#iamu

[gingermintpepper]

Writing Apollo-as-a-young-deity is fun because sometimes it involves completely making shit up based on the loose outline of a story told through old poems, prayers and plays and other times it involves researching the totally legit and well documented ancient art of studying sheep livers to make sure your statesmen don't accidentally piss off Jupiter.

In completely unrelated news, if anyone has any recommendations for books about bird augury, that'd be wonderful.

[planarbindings]

[makes a pink vengeance paladin dark urge as a joke and becomes obsessed with him] ruh roh!!

[nabaath-areng]

"But I could never live up to those expectations! Why would you risk so much by entrusting this duty to me of all people? Once the star falls to ruin, don't you dare say I didn't warn you!"

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Hii, I thought Iamus and his lore was really really super cool, so I made some fanart!

He was very fun to draw and colour :)

WOAGHHAHAPUGHHHHAOUGHHAOAAOUGHAOUGHHAOUGHH?!?@?@?@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fourfoldfires]

azem²: oh god now there's two of them

iamus (anxious goth buddy) belongs to @nabaath-areng; icarus (ginger nuisance) is mine!

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Remember to submit your favorites!

Let's have the Apollo kids duke it out!

Apollo kids only

It's up to you to decide whether or not someone is an Apollo kid or his lover, because sometimes that got mixed up

Sorry Riordanverse fans, but no Will, Kayla, Michael, Austin, Lee, ect. That can be another's poll :)

Submission close Sept. 21, so that's a whole month :D

[theirmadness]

muse update list!

below the cut you will find: deleted muses i think aren't going anywhere. if we have any interactions with these muses, please consider them null. thanks!

all fantastic beast muses.

all cursed child era muses.

tom riddle.

severus snape.

sirius black.

remus lupin.

bucky barnes.

steve rogers.

hope van dyne.

thor odinson.

tony stark.

magneto.

thanos.

matt murdock.

bruce wayne.

arthur curry.

clark kent.

dr. fate.

starfire.

lois lane.

anakin skywalker.

kylo ren.

10th-12th doctor.

dean winchester.

castiel.

nicholas scratch.

gabriel.

daemon targaryen.

jon snow.

aragorn.

gandalf.

legolas.

thranduil.

smaug.

geralt.

jaskier.

belle french.

hannibal lecter.

charlie swan.

carlisle cullen.

edward cullen.

damon salvatore.

niklaus mikaelson.

stefan salvatore.

van helsing.

alice cooper.

hermione lodge.

hiram lodge.

alcide herveaux.

bill compton.

eric northman.

john watson.

mycroft holmes.

atticus lincoln.

amelia shepherd.

greg house.

aaron hotchner.

joe goldberg.

emily prentiss.

eve polastri.

joe goldberg.

ellie settler.

jeanine matthews.

lorraine warren.

doric.

ed warren.

jim preston.

ian malcolm.

oc muses:

agna blake.

bambi elsher.

bess cromwell.

bianca delaveaux.

camilla souza.

dahlia ledger.

elia sandstone.

emily reacher.

grace stevens.

george star.

harriet stark.

jane williams.

kitty green.

margot peach.

nymeria sand.

ophelia dragos.

pearl james.

roxy blue.

ruby andrews.

summer hayes.

suzanne preacher.

jean taylor.

gertrud northman.

jack smithman.

juliana marques.

madame erin.

margaret greene.

edward charles.

elias karlson.

jack wallace.

max everwell.

philip windsor.

tiresias iamus thebeus.

belial.

brandon strage.

christopher smith.

daniel williams.

dante smith.

harry williams.

ian caroll.

jeffrey cole.

patrick wright.

paul smith.

[barbarapicci]

Streetart by Vesod @ Cosenza, Italy, for Progetto iAMU, Gulìa Urbana

More pics at: https://barbarapicci.com/2023/10/12/streetart-vesod-cosenza-italy/

[underrated-lovers-of-apollo-poll]

Round 2: Poll 2

*Please Read*

I advise everyone to read each contestant's story to get a well-rounded understanding of each entry. I urge you to not just vote for the one "you know best". I have everyone's stories/reasons why they should win under the cut.

