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mask131 · 5 months

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The myth of Apollo (4)

As with Dionysos previously (see here), the Dictionnary of Literary Myths of Pierre Brunel offers two different articles about Apollo. Here is the loose (but free !) translation of the second one, « Apollon, the mythical sun ».

APOLLO, THE MYTHICAL SUN

Pontus of Tyard wrote in 1552: “Of all the poetic gods, Apollo is the one that has been the most disguised by the fables and the etymologies of his name.” The mythical figure of Apollo, which has been turned in Western literature as one of the most conventional figures there can be, was considered by ancient mythographers as an extremely complex character, because he was given many names and many properties. Apollo is first and foremost an universal archetype of the Divine, of which literature kept – alternatively as much as indiscriminately – three main names: Apollo(n), Phoebus, Sun. The chronological evolution of the god allows us to isolate and separate the solar god (as a symbol) from his mythological adventures, since the solar Apollo is more present within poetry than within legends.

I/ The names of the Sun

In the Platonic tradition, all the way to the end of the Renaissance, numerous significant and diverse etymologies were invented for Apollo, all reflecting the various functions of the solar god. Within the name Apollo(n), interprets can read as much an idea of destruction as an idea of freeing (from the verb “luô”, to untie) or purification (from the verb “louô”, to clean). This reflects the “drying” effects of the sun, which can be negative or positive – and thus is a survival of the ambiguity of the archaic god.

The interpretations found within the “Cratylus” (see the previous part of “The myth of Apollo”, “The Antique Apollo) allow us to define the four main attributes of the god: medicine, divination (both seen as manifestations of “purification”), music and the art of shooting with a bow. The name Phoebus has been associated by Isidor of Sevilla with the endless youth of the ephebe (e-phoebus), while Cartari (in 1556) linked it to the vital light (phôs, light, bios, vie). For Platon, the name of “Sun” within Ancient Greek meant he who “nuances” the colors (“helios”, the sun in Greek, derived from “aïoleïn”, to nuance) ; and all the ulterior commentators assimilated it with the Latin “Sol”, tied to the adjective “Solus” (the sole, the unique, the lonely), a link which can be found in the neo-Latin languages (in French “soleil” and “seul”, for example). Cartari, who was follow the works of Plotin and Macrobe, linked this precise etymology to the Greek name of Apollo that he translated as “he who is not multiple” (“a” as a privative + “polu”, many) – highlighting again the important idea of unity within the idea of the sun-god.

II/ Main attributes

The mythographers of Renaissance made a very useful synthesis work that offers us in their roughly definitive state the various interpretations of the myth of Apollo, compiling together the commentaries from Antiquity, the interpretations from the Middle-Ages, as well as the point of view of some Oriental civilizations. Within his “Images of the Gods” (1556), Cartari divides the solar myth in a series of elements linked together as part of a long allegorical chain:

1) The sun represents at first, in the diversity and universality of its effects, an archetype of the Divinity. The Assyrians assimilated it to Jupiter as the soul of the world (because through all the other gods, it was always him who was evoked). As such Macrobe noted in his “Saturnals” that all theology always returned to the worship of the sun.

2) As a symbol of eternal youth, as the allegory of the always-new day, of the always-resurrecting light, Apollo is depicted as beardless (except for the Assyrians) and is associated with Dionysos.

3) Because of its central position within the Universe, it is called “heart of the heaven”, by analogy with the vital function of this “pulsing” organ within the human body. The sun is the source of light that communicates their movements to the other astral bodies. It is why Apollo is sitting in the middle of the nine Muses, allegories of the nine celestial sepheres, and with them he embodies the Harmony and the Universe, as a symbol of “symmetry and concordance” (according to Tyard). As such the Music of the Spheres, that R. Lulle will represent through the “Great Lyre of the Universe”, is reflected in Apollon’s association with Music and Poetry (Poetry which was originally simply the art of singing).

4) The rays of the sun are depicted by the arrows of Apollo (just like by those of his sister Diana). They can penetrate the very core of the earth – it is why there is an archaic tradition according to which Apollo is a chthonian or infernal god (and can sometimes be called Hecate, since the primitive gods were without genders).

5) It is due to the purgative and drying effects of his rays that Apollo is also the god of medicine. Mythographers tie this function of the god to the fable of the snake Python killed by Apollo soon after his birth: they assimilated Python to the mythical Flood, as a principal of morbid humidity wrapped around the earth.

6) The attribution of the laurel to Apollo, and the fable of Daphne, are explained by the medicinal virtue of the plant, the always-green plant that never rots, and that the mythographers saw as a symbol of Health. The laurel is also tied to the alchemical symbolism of Humidity, because Daphne was metamorphosed thanks to the intervention of her father, a river-god.

7) Finally, Apollo is the god of divination, because he is the eye of the sky, he sees all and he reveals all secrets (hence why in mythology Apollo was the one who denounced the adulterine love of Venus and Mars). He has the role, within the Universe, of the eye within the human body – he is the “spy of the intellect”, the “censor” or the “rector”, and his eminent position makes him a sign of omnipotence. Cartari described a hieroglyph that designated the sun as a scepter surmounted by an eye – which would identify the mythical sun with the idea of royalty.

Such a synthesis – within which each of the god’s main attributes were defined and linked together – as the interpretative model which was used as a basis for all ulterior poetry. For example take Du Bartas: in his “Sepmaine ou Création du Monde », in 1578, the sun, which is not a god anymore but a mere « ornament of the sky », is always designated by metonymy through a series of names that resume all the attributes of the solar god in his cosmic function: Phoebus with gold hair, the blond Titan, the Torch of Laton, the Archer, Apollo giver-of-souls, the Fountain of Heat, the Life of the Universe, Giver-of-honors, King of the Sky, Eye of the Day, Censor, Torch of Delph, Torch of Delos, he who “makes the face of the world young again”. In a parallel way, from Cartari’s work, the different aspects of the character will be slowly simplified until he simply becomes the god of Poetry, crowned with both sunrays and laurel leaves, sitting among the Muses on top of mount Parnassus, always holding his lyre (which can sometimes represent him in his entirety), distilling the poetic inspiration under the shape of the Hippocrene spring (created from Pegasus’ hoof), a spring that Ronsard will describe as “the fountain of verses”.

III/ The philosophical Sun

Symbol of the Philosophical Gold in the alchemical tradition, uniting the fundamental opposites that are the fire and the water, the dry and the wet ; or a symbol of the divine creative soul within Orphism and Pythagorism, the go of Poetry s the very image of all creation within the Neoplatonic literature, in which Apollo with his lyre is always associated to his “mortal double”, Orpheus. Within the Renaissance, Apollo was the god who inspired the “Poetic Fury”, without which the lyrical production cannot be: it is under his influence that (according to Ronsard’s Hymn to Autumn) the spirit can “penetrate the secret of the heavens” and the soul “rise among the gods”. It is under the sign of Apollo that the soul finds back its celestial origin through the effects of the divine enthusiasm (from the Greek “theos”, god): this is the Orphic origin of poetry. For Ronsard and the poets of La Pléiade, the “inspired Poet” is both the “prophet” and the “priest” of Apollo (hence why in the 16th century it was believed that the Sibyls and the oracles were exceptional poets).

This Neoplatonic interpretation of the myth, which confuses the two main attributes of the god, prediction and lyrical art, this same tradition that shaped the image of Apollo we have today, relies on the commentary by Marsile Ficin of “The Symposium”, which divines four different divine “furies”, associated with four patron-deities. First is the highest, the poetic fury, which is caused by the Muses ; second is the “mystery fury” or the sacerdotal fury, which proceeds from Dionysos ; third is the prophetic fury, given by Apollo ; fourth is love, and it originates from Venus. Despite the distinction marked within this text between the Muses and Apollo, poets usually invoke indifferently one or the other – the god understood as the “universal principle” and the Muses as allegories that represent the individual repartitions of the poetic virtues. It should be noted that within the Neoplatonic context, Apollo is not opposed to Dionysos – rather their functions are complementary. The god of divination, who is also the god of the penetration of divine secrets, forms a couple with the god who initiates humans to the divine Mysteries ; it is to the point that they are called “brothers” by Pontus of Tyard, who explains the epithet of “Delphic Apollo” by a fake etymology “adelphos”, “brother”, for the “fraternity considered between Denys (Dionysos) and Apollo”.

For the Neoplatonicians, if Apollo is one of the poles of the duality of the world, he is rather opposed as the One, as the universal principle, to Diana, who embodies Nature – that is to say the Multiple. According to the Platonic idea taken back by Giordano Bruno in “Eroici Furori” (1585), the Nature (Diane) is the mirror of the God (Apollo). Apollo is the absolute light whose essence must be hidden, who blinds and kills those that see it directly, and thus he can only be perceived through his reflection. A variation of this idea, developed by Léon Hébreu in 1535) made Apollo the “simulacrum of the divine Intellect”, while the Moon was the “simulacrum of the soul of the World” and acted as an intermediary between the divine plane (the intelligible world) and the corporal plane (the sensible world). This conception has been very influential in term of literary posterity, because it means in a very explicit way, that the sight is a sense that must be valorized: the sensitive vision, the one of the eye, is to be identified with the intellectual vision, the one that allows thanks to the spirituality of the light to distinguish the beautiful from the ugly and the good from the evil. The supremacy of the eye above all other senses will be abundantly developed, in poetic and metaphorical ways, from the 16th to the 17th centuries. Even within the anatomical descriptions of the baroque poets, the eye appears as an intermediary between the sensible and intelligible world, as a double of the Sun, whose light shines upon the minds as much as upon the bodies.

#the myth of apollo #apollo #phoebus #greek mythology #poetry #renaissance #greek gods #sun #symbols #symbolism of the sun #solar myth #roman mythology #diana #dionysos #symbolism

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i-am-so-sad-i-cant-cry · 7 months

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Ive been in a college class all about myths, so I’ve been ruminating on what Inklings would conceptualize Sirens as.

In our own myths, they’re creatures from the sea which either partially or fully look human and tempt sailors into the oceans to drown. They’re interpreted an embodiment or a metaphor of how women are temptresses, or are impure beings who use sex to corrupt poor men and lead them to their doom. They’ve also had a lot of forms, from bird women to mermaids to monsters who just look human. This archetype also seems somewhat universal, or at least a common thing we see in myths we remember due to misogyny.

Even with my limited knowledge of Japanese folktales, the Jorogumo was an example of this type of supernatural creature - a spider woman who generally filled the same purpose, tempting men with a pretty face and them draining them of their life force, also usually eating them in her web.

So… what would inklings think of Sirens? Breaking it down, sirens are:

- Shapeshifters, or just look extremely human

- From the ocean (in Greek mythology)

- tempt humans to drown in the ocean by having a beautiful singing voice, representing the desires of men and the temptation of sin to some extent

- tend to represent temptation, danger, and seduction

I came up with a few different concepts of how this could be interpreted by Inkling society:

1. If we lean more into the Greek view of sirens, they could be shapeshifting creatures who come from the ocean with a seductive song. They are eldrich and unknowable, coming from a place which could kill any unsuspecting inkling, as most creatures could at least fight back even if they were devoured anyways. They would be a personification of the dangerous ocean, willing to swallow up anyone who falls in.

They prey on the vulnerable, singing sweet lies of how “they won’t really die” since they are obviously an inkling and are swimming just fine. They tempt their victims with songs of freedom, of leaving this world, and fake thoughts of comfort.

(In this view, they could be seen as a metaphor for the call of the void, the voice which tells you to jump at the edge of a cliff or stab yourself, or maybe even suicidal thoughts. They sing from the ocean, tempting you to come to them, and so acts as a warning to inklings to never follow these thoughts as you might find yourself at the mercy of these unknowable creatures of the ocean.)

2. Another thought I had took inspiration from MLP’s changeling species, which feed off love by taking the place of the ones you love. If we follow that line of logic, Sirens become much more sinister.

They come from the Ocean, a vast and unknowable place to the modern land creatures, but can look like someone else. They lure land creatures back to the ocean to devour them, or feed off their emotional energy until they’re willing to jump into the oceans alongside them.

These Sirens are shapeshifters who take the form of someone an inkling cares for, or maybe just take on an unassuming form, and drains their life force until they’re a husk of their former self, much like the Japanese Jorogumo. In these myths, it’s the responsibility of others to see through this facade and help the poor victim who can no longer see clearly enough to recognize that this isn’t their love.

(In this version, sirens could be seen as representations of toxic love or unhealthy relationships, with people you care for turning cruel because they’re literally another person or have never been a real person who is just dropping the facade. Myths would be tragic, with inklings both falling for the disguise and jumping to their doom, or with the inkling loosing someone they once loved because they turned out to be not who they thought.)

3. My last concept is closer to our idea of fae or demons, though I’m also taking inspiration from the Kitsune, leaning into the eldrich idea of inklings who can swim as some kind of unnatural or disturbing thing.

These creatures are completely unknowable, going by their own rules and have a contempt for the inklings who abandoned the ocean. They are magical though, and can offer great power or impossible things in exchange for servitude or their lives after death. Anyone who agrees and dies are pulled into the ocean, where they suffer constant pain under the surface.

They are also tricky, able to deceive inklings and do horrible things to them with their magic, taking them under their spell and raining their life force away until they die. However, their disguises are not complete - you can tell from the fins on their ankles, or their shadows reflecting their true forms with a tail, or how they never eat seafood as they’re fellow creatures of the ocean to them.

(These would probably be stories that are metaphors for giving into sins like greed or pride, or stories of warning to be careful around strangers as they might be a supernatural creature, also manifesting fears of the unknown. The ocean part could also show how inklings fear the ocean, as it can so easily kill them, but also a contradictory reverence like we see in the world of Splatoon. They love the ocean for the food from it, and recognize they came from it, but it’s also unknowable and scary.)

