#hymn for a woman

[finisnihil]

I feel like one of the reasons "feminist" Greek mythos retellings suffer so much from being made into modern retellings is because these stories were originally kinda feminist for the times they originated from. Making these already woman-based stories feminist by modern standards only make them reductive.

Authors make some of the men involved worse than they were (Perseus, Odysseus, Ares, Apollo) and will often use the female characters to bash on other female characters (Penelope and Helen, Persephone and Demeter, etc).

You also have to take into account who wrote down these stories. If this version of it is from actual Greek records/can be corroborated by other sources or if it's just from Ovid's versions, who retold these stories from a Roman perspective and with intention to depict certain aspects a certain way because he had bias against authority. Sure, his versions fleshed out the female characters more, such as Medusa and Arachne, but was it truly out of care for the women in the stories or just to use them for his personal desire to villainize the gods and those in power? Ovid's Medusa doesn't feel anymore feminist than the original because I don't think he actually cared about the character as a woman in pain but as another knife to stab into Athena and Poseidon.

How are some modern retellings any different? Margaret Atwood uses Penelope of Ithica to beat down Helen of Troy more than anything. Lore Olympus makes Persephone a sword for her mother to fall on. How are these authors any different than Ovid?

Finally, why do the more evil female characters have to be justified? There is the aspect that if a woman is not adhering to the cultural expectation she is to be made evil, but women like that do exist. Women like Medea exist. Women like Calypso exist. Women like the goddesses exist. Why do these retellings insist on making women morally upright and entirely justified to validate being "feminist"? Doesn't it just insist on a requirement to meet a different cultural standard for how a woman should act to be considered valid?

Is your retelling truly feminist if it justifies its existence by pretending the original wasn't?

[wolveria]

GIVE ME LEAHY'S EX-WIFE I'LL TREAT HER RIGHT🛐🛐 IF LEAHY AIN'T WANT HIS EX-WIFE THEN I'LL TAKE HER😍😍

Honestly after enduring that man, she deserves some lovin

[hclenshivers]

MORGAN HOLMSTROM Grazia Magazine

[kyuala]

SOOOOOO hard to go through everyday life trying to ignore the never-ending feeling that im just irreparably fucked up and therefore should just give up on everything

[outfoxt]

save me eshet chayil...eshet chayil...eshet chayil save me...

[peggy-sue-reads-a-book]

Ode to Demeter

Adult womanhood. This thing generally

shit upon.

The wheat goddess with the missing

(Egypt) husband

(Greece) child.

She is no one’s favorite.

Demeter has had a baby

Demeter has lost a baby

Demeter isn’t married

Demeter was not chosen for

immaculate conception.

Actually she was assaulted by a horse.

In every tongue, she takes a lover

who is cut down with

(lightning bolt) (scythe).

She will never see him again.

Demeter’s ass widens when she eats.

Demeter would like a cold beer now.

Demeter has grown old.

Demeter has paused her fairly important day

to wipe some snot.

Demeter has been occupied,

gunned, hit,

genetically modified,

strip-mined,

and again.

Your mother, your grandmother,

your age, your grief, your blood

his blood; furrows in a field;

the womb of God,

which is two cupped hands,

place

from which you lap rivers.

[papastarion]

You’ll never guess who changed her Durge’s name and class AGAIN.

[bigbluebeautifulthings]

Kesha - Rainbow

all artists

[butch-himbo-king]

why does my mom have a boner bill in her car?????

[bunglegaydogs]

in the middle of drawing dazai in the outfit i wore to church today xoxo dont know whether im drawing fem!dazai or just a fem dazai ^^

[saturdays--sun]

canon me and hermes conversation but also SHUT UP ‼️‼️

[voiceshearingyouloud]

I would like to immortalise this deeply bizarre top 5 on repeat:

[papillondusublime]

Hymne à la Beauté (Charles Baudelaire)

Viens-tu du ciel profond ou sors-tu de l'abîme, O Beauté? ton regard, infernal et divin, Verse confusément le bienfait et le crime, Et l'on peut pour cela te comparer au vin.

