#hellenic culture

[intothestacks]

Greek Heroines and Monsters: Greek Mythology Retold

Six retellings of Greek mythology you think you know, but told from the point of view of the women instead of the men.

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe is not like the other deities. Neither blindingly powerful like her father, nor alluring like her mother, she is something altogether her own. Sent to live on an island by Zeus, she befriends the local wildlife and meets many of Greek mythology’s most famous mortals. But eventually the time will come where she will have to decide where she belongs – among the gods, or the mortals she has come to love.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

Married to a tyrant, Clytemnestra was helpless to watch as her husband killed her child to placate the gods. When he returns triumphant from waging war on Troy, she has a choice to make – be the quiet dutiful Greek wife… or seek revenge.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood 

At the end of The Oddysey, Odysseus returns home, kills Penelope’s suitors, and, curiously, 12 of her maids. What was Penelope up to for those 20 years where her husband was gone, and why did he kill the maids?

Ithaca by Claire North

Seventeen years ago, Odysseus sailed away with all the men of fighting age to fight in the war against Troy, leaving the women to rule the island. As time has passed, rumours of Odysseus’ death put Penelope in a precarious position. But while outside the island men rule, in Ithaca the women and their goddesses decide their own fates.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

When Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athena’s temple, the goddess is enraged at the violation of the sacred space. But instead of punishing the god, it is Medusa who receives her wrath. Now cursed with the power to turn any who see her into stone, Medusa resigns herself to a life of solitude. Until Perseus arrives, seeking to acquire the head of a Gorgon…

Medusa by Jessie Burton

Exiled by the whims of the gods, Medusa has no one but the snakes on her head for company… until a man named Perseus arrives on her island. And now, things will never be the same again.

[highropoios]

How do I explain that while—yes—Greeks do exist, the vast majority (and of course I’m including the diaspora) either (a) don’t care about, or (b) even know modern Hellenic polytheism is practiced today.

I agree with the base sentiment that “when engaging with Greek culture (ancient or modern), it is good to be aware of + respectful towards Greek people.” That’s awesome! 👍🏻 It's so awesome that I encourage applying this same sentiment to all other cultures you’re able / invited to engage with! :)

That same base sentiment can be and has been twisted into a pretzel and salted with straight-up ethnonationalism, though.

Be aware of + respectful towards Greeks when engaging with Greek culture. But also be aware of the fact that there are ethnonationalists running in Hellenic polytheist spaces.

They will twist seemingly innocuous ideas in order to declare indigeneity and primacy over Greek culture. They will deny Greeks their ethnicity because—according to them—“true Greeks can’t be Christian/Muslim/Jewish/mixed/etc.” And they will deny non-Greeks the opportunity to engage with the culture, especially if it’s in a way that even slightly diverges from their very sad idea of ““““true”””” Hellenism.

Being aware and informed goes hand-in-hand with being respectful.

[ivettaflowerblooom]

I feel like we don't give enough appreciation to the fatherly side of the gods. How about Zeus, who taught young Artemis archery? How about Poseidon, who proudly made Triton his herald? How about Ares, who carefully brushed Eros' wings? How about Hades, who lovingly lulled baby Zagreus to sleep? How about THAT

[lookth3otherway]

Having doubts that your practice is “real”?

It makes you happy, that’s real.

[whereserpentswalk]

Fellow pagans. Remember that the pagan experience is not purely an ex Christian experience. That experience is worth talking about, but please don't talk about the pagan experience as if leaving Christianity is universal to being neopagan.

Ex atheist pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Ex Muslim pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Non practicing Jewish pagans deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

Pagans who have been pagan for most or all of their life deserve to have their experiences acknowledged by the community.

[gigisluigi]

Crazy to think that by now, Dionysus should have transitioned from a god of ecstasy to one of social refinement and polite gatherings if it weren't for ancient Greek religion losing its prevalence.

And I mean that Dionysus, as a god who promotes madness and disinhibitions, is what's left of a time when wine was our strongest alcoholic beverage, a time of maenads and symposiums. Nowadays, we have liquor (spirits), far better for getting drunk, and beer, as the always cheaper alternative, so in a "let's get drunk moment," wine isn't picked. That way, the beverage has been left to the sophisticated: culinary connoisseurs, elegant dinner parties, wine enthusiasts, elites, and intellectuals.