(Branchus art by @literallyjusttoa)

Propaganda:

Evadne

What's The Love Story?

Daughter of Poseidon. Experienced the "joys of first love with Apollo". When her foster-father found out about her pregnancy, he furiously went to consult the Oracle.

During Evadne's labor, Apollo sent Eileithyia and the Moirea to assist her. After their son, Iamus ("Boy of the Violets") was born, she left him in a patch of violets. He was nurtured by honeybees Apollo (or the Fates) sent for five day.

In those days, Evadne's foster-father returned, with the confirmation that her son was indeed Apollo's and was destined to be a great prophet. Aepytus (the foster-father) demanded for the child to be brought to him, so Evadne retrieved her son from the violet patch. Iamus went on to found the Iamidae, a family of priests in Olympia.

Why Should They Win?

Young love, Apollo being a dad, what isn't there to love?

Kids?

Iamus

Branchus

Branchus

What's The Love Story?

Apollo disguised himself as a goatherd one day soon after killing Python and Branchus came across him, fell instantly in love with the beautiful shepherd, and kissed him. Apollo was just as enamored with Branchus as he was with him and granted him prophetic abilities, as well as a crown and magical staff!!

Going back some years to Branchus's birth, you could say that his mom received a vision of his future as a lover of Apollo - she dreamt that a glowing sun went into her mouth and through her stomach.

Also, since Apollo met Branchus soon after killing Python, he's probably Apollo's first lover EVER! Which is SO COOL APOLLO'S FIRST LOVE WAS A SHEPHERD BOY THE BISEXUALITY IS REAL

also also, an altar was built on the place where Branchus kissed Apollo <3 true love <3 and prophecies from Branchus were second only to Delphi itself, so Branchus got some STAR TREATMENT

Why Should They Win?

First Love = First Boyfriend <3 the queer is strong in this one

Yooooung Loooove Vibes TM

THEY WERE ADORABLE I NEED MORE OF THEM WHERE ARE MY BRANCHUS FICS

[superkooku]

Look, this is us filling the Asclepius tag with ramblings :

Irl I'm super giddy right now !!

Honestly I was hoping this post would eventually reach someone else who wanted to ramble about Asclepius 🤣. Because oh boy ! These past few months I realized that he's actually very interesting but I couldn't find the opportunity to really start a discussion about him :3

Don't worry about the initial context, this post contains most of it. @kill-me-with-a-spoon and I began this in a comment section of this post :

I need a "read more" section because this is gonna be a long one.

First of all, calling Asclepius a crimebag is hilariously fitting. Not only did this man resurrect people and got punished for it, he casually does it again to a random woman. Not Coronis, not someone he knows, just a chick that the doctors decapitated to get some worm out and he was so exasperated by their stupid mistake that he just brought her back to life.

He's a criminal AND a recidivist. And Zeus just gave up at this point I think, because he was only punished once. He reminds me of Robin Hood in a way, an unrepentant criminal who helps people around him against an oppressive system.

Another figure he reminds me of is Prometheus. Seriously, I feel like Asclepius and Prometheus would be very good friends if they met, because they share a very similar philosophy of wanting to help mortals, being punished for it and still wanting to do it despite the risks, to push the limit and ultimately bring a wonderful gift to humanity, being heating and medicine. THAT and issues with Zeus 😂. He punished both of them for kinda the same reason. Maybe his grandson reminded him of Prometheus.

Now I'll try coming back to your points because there's so many things to say. I'll try respecting the order to hopefully make it easier.

You mentioned his birth and honestly it's so fascinating. Because, from the get-go, Asclepius cheats death, he runs away from it, he was supposed to die but thanks to Apollo's dad radar, he got saved.

Ok I know those are his ordinary god powers, but to me Apollo 100% has a sixth sense specifically warning him when his kids are in danger. I mean, look at what he said in the picture you sent !! It's clearly his fatherly instinct that drove him to do that, to save his innocent offspring from Coronis' punishment. And yeah, if he hesitated any longer, he would've lost one of humanity's biggest helpers, but most importantly his own son. And I feel like he would've hated himself for it.

This kinda reminds me of Zeus saving baby Dionysus once Semele died, also burnt, but because of his real godly form. It's a powerful way to connect Zeus and Apollo too.