Anyways, I had way too many thoughts on Splatoon’s world lol

#splatoon #splatoon headcanon #fan lore #not real splatoon lore #speculation #splatoon 3 #inklings #mythology speculation #I like myths way too much #splatoon mythos #let’s call it that in case I have more thoughts lol #sirens #mythology #worldbuilding

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meekmedea · 2 years

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pomegranates pt.7

previous part (pt.6)

~~~~~~~~~

Damian’s head reels at the information that he’s collected from Wilson, Todd and Richard. When combined with what his research had yielded, he’s almost in disbelief of everything.

Of gods and tragic fates.

Μεσονυξ is only one of Wilson’s names. Rarely in use as the mercenary – no, the god – preferred his other name much more. Pyroeis. “Don’t get too starstruck over it, little bird,” he’d teased.

Todd had cooed over how flattered she was.

It is all Richard’s fault for revealing Damian’s fascination in Μεσονυξ. In both the god itself from the stories told by the League and the figure that had made her debut recently.

Then there’s Todd and Richard. The immortal and the mortal pair of siblings.

Todd herself confirms that she is not named for the sorceress, she is the sorceress. Privately, Damian suspects that she must be the mortal princess in the legend then. There is no other that could fit into it. Not with how they talked of cycles and past lives.

And how does his Baba tie in to all this? He’s her brother. “Always has been,” he says with a laugh. “But I’m older this time.”

“And I’m taller,” shoots back Medea.

So perhaps Medea and Abystrus are more fitting.

But Abystrus doesn’t have the best of endings in mythology. Nor do Medea’s children. As if guessing where his thoughts had gone, the siblings are quick to nip that in the bud.

“I know what you’re thinking, but no, she never killed me,” says Dick.

“The stories that have survived aren’t the most accurate,” she offers.

He thinks back to the times that he’s hung out with Todd. “Is this why you have a distaste for Euripides?”

She laughs. “Yes. And while I don’t like his depiction of me, I’m fond of how modern society views my story nowadays.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

They answer his questions to the best of their abilities and Damian finds himself surprised by the three. People weaker than them had undergone less trials and been broken beyond repair.

Yet here they were. Not the epitome of a healthy or a sane person – one was never such in this profession – but as close as one could get to it.

“Will you tell me more of your adventures?” he asks Richard one day.

Baba smiles and obliges.

Sometimes Medea will join them, pointing out details that Richard has missed. And by the gods, she is a born storyteller. She weaves scenes out of mere words, making him feel like he’s part of the story.

Pages and pages of his sketchbook are now filled with scenes from their past lives. Such as the Egyptian palace that they’d spent their early childhood in as Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene. Or of Colchis – there’s one of a dragon guarding a fleece.

And when some of them make their way into their hands as gifts, Damian pretends not to notice how their eyes had teared up over a portrait of their mother, Idiya – the oceanid that had raised them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He returns home one day to find pomegranates all over the counter. A quick count tells him there’s a dozen.

They’d been a common sight lately, as Medea had a fondness for them. As had Richard, but they weren’t in season right now in Bludhaven. Though he supposed, when you could travel with a snap of your fingers, anything was possible.

Wilson is in the midst of cutting one, and he offers a wedge to Medea. “Are you that worried about me?” she teases, taking it. “That you’ve turned to bribing me with pomegranates?”

“You shine so bright that I’m afraid someone will try to snuff you out.”

“Nobody would dare. Not with you around,” she hums.

They are disgustingly sweet. Sickening.

And Damian wishes his parents were like that – anything is better than having to listen to the poison dripping in each and every word of their conversations about the other.

In the short period that both Medea and Wilson reside in Richard’s apartment – for Baba had insisted on it, even if they had their own accommodations in the city – the two immortals are very much in tune with each other.

He has heard the soft words murmured behind closed doors and the way they look at each other when the other isn’t looking. It’s hard to explain, but this is what he thinks the poets write of when they describe love. One that has endured the test of time and continues to grow by the day.

And when Medea leaves Bludhaven with her wounds healed, she takes the rest, leaving behind the other six pomegranates with Baba.

Damian wonders. Are they safe to eat? It is never bad to err on the side of caution when dealing with the deathless ones.

Richard laughs, already taking one apart. “Of course they are.”

He startles, realizing he’d spoken out loud.

“Pomegranate?” offers Richard, holding out a wedge for him.

After a moment, he takes it.

It’s sweet, much sweeter than the ones back home. The surprise must show on his face as Richard gives him a knowing look.

“You know, even though I don’t think I’ll ever like Slade completely, he does have great taste in picking fruit.”

“Richard…I don’t think that should be your basis for liking someone.”

~~~~~~~~

first part

next part

#post alea iacta est #female jason todd #slade wilson #jason todd #wip #damian wayne #dick grayson #loose usage of mythology #extremely loose interpretation of greek myths #medea and abystrus of the myths #gods and mortals

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theprettyinthemundane · 4 years

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Greek Culture and Why It’s Essential to Better Understanding the Greek Gods (Examining Pan as an Example)

Everyone knows the Greek gods are Greek, but what does that mean to us? I think that understanding the culture around the Greek gods is extremely helpful for understanding them better and I’d like to use the Greek god Pan as an example to illustrate just how important I think this is. Greek culture (both ancient and modern) is just as interesting and worth studying too, which is another reason I wanted to talk about it.

A quick note: The ancient word was incredibly diverse and covered a long period of time. Even between cities practices, myths, and views could be very different, so it is important to point out that there is no “one way” to see most things, even though there are some general things people do agree on. Even the genealogy of gods sometimes varied depending on location and gods themselves could be understood differently across Greece both in location and time (1, 2, 3, 4). Myths were often stories made to be entertaining, not to accurately and completely reflect how gods were seen in a religious sense, so the view of a god that a myth and religious text portrayed were often different. For some deities, understanding Greek culture better may make the difference between a loose group of unrelated domains vs a constellation of domains that paint a bigger, more cohesive picture of how they were viewed, like how something may be greater than the sum of its parts. This is how I think of Pan and his domains. Of course, it is also important to note that Pan is extremely complex, and this post is not meant to be comprehensive, just informative. With that said, let’s talk about the goat god Pan and Greek culture.

Why Pan? Well, unlike many gods whose origins lay in mythical places, Pan’s origin is Arcadia, a region in the south of Greece (this region has changed since ancient times, but it remains as its own region) (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) . Why does this matter? Because Pan was viewed as an Arcadian (god); even in Thebes and in Athens worshipers connected Pan to this region (1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11). In other words, how the Greeks viewed Arcadia as a region and culture influenced how they viewed and understood Pan.

Then first, we should ask, what is Arcadia?

(credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia)

(source: 12)

Arcadia (Αρκαδία) is a mountainous region in the Peloponnese whose capital is Tripoli (Τρίπολη ) (12). In ancient times it was seen as a place of harsh wilderness (forests, plains, glens) where most people were shepherds (1, 5). It was “out of the way”, “hard to reach”, even viewed as “spooky” (5) and “uncivilized” (1, 13). This is related to many, if not all of Pan’s domains. In fact, Pan was known as the “ruler of Arcadia” (1, 5, 13) and it was even said that,

“The region was sometimes called Panland - in Greek, Pania. Pan was as rough as the country, half goat, half god…” (5)

Arcadia is the earliest center of Pan’s worship and it was done in formal sanctuaries (1,2, 14). After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, Pan’s worship spread more widely to the rest of the Greek world (1, 6, 9). After this many people (in Thebes and Athens for example) worshiped Pan in grottos or caves (1, 2, 4, 10, 11). This difference actually reflects how people in those places connected Pan and Arcadia; for them, a cave or grotto was a wild place, like Arcadia, and since they had few other “wild” spaces this space kept Pan and his connection to the natural world within their worship. A scholar on Pan noted that “his lodging (in a cave at the Acropolis) marks him as connected to origins”(1) and others have pointed out this as well (10, 11) . This makes it clear that this cultural connection was important for how they worshiped and thought of Pan.

The first example: Pan’s relation to music? That was related to Pan being Arcadian;

“The simple, moving music of the shepherds (from Arcadia) gained a wide appreciation over all the Greek world. In time, this pastoral … music began to inspire highly educated poets …” (13)

“The one quality that softened the brutishness of Arcadian life was music, whether performed by the goatherds or played by Pan”(13).

Music is a fundamental part of Pan and he has been called: “a lover of merry noise” (Homeric Hymn to Pan) “a most accomplished dancer, a god of noise and movement, beautiful dancer”, and a “lord of the dances of the gods” (1). Just as music was a big part of other Greeks viewed Arcadia, it was a big part of how people saw Pan; Pan was even said to have created the panpipes and music was an essential part of his cult (1, 14, 15). In fact, the idea that Pan could manifest as music and in natural sounds was popular at times (9, 11). This isn’t to say music was unique to Pan (it wasn’t) or that music was not used to worship other deities (it was) but that music was an essential part of how ancients understood Pan, so we should be aware of that and the potential significance it has.

Music was an essential part of Greek and Arcadian education, even according to Plato and Socrates (1, 16). While I do not study the classics, I do think that Pan’s connection to music is symbolic of something more than just “pretty sounds” although I do not feel confident enough in my understanding to make any specific connections to his other domains or aspects. Music was essential to the ancient Greeks and was thought to be important for character / personal development, it was thought to deeply affect the soul and I think this is also reflected in Epidaurus’ hymn to Pan;

“The Epidaurus Hymn reminds us that Pan's music and dance restore a threatened cohesion. Dance, laughter, and noise become, in the festival, signs of a recovered closeness (1).” (cohension was threatened by a recent war)

Just as music was thought to affect people deeply, Pan also was associated with panic and mania (related to possession), which similarly has a strong affect on people spiritually and emotionally (1). If I were to make any connections between his musical domain and another domain, I would say that Pan’s domain of music seems connected to his domain of nature since his style of dance was called “animalistic”, he was called a “leaper” and for the fact that he was believed to be able to manifest himself in natural sounds, like was mentioned before (1, 9, 11).

A second example: Pan’s nature as a goat/shepherd and a god of fertility is reflective of Arcadia’s reliance on shepherding to sustain life: Pan has been called “divine-he-goat-shepherd”, “indispensable patron of fertility...” and “keeper and protector of the flocks” (1). Pan was a very positive figure because he was thought to help sustain life itself; as one scholar points out, Arcadia is “first and foremost a land fit for herding.” (1). One noticeably unique thing about Pan compared to the other Greek gods is how he is part goat. Interestingly, Pan was first depicted as a he-goat standing upright, not as a satyr and it seems that Pan was only depicted as a satyr (at least widely) after his cult left Arcadia (1, 17). If one was not aware of how central goats were to Greek (especially Arcadian) society then this may seem random or superficial, but it clearly is not.

Pan was a fertility god, but this domain is concerned with more than just lust and sex (even though these were important aspects of Pan) but also abundance both sexual and platonic; for example, the birth of twin goats (as opposed to a single goat) was attributed to Pan (1). Another example of this connection between sex and (platonic/ nonsexual) abundance is the description of the meaning of a dream where Pan and the dreamer have sex written by Atermidorus in his Interpretation of Dreams in the 2nd century CE:

“If he (Pan) gives someone something or has sexual intercourse with someone, it fortells great profit, especially if he does not weigh that person down” (18)

This theme of abundance and goats/fertility is related to Pan’s domain of rustic music as well: In a hymn found in the Palentine Anthology, a resource that showed the traditions of herdsmen and shepherds, one poem asks for Pan to play his pipes so that the she-goats might give them lots of milk;

“The poet here attributes to the god's music a power elsewhere expressed in the image of a sexual union with animals. The "divine message" (or "sacred voice": hieron phatin) of the syrinx brings about an abundance of milk. (1)”

Pan’s domain of shepherding/goats is also related to his role as a god of hunting. Unlike Artemis, Pan’s domain of hunting was only concerned with the type of hunting shepherds would do, that is, hunting small game and hunting to protect the flock (1). Goats were also associated with hunting because mountain goats were hunted for sport (1). In fact, “Arcadians thought Pan responsible for the abundance, and correspondingly for the scarcity, of meat, whether obtained by hunting or by herding” (1). Without understanding this distinction someone might mistakenly think Pan and Artemis were interchangeable in hunting.

Because we see such a concrete connection here drawn by an ancient Greek, Atermidorus, I think it is more than reasonable to say that the fertility domain was also connected to abundance more generally. Another example is in the story of how Artemis visited Pan in Arcadia and he gifted her hounds which he had bred himself (15, 19). Despite the mention of how the dogs had recently given birth, in this story Pan is “devoid of eroticism”, which further supports this connection between fertility and nonsexual abundance (19.). The hounds represent the fertility aspect of Pan (they recently gave birth) and platonic/non-sexual abundance (Pan gifted them to Artemis and as the author notes, the story is “devoid of eroticism”). Hunting (done by shepherds, associated with Pan) also served to protect the flock, protecting this abundance (1).

Conclusion: Without the context of Arcadia as Pan’s origin, it is hard to have as deep an understanding of him, which I think shows us why culture is also important to learn about. Without this context people may misunderstand Pan’s domains of fertility/shepherding, hunting music, and nature as disconnected or random, however by understanding Pan’s cultural context (Arcadia / Greece) a clearer and more meaningful image can be seen. These elements are closely related and interrelated, which I think is important because seeing these domains as “somewhat connected” is significantly different than seeing them as “interconnected”.

Here’s a table to summarize what I think we can better understand about Pan with this knowledge:

A disclaimer: This isn’t meant to be all encompassing as Pan is an extremely complex god. I have only focused on the way Pan was viewed by some ancient Greeks, more was written about Pan later. Pan also was not simply a “positive”, or “friendly” god, he was also perceived as terrifying and that aspect of Pan shouldn’t be forgotten or underappreciated. This post was designed to show how important culture is and so I have focused on aspects of Pan that help us see this clearly. That said, I do feel I have touched on most of Pan’s major domains (fertility/shepherding/goats, hunting, music/dance, nature, and panic). I have tried to give a better sense of Pan using context, not take anything out of context, so if you think I have made a mistake or misunderstood anything then please let me know. I am not a classics student, so there is a chance I misinterpreted something along the way. This post serves two purposes: to demonstrate how Greek culture is important for understanding the Greek gods and to shed some more detailed light onto Pan (which requires the first bit). I also do not think everyone interested in Greek gods or mythology needs to write long posts like these, I just want to emphasize that thinking holistically is important. We should just be aware of how everything is interconnected and be open to learning more about different things that can help improve our understanding.

