#i'm not coming to youtube for your expert knowledge! i wanna know what you THINK

[lecoindecachou]

Right, so originally I didn't even start re-watching this video bc of James Somerton but bc I wanted to watch the iilluminaughtii part of it again (she's still making videos btw. the comments are turned off). I actually remember seeing the thumbnail for them *a lot* on my recommended but I clicked on one once and didn't even make it to the end because well. It did feel like she was reading me the newspaper lol. I really hate that kind of monotone voice so many Youtubers use now, like they're reciting you the information at the back of a cereal box. It's the auditory equivalent of watching paint dry to me.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Hey do you have any literature recommendations for people who want to broaden their knowledge on the classics and Greek/Roman myths without taking university courses?

So like for people (such as myself) who have read Bullfinch's Myths of Greece and Rome and Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes but want to deepen their knowledge and maybe go to intermediate level type stuff. Or whatever the level above the mentioned literature is.

Well those two books are quite old and skip over quite a few things. Both are very important to our culture, historically, but I'd recommend reading through some more modern popular retellings like Stephen Fry's Mythos series if you're looking for pure entertainment and a dummy's guide to Greek myths.

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a useful reference book if you have difficulty keeping track of all these names and whatnot. It's just a reference book but you know. Having a reference book handy is quite useful. I personally prefer reference books when it comes to checking stuff when I'm doing mythology things anyways. They're generally more organized than the internet.

If you're looking for entertaining retellings of less popular myths, I'd actually recommend going to videos and podcasts for that. YouTubers like MonarchsFactory, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Jake Doubleyoo, and Mythology & Fiction Explained are all people who do a lot of research themselves on the myths they retell and I would recommend all of them to basically anybody. As far as podcasts go, Mythology & Fiction Explained has a podcast version and Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! is a very informative podcast that talks about sources for the myths and has interviews with experts on the subjects. It's also a podcast that is specifically Greco-Roman based.

As far as doing slightly more in-depth research, I cannot recommend theoi.com enough. I really can't. It has overviews of the most common myths, it has pages about god and hero cults, it cites it's sources and has an online library of translated texts. It's just really good. Go clicking around it for a while. It's a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

As far as primary sources for myths go, there's a few places you could start. The Iliad, perhaps. The most recent English translation is by Caroline Alexander but I personally prefer Stanley Lombardo's translation. The Odyssey is a more accessible read in my opinion if you're not used to reading epic poetry. Emily Wilson's translation is especially accessible, written in iambic pentameter and generally replicating Homer's simple conversational language.

The third traditional entrance into the epic cycle of the surviving literature is the Aeneid. The newest translation of that is by Shadi Bartsch, which is pretty good, but it reads more like prose than poetry. Would still highly recommend it though. Robert Fitzgerald's translation is also good.

If you wanna get fancy you can read the Post-Homerica which attempts to bridge the gap between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It's not often read but it's one of the latest pagan sources we have from people who still practiced ancient Greek religion.

If you want a collection of short stories from ancient times, Ovid's your guy. Metamorphosis is specifically Roman and specifically Ovid's fanfiction, but it's also a valid primary resource and Ovid generally views women as people. What a concept!

Though I think the absolute best overview from ancient times itself is The Library aka Biblioteca by pseudo-apollodorus. Doesn't matter what translation you get. The prose is simple to the point where it's difficult to screw it up. Not artistic at all. It is, quite simply, a guy from ancient times trying to write down the mythological history of the world as he knew it. It has a bunch of summaries of myths in it, and most modern printings also have a table of contents so you can essentially use it as a reference book or a cheat sheet. I love it.

The Homeric Hymns weren't actually written by Homer but that's what they're called anyways. They're a lovely bit of poetry because, well, they were originally hymns. They've got some of the earliest full tellings of the Hades and Persephone story and the birth of Hermes in them. They also provide an insight into how ancient people who were most devoted to these gods viewed them. Go read the Homeric Hymns. They're lovely. You can buy the Michael Crudden translation or you can read a public domain translation online. I don't care. Just read them.

If you're into tedious lists, the next place I'd recommend you go after you read all the fun stuff is Hesiod's Theogony. Hesiod, the red pill douchebag of the ancient world, decided he was gonna write down the genealogy of all the Greek gods. That means lists. I'm not exaggerating. Be prepared for a lot of lists. But this work also has the earliest and one of the most complete versions of the story of Pandora, the creation of humans, and the most popular version of the Greek creation myth. So, it's very useful. If you can take all the lists.

The Argonautica aka the voyage of the argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, is also here. That is also a thing you can read. About the golden fleece and whatnot. And Jason. You know Jason. We all hate Jason.

Greek theatre also provides a good overview of specific myths. The three theben plays, Medea, the Bacche, etc. We've only got thirty-something surviving plays in their entirety so like... look up the list. Find one that looks interesting. Read it. Find a performance of it online, maybe. They're good.

If you want to dive into the mythology as a religion that was practiced, Greek Religion by Walter Burkurt and Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson are pretty good books on the topic and often used as textbooks in college courses.

If you wanna get meta and get a feel for what the general public today thinks about Greek myths and what the average person that's sort of knowledgeable about Greek myths knows, the books you already mentioned are good. That's what people usually read. In addition to those, most people's intro to Greek myths generally involves The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, or The Percy Jackson series.

I've been flipping through the big stacks of mythology books I keep on my table trying to remember if I've forgotten anything but I don't think I have so, yeah. Hope this helps. There's no correct starting point here. Once you get started there's a nearly endless void of complications and scholarship you can fall down that you'll never reach the bottom of. This post is basically just a guide to the tip of the iceberg.