Tying this unusual birth to his future activities is definitely a clever approach. Asclepius seems to fear death, even more than the average Greek. But, contrary so Sisyphus, he doesn't selfishly try to cheat his own way out of the Underworld. Or to extend his youth. Quite the contrary. He uses it to help his fellow mortals, exposing himself directly.

I'll jump to the end of your post to talk about his altruism but I'll come back to previous points. Asclepius committed a very unique kind of hubris. It's not a "I'm better than the gods" thing but a "I'm more helpful than the gods". He saw that none of them, including his own father, went out of their way to undo death. So he did it. And again, he didn't just go and resurrect Coronis or Phlegyas or any family member. I feel like he was given missions, given how random the people on the list are. And he dutifully accepted them. Like a god being prayed to, even by an Olympian deity like Artemis ! And THAT pushed another limit.

The random woman myth is so important because it shows that Asclepius doesn't only resurrect kings and princes, but also regular people. He didn't seek glory or anything, he just did his best to achieve his goals of helping those around him.

You worded everything about the Apollonian family line and the egregious pursuit of curing death so well !!

Even if it wasn't explicitly said, it would still be so blatant that Asclepius was raised by his father, because they have similar tendencies. They have this same stubborn drive to act on their principles, even if it involves disobeying other gods.

There's also this negative relationship with death, wanting to preserve the life around them and grieving when they can't (except Asclepius didn't accept this last part and went on to undo it).

Plus some gremlin energy and the staff from uncle Hermes 😂. Hermes was also said to help Apollo save him and since he collects human souls, he'd 100% be there in his birth to have Coronis AND in Asclepius' death.

Speaking of gods, yes he had godly support, through Athena and Artemis. Heck, even what you said about Zeus tolerating occasional resurrections fits because otherwise, Asclepius would be dead before even trying.

That whole thing about oppression and death is spot on. Coming back to Hippolytus, his demise was very unfair. A result of Aphrodite's spite in front of his indifference, Phaedra's maddening love and Theseus being Theseus. Asclepius seized the opportunity to restore his life and stolen youth. Hippolytus doesn't die again afterwards, at least not from some extraordinary reason. He probably passed from natural causes at a natural age.

But then comes the money thing. It's so interesting because it brings another nuance to his character. The desire and need for money is purely human, gods don't need it. He's only a mortal and this is a proof of it. Why was he "enthralled" by money ? He doesn't seem specially greedy. Maybe it's because he needed it to maintain equipment, buy more resources so he can do his job even better. Maybe it's because he isn't said to be paid anything for helping people, and even if he's a prince, he didn't live with Phlegyas (Coronis' dad) but in the fields with Chiron. So maybe he wanted better life conditions. Or maybe money to pass on. Idk, honestly.

There's so much more stuff to say but I'll let you with this. You're welcome (and encouraged) to answer any time you want. I'll probably post more about Asclepius in the future, so tell me if you want to be tagged.

Who did Asclepius resurrect ?

A couple days ago, I discussed the idea of mortals defeating gods with @kill-me-with-a-spoon on a comment section of my "thoughts on Epic" post.

We talked about Diomedes and Perseus briefly, but then a third example came in : Asclepius.

And I find this specific mention interesting because I didn't think about it but it kinda makes sense 😂

He didn't defeat any god like the two former heroes, that being physically overwhelming them. Instead, he simply "cures" death, thus Thanatos' doing. Not only his, but the Fates' too considering they cut the thread of life. And he meddled with Hades' realm, something that he hated and we know how that ended.

(Hades hating doctors will never not be funny)

I made some research on him for personal projects and so I want to use it right now for personal ramblings about who exactly Asclepius resurrected.

@kill-me-with-a-spoon was pointing out that if, by technicality, he didn't interfere with Hades' domain if souls he resurrected didn't cross the Styx. And I've got to say, I think he did.

Also, I completely agree with the fact that they're still killable. They won't die from the same cause since Asclepius heals their injuries but he doesn't deify anyone.

If we look up different sources, here's the list of people he resurrected.