Citations:

1 : Borgeaud, P., & Atlass, K. (1988). The cult of Pan in ancient Greece (p. 58). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 13: 9780226065953

2: Ogden, D. (Ed.). (2010). A companion to Greek religion. John Wiley & Sons.

3: Zolotnikova, O. A. (2017). Becoming Classical Artemis: A Glimpse at the Evolution of the Goddess as Traced in Ancient Arcadia. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 6(5), 08-20. Doi: 10.18533/journal.v6i4.1157

4: David Gilman Romano, & Mary E. Voyatzis. (2014). Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project, Part 1: The Upper Sanctuary. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 83(4), 569-652. doi:10.2972/hesperia.83.4.0569 doi: 10.2972/hesperia.83.4.0569

5: WILLS, G. (1998). The Real Arcadia. The American Scholar, 67(3), 15-27. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/41212784

6: GARTZIOU-TATTI, A. (2013). GODS, HEROES, AND THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, (124), 91-110. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/44216258

7: Yioutsos, N. P. (2014). Pan Rituals of Ancient Greece: a multi-Sensory Body Experience. In Archaeoacoustıcs: The Archaeology of Sound, Publication of the 2014 Conference in Malta (Vol. 57).

8: Parker, R. (2011). Analyzing Greek Gods. In On Greek Religion (pp. 64-102). Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/j.ctt7zgrm.7

9: Haldane, J. (1968). Pindar and Pan: Frs. 95-100 Snell. Phoenix, 22(1), 18-31. doi:10.2307/1087034

10: Yioutsos, N., Kamaris, G., Kaleris, K., Papadakos, C., & Mourjopoulos, J. (2018). Archaeoacoustic Research on Caves dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs in Attica, Greece.

11: Yioutsos NP. (2019) Pan Rituals of Ancient Greece Revisited. In: Büster L., Warmenbol E., Mlekuž D. (eds) Between Worlds. Springer, Cham. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-99022-4_7

12: Arcadia. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica - https://www.britannica.com/place/Arcadia-region-Greece

13: Ruff, A. (2015). The Classical Origins of Arcadia. In Arcadian Visions: Pastoral Influences on Poetry, Painting and the Design of Landscape (pp. 1-14). Oxbow Books. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt19704rw.5 , eISBN: 978-1-909686-69-4

14: Yioutsos, N. P. (2014). Pan Rituals of Ancient Greece: a Multi-Sensory Body Experience. In Archaeoacoustıcs: The Archaeology of Sound, Publication of the 2014 Conference in Malta (Vol. 57).

15: Rinkevich, T. E. (1973). Comic structure in Theocritus 1-7 (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).

16: Stamou, L. (2002). Plato and Aristotle on music and music education: Lessons from ancient Greece. International Journal of Music Education, (1), 3-16.

17: Campbell, G. L. (Ed.). (2014). The Oxford handbook of animals in classical thought and life. Oxford Handbooks. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199589425.001.0001 , ISBN: 9780199589425

18: Stewart, C. (2002). Erotic Dreams and Nightmares from Antiquity to the Present. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 8(2), 279-309. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/3134476

19: Faulkner, A. (2013). Et in Arcadia Diana: An Encounter with Pan in Callimachus’ Hymn to Artemis. Classical Philology, 108(3), 223-234. doi:10.1086/672004

Homeric Hymn to Pan: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D19

#pan #pandeity #greek gods #Greek Mythology #Ancient Greek Religion #hellenic gods #Hellenic pantheon #I hope you all find this helpful!#hint: if you go to sci-hub dot tw you can copy/past the doi to get the paper for free! It's a super helpful resource!#feel free to send me asks and I can try to find you papers on stuff that youre looking for : )#sorry the table is blurry #I tried to fix that but yeah

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spartan-officer-brasidas · 4 years

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It seems like a few of you agreed that Ubisoft mishandled the Gods in more than a few ways, and I’m still mad about it so I just want to go through and explain how they were so poorly represented. I will concede that there are more than a few ‘right’ ways to represent a God and it all comes down to your own interpretation of the Gods and their myths, but I think in general, Ubisoft really fell short. My personal interpretations come from my major in Classics and my worship of the Greek and Roman pantheons, so my opinions on this will reflect those interpretations but feel free to have and share your own!

Let’s start simple. Juno. Juno is a really interesting Goddess, both in religion and in the games. I, personally, don’t do anything special for Hera/Juno/Uni, but I know that she is an incredibly loving Goddess and is remarkably loyal to her husband and those she holds dearly. Now, I think Ubisoft did Juno okay, only because her loving and loyal nature can make her a fierce enemy, and I think Ubisoft showed that well. She, from my knowledge, is a main antagonist in the series, and given that “modern” Rome is a part in Ezio’s story, that makes sense. Juno was NOT a supporter of the foundation of Ancient Rome. She made several attempts to keep Aeneas from getting to Italy and she is openly not a fan of Aeneas, given his Trojan heritage and his role in Rome’s founding. Basically, her being an antagonist makes sense and I don’t think it really devalues her as a Goddess at all.

This is, unfortunately, where the praise ends. I’ll just go in order, so Persephone is next. Persephone is, perhaps, the biggest victim in this mess Ubisoft created. I would like to first clarify a few things regarding Persephone as a Goddess. How you choose to view her relationship with Hades doesn’t really matter to me—that’s something only you can decide, but there are a few aspects that are important to consider. First of all, beyond the initial kidnapping and drama with that, there’s not too much suggesting they had a rocky relationship. There were a few minor hiccups, but nothing major. And two, going on Ancient Greek standards, Hades did nothing wrong. Now, kidnapping is bad, we know this. Except, Hades didn’t really kidnap her, per se. He asked Zeus for her hand in marriage and Zeus agreed. Hades actually did the “right” thing, though in a twisted way that really isn’t acceptable in today’s standards. All that said and done...all I can say is what was Ubisoft thinking? I mean, Persephone is routinely a benefactor for heroes *who come to her* and she is mostly portrayed as incredibly benevolent. The fact that Ubisoft made her a borderline tyrant with a unreasonable desire for total order and control and made her relationship with Hades one of the worst depictions I’ve ever seen is upsetting. It’s tragic, really. I almost feel like I have to personally apologize to Her whenever I think about what they did to her.

I’ll keep Hermes and Hekate short and sweet because they got off a bit easier than Persephone did. All I have to say is both Gods are insultingly shallow in the dlc. Hermes is blinded by his love for Persephone, and while he definitely did pursue her in the myths, he didn’t dwell on the unrequited feelings—he is a powerful God of many things, he doesn’t need to dwell on it. And Hekate was given the short end of the stick between the two and she became the backstabbing friend. We honestly don’t learn much about her at all and she’s made to be extremely unlikable, which is not the aura given from the Goddes Herself. It’s a shame what happened to these two.

Now we will move to Hades. My biggest issue with Hades is actually the whole issue with continuity between Jupiter/Zeus/Tinia being the same but Pluto/Hades/Aita not being the same, but alas, Ubisoft totally butchered his character as well, so I can put aside my grievances about the continuity. Hades is portrayed as this chaotic antagonist who really only has his own benefit in mind which is...an extremely confusing interpretation. I mean, Hades is, IMO, the least chaotic God out there. And even more so, he isn’t a vicious leader like they make him out to be. Sure, he maintains order in the Underworld with an iron fist, but that’s just the issue. The Hades seen in Odyssey is...not that. He doesn’t maintain order at all, and yet he’s doing something with a very aggressive iron fist. He’s power hungry, angry, and violent, and all of that goes unchecked until Kassandra/Alexios rolls around to stop it for the time being. The Hades I worship isn’t like that at all, and I don’t think the Ancient Greeks viewed him that way either, though I can’t say for certain.

Charon is next and I don’t have too much to say about him. He’s just so forgettable in my opinion. Charon is the ferryman of the dead, so I suppose he’s not supposed to leave a lasting impression, but he takes on the role of maneuvering you through the Underworld—a job he, historically, doesn’t have. His job is to take you across the River Styx and then be done with you. It’s a relatively minor complaint really, but I would’ve liked to see his character fleshed out a bit more.

Down to the last three, and Poseidon is up. The issue I have with Poseidon is kind of a personal one. Poseidon, while not one of my primary deities, is one of those that I frequently turn to and worship more frequently, so naturally his rather bland portrayal was disappointing at best and insulting at worst. I personally don’t think he gets much character development at all, which is unfortunate because Poseidon, as a God and in the myths, is incredibly complex. He’s a great asset if he’s on your side, but he can also be a very formidable foe, and they seem to want to show those two sides but they really fall short on both. Now, this could be related to the fact that of the three dlcs, Atlantis truly felt the most rushed. You have hardly any time to really take in the story and the whole thing just seems like one big after thought, and Poseidon, unfortunately, took the hit with that. Also, he just passes judgement and in a way rule over Atlantis over to a mortal, which I get is important to the story, but why? That’s so not how things are done.

Now we have Aita. So for those of you who don’t know or haven’t figured it out by now, Aita is the Etruscan God of the Underworld. I’ve already explained my main issue with him, and how he and Hades should be the same, but honestly, that’s the least of the crimes committed against him. In my opinion, Ubisoft has completely striped Aita of his Godhood. All of the other shown deities have this natural feeling to them that Aita lacks. He seems so lackluster standing next to Juno and he’s reduced to this scientist role, which—don’t get me wrong—is neat and powerful and all, but this is the Etruscan god of the underworld! Why should he linger in the shadows of Juno when he could be an equal to her, all things considered! I know the Etruscan gods/pantheon are not as widely known, but that doesn’t make them less godly, and what they’ve done to him is upsetting to say the least. I would love to see some other Etruscan gods, like Tinia and Uni, and I would like for them to be treated with the respect they deserve. More people could know about this fascinating culture and religion! Is that too much to ask?

Finally, we get to Aletheia. Now, she is a bit different in that I don’t know of many myths surrounding the goddes of truth, and it’s totally possible that she may solely be a representation of truth more so than a character in the myths. Aletheia’s story was...anticlimactic. I honestly don’t think her story got resolved at all. Ubisoft left me feeling like there was more we needed to know about her, and they also implied that she isn’t exactly a good guy. I mostly just want more from her. I think if they play on Juno being related to her, they could really make a very good story, but as it is, Aletheia got put on the back burner, and that? That is unfortunate.

This is already a very long post, so I won’t continue, but I would like to mention that characters like Adonis, the Greek heroes, Elpis, and Atlas received similarly disappointing treatment from Ubisoft. Let me know if you want me to make a post about them! I encourage you guys to share your own thoughts on this! Different perspectives yield different reactions and I’d love to see y’alls, so feel free to share! I will remind you that these are living Gods. Part of why this was so upsetting is because I research these gods as part of my studies and because I actively worship many of Them. Seeing Them reduces to these characters was...not the greatest feeling in the world. It’s important to separate the characters from the myths and even the myths from the Gods themselves, but what Ubisoft did was make a character that loosely relates to the myths—not the Gods Themselves as well. Just as Zeus is so much more than his myths, Persephone is more than the character Ubisoft gave us, so think critically when absorbing content about religious figures. All Gods of all religions are deserving of respect, and Ubisoft did not do a great job with that. I can only hope they will do better for the Viking Gods.

#ac odyssey #fate of atlantis dlc #me talking #i tried to tone down my anger #hopefully it worked lol #i also tried to condense some of my grievances #for yalls sake #long post #please tell me if the keep reading didnt work

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letterboxd · 4 years

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Stanning the Ancients.

Valerie Complex probes the intersection of Greco-Roman mythology and queer experience in Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Neon Demon, Jumbo and Midsommar.

Ancient stories have a way of influencing modern filmmakers—in part because of their “glorious” approach to love, as actor, writer and Greek-myth-lover Stephen Fry noted at this year’s digital Hay Festival. But even beyond depictions of same-sex love, Greco-Roman mythologies lend themselves well to tales of otherness and transformation.

Mythology isn’t just a bunch of stories from thousands of years ago—it’s something we create every day. Greco-Roman mythology, in particular, has less to do with the “godly” part of the pantheon, and more with their human qualities. Their lust, jealousy, wrath and greed: on display for not just other gods but all mortals under them. These stories were a portal for us to reckon with the less-savory parts of ourselves.

More than that, these stories were a cipher; a way for us to relate to one another without the need for conversation. What are celebrities and the gossip they inspire, if not modern myths? Stans are acolytes worshipping at the temples of their respective gods. They make offerings, pray to them, build altars. Every celebrity’s past is of great interest to their worshippers, who mine their back-stories for nuggets of relatability.

Beyond direct adaptations (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans and the like), these ancient myths have informed many recent films (Prometheus and The Lighthouse; the Amazons and Wonder Woman; Oedipus and Old Boy; Homer’s The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou? included). But queer scholars have long seen Greco-Roman myths as having a particular way of helping shape queer cinematic experience, because they exist at the same intersections.

Consider the queer sensibilities in the tall tales that feature trans and intersex characters, and all the other ways the ancient poets encompass LGBTQIA expression: through their tales of otherness, outcasts living on the fringes of society, relationships that reject heteronormativity, or that push the bounds of sexuality and identity.

When myth and movie come together to create loose adaptations, film lovers are blessed with art like The Neon Demon, Jumbo, Midsommar and Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Let’s look at how Ovid, Euripides and Virgil have woven their way into the fabric of each of these stories. (Spoilers ahead!)

Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel and writer-director Céline Sciamma on the set of ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ (2019). / Photo by cinematographer Claire Mathon, courtesy of NEON

The Melancholy Experience of Finite Love and the Desire of the Gaze: Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire meets Virgil’s ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’

Virgil’s story of Orpheus and Eurydice is woven so literally and metaphorically into Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire that it’s interesting to discover how late in the piece it came. Sciamma told me in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 that the story was one of the last elements to be included in the script. When she re-read the myth, she felt it ran perfectly parallel to Marianne and Hëloise’s relationship because the concept of gaze is extremely important for both couples.

In Virgil’s tale, it was prophesied that the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice would be short-lived—and so it was. Eurydice dies from a snake bite, and her soul is sent to Hades. While in mourning, Orpheus gets the attention of the gods by singing and playing the lyre.