And if that's our perception of wine, shouldn't that also be the dominion of its god?

[witchcultureis]

i did 100000% just hex donald trump btw

[sag-dab-sar]

There is no such thing as a beginner deity.

There is no necessary changes you need to make to your life in order to worship a deity.

There is no psychological preparation that needs to be done.

You don't need to break a habit. Reframe your psyche. Finish medical treatment. Reach a life 'milestone'. in order to worship a deity.

If anything you should approach a deity to help you through these things.

Learning the religion can occur at the same time as worship. They can be parallel events.

You can begin worshipping a deity the day you read this. There is no future point in time where you will somehow be more ready to approach a deity.

You are already ready.

Edit: *excluding closed cultures

[katerinaaqu]

People who criticize others for disliking the changes of Greek mythology when gods are twisted to look like some sort or final villain boss fight video game I honestly wanna see how the reactions would be if someone created a biblical musical where the Pharaoh of Egypt takes revenge against God of Israelites for killing the first born of Egypt by smiting him with his own sword or justice and claim he does it for his people while God begs for mercy.

Food for thought

[hellenic-reconstructionism]

Pagans and witches, we have a duty.

(illustration credit @creek-grim )

We have a duty to our fellow humans, regardless of your or their religion or spirituality. The Israeli genocide of Palestinians cannot be allowed, and as pagans and witches, we must help in any way we can.

We have a duty to the earth, our home, our mother. Israel destroys it with its bombs, its phosphorous; poisons her very blood.

We have a duty to uphold justice. Witchcraft has always been a skill of the underdog, and there are countless deities of justice to whom many of us pay reverence. That isn't even mentioning how animism could factor into this.

We have a duty to protest, or at the very least, share and donate fundraisers. You can also buy an eSIM for Gazans starting at $9.

Here is another good place to start; some vetted fundraisers. Donations can be as little as $5. I shared their Tumblr URLs so you can reblog their post, and vetting posts are linked as well.

Help Mohammed & his 2 young sons evacuate. (@hyamshehab96)(x)

Help Dr. Al Mashni and Dr. Abu Alreesh and their 7 mo child evacuate. (@mohammedmashnifam)(x)

Help Fidaa, her 2yo daughter & 2 month old son escape. (@fidaa-family2)(x)

Help 17yo Muhammad get a bone graft. (@mohammedatallah)(x)

Help Mahmoud and 4 of his family members, incl. his brother's 1 1/2 year old child, escape the genocide. (@mahmoudnassersblog)(x)

Help 18 yo Omar, his brother Muhammad who has MS, and their family buy medication and a tarp to stay dry. (@omarmohammed)(x)

Help Mohammad rebuild a home for his niece Lana and nephew Zain. (@loaykolabloay5)(x)

Help Ahmed, his wife and daughter evacuate. (@save-ahmed-family)(x)

Help Ahmed get a prosthetic arm & his niece who has a serious viral infection. (@ahmednassersblog)(#23 gazavetters)

Help an autistic young man, Ahmed Sobh, get medical treatment. (@marwa-ahmed)(x)

Help Hazem help his family of 8, including his brother Samer who has bipolar and needs medication. (@hazemsuhail)(x)

Help Lama and 24 of her family members buy medication and evacuate from Gaza. (@lamagaza99)(x)

Help disabled 18 yo Majed and his family survive. (@majedelsleybe)(x)

Help baby Ammar get milk and survive. (@ammar-family)(x)

Help Motaz, a nurse, and his 4 family members escape. (@motazjad)(x)

Help Haya and her family obtain basic necessities in Gaza. (@hayanahed)(#26)

Help 19 year old university student Roaa escape genocide and continue her studies. (@roaaalkh)(#126 gazavetters)

Help Dr. Mohammad Al-Deeb of Al-Shifa Hospital and his family evacuate. (@mohammedaldeeb)(#212)

Break for character limit

Help Huda and her sister with Crohn's disease afford survival necessities and escape. (@huda-gaza1)(x)

Help Anas and his 14 year old brother Ahmed escape the genocide and continue their education in Egypt. (@ahmedbasilps)(x)

Help Hanaa and her 2 year old son Yousef evacuate. (@hanaa96yousef)(x)

Help Youssef treat his son Majd's respiratory illness and escape. (@khadigayousef2024)(x)

