#ariadne circe

[jamie-is-out-of-ideas]

I was think about Ariadne and Asterion (the Minotaur) in the book Circe, and how Ariadne called him her little brother and I got sad about that and then I saw art of baby Asterius (from the video game Hades) and then I thought about how Ariadne probably visited Asterion and was the only one kind to him and now I’m super sad 👍

[ratticus-the-emperor]

yes, i could write a long and convoluted essay about how it irks me that zeus gets a lot of hate, and though a lot of it is “justified” most of it comes from a place of putting modern values and expectations on an ancient deity, not fully understanding the cultural context of Zeus’s identity, and the overall futility of holding a deity to the same standards as you would a modern human but—

i am totally and completely incapacitated by my adhd.

but don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say i approve or like Zeus in any way. i do believe using the gods and the perceived dynamics of olympus to tell stories about abusive families, fatherhood, the corruption that pervades the souls of people in power is good for storytelling, but you can tell when people just don’t understand. and this when the adhd monster strikes and drags me away because this is the segue to why i believe that ‘circe’ by madeline miller should’ve never been written.

how does this tie in to me being irked at the perception of zeus in modern media? oh, it doesn’t. but it ties in loosely to the idea of enforcing the modern on the ancient. but what irks me most about circe is the perception of odysseus. odysseus is not a hero, he’s just a man. but he’s also not the sexist or misogynistic monster some media portrays him as. he was just a man, and on top of that, a man who wanted to get home. circe follows the telegony which was composed centuries after homer, so there’s debate on whether or not it’s even canon in regard to the overarching story of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but personally i believe it isn’t.

the story that miller wanted to tell was a feminist one but using circe and odysseus was her first mistake. especially because odysseus himself is a victim of SA and the characterization of him as sexist and misogynistic is just… not true. there are countless of heroes in greek mythology who are, and miller chose one of the few who wasn’t. it shouldn’t have been circe. it should’ve been ariadne, because theseus is the bad guy people who subscribe to the image of odysseus make him out to be.

[historicalfictionenthusiast]

there’s a very specific genre of modern greek mythology retellings a in a vaguely madeline miller-ish way that are all just catering to a market of ex percy jackson kids but i will eat up every single time without fail.

[thegarden-ofeden]

greek mythology moodboards

the lust list

greek myths moodboards

gods and goddesses masterlist

percy jackson masterlist

odysseus of ithaca

penelope of ithaca

medea of colchis

ariadne of crete

circe of aeaea

calypso of ogygia

scylla of the sea of monsters

cassandra of troy

hyacinthus of sparta

icarus of crete

daphne the dryad

achilles of phthia

patroclus of opus phthia

[geekynichelle]

Current author drama aside, to be honest, I'm giving Greek Myth retelling's a break. However, if someone wants to recommend something not written by a racist or fake feminist, and that includes any of the following, I'd be open to it:

-Good Ares and Aphrodite rep.

-Dionysus and/or Ariadne content

-Odyssey related shenanigans

[daily-uquiz]

[kaleb-is-definitely-sane]

The Descendants of Helios.

That's it. That's the post. Just... think about them

[thescopophobe]

I think about the daughters and just female descendants of helios a lot, like a whole lot. I like to draw equivalents between them because they’re all so damn tragic. His daughters becoming trees out of grief, Lampetie and Phaethusa being shoved aside and ignored by Odysseus’ crew, Pasiphaë and the bull she was cursed to fall in love with, Medea and her failed love with Jason and the subsequent murder, Phaedra and what Aphrodite had her do in spite of Hippolytus (not to defend her, but there was divine inspiration there,) and then there’s Circe. She wanted to defend her women and she did, and she feared Odysseus was going to kill her — though afterwards she was safe.

Then we have Ariadne, I think she’s the most tragic. Befriending Icarus , only for Icarus to fall in love with her. But Theseus came and promised her a better life, much better with a god backing him! And then due to the influence of Athene, she was ditched on Naxos. Running away with Theseus also doomed Icarus, having king Minos trap both him and his father in the tower as Icarus helped her escape.

I mean all this only for Theseus to marry her SISTER!! Not to mention within the Odyssey it’s stated that Artemis shot Ariadne dead , going along with what Apollo requested of her. Apollo’s Jealousy? I think so. But at least sometimes she has a happy ending and married Dionysos, that’s always a plus.