Being the rule-breaker that he is, Orpheus travels to the underworld to bring Eurydice back. Hades and Persephone are moved by his music and grant his wish that he will reunite with his wife, instructing him to keep his eyes front while his wife walks behind him into the living world. Unfortunately, he turns around—and loses her forever. We don’t know why he turned around when he was told not to—did he make the poet’s choice, or the lover’s? Perhaps the memory of Eurydice felt more feasible than having her physically.

In Sciamma’s film, Marianne (the painter), Hëloise (her subject) and Sophie (the maid) are isolated on a small island in eighteenth-century France. The trio carve out a microcosmic community where they are equal peers and status has no power. Hëloise reads the story of Orpheus to her two friends; they discuss whether he makes the poet’s choice, or the lover’s choice. Marianne and Hëloise engage in a romantic relationship, subverting the hostile, patriarchal world they live in. When their time is finally up and Marianne is running to the door to leave, Hëloise requests she turn around to see her one last time, thus imprinting a lasting image in Marianne’s mind. No one dies in their story, but, with a look, their love for one another lasts beyond the physical world.

Watch: Céline Sciamma discusses the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus in this clip from the new Criterion release of Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Elle Fanning as Jesse in ‘The Neon Demon’ (2016).

Reflections and personae in The Neon Demon: Nicolas Winding Refn takes on Ovid’s ‘Echo and Narcissus’

The harsh modeling world is the perfect backdrop for The Neon Demon, which deals with ideals of beauty, deceit and narcissism. The film is also a loose adaptation of the Roman poet Ovid’s story of Echo and Narcissus from Book III of Metamorphoses. Narcissus is the beautiful hunter who upsets Aphrodite when he rejects a low-level goddess in the most asshole-y way. She curses him, and he ends up drowning when he falls in love with his reflection and tries to kiss it over a pool of water.

In The Neon Demon, Jesse (Elle Fanning) wants to be fashion’s next ‘it’ girl. She has youth and beauty on her side, which invokes jealousy in others. As her star rises, Jesse is consumed by vanity. After her harsh rejection of make-up artist Ruby (Jenna Malone), and going on an egomaniacal tirade, she is pushed into an empty pool by Ruby’s friends Sarah (Abbey Lee Kershaw) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote), thus breaking her neck.

Two stories from different millennia share a common thread: characters who love themselves to death (literally). What separates them is the queer subtext, particularly in The Neon Demon. Does Refn know his film had queer subtext? Perhaps not, though the film itself is often included in modern queer horror lists. There is an explicit attraction between the main characters, and he does an excellent job examining what that looks like when they are clouded by envy. For the women, this desire manifests in the form of companionship (Ruby), status (Gigi) or consumption (Sarah). This queer interpretation aids Refn’s exploration of relationships that exists outside of the typical portrayal of female desire.

There is a debate among viewers regarding the queer subtext and the lesbian body horror aspects of the film. Many of the film’s critics denounced the level of sexual objectification of the young women. However, objectification is a hallmark of the story: it’s a movie about the modeling world. What people miss is not only how the external world oversexualizes these characters, but how they objectify one another, and that gaze lends itself to a strong queer asthetic.

Florence Pugh as Dani in ‘Midsommar’ (2019).

Outcasts and killer cults in Sweden: Euripides’ The Bacchae as told through Ari Aster’s Midsommar

In Greek tragedy The Bacchae, Dionysus tells the citizens of Thebes he is the son of Zeus. No one believes him. He is gaslit to the point of shame. With his reputation in a shambles, the spurned demigod leaves Thebes. He soon returns in disguise with a pack of rabid women who call themselves the Bacchae—they kill King Pentheus and burn Thebes to the ground because they didn’t listen. No-one listens to Midsommar’s main character, Dani, either.

Dani is in an emotionally abusive relationship with the gaslighting Christian, and is surrounded by Christian’s friends who reject her and see her as an emotional burden. Imagine how unhappy they are when Dani accompanies them on their trip to Sweden to visit the commune of the Harga people for their Midsummer celebration. Things spiral out of control when Dani unintentionally rises to godlike status within the Harga cult, which leads to, let’s just say, consequences for her dissenters.

On its surface, Midsommar is not queer cinema—at the center of the film is a heterosexual couple. However, Dani is an emotional outcast and feels like an outsider no matter where she is; it’s an echo of queer experience that is heightened when the women of the Harga embrace Dani. She gains status within the group and receives cathartic support from the young women of the commune. This allows her to purge the toxicity she’s experienced at the hands of Christian, his friends, and the outside world.

Sure, the Bacchae and the Harga are both dangerous, insular, microcosmic communities. Those attributes aside, these are two groups that exist separate from society at large, because their way of life is unique only to them.

Noémie Merlant gazes up at the object of her desire in ‘Jumbo’ (2020).

The Allure of Inanimate Objects: Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo vs Ovid’s ‘Pygmalion’

Another story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses features Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion, who swore off women in his city and took to isolation. In his time away from society, he carved a woman out of ivory and fell in love with it. He prayed to Aphrodite to bring the sculpture to life—and she did! Could this be an early case of objectum sexuality? While there is no divine intervention in Jumbo (which premiered at Sundance this year), Zoé Wittock’s film explores the meaning of objectum sexuality, which is a form of sexual or romantic attraction focused on particular inanimate objects.

In the film, Jeanne (Noémie Merlant—yes, Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Marianne) isn’t interested in human interaction, other than with her mother Margarette (Emmanuelle Bercot). Working for the cleaning crew at an amusement park, she falls in love with the newest attraction, a tilt-a-whirl ride named Jumbo. As Jeanne’s desire grows, the ride comes to life and begins to communicate via colors and sounds.

Jeanne is a societal outcast who rejects human romance; her relationship with Jumbo subverts what society understands about sexuality and connection. Coming out to her mother about her attraction is also a challenge. Margarette isn’t open to what her daughter is feeling and reacts harshly toward Jeanne by coercing her into engaging in sex with men, and, when that doesn’t work, throwing her out of the house.

Eventually, Margarette realizes love is love, and as long as her daughter isn’t hurting anyone, she can learn to accept Jeanne’s love for Jumbo. Being pushed to the fringes of society for being honest (like Jeanne), or isolating yourself (like Pygmalion), is a scenario that queer folks are all too familiar with. At least Jeanne and Pygmalion don’t face tragic ends. The odds of being rejected by loved ones is high.

Coming out to family members is hard enough, especially when your very existence challenges their sense of normalcy. But this is why chosen families are important, and in both stories, the love of an accepting, chosen few is better than the approval of the majority.

Read more about Magic for Liars here.

Unraveling by Karen Lord

Type: Standalone Novel Publisher: DAW Release date: 6/4/19

Dr. Miranda Ecouvo, forensic therapist of the City, just helped put a serial killer behind bars. But she soon discovers that her investigation into seven unusual murders is not yet complete. A near-death experience throws her out of time and into a realm of labyrinths and spirits. There, she encounters brothers Chance and the Trickster, who have an otherworldly interest in the seemingly mundane crimes from her files.

It appears the true mastermind behind the murders is still on the loose, chasing a myth to achieve immortality. Together, Miranda, Chance, and the Trickster must travel through conjured mazes, following threads of memory to locate the shadowy killer. As they journey deeper, they discover even more questions that will take pain and patience to answer. What is the price of power? Where is the path to redemption? And how can they stop the man—or monster—who would kill the innocent to live forever?

Read Unraveling by Karen Lord

The Fire Opal Mechanism by Fran Wilde

Type: Second novella in the Jewel Series Publisher: Tor.com Release date: 6/4/19

Jewels and their lapidaries and have all but passed into myth.

Jorit, broke and branded a thief, just wants to escape the Far Reaches for something better. Ania, a rumpled librarian, is trying to protect her books from the Pressmen, who value knowledge but none of the humanity that generates it.

When they stumble upon a mysterious clock powered by an ancient jewel, they may discover secrets in the past that will change the future forever.

Read The Fire Opal Mechanism by Fran Wilde

Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson

Type: First book in the Wake the Dragon series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 6/4/19

Two continents at war, the Three Kingdoms and Ishara, are divided by past bloodshed. When an outside threat arises―the reawakening of a powerful ancient race that wants to remake the world―the two warring nations must somehow set aside generational hatreds and form an alliance to fight their true enemy.

Read Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Harper Voyager Release date: 6/11/19

From the bestselling author of the Sandman Slim series, a lush, dark, stand-alone fantasy built off the insurgent tradition of China Mieville and M. John Harrison—a subversive tale that immerses us in a world where the extremes of bleakness and beauty exist together in dangerous harmony in a city on the edge of civility and chaos.

The Great War is over. The city of Lower Proszawa celebrates the peace with a decadence and carefree spirit as intense as the war’s horrifying despair. But this newfound hedonism—drugs and sex and endless parties—distracts from strange realities of everyday life: Intelligent automata taking jobs. Genetically engineered creatures that serve as pets and beasts of war. A theater where gruesome murders happen twice a day. And a new plague that even the ceaseless euphoria can’t mask.

Unlike others who live strictly for fun, Largo is an addict with ambitions. A bike messenger who grew up in the slums, he knows the city’s streets and its secrets intimately. His life seems set. He has a beautiful girlfriend, drugs, a chance at a promotion—and maybe, an opportunity for complete transformation: a contact among the elite who will set him on the course to lift himself up out of the streets.

But dreams can be a dangerous thing in a city whose mood is turning dark and inward. Others have a vision of life very different from Largo’s, and they will use any methods to secure control. And in behind it all, beyond the frivolity and chaos, the threat of new war always looms.

Read The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Type: Novella Publisher: Tor.com Release date: 6/18/19

There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past―both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.

Read Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Best New Fantasy Books in May 2019

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Tor.com Release date: 5/7/19

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

Read Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

Empire of Grass by Tad Williams

Type: Second book in the Last King of Osten Ard series Publisher: DAW Release date: 5/7/19

Set in Williams' New York Times bestselling fantasy world, the second book of The Last King of Osten Ard returns to the trials of King Simon and Queen Miriamele as threats to their kingdom loom...

The kingdoms of Osten Ard have been at peace for decades, but now, the threat of a new war grows to nightmarish proportions.

Simon and Miriamele, royal husband and wife, face danger from every side. Their allies in Hernystir have made a pact with the dreadful Queen of the Norns to allow her armies to cross into mortal lands. The ancient, powerful nation of Nabban is on the verge of bloody civil war, and the fierce nomads of the Thrithings grasslands have begun to mobilize, united by superstitious fervor and their age-old hatred of the city-dwellers. But as the countries and peoples of the High Ward bicker among themselves, battle, bloodshed, and dark magics threaten to pull civilizations to pieces. And over it all looms the mystery of the Witchwood Crown, the deadly puzzle that Simon, Miriamele, and their allies must solve if they wish to survive.

But as the kingdoms of Osten Ard are torn apart by fear and greed, a few individuals will fight for their own lives and destinies—not yet aware that the survival of everything depends on them.

Read Empire of Grass by Tad Williams

The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams Review

Mythic Journeys: Retold Myths and Legends, Edited by Paula Guran

Type: Short story collection Publisher: Night Shade Release date: 5/14/19

Award-winning editor Paula Guran presents a diverse reprint anthology collecting classic myths and legends, retold by today’s top fantasy writers.

The Native American trickster Coyote . . . the snake-haired Greek Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned men to stone . . . Kaggen, creator of the San peoples of Africa . . . the Holy Grail of Arthurian legend . . . Freyja, the Norse goddess of love and beauty . . . Ys, the mythical sunken city once built on the coast of France . . . Ragnarok, the myth of a world destroyed and reborn . . . Jason and the Argonauts, sailing in search of the Golden Fleece . . . Myths and legends are the oldest of stories, part of our collective consciousness, and the source from which all fiction flows. Full of magic, supernatural powers, monsters, heroes, epic journeys, strange worlds, and vast imagination, they are fantasies so compelling we want to believe them true.

This new anthology compiles some of the best modern short mythic retellings and reinvention of legend from award-winning and bestselling authors, acclaimed storytellers, and exciting new talent, offering readers new ways to interpret and understand the world. Adventure with us on these Mythic Journeys . . .

Contributors include: Neil Gaiman, Ann Lecki, Yoon Ha Lee, and Ken Liu.

Read Mythic Journeys: Retold Myths and Legends

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Berkley Release date: 5/14/19

International bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay's latest work is set in a world evoking early Renaissance Italy and offers an extraordinary cast of characters whose lives come together through destiny, love, and ambition.

In a chamber overlooking the nighttime waterways of a maritime city, a man looks back on his youth and the people who shaped his life. Danio Cerra's intelligence won him entry to a renowned school even though he was only the son of a tailor. He took service at the court of a ruling count—and soon learned why that man was known as the Beast.

Danio's fate changed the moment he saw and recognized Adria Ripoli as she entered the count's chambers one autumn night—intending to kill. Born to power, Adria had chosen, instead of a life of comfort, one of danger—and freedom. Which is how she encounters Danio in a perilous time and place.

Vivid figures share the unfolding story. Among them: a healer determined to defy her expected lot; a charming, frivolous son of immense wealth; a powerful religious leader more decadent than devout; and, affecting all these lives and many more, two larger-than-life mercenary commanders, lifelong adversaries, whose rivalry puts a world in the balance.

A Brightness Long Ago offers both compelling drama and deeply moving reflections on the nature of memory, the choices we make in life, and the role played by the turning of Fortune's wheel.

Read A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Type: Eleventh book in the Mercy Thompson series Publisher: Ace Release date: 5/14/19

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic. And a coyote shapeshifter. And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae. The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death. But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it.

Read Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Read more: Patricia Briggs Does Werewolf Romance Right

An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass

Type: Book one in the Chimera series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 5/21/19

A ragtag crew with forbidden magic must pull off an elaborate heist and stop a civil war in An Illusion of Thieves, a fantasy adventure from Cate Glass.

In Cantagna, being a sorcerer is a death sentence.

Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when she becomes courtesan to the Shadow Lord, a revolutionary noble who brings laws and comforts once reserved for the wealthy to all. When her brother, Neri, is caught thieving with the aid of magic, Romy's aristocratic influence is the only thing that can spare his life―and the price is her banishment.

Now back in Beggar’s Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she’ll have to rely on newfound allies―a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they'll need the very thing that could condemn them all: magic.

