Greek religious traditions, Calypso is just an invention. A tool for the plot of the Odyssey who has no independent existence outside of Homer’s work.

Calypso’s entire mythological existence is built around The Odyssey, and that's it. Seriously, if you look at her in any real source, whether it’s Homer, Hesiod, or anyone else, there’s nothing else about her. No temples, no shrines, no altars, no cult following. There’s not a single piece of evidence that suggests people were lighting incense or singing her praises. She doesn’t even show up in any meaningful way in other myths. She literally doesn’t exist outside of The Odyssey. The one myth she does have is about Odysseus. That’s it. That’s her whole narrative. People like to reimagine it in a million different ways, with reinterpretations of whether it was consensual or not, whether they had kids together or didn’t, and there’s even weird fanfic-like stuff about their so-called “romance.”

So, Calypso is Homer’s OC?

Yes.

Yes, she absolutely is.

She’s a goddess who exists only for the purpose of holding Odysseus back, and once that role is fulfilled, she fades away into obscurity. She doesn’t have the depth of other mythological figures because she was never meant to. She’s just a plot device in a grand epic.

But hey, if you like her as a tragic romantic figure, I guess that’s your prerogative. Just don’t forget that it’s all modern reinterpretation and not based in the actual myths.

SOURCES:

Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C. Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C. Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragments - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.

[cescalovestowrite]

Penelope's Childhood Headcanons

(some of these are a bit dark, but they are my personal ideas, no need to agree with them)

If we put all the sources together we see that Penelope has seven brothers and one sister. We know for sure that her father is Icarius, but not all authors agree on who her mother is.

I imagine that Icarius had a first wife, the naiad Periboea (from whom were born Penelope, Perileus, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusmius and Aletes), but that then she left the palace to return to her river and that Icarius remarried, this time with Polycaste (mother of Iftime, Aliseus and Leucadius).

But how did Icarius and Periboea meet? Icarius is wounded during a hunting trip, and runs to the river to drink. There he sees some naiads and begs them to help him, because naiads are famous for healing wounds. Periboea comes forward: she has enormous eyes, diaphanous skin and does not speak the human language. She touches Icarius' wound and he heals. Icarius falls in love with her and decides to take her with him to the palace of Sparta: he has decided that she will be the mother of his children.

But nymphs cannot stay away from their element, their source of life, for long. Periboea is stunned by dry land, walking is not natural for her, dressing is not natural, all those smells and noises are not natural. Over time she becomes more and more restless and subject to violent fits of anger. She gives birth to one child after another but when she takes them in her hands she smells only the human odor and does not understand what to do with them. Her skin begins to gray, to dry out.

One night, when Penelope is about eight years old, she is awakened by the sounds of a commotion and terrible hissing. That night Periboea runs away. The next morning Icarius seems tired, but also partly relieved. The naiad was becoming more and more difficult to handle and he was afraid that she might even hurt their children. An excuse is invented on why their mother will have to stay away for a while and the children do not ask questions. Penelope knows that she will never see her again.

She didn't have a real relationship with her mother, but she still struggles to get used to her stepmother's presence. Where Periboea was cold and silent, Policasta is sunny and talkative. She hopes she can learn to love her.

At her first menstrual cycle, Icarius decides to send her to live with his brother Tindareus. Tindareus has many daughters of her age (Timandra, Filonoe, Phoebe, Helen and Clytemnestra) and two sons (Castor and Pollux), and Penelope will be able to learn a lot from them. However, the two families had already seen each other assiduously and the cousins ​​had always been very close. The girls go swimming together, learn the tasks of princesses and above all tell each other many secrets. Little by little they wait for the day when they will be ready for marriage.

[whencyclopedia]

Typhon

Typhon (also Typheus) is the largest and most dreadful monster in Greek mythology. He was tall, with a brutish face, and had wings, countless snakeheads in place of hands, and a lower body made up of coiled serpents. His eyes flashed fire, and fiery rocks fell from his mouth.

Typhon was the son of Gaia (the Earth) and Tartarus (the Infernal Regions), although he is also mentioned as being the son of Hera in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. He joined in love with Echidna, a half-woman, half-snake creature, and together they had many fierce children. The most famous myth associated with Typhon is his battle with Zeus and the Olympian gods, as he sought to rule over gods and mortals. Typhon is also associated with Set from ancient Egyptian mythology and other Near Eastern myths.