Hippolytus (according to Pausanias and latin sources like Pseudo-Hyginus or Ovid)

What makes this particularly interesting is that Artemis is the one who has this idea. It shows that portraying her as a man hater is completely wrong since she asks her male nephew to resurrect her male friend/devotee. It shows her bond with Hippolytus (his death was very unfair, so I get it) and with Apollo too, since she trusted her brother's son completely.

Then, it's just funny but in-character that Theseus isn't the one who has the idea to resurrect his son, because of course he wouldn't think about it 😂. It's even funnier if we take late sources stating that Asclepius was among the Argonauts. Because Theseus was too, so they knew each other personally and yet Theseus couldn't think about it.

Another detail : Hippolytus seems to forgive Theseus in Euripides' play, but NOT after coming back to life in Pausanias' version. Different versions, I know, but if we mix the two, then we could interpret that maybe all this time in the Underworld gave him the opportunity to think about it, or maybe, with a new chance to live, he doesn't want to stay with his father.

I get you, Hippolytus. Go have fun.

Capaneus (according to Stesichorus)

What's interesting here is how Capaneus died : he participated in Polynice's siege against Thebes but was killed... by Zeus. He was struck by lightning because of hubris.

And then Asclepius comes and resurrects this guy. All the more reasons for Zeus to be angered. That means he came in and decided to undo divine punishment, the same one that will be his own doom in the future. It's pretty chilling for me.

Lycurgus

So, there are a lot of Lycurguses in mythology.

In the beginning, I thought it was Lycurgus of Thrace, which would've been hilarious because if this guy comes back to life, he'll come back traumatized and insane (also, any grapevine would be the source of PTSD flashbacks). And again, that would've mean undoing divine punishments.

BUT it seems to be a separate Lycurgus that was resurrected. Not the one who offended Dionysus.

It's also not Admetus' brother of the same name, though the logical link would've been easy to make (because of Apollo's servitude and Admetus also being an Argonaut according to some sources).

Honestly, Wikipedia is the only place where the Lycurgus that Asclepius resurrected is distinguished. Even then, the article speaks of a probable case and lists Apollodorus as a source. So not even researchers are completely sure of which Lycurgus it was.

Hymen/Hymenaios : yeah, according to the Orphics, he resurrected some guy named Hymen, even though the only figure with this name is a god... it would've been very interesting to analyze if I had more details about it. Unfortunately, there aren't really.

Tyndareus

Glaucus : It's funny how Asclepius resurrects both Theseus AND Minos' son. Though that exploit is more often attributed to the prophet and healer Polyidos. I wonder if there was some untold teacher-student relationship between the two, since Asclepius is one of the inventors of medicine (with Chiron)

And then there's this woman :

This cracks me up, because this little story alone states that Asclepius as a GOD still resurrects the dead even though he was punished for it. Tbf, he probably had to explain this to Zeus, that he had to compensate his partners' mistake. Still, that's hilarious that not even divine might stopped him.

Don't tell me he didn't know what he was doing. He's a smart guy and his father is literally mr. God of prophecy. I like his audacity.

So, coming back to the initial subject, with the sheer number of mentioned names, I do think they had the time to be buried and cross the Styx (except Capaneus, who was probably turned into ashes lol).

Asclepius definetly meddled with Hades' domain, thus angering the god of the dead and he 100% provoked Zeus.

But, not all the gods were agaisnt him. If we take the version where he resurrects people with gorgon blood, then Athena, who gave it to him, was in favor of his operations.

Then, there is Artemis who asked him to bring back Hippolytus and finally, quite obviously, his n°1 supporter is his own father Apollo (oh god, I could make a whole new post rambling just about Apollo and Asclepius).

So yeah, I really like this myth for many reasons and this is one of them : how it's tied to many other stories, how different figures behave and react to Asclepius' antics, how it puts the system of life and death into questions, etc...

Anyways, if you have anything to comment on about this myth, don't hesitate. I'd love to discuss it more !

My main source about all of this was Theoi.

[sy-wangshu]

[POEM] [14/02/2024] Flowers for the forsaken - sy wangshu

happy valentines day! i hope hanahaki gets to you. blue violets used to mean abandonment because it's linked to the greek story of Iamus.