Read An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass

Lent by Jo Walton

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 5/28/19

From Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winning Jo Walton comes Lent, a magical re-imagining of the man who remade fifteenth-century Florence―in all its astonishing strangeness

Young Girolamo’s life is a series of miracles.

It’s a miracle that he can see demons, plain as day, and that he can cast them out with the force of his will. It’s a miracle that he’s friends with Pico della Mirandola, the Count of Concordia. It’s a miracle that when Girolamo visits the deathbed of Lorenzo “the Magnificent,” the dying Medici is wreathed in celestial light, a surprise to everyone, Lorenzo included. It’s a miracle that when Charles VIII of France invades northern Italy, Girolamo meets him in the field, and convinces him to not only spare Florence but also protect it. It’s a miracle than whenever Girolamo preaches, crowds swoon. It’s a miracle that, despite the Pope’s determination to bring young Girolamo to heel, he’s still on the loose…and, now, running Florence in all but name.

That’s only the beginning. Because Girolamo Savanarola is not who―or what―he thinks he is. He will discover the truth about himself at the most startling possible time. And this will be only the beginning of his many lives.

Read Lent by Jo Walton

Best New Fantasy Books in April 2019

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Type: Third and final book in the Book of the Ancestor series Publisher: Ace Release date: 4/9/19

The searing conclusion of the thrilling epic fantasy trilogy that saw a young girl trained by an arcane order of nuns grow into the fiercest of warriors...

They came against her as a child. Now they face the woman.

The ice is advancing, the Corridor narrowing, and the empire is under siege from the Scithrowl in the east and the Durns in the west. Everywhere, the emperor’s armies are in retreat.

Nona Grey faces the final challenges that must be overcome if she is to become a full sister in the order of her choice. But it seems unlikely that she and her friends will have time to earn a nun’s habit before war is on their doorstep.

Even a warrior like Nona cannot hope to turn the tide of war.

The shiphearts offer strength that she might use to protect those she loves, but it’s a power that corrupts. A final battle is coming in which she will be torn between friends, unable to save them all. A battle in which her own demons will try to unmake her.

A battle in which hearts will be broken, lovers lost, thrones burned.

Read Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Read our full review of Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Read our review of Red Queen by Mark Lawrence

Read our review of Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

No Country for Old Gnomes: The Tales of Pell by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne

Type: Seconds book in the Tales of Pell Publisher: Del Rey Release date: 4/16/19

War is coming, and it’s gonna be Pell.

On one side stand the gnomes: smol, cheerful, possessing tidy cardigans and no taste for cruelty.

On the other side sit the halflings, proudly astride their war alpacas, carrying bags of grenades and hungry for a fight. And pretty much anything else.

It takes only one halfling bomb and Offi Numminen’s world is turned upside down—or downside up, really, since he lives in a hole in the ground. His goth cardigans and aggressive melancholy set him apart from the other gnomes, as does his decision to fight back against their halfling oppressors. Suddenly Offi is the leader of a band of lovable misfits and outcasts—from a gryphon who would literally kill for omelets to a young dwarf herbalist who is better with bees than with his cudgel to an assertive and cheerful teen witch with a beard as long as her book of curses—all on a journey to the Toot Towers to confront the dastardly villain intent on tearing Pell asunder. These adventurers never fit in anywhere else, but as they become friends, fight mermaids, and get really angry at this one raccoon, they learn that there’s nothing more heroic than being yourself.

In No Country for Old Gnomes, Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne lovingly tweak the tropes of fantasy and fairy tales. Here you’ll find goofy jokes and whimsical puns, but you’ll also find a diverse, feminist, and lighthearted approach to fantasy that will bring a smile to your face and many fine cheeses to your plate.

Read No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne

All My Colors by David Quantick

Type: Novel Publisher: Titan Books Release date: 4/16/19

It is March 1979 in DeKalb Illinois. Todd Milstead is a wannabe writer, a serial adulterer, and a jerk, only tolerated by his friends because he throws the best parties with the best booze. During one particular party, Todd is showing off his perfect recall, quoting poetry and literature word for word plucked from his eidetic memory. When he begins quoting from a book no one else seems to know, a novel called All My Colors, Todd is incredulous. He can quote it from cover to cover and yet it doesn't seem to exist.

With a looming divorce and mounting financial worries, Todd finally tries to write a novel, with the vague idea of making money from his talent. The only problem is he can't write. But the book - All My Colors - is there in his head. Todd makes a decision: he will "write" this book that nobody but him can remember. After all, if nobody's heard of it, how can he get into trouble?

As the dire consequences of his actions come home to both Todd and his long-suffering friends, it becomes clear that there is a high - and painful - price to pay for his crime.

Read All My Colors by David Quantick

The Unicorn Anthology by Peter S. Beagle & Jacob Weisman

Type: Anthology Publisher: Tachyon Publications Release date: 4/19/19

Unicorns: Not just for virgins anymore. Here are sixteen lovely, powerful, intricate, and unexpected unicorn tales from fantasy icons including Garth Nix, Peter S. Beagle, Patricia A. McKillip, Bruce Coville, Carrie Vaughn, and more. In this volume you will find two would-be hunters who enlist an innkeeper to find a priest hiding the secret of the last unicorn. A time traveler tries to corral an unruly mythological beast that might never have existed at all. The lover and ex-boyfriend of a dying woman join forces to find a miraculous remedy in New York City. And a small-town writer of historical romances discovers a sliver of a mysterious horn in a slice of apple pie.

Read The Unicorn Anthology by Peter S. Beagle & Jacob Weisman

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse

Type: Second book in the Sixth World series Publisher: Gallery/Saga Press Release date: 4/23/19

Kai and Caleb Goodacre have been kidnapped just as rumors of a cult sweeping across the reservation leads Maggie and Hastiin to investigate an outpost, and what they find there will challenge everything they’ve come to know in this action-packed sequel to Trail of Lightning.

It’s been four weeks since the bloody showdown at Black Mesa, and Maggie Hoskie, Diné monster hunter, is trying to make the best of things. Only her latest bounty hunt has gone sideways, she’s lost her only friend, Kai Arviso, and she’s somehow found herself responsible for a girl with a strange clan power.

Then the Goodacre twins show up at Maggie’s door with the news that Kai and the youngest Goodacre, Caleb, have fallen in with a mysterious cult, led by a figure out of Navajo legend called the White Locust. The Goodacres are convinced that Kai’s a true believer, but Maggie suspects there’s more to Kai’s new faith than meets the eye. She vows to track down the White Locust, then rescue Kai and make things right between them.

Her search leads her beyond the Walls of Dinétah and straight into the horrors of the Big Water world outside. With the aid of a motley collection of allies, Maggie must battle body harvesters, newborn casino gods and, ultimately, the White Locust himself. But the cult leader is nothing like she suspected, and Kai might not need rescuing after all. When the full scope of the White Locust’s plans are revealed, Maggie’s burgeoning trust in her friends, and herself, will be pushed to the breaking point, and not everyone will survive.

Read Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse

Read our inteview with author Rebecca Roanhorse.

Read our list of 2018's Best Fiction Books.

Best New Fantasy Books in March 2019

The Municipalists by Seth Fried

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Penguin Books Release date: 3/19/19

In Metropolis, the gleaming city of tomorrow, the dream of the great American city has been achieved. But all that is about to change, unless a neurotic, rule-following bureaucrat and an irreverent, freewheeling artificial intelligence can save the city from a mysterious terrorist plot that threatens its very existence.

Henry Thompson has dedicated his life to improving America’s infrastructure as a proud employee of the United States Municipal Survey. So when the agency comes under attack, he dutifully accepts his unexpected mission to visit Metropolis looking for answers. But his plans to investigate quietly, quickly, and carefully are interrupted by his new partner: a day-drinking know-it-all named OWEN, who also turns out to be the projected embodiment of the agency’s supercomputer. Soon, Henry and OWEN are fighting to save not only their own lives and those of the city’s millions of inhabitants, but also the soul of Metropolis. The Municipalists is a thrilling, funny, and touching adventure story, a tour-de-force of imagination that trenchantly explores our relationships to the cities around us and the technologies guiding us into the future.

Read The Municipalists by Seth Fried

The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore

Type: First book in the Chronicles of Ghadid series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 3/19/19

A novice assassin is on the hunt for someone killing their own in K. A. Doore's The Perfect Assassin, a breakout high fantasy beginning the Chronicles of Ghadid series.

Divine justice is written in blood.

Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he’s already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.

Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very important drum chief. Until, impossibly, Basbowen’s finest start showing up dead, with their murderous jaan running wild in the dusty streets of Ghadid. Until, inevitably, Amastan is ordered to solve these murders, before the family gets blamed.

Every life has its price, but when the tables are turned, Amastan must find this perfect assassin or be their next target.

Read The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore

Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 3/26/19

With Miranda in Milan, debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.

After the tempest, after the reunion, after her father drowned his books, Miranda was meant to enter a brave new world. Naples awaited her, and Ferdinand, and a throne. Instead she finds herself in Milan, in her father’s castle, surrounded by hostile servants who treat her like a ghost. Whispers cling to her like spiderwebs, whispers that carry her dead mother’s name. And though he promised to give away his power, Milan is once again contorting around Prospero’s dark arts.

With only Dorothea, her sole companion and confidant to aid her, Miranda must cut through the mystery and find the truth about her father, her mother, and herself.

Read Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett

Best New Fantasy Books in February 2019

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

Type: First in A Chorus of Dragons series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 2/5/19

Jenn Lyons channels The Kingkiller Chronicles in this epic fantasy debut that follows a boy thief called Kihrin as he goes from growing up in the slums of Quur to finding out he may be the long-lost son of a cruel prince to a slave to the potential key to a world-changing prophecy to a prisoner awaiting his death.

The Ruin of Kings is structured as a conversation between a prisoner, Kihrin, and his jailor, a shapeshifting demon named Talon. In their alternating chapters, they tell the story of how Kihrin came to be in prison, awaiting his potential death, and how the fictional world they are a part of includes gods, dragons, krakens, sorcerers, and more. Read our full review of this page-turning fantasy epic here.

Read The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Type: First in trilogy Publisher: Riverhead Books Release date: 2/5/19

It's becoming more common to see fantasy worlds and stories that use something other than the western world as inspiration for a new fictional universe. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is one such book. Written by Marlon James, the author of A Brief History of Seven Killings, the novel follows Tracker, a man tasked with finding a missing boy. Though Tracker usually works alone, he teams up with some other hired help in his pursuit, becoming part of a team that has its fair share of secrets, leading to the biggest mystery of all: who is the boy and why have they been tasked with tracking him?

The screen adaptation rights for Black Leopard, Red Wolf have already been snatched up by Michael B. Jordan and Warner Bros., so get a head start on reading this book before the adaptation.

Read Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

read more: Binti & The Wonders of Nnedi Okorafor

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

Type: Novella Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 2/19/19

Set in an alternate Cairo in which humans live alongside otherworldly beings, The Haunting of Tram Car 015 follows Agent Hamed al-Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi. They work for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, tasked with dealing with any problems that might arise between the magical and non-magical folks. When the two agents are tasked with subduing a possessed tram car, they find it a much more complicated task than it first appears. I mean.... you know how it is.

Read The Haunting of Tram Car 015

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Orbit Release date: 2/26/19

Ann Leckie's debut, Ancillary Justice, remains one of the most talked about science fiction novels (not to mention science fiction author debuts!) of the last decade. Leckie is back, with The Raven Tower, a fantasy story set in a land known as Iraden. Iraden has been protected for centuries by the god Raven, who appoints a human ruler to carry out his command. When the land is overtaken by attack and the Raven's rule challenged, a warrior named Eolo works to restore the power of the throne to its rightful ruler. We will follow Leckie to any genre.

Read The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Type: First in trilogy Publisher: Bloomsbury Release date: 2/26/19

With whispers of "the Nameless One"—aka the scariest dragon of them all (OK, I'm in!)—returning after 1,000 years, Queen Sabran of the House of Berethnet is in danger of losing power. Things are further complicated by Sabran's current lack of an heir. Luckily, Sabran has lady-in-waiting Ead Duryan on her side. Ead Duryan uses her secret powers to protect the queen. This tale of female warriors working to save the world may be long, but, from all accounts, is more than worth the commitment.

Read The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samatha Shannon

Best New Fantasy Books in January 2019

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

Type: Fourth in series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 1/8/19

Seanan McGuire's brilliant Wayward Children novella series, which began with the excellent Every Heart a Doorway, continues in In An Absent Dream. Here, we learn the story of Katherine Lundy, the group therapy leader at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. As a child, the academic Katherine wanfers into the Goblin Market and immediately falls in love with this land of logic and reason. When Katherine realizes she will soon be unable to return to the Goblin Market, she makes a desperate bargain to keep her place in this world. #bewaretheconsequences

Read In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

read more: 9 Fantasy Books Set at Magical Boarding School

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Type: Third in trilogy Publisher: Del Rey Release date: 1/8/19

The Russian folklore-inspired Winternight trilogy comes to a close with The Winter of the Witch, which sees a medieval Russia in chaos, overrun by demons with Moscow working to recover from disaster. We continue to follow 17-year-old Vasya, a girl who can see and speak with spirits. As the country moves toward war under the rule of The Grand Prince, Vasya is guided into the midnight realm of Polunochnitsa, or Lady Midnight, where she meets her ancestors, the mythical firebird Pozhar, and a mushroom spirit called Ded Grib. While I have yet to read this trilogy, by all accounts this is a satisfying conclusion to a fantastic trilogy.

Read The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

The Iron Codex by David Mack

Type: Second in Dark Arts series Publisher: Tor Books Release date: 1/15/19

While Midnight Front was set in the lead-up to and during World War II, The Iron Codex picks back up in the midst of Cold War paranoia in 1954, with Cade Martin chasing ghosts in Southeast Asia, Briet Segfrunsdóttir heading the Pentagon's top-secret magickal warfare program, and Anja Kernova (with the help of a magickal book known as The Iron Codex) hunting fugitive Nazi sorcerers in South America. It all leads to Bikini Atoll, where the Castle Bravo nuclear tests are scheduled to begin...