Tu contiens dans ton oeil le couchant et l'aurore; Tu répands des parfums comme un soir orageux; Tes baisers sont un philtre et ta bouche une amphore Qui font le héros lâche et l'enfant courageux.

Sors-tu du gouffre noir ou descends-tu des astres? Le Destin charmé suit tes jupons comme un chien; Tu sèmes au hasard la joie et les désastres, Et tu gouvernes tout et ne réponds de rien.

Tu marches sur des morts, Beauté, dont tu te moques; De tes bijoux l'Horreur n'est pas le moins charmant, Et le Meurtre, parmi tes plus chères breloques, Sur ton ventre orgueilleux danse amoureusement.

L'éphémère ébloui vole vers toi, chandelle, Crépite, flambe et dit: Bénissons ce flambeau! L'amoureux pantelant incliné sur sa belle A l'air d'un moribond caressant son tombeau.

Que tu viennes du ciel ou de l'enfer, qu'importe, Ô Beauté! monstre énorme, effrayant, ingénu! Si ton oeil, ton souris, ton pied, m'ouvrent la porte D'un Infini que j'aime et n'ai jamais connu?

De Satan ou de Dieu, qu'importe? Ange ou Sirène, Qu'importe, si tu rends, — fée aux yeux de velours, Rythme, parfum, lueur, ô mon unique reine! — L'univers moins hideux et les instants moins lourds?

[cer-rata]

WIP Snip: On the Styx...

If a river was large enough, it would attract its own patron deity. The Oceanids, the enumerable daughters of Oceanus, were the nymphs who claimed these minor domains. Most were truly inconsequential, weak divinities that were so removed from importance that their powers were often inadequate to protect them even from the advances of mortal men. 

Styx however, was not an average Oceanid. She was the lady of the cold bleak water, of the river that flowed into the underworld and acted as boundary between the lands of the living and the dead. Such a responsibility came with power, and Styx was so implacable, so necessary, that agreements sworn on her flows were unbreakable, even by the greater gods. An oath on the Styx was not to be taken lightly, as the consequences for breaking it were so dire that...no one even really remembered what they were, so long had it been since anyone had been foolish enough to test them. 

Diana caught some of that ethereal chill as she sailed along, and wrapped her cloak more tightly around her shoulders. Styx was terrifying, yes, but from the safety of Charon’s silent skiff, Diana could appreciate the beauty of her dark waters, the clarity of their purpose and the truth in the images she reflected. 

“You are…entertainingly romantic.” Charon said. His voice was like two bones being twisted until they splintered. 

Diana looked over at his high, darkly robed back, for though he spoke, he did not turn to regard her. “In what sense?”

“Styx…is not often appreciated for her beauty. She is the rare nymph that is noted first and foremost for the dread she inspires. Few mortals truly appreciate the complexity she represents. Fewer gods, even. She would never consider that a tragedy, far too proud for that. But…I have perhaps spent more time with her than any being ever has or will, and so I am…pleased when people look at her as I do.”

Diana smiled. “You sound almost smitten, grim traveler.”

Charon offered her a terrible, breathy laugh. “Perhaps. Eons ago I would have rejected the notion out of hand…but if you listen to mortals prattle on for long enough, you realize that Aphrodite’s domain is truly boundless. No amount of darkness can guarantee that you will be hidden from her gaze, not even here, in the pit of Gaia. I would be a fool to assume I am immune.”

Diana sat with that for a moment. “...May I ask for further candor?”

“I know not what Hades has planned for you, not for certain. Though…” He hesitated before turning to look back at her, his hood revealing nothing but the deepest of shadows and two glowing red points indicating his gaze. “...Yes, I suppose I can tell you this much: Some weeks ago he admitted a soul without the aid of Thanatos, Hermes or myself. Far be it from me to question his decisions, but it was striking to see him completely ignore his own bureaucracy. Lord Hades is partial to following procedure, at least his own. Perhaps this is related to your summons.”

Diana nodded. “I...I see. Thank you, that was very gracious.”

Charon turned away from her once more. "...Yes, well, do have a care after you leave me. Lord Hades may not be so...accommodating.”

[clownboy-yeehonk]

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