Help Abdulrahman complete his education in Egypt to become a doctor. (@3bdulra7manosama)(x)

Help Ola, a graduate student studying to become a teacher! (@olagaza1)(x)

Help Amjad and her 7 family members escape Gaza, including her 2 young children aged 3 and 6. (@amjadsido99)(her old blog is vetted)

Help Safaa and her newborn son Amir evacuate and continue her studies to become a lawyer. (@sfaamq10)(x)

Help 17 yo Abood escape genocide and continue his studies. (@aboodomar)(#156 with @gazavetters)

Help Nadine and her 3 year old sister Manal buy necessities and escape genocide. (@nadeensd5)(#193 @gazavetters)

Save little baby Ghazal who has meningitis. (@omarfamily80)(x)

Help Mahmoud escape the genocide and pursue his education. (@mahmodsy1)(x)

Help Wafa and her family obtain survival essentials. (@wafaaresh6)(x)

Help Falestine and his family buy survival essentials (@yousef-falastinef)(x)

Help Aseel and her family evacuate and get medical care for her parents (@aseelo680)(x)

Help 2 children, Malak and Faiza get medical attention (@asmaa-needs)(x)

Help Alaa and her family rebuild (@alaakhateeb2024)(#99)

Help 10 yo Adam with his quadriplegia (@abuadam86)(#187 gazavetters)

[hiereiaa]

Ares, Protector of Women

Article link at the end of post. Hi all! I recently downloaded Substack and wanted to write about a pretty messy topic that I have a lot of feelings on: Ares' unofficial title as 'protector of women' in modern cult space. While I personally use it and find there to be enough history to back it up as a UPG title, it's not super black and white when you look back into historical records and mythology.

So naturally I wrote a little article about it! I discuss myths that are usually used as sources for this title along with generally looking at how Ares interacts with gender norms and how that can influence the discussion.

I hope it's a fun read and please let me know if something went horribly catastrophically wrong on the actual posted part as I am not tech-savvy and not used to Substack. Link below!

[aureliaeiter]

I came into this video expecting bad takes (cause this woman doesn't have a track record for being smart) and what I found was even worse. Anti-intellectualism is really biting our society's ass.

Not only she cites Lore Olympus for her source of learning about Greek mythology as an adult, but she also says the reason why she can't read the original works it's because they're too difficult for her so she needs to read it in a fanfiction-ish form. At her old age.

Then she says that she learner about the personalities of the gods (she calls them “characters of this game”) thanks to Lore Olympus which means all she learnt was a bunch of mischaracterizations.

To top it all off she asks about what's the lesson of the myth (she was talking about Orpheus and Eurydice at this point) or if myths even have a lesson at all. She's asking if stories that were created out of the wishes and fears of a civilization have a meaning.

No matter if you consider these stories to be pure fiction or an allegorical way of telling true events, you should respect them as they are part of the culture of a country (or multiple countries if we have Roman syncretism in mind) that still exists and holds cultural relevance to this day. Stop treating Greek gods and legends as if they are some pop culture fandom characters.

As someone said in the comments: saying you've learnt about Greek mythology by reading Lore Olympus is like saying you've learnt about Christianity by watching Glee's Grilled Cheesus episode.

[ivettaflowerblooom]

Venus by Alexandre Cabanel, 1875.

[huntressofladyartemis]

So this is from april, but i need to say it...

For the Olympian Games, we saw a emotional and very cute representation of the Ancient Gods Cult... Women dressed as priestess honoured Zeus for the Olympiads, was beautiful 🤗

.... But we have, of course, these comments:

Zeus was also a god of justice and order if you don't know…

Do you really think that Ancient Greece treated Zeus or another deity like Modern Media and Retellings treats them? Pick a book of History and Religion of Greece, please…

"But Zeus did this in the myth…" Gods are not characters that the Greeks worshiped from their myths… The myths are stories that Greeks wrote for the Gods them worshiped! Was a religion first, read the hymns and you will understand how Greeks respected and still respect their gods!

Also is still today a religion… A polytheist religion like Hinduism. Is not "gone"!

Hellenism is still practised in some regions, inside and outside Greece… So please be respectful 🙏💙

[oaths-sworn-in-blood]

Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ

"Sing to me, O Muse, of the man of many turns, who suffered greatly."