Birth & Family

In revenge for the destruction of her children (the Giants), Gaia lay with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, the biggest monster in Greek mythology, in a cave in Cilicia. In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the birth of Typhon is very different. He was the son of Hera, who was angry that Zeus had given birth to Athena without any involvement from her. Hera begged that Gaia, Uranus, and the Titans would give her a son who was mightier than Zeus. She became pregnant after she beat the Earth with her hand. She stayed in her temples and accepted offerings to her. After many months had passed, she gave birth to the cruel and dreaded Typhon. Hera gave Typhon to the dragon Python to be brought up, and they both wreaked havoc among the mortals.

Typhon fell in love with Echidna, a half-woman, half-snake creature, who was both beautiful and terrible to look at, and together they had some of the most fearsome monsters in Greek mythology.

First, Orthos the dog of Geryon, and next, Unspeakable Cerberus, who eats raw flesh, The bronze-voiced hound of Hades, shameless, strong With fifty heads. And then again she bore The Lernaean Hydra, skilled in wrong, the one The goddess white-armed Hera raised, who was Immensely angry with great Heracles.

(Hesiod, Theogony, 311-318).

Continue reading...

[gotstabbedbyapen]

Guys, I'm concerned right now...

So I just found out that "Amyclas" was the name of two different men in Greek mythology, but it's also implied here that they could be the same person??? Ex-fucking-cuse me?!!

Do you know what this means?

Amyclas of Sparta is the father of Hyacinthus, who is Apollo's lover. Making Amyclas a son of Niobe would mean Apollo (and Artemis) had murdered Hyacinthus' aunts and uncles and was damn close to ceasing Hyacinthus from existence if he didn't spare his father.

Apollo is wild. He didn't just went after his enemy's children, but her grandchildren as well.

But this could be another case of mythology conflation, just like how Hyacinthus the Spartan prince was conflated with Hyacinthus the father of the Hyacinthides. There has got to be something tricky going on.

The Wikipedia page cited Apollodorus as the source for the Theban Amyclas, so I went to check it out. Here's what The Bibliotheca Book 3 said:

That was all I can find about the Theban Amyclas, and there was no mention of him fleeing to Sparta and becoming the Spartan Amyclas. I even use Control Find for the name to make sure I didn't miss out on anything.

Not only that, but The Bibliotheca talks about the Spartan Amyclas as if he was a completely different man from his Theban counterpart.

Maybe there are accounts that confirm Theban Amyclas and Spartan Amyclas' connection? I mean we do know Hyacinthus has a Spartan, Athenian, and Thessalian counterpart, so I wouldn't be surprise if the same thing is true for Amyclas. I just need sources to confirm this.

If anyone has any addition to this, please let me know! I would love to hear you out!

[mythinart]

hercules and omphale by françois boucher (1735)

[tylermileslockett]

Herakles #3: A Fit of Rage

Now a young man, Herakles embarks on heroic adventures, hunting the lion of Cithaeron for King Thespius, and sleeping with his fifty princess daughters over fifty nights, before capturing the lion and wearing the hide and scalp as a helmet. Returning home, Herakles finds himself defending Thebes against the warring Minyans. Victorious, King Creon’s daughter Megara is given in marriage as a reward for his valor. By her they have three sons.

But Hera still plots vengeance against the descendent of Zeus. She curses Herakles with a fit of violent rage, and, thinking those around him are enemies, he brutally fells his own wife and children with bow and arrows. When he finally awakens from his madness, and realizes what he has done, he is inconsolable.

He exiles himself and finds refuge and purification with his ally, King Thespius, then journeys on to Delphi to consult the Pythia priestess of Apollo, who orders him to atone for his atrocity by serving his cousin, king Eurysthius for twelve years. If successful, he will attain immortality.

According to Apollodorus, the war between Thebes and the Minyans is a grim affair, with Herakles treating his enemies with cruelty when he “cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks” Apollodorus also mentions Herakles receiving divine weapons here: a sword from Hermes, Bow and arrows from Apollo, A golden breastplate from Hephaestus, and a cape from Athena.

When Herakles kills his family, he shatters his own Oikos (paternal line/household), a crucial building block for ancient Greek society. There are two major reasons Herakles is ordered to serve his cousin; first, to atone for the murders of his wife and sons, and thus attain redemption and second, to prove his worth and attain great Kleos (glory/renown), and achieve his highest Arete (potential for human excellence)

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[palameiad]

CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER: antimachus (antinous x telemachus), antimachus (antinous x eurymachus) or antimachus (suitor of penelope in apollodorus' epitome)

[katerinaaqu]

Shoutout to Diomedes fans; Diomedes and Thersites (yeah that unpleasant fellow who got beaten up by Odysseus in Iliad) were cousins

His grandfather Oeneus and Thersites's father Agrius were brothers. Thersites and his five brothers apparently overthrew Oeneus and placed their father Agrius to the throne. They also imprisoned and tormented Oeneus (Apollodorous, Library). Diomedes arrived in secret from Argos and not only did he restored his grandfather but also killed all the brothers of Thersites except for himself and Onchestus. The brothers fled from Diomedes's wrath in Peloponese. Later they killed Oenus in Peloponese in an ambush. It seems that Diomedes does not chase them any further but takes the dead body for burial. Instead he establishes the city Oenoe in his grandfather's name.