Read The Iron Codex by David Mack

Marked by S. Andrew Swann

Type: First in series Publisher: DAW Release date: 1/15/19

I love a good supernatu

rally-charged backstory mystery! This one centers on Detective Dana Rohan, a cop with a near-perfect arrest rate who can't remember how she got the mark on her back... the mark that allows her to travel through time and to alternate dimensions. The ability helps with her job investigating crimes, but when she is approached by a homeless man warning that the Shadows are coming, Dana is thrown into a much larger and even more dangerous multi-world adventure.

Read Marked by S. Andrew Swann

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

Type: Second in trilogy Publisher: Harper Voyager Release date: 1/22/19

We were very into The City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty's 2017 fantasy novel about Nahri, a young woman living in 18th-century Cairo, and Ali, a prince living in the djinn city of Daevabad. In the first book, the two both struggle to stay alive, keep the ones they love safe, and use their power in moral ways—they are only partially successful. The Kingdom of Copper picks up five years later, and sees Nahri in a loveless and childless marriage with Ali's older brother, and Ali in exile and presumed dead in the desert. A return to a fantastical world that is just as satisfying and complex (if not moreso) as the trilogy's first installment.

read more: A Conversation with S.A. Chakraborty

Read The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

What new speculative fiction books are on your radar? Let us know in the comments below or over at the Den of Geek Book Club!

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

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Jun 18, 2019

Fantasy Books

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oneeyedscarecrow · 7 years

Text

@drfritz the general background on Lazlo:

Laz is one of the main reasons there IS a 109 b/c he was one of the first Rogues I came up w/a radically different version for that I really loved. mostly because I started to really like some of the hot mess aspects of Lazlo that got left out of the 451 version and decided I needed to come up with a less terrible version of his character so I could love him more on the same level I love the other Rogues (as a trainwreck doing their best)

SO: 109 Laz had the standard-ish backstory of growing up somewhat isolated with an asshole mom, until he got away from home in order to study surgery in Gotham (he kinda wanted to study art, or Greek myths, but in this economy?). During his time in college he befriended Jim Gordon, which will be relevant later probably. Jim was one of the few people who knew Laz was lowkey prophetic, usually just on a level of ‘it’s definitely going to rain take an umbrella’ but sometimes increasing in power if he was sleep deprived/high/otherwise in an altered state of mind to predictions weeks or months into the future.

Unfortunately, shortly after Lazlo left college, a predatory Shadowy Org that was looking for people with prophetic abilities noticed him and managed to convince/bully him into working for them. They were testing a drug that might increase prophetic ability, which turned out to (a) work on Lazlo really well (b) be damaging to his already not-great-functioning brain, esp since they encouraged him to go off the meds he was using to control his schizophrenia, and (c) be nastily addictive. So Lazlo predicted for them for about a year, giving the ability to lay a roadmap decades into the future - then he, to all appearances, burnt out. Without the drug, he could see nothing, and with it he’d lose his ability to form coherent sentences, or just ramble on nonsensically. They essentially shrugged and cut him loose, figuring that killing him would be more of a hassle because honestly? he was already 99% incoherent off the drug, withdrawal was going to hit him like a ton of bricks, and he lived in a bad part of town. he’d die without them having to do anything

This probably would have been true had not a bunch of weird criminal element, including the future Dollmaker and the future Mr Toad, already been living in the area, and Lazlo stumbled into them. He hung out with them while barely surviving withdrawal (mostly by substituting a looooott of other drugs, which... yeah, Laz is a mess) and when he got slightly better decided These Were His People Now and he was going to stay here. pretty soon people figured out he had surgical skill & would think literally nothing was weird, so thru referrals from the Dollmaker he became popular with people who wanted extreme/weird body modification, in addition to simply stitching up anyone in the neighborhood who got injured in the line of ‘business’. he also became a point of interest due to slowly regaining his ability to prophesy, while still conveying them in symbolic rambles very few people could make sense of; a number of people made it a hobby/calling to hang around him and interpret his words.

aside from aiding and abetting people more actively involved in crime, Laz is barely a criminal to start with. He’s just... chilling, trying to deal with schizophrenia + the scrambling Shadowy Org put his brain through, and helping the people he feels are his new family. he still has his passion for perfection, but in 109 it manifests in simply thinking everyone should try to achieve what they think is their most perfect state, no matter how unnatural that could seem to others; hence his popularity with the body mod crowd. Unfortunately, an asshole called Simon Hurt rolled up to town a little while after everything got going, and manipulated Laz + the Circus of the Strange group (essentially the group nickname for the weirdos who lived in that area) into working for him, and things got a little out of hand. but on the plus side, Laz got to meet his old college buddy Jim again!

other random notes: he worked with theater and burlesque every chance he got in the past, and still retains a lot of the theatrics (Al, or ‘Mr. Toad’ was the first one to dub their group the Circus of the Strange, but it was largely due to Lazlo’s attitude). he’s got waaaaaaaaaaaay less issues with women in general than 451 Laz. still has mom issues. genderweird but generally too stressed to figure it out. his Circus buddies affectionately refer to him as the Professor; it was Hurt who came up with the Pygmalion part.

#earth 109 #professor pyg #lazlo valentin #hurt's a creep #Laz is a hot mess but a good boy underneath it all #i mean at least a better boy than he is in most 'verses

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robedepourpre · 7 years

Text

Black Sails is a tragedy. Literally.

So, my friend and I finished Black Sails this week-end, and boy was it a wild ride. We cried (a lot) and laughed (a bit), and talked far too much about it. She also came up with this idea about Black Sails having some similarities with a tragedy, and since she doesn’t have a tumblr (too time-consuming, she says. Psht), I’m the one sharing her views with you.

If there are comments or questions about it (and about the references she uses), I’ll answer the best I can, and relay them to her. Hey, if there are enough, she might be swayed enough to get her own blog !

*****

One thing I love about Black Sails is how conscious the whole show is of its own links with stories. For an ex-litterary student like me, it’s a delight to puzzle about it.

One interesting way of interpreting the whole story that occurred for me at the last episode is: the whole show is a tragedy about anger.

My argument is linked with my own culture: I know a lot about Greek tragedies and French ones, and not that much about the rest of them. Yet what I know about it makes quite a compelling, if incomplete, point.

So, I’ll try to make it, with spoilers up to the end of S4 (and therefore, after the cut).

First thing about a tragedy is the weight of destiny. That one is quite obvious: we know that the Pirate Republic, Nassau, won’t stay that way for long. We know that the British will win, because both History and Treasure Island tell us they do. The same can be told for the Maroon insurrection wanted by Madi…

What’s interesting is that the link between BS and History is basically the same that we see in tragedy (and in romantic drama, and in a lot of historical shows): what matters is not the truth, but the myth of it and the way it can be bended to reinvent another story (yup, that’s basically what Rackham says to Mary at the end).

Then, there’s the notion of hubris, which is quite present in the show. Hubris is an excessive pride that allows the heroes to try and defy the norms of the world (and with it, the gods). That can summarize the hope that Nassau remains free of English rules for Flint and Vane and Eleanor, but also Rodgers’s actions in S4, since he ignores what England wants in order to stay in control of Nassau (most obviously when he goes to Spain-controled Cuba in the middle of the war). Interestingly, hubris has a very similar treatment in BS and in some Greek tragedies (Antigone from Sophocle comes to mind): in both case, their hubris is justified and is based on an earnest desire for justice. But at the same time, that desire is scary and drives them to extremes. We see exactly the same thing with Flint and Rodgers.

In all those situations in BS, what fuels their hubris’s is anger (hence my “tragedy about anger”). Flint’s anger is born in the death of Thomas and Miranda. Rodgers’s anger at seeing the Island resisting him and civilization. Eleanor’s anger at needing a man to succeed. Vane’s anger is more discreet,because that’s not the main point of his story arc and is more said by his wish to stay free of any chains, but he still dies to make others angry and to make Flint’s plan come true, so I tend to count him in.

Another thing that made me think of tragedies is the way Nassau, and then the maroons, are used. The structure of it is very similar to the Chorus/Coryphaeus relation in greek tragedies. Basically: the chorus and their spokeperson (the Coryphaeus) comment on the actions, and judge them. It’s very very close to Max saying “the streets are afraid/angry”, or to Madi and her mother then Julius telling Flint what the maroons want, and how the revolt he proposes suits, or not, their purpose.

That’s a very interesting fact, because all the moments that I alluded to? They are also the moment when BS hints that it’s a show about politics, or rather: how someone with a vision for Nassau tries to seize power and how their political agenda is received. It’s not the center of the show, but it’s quite crucial in the main events. For example: the reason Eleanor failed is deeply linked with the way she was unable to be seen as something different from a tyrant – same with Rodgers. The same could be said of the maroons: the way Flint aligns or not with what they want (be it hidden in peace or in open revolt with England) is crucial for him, and in some ways, overtakes his own plans: Madi’s resolve for a revolution lasts longer than Flint needs for it.

My last (and longest) point is about passions.

So tragedies are more about facing your passions than about every characters dying or even a bad end (we have Corneille’s Cinna, a tragedy with a good end, and Racine’s Berenice, a tragedy without death).

Passions are emotions and states of being that, if growing unchecked, will eventually lead the character to their doom. If you prefer: the problem of passions is not their existence, but the moment when they are too much. The whole problem of a play is generally: a passion is born or exists and lead the main characters into making one or several harmful choices. They then face the consequences of that, and in doing so are either consumed by their passion (and are more likely to end up dead) or learn to harness it (and are more likely to end up alive, if someone else’s passion don’t kill them).

The most common passion throughout the show is anger.

For some, anger shapes their arcs:

· Flint is born out of his anger at Thomas’s death (and becomes James again when Thomas is found alive). His whole arc is about him being finally able to let it go.

· Miranda has two important moments that link her with anger. The major one, of course, is the manner of her death, when she expresses her anger for the very first time. She is consumed by her anger in this moment, and dies frome it. The second undermines Flint, since it’s the choice of pursuing the Maria Aleyne to kill Alfred Hamilton, which fuels the distrust that leads to the mutiny of Dufresne and the others.

· Eleanor Guthrie’s main mistakes are all marked with her anger at seeing men trying to controls her life. It’s usually with Vane (unmaking him captain starts the moment she is called a tyrant, and well, I think their last meeting is quite telling in itself), though it also includes her father, Scott, Flint or Max. When her anger and her pride disappear, her storyline is ending – and she’s killed by her husband’s anger.

· Billy looses slowly his power as a representative of the crew while he is consumed by his anger at Flint, thus becoming Billy Bones

· Rodgers is to me a possible mirror of Flint in the way anger fuels them: they are the two character that can go from English gentleman to angry brute in a breath, and become even more angry and self-destructive when their lovers die.

· Madi is also an exemple of a character that is more and more moved by her anger, though hers is directed towards slavery. That’s when she begins to align herself quite clearly with Flint. It’s very visible in her splendid answer to Rodgers when he tries to blackmail her with Silver’s lifein the last couple episodes. Actually, Madi’s anger is never resolved (and that may be my own regret with the end of S4).

· Teach is a character that only appears in the plot when he is angry. He arrives to gloat over Eleanor’s death (enabling him to reconcile with Vane), goes when his anger is insufficient to make him defend Nassau, returns when Vane’s death angers him… and dies when Rackham persuades him to let go of avenging Vane.

For others, anger is less important. There are two configurations:

· Anne and Vane face another problematic passion, which is a love so great they lose their sense of self. However, we know that their anger exists, and that it clouds their judgement (Anne’s in S1, which leads to her and Rackham being excluded from Vane’s crew. As for Vane, Teach’s “that’s the first time Charles Vane stays cool instead of being angry” when Eleanor returns in S3 is a pretty good indication). But, beyond that, as I said, the passion that rules them is more about love to my mind (and the way it gives them a sense of self). Both struggle with their own sense of self, both chose to leave Nassau to find who they are (or, in Vane’s case, revert to a previous state of being by going with Teach) after a betrayal (Ashe’s daughter and Rackham leaving Anne on the shore). I could add that, when they return, their fate is decided by the ones they chose to love (and specifically, by their lucidity, for Max and Rackham - or lack thereof, in Eleanor’s case).

· Max, Rackham and Silver are able to control that passion. Interestingly they are in some ways the winners of the show, Silver by disbanding Flint’s army, Max and Rackham by convincing Marion Guthrie to back them. Max and Rackham are very good at controlling their anger and making the right choices in spite of it. Max refuses to kill Silver in S4. Rackham, for all that he hates Rodgers, chooses to avenge himself with helping a legal process which is wonderfully vicious and subtle and is not a new action, but accompanying one that is already here.

I was tempted to say that each season has an arc about a different passion, anger being the fourth (and so, the most important since it ends the story). S1 would be about desire, symbolized by the Urca gold. S2 about individuality (in French tragedies and in the Greek ones I studied, the fact that someone stands against the community is seen as a risk: that’s the problem raised by Antigone), since the key point is about enacting Thomas’s plan and growing closer to England (civilisation). S3 would then be about power with the question of who will rule Nassau.

And lastly, linked with passion is the question of catharsis. It’s a notion defined by Aristotle and it’s basically the idea that tragedy frees us from our own passions by representing them in a way that’s relatable until it’s scary. Hence, heroes should be charismatic and humane, but also monstrous. And that’s the point of Vane and Flint at the end of S2 (”let’s remind them that the pirates should be scared”), the point of the creation of Long John Silver…That part is most wonderfully used buy the show runners. On the one hand, these decisions are always made under a cynical light. There is always the question of whether or not England is civilized (with Thomas’s fall, with Teach’s death…) compared to the so-called monsters. And on the other hand, Flint, Vane, Teach, Anne or Silver are sometimes monstrous, sometimes overcome by anger or able to reach a lack of empathy that is never depicted in a sympathetic light.

#black sails #black sails discourse #black sails analysis #tragedy

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cookinguptales · 8 years

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Can you explain how Shinto came to be?

NO, AND NEITHER CAN ANYONE ELSE. lol. Don’t be fooled.