[gingermintpepper]

Obsessed with the way Evadne's relationship with Apollo is described. Obsessed with the way Apollo was especially gentle with her because she was sheltered, hidden away and hadn't had any sort of experience with love prior to Apollo (and due to it being described as her 'first learning Aphrodite's joy' through Apollo', it was probably her first time even being attracted to someone). Obsessed with the way when she runs away, she stops in a violet patch to give birth. Y'know, violets, very famously the flower so strongly associated with Aphrodite that they were used in love potions? Those violets. Obsessed with the way that when Apollo realised his lover was going to have to deliver their child alone, he sent BOTH the goddess of childbirth and ALL THREE OF THE FATES to help and support her. Obsessed with the way that Apollo sends snakes to feed his baby honey straight from their fangs because Evadne abandons their son out of straight primal fear when her stepfather finds her and how the description of that honey is 'sweet venom' [ἰός] of the bees and is DEFINITELY a poetic pair/pun with [ἴον] aka violets and that every single thing about this relationship, conception and birth is a complete and utter fairytale down to Evadne's insanely overprotective stepfather having an immediate change of heart when he learned Evadne's child was an actual, legitimate Son of Apollo and the babe, after being cared for by his dad's honey-fanged snake buddies, was found perfectly healthy five days later swaddled in a blanket of violets (y'know the flowers so strongly associated with Aphrodite that they were used for lo-) and they called him Iamus aka Boy of the Violets which is AAAAAARRRR I AM GNAWING AT MY ENCLOSURE

Iamus was made of love. Everything about him was surrounded by deep and profound love and like, let's not even talk about his whole Thing of when he came of age and was like "I need to find out what my purpose is" and he literally had a Disney Protagonist moment where he ran out into the wilds and was like "Father!! Grandfather!! Tell me what I'm supposed to doooo!!" and then APOLLO FUCKING ANSWERED AND LED HIM TO ONE HIS TEMPLES ENTIRELY BY TALKING WITH IAMUS AND LETTING HIM FOLLOW HIS VOICE FOR THE WHOLE JOURNEY LIKE -

What do y'all know about the kind of SSS tier romantic escapades Apollo had fr?

[lamolinastreetart]

'Panda is forever' by Greek Taxis (@o_taxis) & Spanish Slim (@slimsafont) for iAMU in Cosenza, Italy (2023) #taxis #slim #lamolinastreetart | photo by @iacopo.munno via artists mysl.nl/EcrJ

[nabaath-areng]

" Bygg något vackert eller krossa allt. "

[catnip-reed]

Worshiper Of:

Aphrodite (@whiterosesandseashells)

Dionysus (@partiesandfun)

Ariadne

Hermes (@travelandcomms)

Hades (@deathandcanines)

Melinoe

Zeus

Hera (@marriageandroyalty)

Hygieia

Eris (@retribution-and-strife)

Nemesis (@retribution-and-strife)

Hyacinthus

Egeria (@healingandsprings)

Freyja (@catsandgold)

Loki (@trickeryandtoys)

Veles

Lucifer (@morninganddawn)

Prince Seere (@steedsandwings)

Devoted To:

Ares (@warandpower)

Apollon (@sunlightandmusic)

Interested In:

Aiode

Anthea

Aristaeus

Chiron

Clio

Epimelides

Erato

Ganymedes

Hedylogos

Iamus

Iris

Macaria

Melpomene

Palaemon

Pasithea

Triptolemus

Peitho

Thoth

Anubis

Nefertum

Weneg

Ammit

Hedjhotep

[fvaleraye]

Hi Faye! We r friends & I enjoy y'alls' art! Just got home from DnD -- you got any swag DnD characters/stories?

cries, ty ;w;

oh shit uuuuuuuh well we have LOTS of dnd characters, more than we can keep track of bc we had this phase for a while where we would just make a character sheet for every character concept that crossed into our head asdflkjansdf

as far as specifics go, tho, can't go wrong with Iamus- our beloved old man bird monk. as far as stories go- our first campaign was called dogpile bc we found big wolves(like, direwolf size) and tried to be nice to them, one of our teammates fucked up, tripped, fell on the dog, and then like at least 2 or 3 more people(including our character) tried to help them up and rolled badly and all fell on the giant pubby and got stuck in its fur. it was the first session