So yeah...Diomedes has absolutely no reason to like Thersites despite that he is family and yet he faced the wrath of Achilles to defend his honor after death. Even if it was just a family tribute...what a guy!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

The 12 Labours of Heracles

Excerpted from "The Library of Greek Mythology" by Apollodorus of Athens

Writing Prompt: Rewrite the Greek Myths

[parafrazerofhistory]

Serpent Herbalists

“Tylon or Tylus [of Lydia] was a son of Earth. One day as he was walking on the banks of the Hermus a serpent stung and killed him. His distressed sister Moire had recourse to a giant named Damasen, who attacked and slew the serpent. But the serpent's mate culled a herb, ‘the flower of Zeus,’ in the woods, and bringing it in her mouth put it to the lips of the dead serpent, which immediately revived. In her turn Moire took the hint and restored her brother Tylon to life by touching him with the same plant. A similar incident occurs in many folk-tales. Serpents are often credited with a knowledge of life-giving plants.”**

—J. G. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, part 1 (The Golden Bough, vol. V, 1914, p. 186)

**Frazer’s Footnote: “Thus Glaucus, son of Minos, was restored to life by the seer Polyidus, who learned the trick from a serpent. See Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, iii. 3. I. For references to other tales of the same sort see my note on Pausanias, ii. 10. 3 (vol. iii. pp. 65 sq.). The serpent's acquaintance with the tree of life in the garden of Eden perhaps belongs to the same cycle of stories” (p. 186).

Eve taking medical advice from the Serpent in the Garden—"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" (Eva met slang en appel en liggende leeuw, by Hans Sebald Beham [1523]).

(Source: Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

[sarafangirlart]

Older Zeus? No.

Zeus when he was younger and hadn’t changed his divine duty from thunder, lightning, kingship and guests to rapist and was still married to Metis? … maybe.

He was a bastard when he was younger too unfortunately

Although I do like the idea that he was a “better person” before becoming drunk with power. In fact I like to think that’s part of the reason Hera doesn’t can’t bring herself to leave him, bc she still wants the man she fell in love with.

[community-gardenss]

Thought on medus? His relationship with his mom? His age? His time imprisoned? The whole thing give me all of your thoughts and do not spill

took me a second to respond to this ask but I DO HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT MEDUS. how did you know.

He is so momma's boy coded I'm sorry. That man is JUST like his mother. They basically came up with the exact same lie to Perses just in reverse. The exact same ruse. As well as the idea that he followed her willingly after her exile from Athens + I'm partial to the interpretation that he named Media after his mother. So to me I read them as having been fairly close !

Age wise. Uhm. There's no untangling anything related to the argonautica to me I'm sorry. The Greek myths have no true timeline and the heroes' ages are elusive and ill-defined by nature. But if I had to guess I would place him as likely being 16-17 at the time of Medea's exile. Still fairly young.

Medus is really interesting to me as a character despite information about him being very. Sparse. In a lot of ways it almost feels like he sort of inverts a lot of the traits of a typical Greek hero. His father is almost entirely irrelevant to his story. He isn't later compelled to take revenge on Aegaeus or kill Theseus for the throne of Athens (think Jason/Pelias or Pelias/Aeson). After he leaves Athens, he's completely uninvolved with his father or his father's line. Instead, his story focuses entirely on his mother's line. He's named after his mother. In a lot of ways he's a hero who's story is entirely defined by his relationship with his mother. Aside from maybe Achilles it's not something I can recall many examples of.

Like. Okay I know I've mentioned in the past that part of what makes Medea's decision to kill her kids compelling to me is the interpretation of her deciding to do it, in part, to spare them from the cycle of tragedy stemming from the glory-seeking, patriarchal society of Greece (They must die/and since they must/I who gave them birth will kill them). Her children are the sons of a hero, and as all sons of a hero are bound to do, they will suffer for their father's glory. Contrasting that with Medus. How his life is so obviously centered on her. It feels like a reversal.

They're both very interesting to me if you could not tell

[cescalovestowrite]

I recently finished the Bibliotheca of Apollodorus and I've decided he is the kind of nerd I aspire to be.

[adriles]

my mother is constantly on the look out for signs of my doom that i can easily prevent and therefore survive this war (i kill tenes with my sword and therefore doom myself to die by apollos hand) oops

[assassinscreedbracket]