[culturegazing]

Anthology | Life isn't a Sprint with Everyone, it's a Marathon with Yourself

I know. This is the 86th lockdown tale you’ve read with the words ‘unprecedented times’. Apart from the simultaneous pandemic and economic downturn though, I have experienced staying inside for a long period of time.

I was in a lockdown of my own about a year before the pandemic. A contract ended and I struggled to find new opportunities. I was hustling and volunteering here and there but was unemployed for four months last year. I avoided going out for non-essential activities because that costed money. Public transport costed money. I avoided seeing friends because they all had jobs and could pay to eat out. I looked for anything that allowed me to save on a single cent of my life savings. Majority of the time, I stayed inside.

On my days off, I’d watch four or five films in one day. I was addicted to watching films and did whatever I could to escape reality. No, I'm not proud of voluntarily sliding under a blanket of restlessness and demotivation but I also don’t think it was time wasted. It was not only therapeutic, but also allowed me to discover a number of films that I came to love and share with those around me. 

I made several mistakes of secluding myself from the world and not having more grit than I usually would. I felt lost and didn’t know what to do or where to find what I wanted to do. So, when global lockdown came around this year, I knew not to repeat my mistakes and lose momentum. After getting retrenched in March, I let myself cry my heart out for one night, and after that, it was onto the next.  

What I realised/ was reminded of:

It’s easy to lose self-worth when I feel like I'm not contributing to anything. I think this is because I’m a workaholic who ties a lot of my self-worth to my work which I don't beat myself up for. Work and contribution is what makes me feel something meaningful.

Even if I have the best intentions but the wrong words, I’ll always sound like I have the worst intentions – Communication is key

If you are struggling to find a job in the field of your interest, just take any opportunity – Even if it isn’t what you want to do with your life, you’ll learn more than just staying at home by yourself all day

There is an end but it’s always invisible

There are more opportunities out there that you didn’t even know existed

Life isn’t a sprint with everyone, it’s a marathon with yourself

What I learned from other people:

“Opportunity + Preparation = Luck” – Betty Liu’s mystery teacher

“Just go for it and let the future work itself out” – Betty Liu

[On flow] “Wow, it didn’t feel like two hours – That’s when flow happens. You almost kick into autopilot, everything is working so well you lose track of time” – Betty Liu

“The best type of marketing doesn’t even feel like marketing” – Chad T.

“Pain + Reflection = Progress” – Ray Dalio

“Always overdeliver” – Jack Welch

“Don’t think of your career as a ladder, think of it as a jungle gym” – Mohamed El-Erian

[On happiness] “The more specific you are, the more likely it is to happen” – Jeff Weiner

“You need to optimise for both passion and skill…sometimes people optimise one at the exception of the other, it’s going to make it challenging, but if you know what you really want, if you know what you love, if you know what resonates with you and you have the ability to do that, or at least you’re in a position where you can learn those skills overtime you can make it happen… If you only have one or the other, you’re going to be frustrated” – Jeff Weiner

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results” – Phil Knight

[On making career decisions] “Follow your compass, not your clock” – Andrea Jung

"Your direction is more important than your speed" – We the Urban

Resources

I’ve been using these for the past few months and I hope at least one of them will change you in some way, big or small

Linkedin Learning (30-day free trial, $40/ month, $299.88/ year)

I used my 30-day free trial by the way. 

Betty Liu on Career Success

Guy Kawasaki on Turning Life Wisdom into Business Success

Influencer Interview: Oprah Winfrey (interviewed by Jeff Weiner)

CV Success Masterclass by Careercake

How to Create a Perfect Elevator Pitch by Careercake

Expert Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions by various

Books

Work Smarts by Betty Liu

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Sea of Strangers by Lang Leav (This is an old favourite and something I always come back to during times of adversity)

Podcasts

Self-Development/ Knowledge

Radiate with Betty Liu (I know, I’m obsessed with her)

The Lavendaire Lifestyle

Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People

Girlboss Radio

The Michelle Obama Podcast

The Marie Forleo Podcast

The Unemployed Graduate

News

The Daily by The New York Times

Lifestyle/ Entertainment

Stop Everything!

Staying in with Emily & Kumail

Film

The Film Comment Podcast

Truth & Movies: A Little White Lies Podcast

The Backseat

Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review

Art & Design

Art History For All

Creative Boom

Music

Frank Ocean – Self Control

HAIM – I Know Alone

HAIM – Running if You Call My Name

HANDSOME – Save Some Love

HANDSOME - TV Set

HONNE – 306

The Internet – Wanna Be

Kamasi Washington – Truth

Khalid – Saturday Nights

Iris Temple – Capsize

Milan Ring – Step Back

Murkage Dave – King of First World Problems

Raleigh Ritchie – Time in a Tree

Raleigh Ritchie - Stay Inside

SAFIA – Resolution

SALES – Getting it On

SG Lewis & JP Cooper – Shivers

Soft Powder – Can You Look Inside My Head?

Sylo Nozra – FOMO

Tim Atlas ft. cehryl – Together Lonely

Ultracrush – Swimming

Yumi Zouma – Lonely After

The Weeknd – Scared to Live

Websites

Le Cinema Club

Little White Lies

It’s Nice That

Passerbuys

Ignant

Other

Ecosia (A web browser plants a tree for every search you do, funded by ad revenue.)

We Are One: A Global Film Festival on YouTube (29 May - 7 June)

I will keep adding to this whenever I come across resources I find valuable. 

In the meantime, be empathetic, be compassionate, don't advocate hate - to anyone.