Frankly speaking, it’s a religion/philosophy that scholars and even practitioners will argue over until they’re blue in the face. I went to a symposium last year that had Shinto scholars from around the world and I actually asked them why people in Shinto studies are so obsessed with finding “true” or “original” Shinto (as opposed to the way that people who study other religions go about things) and they all kind of looked at me like I was from another planet. Like. You just do that in Shinto studies. You argue. The foremost experts can’t even agree on what Shinto is. They can’t even agree on whether Shinto is!! Like there are literally foremost experts who say that Shinto (as we conceptualize it) is a myth.

Like you’ll get arguments on both sides of a very polarizing spectrum. There are scholars who say that Shinto is a concept that only makes sense in retrospect; in other words, “Shinto” didn’t really exist until nationalists had to create a religion to define in opposition to both Buddhism and Christianity, and that to some degree is just an offshoot of Buddhism. Other people will talk about how Shinto is an indigenous religion that goes back to Japan’s prehistory that has been displaced throughout history by foreign religions, which are evil and anti-Japanese. Frankly speaking, I don’t think either extreme is correct. Looking at both literary and archaeological evidence, I think you can see indigenous (also a somewhat problematic term, for assorted reasons) rituals that came to be incorporated into what we nowadays call “Shinto” – and I’m serious, there’s extensive research on where you can even trace that term to, and even that’s disputed.

(And always keep in mind that it’s notoriously difficult to interpret non-literary archaeological evidence and archaeologists have a strong tendency to shrug anything off as “religious ritual” when they don’t know what it actually was. And most of the textual evidence we have is extremely late. The earliest written accounts of what was going on in Japan are actually Chinese (and extremely brief) and the earliest historical accounts we have by Japanese authors are literally from the eighth century. C.E.!!! That’s incredibly late, and basically guarantees that everything being written was written centuries after it actually happened, and likely with a strong political slant. No one writes something down for no reason, and never forget that simple fact.)

Honestly speaking, I think it’s important to keep in mind that no religion burst into being fully formed. Christianity, for instance, took hundreds of years to get to a form that we’d find recognizable as modern Christianity; there wasn’t a solid religious text (i.e. the Bible) for a long time, and a lot of contesting and conflicting rituals, texts, and doctrinal beliefs made up what we’d eventually come to consider Christianity. I think it’s something similar with Shinto. Japan wasn’t even technically Japan for a very long time, but was instead various clans and ethnic groups that lived throughout the region that we now label “Japan” on a map. (And hell, even some of the geography is contested still.) There were different language traditions and cultural traditions and religious traditions. Like many ancient religions, there were a lot of animistic tendencies to these traditions, and a lot were based on the natural world. (This isn’t actually unusual; the strong emphasis placed on “green” Shinto is relatively recent and strongly tied to conservation efforts as well as nostalgia for a world that potentially never existed.) But a lot of these were also super local traditions! As people traveled more, ideas traveled as well and things evened out a little more and became a little more holistic – but let’s be real, even nowadays Shinto can have extremely regional rituals/beliefs. (Which gets especially interesting once you get out of Japan; Shinto is very place/object-based and is often considered to be innately tied to Japanese land, so Shinto gets interesting in places like Hawaii.)

To compare to another religion you might be familiar with, think Greek mythology. Greece was separated into much smaller city-states which were disconnected from one another due to the geography. So you’d get very similar ideas sometimes, but even the same deity would often have very specific regional forms, and stories that travel from one place to the next would change dramatically. It’s why you have so much variation to this day in Greek mythology. Shinto is an even more extreme version of this.

Shinto, frankly speaking, has always been whatever people need it to be throughout history. It’s been localized beliefs. It’s been a concept that can be neatly tied to Buddhism (and even Catholicism – see: my discussions on Christian henotheism and adoption of local deities (in this case, kami) as saint-like figures) when people need it to be. Like for a lot of Japan’s history, including now, Shinto is a belief system that is often used in tandem with other religions. It’s also been an environmentally-tied belief system, especially in more modern times when the environment is less taken as a given and more as something we need to pay specific attention to. It’s been used to deify human heroes (some more heroic than others) and to imbue spirituality into our physical environments (natural and man-made both). And yeah, like many religions, it’s been used as a tool of extreme nationalism. (And let’s not take things out of context; nationalists were going to folk/environmental traditions in order to create national identity in the 18th/19th centuries in Japan… and in Germany (Grimm), and Russia (Propp), and Finland (Lönnrot), etc. It was definitely a global movement.) Sometimes it’s strongly connected to the ruling class of Japan, and sometimes it’s not. (And sometimes it is retroactively applied to rulers to legitimate their rule.) Shinto is a set of at times loosely-connected beliefs, and sometimes that can be used to lead a movement, and sometimes that just inhabits a sort of cultural background noise that informs religion, politics, and philosophy.

From everything I can see, Shinto is an extremely malleable belief system. Because there’s so much variation within it and it’s such an adaptable set of traditions, it can be extremely difficult to say where Shinto ends and begins. As a result, it’s also difficult to say when it began. There are definitely aspects of things that retroactively were identified as Shinto, and there were definitely religious rituals in practice long before Buddhism made it to Japan. But there weren’t people who really tried to define the edges of what Shinto was until relatively late in Japan’s history, and it was for a long time just defined as what people were doing before other traditions came along, and those things were kami-related. But like I’ve said, there were very disparate people and very disparate traditions, not just one ~true Japanese belief system~ that existed before Buddhism showed up. And like with other religions, sometimes the old traditions were consciously stamped out by new ones, and sometimes they merged to create something new and interesting.

Truth be told, I don’t know that one cohesive Shinto exists, and I don’t know that one needs to exist. It certainly doesn’t with other world religions. That vagueness is good for a religion, imo. (And I use the term “religion” very loosely here – this is also something people argue over, because many people who engage in Shinto ritual don’t consider themselves to be practicing a “religion” but rather are just engaging in family/local tradition.) For many Japanese people, Shinto is just something useful that one uses when they need extra luck during an exam or a propitious beginning to a building endeavor. Other people in Japan have dedicated their lives to Shinto traditions, particularly the more esoteric aspects of them. Other people still use it as a way to connect to nature and/or their locality. There are also various ways that it’s used by people in the Neopagan community, people who are Japanese, Japanese-descended (but who identify otherwise), and non-Japanese. It’s always been a syncretic sort of set of traditions, and I think it likely always will be. And all of those traditions came to be in a different way in a different time for different reasons by way of different people. So Shinto came into being gradually, or perhaps hundreds of times, as people navigated their way through the sometimes sacred world in which they lived.

tl;dr… no.

#replies #I'm supposed to be working goddamn it

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masterstrange · 3 years

Photo

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 / hades au.

This is an open concept universe; no set timeline or location to make it flexible for different characters. This is inspired by Hades of Greek mythology, but is not limited to that sole interpretation. The gods in this universe are a culmination of their different interpretations across the globe, different periods in their life, seen different sides of them. some details in the myth's are factually incorrect in the canon of this universe or just twisted in some way. Yet for simplicity, the Greek terms and names will be the default for the majority of things.

ORIGINAL NAME: Hades ( the variation he identifies most with )

OTHER NAMES: Among the many granted to him, of varying accuracy: Pluto, Plouton, Orcus, Dīs Pater, Death, Osiris, Deathbringer, Grim Reaper, Satan ( which makes him laugh ), Donn, Ankou, etc, etc, etc…

CURRENT MODERN NAME: Stephen Vincent Strange

TITLES ( SELECTED ): God of the Dead, the Underworld, Subterranean Regions, Night, Dreams, Curses, Death, Darkness, the Earth, Fertility, Riches, the Afterlife, and Metals

SYMBOLS: Cerberus, cornucopia, Sceptre, Cypress, Narcissus, Keys, Serpents

ABODE: The Underworld ( Kingdom ); 221A Bleeker Street ( Terran Home at Present )

DUTIES: Guarding the Underworld; Overseeing the ferrying of souls; Passing eternal judgement; Collecting the dead ( newer task ); Ferrying Souls ( newer task )

MORTALITY: Immortal being, residing in a mortal vessel.

The gods have lived along side us since the beginning; how involved they get varies greatly from god to god and time period to time period. The same can be said of Pantheon Pillar, Hades (as he’s more commonly called), Lord of the Dead. The great and powerful God was once detached from the Mortal World; mortal life feeling pointless to get involved with when all things came to his kingdom in the end. His judgement had to remain unbiased, and involving himself in the political affairs of the living and the other gods felt too much like tipping the scales his way.

That was not to say he did not visit the surface; he explored their art and drama. Listened to their lectures and debates. What funny little things the mortals did to pass their time before meeting him ? The age of gods fell into decline, and Hades found himself with new attributions. The gods were no longer worshiped and praised, furthermore he soon found himself likened to The Devil. An Insult !

Thus began a period of cruel, cold Hades. If the mortal world would make him a monster, then a Monster he could very well be. By the dawn of the Renaissance, Hades felt the awakening of respect and praise of the Gods… but he was still spurned and insulted by his particular reinvention; they could immortalize him further in their art and work all they desired. Hades swore that he’d never go back on his damnation of mortals.

Yet, as time progressed, Hades slowly felt his opinion change. The world was flawed, and he still felt spurned. But there were individuals that held his interest. Great thinkers and artists; noble leaders and fighters. He resigned himself to a graceful tolerance of the masses to indulge in the pleasures only provided by the few.

The tides turned around fully around the Edwardian Period. Tensions began to rise, war was nothing new but something felt different this time. Then it broke out, The Great War. Too many people meeting him too soon. So many people willingly coming to him. It didn’t make sense ! He didn’t understand it. So he did something extreme; taking the name and form of a new resident. One that had no strong ties, someone with no one to miss them. And bound himself into the Mortal Flesh in a desperate attempt to understand. To walk among them. To try to familiarize himself with those he cast the judgement upon.

Today, Hades has held many names and faces. Lived many lives. More importantly, a new appreciation for mortality. It wasn’t a means to pass the time, it was the time that mattered most. Life was precious. It needed protection from those who’d end it before it was time. So now, with more hands on approaches, Hades, God of the Dead; lives his life as Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange — A name and face chosen from a former surgeon who was born in 1930.

Hades does not take over their lives per say, once the name and face is chosen. He’ll give them closure for any loose threads — but he specifically chooses people who have limited true connections to avoid any “you sure are different” scenarios and suspicions.

Hades retains the memories and grants himself a specific limitation from their life to understand both different life experiences and to better understand humanity.

The Pantheon are wide spread over the world right now. The Gods can tell who is one of them, even if they’ve never actually met or know their current face and form.

Hades could transform himself without the mortal vessel; all the gods can. However, he does this specifically for his own purposes.

Hades does have his full powers, but when bound to his vessel it can make him weary (mortal influence). Yet he can remove himself and reattach himself at will.

His mortal body can die, and it has in the past. He could keep resurrecting it, but he feels that would defeat the point. The goal is to understand humanity and their limited time.

Hades retained the physical disability of Stephen Strange.

Acolytes, mortals or half mortals, work at Bleecker Street alongside the Immortal. These are people that are chosen carefully to know the secrets of the Gods and serve them. Bleecker Street is a weird and magically infused building, and it does contain a gateway to the Underworld.

Mortals still cannot look upon Gods in their Godly form without dying or going crazy. Only when disguises or in vessels.

#𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 / mythology reincarnated au.#𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 / alternate universes.

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meekmedea · 2 years

Text

Apotheosis pt.5

previous pt. 4

~~~

Apotheosis, the ascension of a subject to divine status.

A popular theme with the Ancient Greeks.

Damian wonders what happens to Medea. The mythological one of course, he doesn’t care for Todd.

It seems that she’s never punished for her crimes. In the myths, she appears sporadically. Sometimes in Thebes. Other times in Athens. Or even Colchis. She’s the opposite from Jason, whose trip upon the Argo and the death of his children seem to be all that’s left of him. He dies alone underneath his ship.

Damian told himself earlier that it was ridiculous, but the thought lingers in his mind. Many of the Greek pantheon had made contact with Earth. Wonder Woman was very proof of such. So was this Mesonyx, the god himself?

“I didn’t know you were interested in Greek mythology,” says a voice, interrupting his train of thought. He looked up to see Todd sit down across from him. “How do you find Euripides?” A trace of distaste appears in her eyes when it flickers down to the title of his book.

“Very fascinating. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand.” He wondered irritably why Richard had insisted that they spend time together. It’s not like they had anything in common.

“Oh?” She takes a sip from her cup of tea. “Tell me. What do you think of our dear heroine here?”

Todd is infuriating. But she is also much more well read than she lets on, literature was where she thrived. Maybe Richard had a point, she wasn’t all that bad. Yet.

“So you sympathsize with the murderer? Don’t you worry about what your Father would think?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Medea was well within her rights here. While I don’t agree with all her actions, she wasn’t given many options either. Jason was a fool. Besides, it’s just a story.”

A sly smile appears, mocking him. “You’re right, it’s just a story. It’s always better to get your facts straight from the source, no?”

He takes it back. As interesting as it is to converse with her, she is still a little mad.

~~~~

Richard is a plotter of the worst sort. Conniving plots so they spend time together. Sometimes, it’s the three of them, other times, it’s only the two of them.

He asks once why Todd plays along even if they are so painfully obvious. “For the same reason, you stay,” she says with a smile.

Through his Baba’s continued plots, he gets to know Todd a bit better. She proves to be someone with adequate wit, better conversation than Drake by far. Grudgingly, he stops complaining when she comes over on the same days as he does to visit Richard.

And she does prove his theory right, she is Mesonyx. Though he wishes the reveal had been under less dire circumstances.

Both of his parents were insistent on shaping him into something that he didn’t quite like. Right now, it was Mother, who preferred a hands-on approach. He didn’t want to be his grandfather’s vessel, nor did he want to return to the League. Unfortunately, she dislikes taking a no for an answer.

As he dispatches assassins left and right, he thinks, ‘Mesonyx, if you are truly out there. Your aid would be much appreciated.’ Demonic entity or angel of vengeance, he doesn't care. He just needs to get out of here. Please.

He is so tired, the number of opponents is starting to affect him. When would it end? The hunt for his capture drags on and the word, Mesonyx, becomes one of prayer. Please. Please Mesonyx. I’m beg–

Damian curses when he runs into a dead end.

“It has been far too long, my son.”