Anyhow, this post!!!! This is a drawing of Circe and Ariadne, because in the novel I am working on, Icarus paints a picture of who he thinks Ariadne is in comparison to her auntie Circe. Had a lot of fun with the colours lmao !

[aficionadoenthusiast]

why do i keep reading/watching/listening to things i already know end sad

[jamie-is-out-of-ideas]

was thinking about these two all day (this is kinda my own interpretation of them btw, Asterion is based of his portrayal in both Circe by Madeline Miller and the video game Hades and Ariadne is based of her characterization in Circe by Madeline Miller!!

[linddzz]

hello, here for your opinion on odysseus! have you read madeline miller’s “circe”? if so, what did you think of odysseus?

Ooooohhhhhhhh you're nudging at a pandoras box asking me my opinions of Madeline Miller 🙃

To answer while holding the full ranting instinct back on a leash (partially bc I legit don't have much time for much typing rn AND I know lots of people like MM and idk I generally don't enjoy making people feel like they shouldn't like a thing, but I also love being salty and this is my constant internal struggle):

With a lot of her characterizations I feel like M.M. either goes too hard making them sympathetic (Circe and Patrocles being the top contenders who come to mind) or she swings too hard the other way. Odysseus is like....fine? He's not outright terrible? But he does fall into her "they are either sympathetic (cougboringcough) beauties with maayybe a couple Tragic Flaws (that are barely flaws, goD why couldn't she just let Circe have full agency and purposely curse Scylla why can't maybe Penelope be as much of a scheming suspicious fucker as her husband GOD these "feminist retelling" authors are too cowardly to touch Medea-nonono the rant is leashed I'm staying on target!) or they are horrible awful people." But she's made so many comments that make me baffled about her academic background in classics (why would you say all the gods are sociopaths Madeline??? that is an actual ancient cultures religion you're trashing??? do you not get how gods are used narratively in stories is not the same as they're worshipped esp in a religion without strict canon??? You know how we all understand that Paradise Lost isnt Christian canon what the F-Not ranting not ranting I'm good!!) lmao. She seems to fall into the common take I see where modern Anglo morality is projected on the characters divorced of the time/culture/narrative they are set in, and then go "omg how did people think this was a hero?"

Anyway I just don't see how people can look at Odysseus being a scheming ratfuck compulsive liar (who is also a great warrior in violent times bc it...was a warrior society who told his story) and go "um he's terrible why would anyone like him as he is originally????" while MCU Loki was so popular they kept bringing him back from the dead to continue being A Scheming Little Bastard.

(EDIT: uh tldr is I read Circe. The entire experience was me going "oooo it's about to get good" and then realizing that Circe is just boring the whole time. Came out the other end with more feelings about how M.M. writes women than Odysseus, but her Odysseus is part of a trend of doing a lot of black and white morality shenanigans)

[sarafangirlart]

I want the minotaur to allowed to punch theseus for killing him in life when he was trapped there and for versions when he intentionally abandoned his sister. Seriously, he might have misgivings on his sister helping kill him but even he thinks it was dirty what he did to her.

I really like how in Circe the Minotaur was violent and bloodthirsty from birth but the narrative still treats him with so much empathy and Ariadne calling him her brother and trying to treat him with kindness breaks my heart.

I feel like hating Theseus for killing the Minotaur is rather harsh, it’s one of his few genuinely noble actions like are we forgetting that the Minotaur cannibalized Athenian youths? I completely understand that Theseus wouldn’t bother trying to reason with him. Tho I really like how they turned a new leaf in the Hades game, wouldn’t make sense for them to still hate each other after death.

[wallflowertrait]

Last year Odysseus had helped me. I touched the thought like a bruise, testing its ache. When he was gone, would it be like Achilles, wailing over his lost lover, Patroclus? I tried to picture myself running up and done the beaches, tearing at my hair, cradling some scrap of old tunic he had left behind. Crying out for the loss of half my soul.

Circe, Madeline Miller

Love that Song of Achilles Crossover.

[deadal3x]

📖

[got any book reccomendations?]

a few yeah! I just finished reading the first book in Holly Jackson's trilogy- "A Good Girl's Guide To Murder" and it was so good!

if you want more greek myth reccs, then of course "The song of Achilles", by Madeline Miller is a big one, as is "Circe" by the same author, but also "Ariadne", by Jennifer Saint!

[rrenatass]

Fedra, Ariadne and Circe!

I just love greek mythology girlies