A frown appears on his face as he looked up to see her. “Was this necessary?” Out of the corner of the eye, he wonders if he’s imagining if his shadow was moving far more than normal. He hopes not.

“Father wishes the family to be reunited.”

“You mean he tires of his old body and wants a new one?” he snarks.

“We all have our sacrifices to make.”

Before he can form a retort, his shadow twists into a monstrous shape, expanding outward and forcing his mother to take a step away to avoid being impaled by the twisting spikes.

From the mound of shadows, a single figure steps out. Dressed in black, Todd offers him her hand. In his head, her voice whispers, “Show me.”

He takes her hand and he feels dizzy as a blur of memories run through his mind. She’s searching for what to do, he realizes after a second. He nudges to the forefront the ones he deems most important.

Todd’s eyes narrow and they blaze golden. An arm curls protectively around him. “Mine,” she hisses.

Normally, he’d protest at being anyone’s, but there was something in her tone that made him pause.

“He is my son,” says Talia unfazed as the shadows dissipate into the night air. “And this is not your place, little shadow.”

But it isn’t hers either.

When he was younger, he used to compare his mother to a goddess. Her beauty and strength were unmatched. He did the same with his Father, almost likening him to a god. But now, he sees how wrong he was.

A sense of otherness fills him even as Todd stands by his side. She does not belong to this world. There is something eerie in how she moves and talks with his mother – her shadows move a lot further than they should.

Todd understands everything, yet Damian is still struggling to piece the parts together as quickly as he can.

Golden Fleece. Birthright. Medea. Jason.

She is a princess of the old.

In one version, Medea ascends to divinity. A goddess.

“Not any more. You have long renounced your ties. As has he.”

“Gotham is not yours,” reminds Talia, “not yours to rule over as you see fit.”

Todd throws her head back and laughs – not her usual warm ones, but one full of mocking and cruelty. “Nor is it yours, mortal. I am not bound by your silly rules.”

Father would have an aneurysm at that. Probably quite similar to the one Mother was having. Though they might be for different reasons.

Damian wonders if his mother should have realized Todd’s tone. This wasn't the ramblings of an insane young woman. This was a goddess ready to strike. To avenge. To protect.

Perhaps she does. There’s a slight tenseness in Talia’s jaw as she speaks. “Step aside, Medea. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Nor will I. He’s under my protection.” On cue, swords that appear to be made of fire appear in her hands.

~~~~

What follows is the bloodiest encounter he’s ever seen. Any of his mother’s assassins that attempt to lay a hand on him are ended brutally.

Talia puts up a valiant effort, but she too knows when she no longer has the upper hand. She flees into the dead of the night as the members of her entourage dwindle.

As the two of them are left alone in the alleyways, Todd turns to him. “Come.” A blade appears in her hand and she holds it out to him, hilt first. “Hold on, and don’t let go until I tell you to.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

The grim look on her face tells him that it is better that he doesn’t pry.

Damian takes it without any more protests. The travel is disorienting and his surroundings blur at a sickening speed, but he holds on for dear life, not letting go until he hears her give an okay.

“Where are we?” He blinks at the room they were in. “Wait?”

“Dick’s apartment,” she says lightly. “I trust you can contact him?” She sounds a little breathless.

It’s here that he can see her a bit better. Her skin was too pale and she’s covered in a glistening liquid from head to toe. Damian takes a step and realizes with a start that she isn't covered in the liquid, rather that is her blood. “You’re hurt. Let me help,” he offers. It is the least he can do.

“No, no, don’t come too close. I’ll hurt you.” Not a threat, but a statement. For good measure, she takes a step back.

“You’ll bleed out.”

“I’ll live. You won’t if you touch my blood. I cannot bring the dead back from Hades.”

“But–”

She shook her head vehemently. “Call them for me. Please, Damian.”

“I–” Her earnestness takes him aback. “Alright.”

“Pass me that towel, too. No, toss it over.”

He obliges and it takes him two tries to dial Richard’s number from his landline.

“Damian? What’s with the sudden visit?” Though Baba’s voice tried to stay jovial, he could hear the worry. “Damian?”

“Come quick. Todd is hurt. You need to tell Wilson as well.” He didn’t know how to contact Wilson himself.

The sound of glass breaking is the first noise he hears. “How bad is it?” Richard swears quietly under his breath.

“I can’t tell. She won’t let me close.”

“I’ll be there in twenty. What about you? Are you hurt?”

“No.”

~~~~~

Wilson beats Richard by mere seconds; he appears, slipping in the window as the door jingles open.

“Medea.” He doesn’t spare Damian a glance as he rushes to her side. “Gaia, you promised–”

Damian barely registers Richard fussing over him, he’s too focused on the two. The worry on Wilson’s face is what worries him, he’s never seen the stoic mercenary so open with his emotions.

“It’s not that bad, Beloved,” she says weakly. “You’re making a mountain of it.” She grimaced when Wilson moved the rag that she’d been holding to her abdomen. The rag comes away golden. Damian can’t help but widen his eyes.

“You promised, Medea. You made me a promise and I will hold you to it.” Suddenly, he turns to them. “Richard,” barks Wilson from across the flat. “I’m using your rooms.” He lifts Todd into his arms and in seconds, the door to the guest room slams shut behind them.

“Will she be alright?”

Richard ignored his question. “What happened? Tell me everything.”

~~~~~~~~~

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meekmedea · 2 years

Text

a retelling pt.8

previous part (pt.7)

~~~

Damian’s unsure how exactly he ended up agreeing to volunteer at the local library at Bludhaven. But it has always been hard to say no to Richard.

He’s been signed up to read to children. Damian takes one look at the stories that they’ve laid out for him to choose from and sneers inwardly at them. They’re infantile. Boring.

To his annoyance, as the time for him to start reading approaches, he cannot find a single story within the pile that doesn’t drive him mad.

“Must I pick one from here?” he asks.

“It’s recommended. But if you have one in mind, you’re welcome to use it.”

He feels the corner of his mouth twitch upward, and he nods in thanks. He knows just the one.

There is a story that he’s learnt from his childhood. Of a god and a mortal princess.

One that he now knows was incomplete, a mere chapter. He has more of the story now, but even with what he learns, he accepts that it may never be complete in his lifetime. Not when the two have all the time in the world.

~~~~

“In a time where gods and monsters roamed the earth,” he starts slowly, for it is important to build up a strong foundation to a story. “There was a mortal princess. And a god. Despite what everyone believed, their love was not doomed from the very beginning. Fate had not decreed them to lead separate lives.”

Damian makes sure that he holds his audience’s attention.

“Rather the fates decreed that their love must be put to the test. Like many stories of the old, our heroine had many trials ahead of her before they could be together.”

A little girl interrupts, “Are there monsters?”

“Yes.”

“Do they have a happy ending?” adds a little boy.

He thinks back to the many times that he’s seen the two immortals content to bask in each other’s presence. “Yes.”

His name was Pyroeis.

And hers was Medea.

~~~~~~~~~~~

First Part

The entire set of blurbs posted on AO3

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meekmedea · 2 years

Text

so this is love...

There is a legend in the League. Of a love between a god and a mortal princess. Doomed from the very beginning as such relationships are.

It was a lesson, remembers Damian, that nothing good comes between liaisons with those beneath them. The god’s name was Μεσονυξ; and his love is all for naught because the princess ends up with another man.

Damian supposed that she used to have a name, but it must have been lost over the years. Besides, nobody cares about her.

Just another mortal.

Forgettable.

Unimportant.

~~~~

pt.2

set after alea iacta est (AO3 link, completed)

The entire set now available on AO3

#damian wayne #damian al ghul #league of assassins #snippet #extremely loose interpretation of greek myths #loose interpretation of greek myths #so this is love...#post alea iacta est

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meekmedea · 2 years

Text

golden fleece pt.3

previous part

~~~~~~~~

It is common knowledge that the gods are selfish. They care for nothing more than their own skin. Everything they do is for their benefit.

But is it selfishness if you compare them by mortal definitions?

The gods are not humans. So they should not be judged as such.

While Richard attempts to set up a meeting between them, fate says otherwise.

It’s supposed to be an easy mission, nothing the former Titans hadn’t dealt with. But there was an incident, and his Baba with a heart of gold gets hurt. Hurt so severely that the rest of his teammates speak in hushed tones about it.

Damian doesn’t even get to suggest a name before it’s decided that contacting Batman is out of the question. Instead, they mention contacting her. Her name is so shrouded in secrecy that he wonders about her identity.

Contacting her is a hassle, they dial multiple lines before someone mentions Ravager. The grim look on their face as the original wonder girl is on the phone has him on the edge of his seat. “She’s on her way,” she says, “she was in Pamukkale.”

Damian doesn’t understand why the Flash has not gone to find her or why they looked relieved to hear that. Even with the fastest technology, she would be here far too late. But he’s quickly proved wrong. From the shadows steps out Todd, looking like she’d come from a holiday.

“Medea,” says Starfire, relief all over her face.

Except she doesn’t say anything, besides nodding in greeting. Instead, she heads straight for Richard and murmurs a name that Damian can’t catch.

Richard’s eyes flutter open. “You came?”

“Always.”

“We should give them some space,” says Starfire from beside him.

Reluctantly, he’s herded away and the door slides shut behind them ominously.

~~~~~~~

The shadows beyond the door seem to darken with each growing second and it takes every bit of willpower to not run and throw open the door. Yet none of the original Titans present seem to care.

Why? He wants to demand. Why won’t they care?

They try to persuade him to rest, that it’ll take time. But he refuses.

He will not rest while his Baba is on death’s doorstep.

Still, Damian manages to fall asleep despite his best attempts.

A light weight rests on him, and he’s too weary to protest. He’s not a child that needs coddling, but the blanket’s warmth seeps into him. It's softer than any material that he knows, like a cloud. Too comfortable for him to want to move.

His eyes reluctantly open to see a golden blanket draped over him. But they close as the sound of footsteps approaches. Gently, a warm hand brushes his cheek before it leaves.

Two voices speak softly in the background – Richard! And Todd. – as if careful not to wake him. He sneaks a peek to see his Baba looking as good as new, looking as if he hadn’t been at death's doorstep mere hours ago. But just as quickly, he closes his eyes, feigning sleep.

“I thought that was lost forever,” murmurs Richard. “How did you ever come across the golden fleece?”

“A gift,” she offers, “He thought it fitting to have it return to the original owners." Damian swears he can hear a trace of amusement in her voice. “Besides, your baby bird looked like he needed it.”

The conversation that ensues between Richard and Todd is confusing and hard to follow at times. There are grumbles that this one knew better and had better taste. Damian wonders why the name Jason is hissed with such vitriol. Never had he heard such hatred from Richard’s voice.

Their words also confuse Damian. Of heirs and the eldest. Yes, as the eldest, Richard stood to inherit Father’s mantel, but it was made clear that he didn’t want it. So why was Richard calling Todd the eldest?

“It’s yours,” hums Todd. “You were the heir.”

“Were,” emphasizes Richard. “That was in the past. Besides, as the eldest surviving, it is yours to inherit.”

“Not this time around.”

“Medea. It’s a courting gift. And it is yours by birthright.”

“Are you sure?”

“More than anything. Now tell me, sister. Why are you here? I told them not to bother you,” he says. A trace of worry slips into his tone. “Isn’t it your honeymoon? Now you’ve doomed me.”

Todd chuckles. “Don’t be so dramatic. How have I doomed you? He understands. Besides, we have all the time in the world.”

“He won’t complain to you, but he’ll take it out on me.”

“You exaggerate.”

“Medeaaa!” whines Richard, tone eerily similar to a toddler despite him being an adult.

She shushes him. “He’s sleeping. Keep your voice down.”

~~~~~~~

Todd does not stay much longer, though not for lack of trying on her part. Richard is adamant that she return to her trip or that he’d get slaughtered for delaying her.

What fool would dare hurt his Baba? Nightwing was a formidable opponent.

Then he’s reminded of his rooftop excursion. Deathstroke would.

Todd is an enigma – with unknown abilities and hostile ties. A danger, he decides. He adds magic to the list of abilities when she picks up the discarded golden fleece. In front of everyone, it transforms into a black leather jacket, with the lining staying the same brilliant golden.

Golden fleece, he mused that the words sounded familiar. From where though?

In that short time that she’s here, they bicker and squabble like any other siblings. Loathe to admit it, but at the end of the day, Todd is the only one that makes Richard smile without trying. He smiles like there are no more worries in the world.

Jealousy flares in him. Damian thought he was close with Richard, but it seemed otherwise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her presence lingers even after she’s long departed. Months after that encounter, he’s flabbergasted when Deathstroke appears on the same rooftop as them.

“Deathstroke,” says Nightwing tersely. “What are you doing here?”

“Little bird,” says the mercenary mockingly. “Or perhaps little prince is better since there’s another little bird now.” Deathstroke gestures to him. “I thought you might be interested in the bounty on your head. The South side of town has been particularly loud tonight.”

“What?” squawks Nightwing. From beside him, Damian is ready to pounce if Nightwing hadn’t held onto his arm tightly.

“Relax. I’m only here to ensure your survival. Your sister would have my head otherwise.”

“Slade! You let her–” Anger appears on his face at the thought. “–you! She’s my sister!”

“You think she’d let me stop her? I’m hurt, really.”

The anger causes him to deflate. “No, you’re right. She’s always been like this.”

Before Damian can demand an explanation, Deathstroke aims and fires. Turning, Damian sees a figure on a nearby rooftop plummet to his death.

“Gods– no killing,” says Nightwing, running over to the edge to check.

“Non-lethal,” offers Deathstroke, not sounding like he cared too much. “I kept my promise.”

“How do you explain his death?”

“Natural causes.”

“He fell off a building!”

“Gravity is a natural cause, princeling.”

Nightwing throws up his hands in exasperation. “The two of you are impossible!” Under his breath, he mutters something of overprotective sisters and irritating gods.

To which Deathstroke chuckles before bidding his goodbye whilst making an exit.

~~~

The next morning, Damian does his research thoroughly. The media attributes the deaths to gangs-infighting. The underground calls it as it is, a massacre.

Perhaps she wasn’t as much of a danger as he thought. She clearly held Richard’s safety in high esteem and it was demanded that her…partner did the same.

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