#icons daughter of athena

[tribricies]

annabeth chase icons

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[minomoimoi]

ANNABETH CHASE PLAYLIST !!!

Daughter of Athena

[taylorsz]

✫꙳⸌🧿💭͏⌇⭒熙 ᘚᴥᩚ𝘄 Ꭾ𝗼᥍ᩚ𝘁

𐑙ikᴥᩚ ★` [ℛ.]ᴥᩚ𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𑄹🦋 私福:

!★ ｡>﹏<｡ 𝗰𝗿𝗲ᩚ𝖽Ꭵ𝘁𝘀 mℯ｡ ✰

[notebookqueenofnarnia]

Okay Demigods

now that Season 2 has been confirmed (!!!!!!!!!!) I am here to make my official appeal that you ALL read the books. and yes...i mean ALL the books. Because here is what you are missing if you don't:

(mostly spoiler free. mostly vibes and chaotic no context)

OG PERCY JACKSON

Percy's INCREDIBLE sarcasm

Lots of chaotic Mr. D moments

Percy's unending absolute obliviousness when it comes to: his own abilities/powers, his own feelings towards a certain daughter of Athena, and EVERYONE'S feelings towards him

the full list of Percy's felonies (it's longer than you think!)

how much Percy thinks about Annabeth, especially in the third book

The Hunters of Artemis (everyone's like 'which godly parent would you have?' but im like ??? who cares??? I'm running off with the girls to immortal to hunt men i mean monsters)

soooooooooo much Sally Jackson is the Best Mom (to everyone who walks through her door) content

BLACKJACK. TRANS ICON BLACKJACK THE PEGASUS.

Rachel. Elizabeth. Dare. (this is how the audiobook says her name every single time)

Paul Blofis

Sally Jackson, author

Poseidon: Blowfish?

HEROES OF OLYMPUS

If you don't read these books you are missing out on some of the coolest female characters Rick has created: PIPER (an iconic), HAZEL (unintentionally hilarious), REYNA (beautiful character arc), and ANNABETH's point of view will have you loving her on a whole other level, trust me

Also: COACH HEDGE

Leo

All The Ladies Love Leo

the audiobooks are INSANE. It felt like a full cast read the book, but no. it was just one insanely talented narrator.

FESTUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (im a dragon girlie)

Personally, I spent a lot of time reading the OG 5 wondering about how Roman mythology plays into Percy's world. Uncle Rick answered my questions and answered them SO WELL

Hazel the horse girl

Frank the horsebirddolphinman

Frank, gentle himbo, my beloved son

MY FAVORITE SCENE WHICH INVOLVES PERCY NOT KNOWING HOW TO DRIVE, A HARPY, FRANK, AND HAZEL AND THEYRE ALL SCREAMING AND IM PRETTY SURE STUFF IS ON FIRE

Forced Proximity for 7 teenagers and one chaotically violent satyr (that's Coach Hedge)

Eros/Cupid being one the most genius things Rick's ever written

Percy's hate of Ares transcending god magic

(also his love of Annabeth, but that's like obvious)

PercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabe

weird barely gnome things

this one giant whose name is definitely not pronounced like female anatomy

everyone thinking Percy and Annabeth are constantly getting up to the hanky panky

a statue made me cry

Gay Grumpy/Sunshine (or should that be Death/Sunshine) origins!!

TRIALS OF APOLLO

Apollo, vain himbo of godly proportions is forced to live as Lester Papadopoulos

Percy: why

a very chaotic twelve year old daughter of Demeter

she commands Apollo around

plant magic

terrible great haikus at the start of every chapter

Sally Jackson being the best mom to everyone who comes to her door

magic shoes

a sassy magic prophetic arrow that talks in Shakespearean English

so much gay grumpydeath/sunshine content

also yes sunshine's dad is Apollo

Apollo sings

Grover! Piper! Reyna! Hazel! All the friends! Everyone

Jason! (also im sorry)

what if there were some trees who were an elite squad of warriors who also answer to the chaotic twelve year old

gay moms of the midwest

unicorns

in the last book, chiron takes the campers on a 'field trip' to help take down the big baddie and he shows up dressed as a warrior soccer mom with granola bars, water bottles, and extra swords attached to his fanny pack

a different chaotic twelve year old while fighting to the death in a building that's on fire: "CAN WE GO ON FIELD TRIPS EVERY WEEK?"

chiron: "ROSE DEAR RAISE YOUR SWORD A LITTLE HIGHER!"

okay im not going to spoil it but in the last book there is also this extremely horrifyingly violent moment that Uncle Rick somehow turns into one of the most hilarious things i've ever read

Piper in the epilogue

CHALICE OF THE GODS

more insanely funny percy first person narration

Grover, Percy, Annabeth reunite ("the gang is back together!" "The three musketeers!" "Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey!" "Excuse me?")

have you met the god of himbos? (Percy has)

SO

MANY

EASTER

EGGS

for Season one. you can totally see how Uncle Rick worked on the script and chalice together

if you liked Annabeth shoving Percy into the water....this one is for you

Percy, supreme god of snakes

the cutest cutest cutest cutest Percabeth content you will ever read

hippie gods (yes more than one)

Percy is literally obsessed with Annabeth

Annabeth already being the Jackson daughter in law

Sally Jackson and Paul and

For the record: You CAN read Chalice of the Gods without reading the other series, but please please please read all these books. The audiobooks are phenomenal.

[thaliasthunder]

i personally think ten year old nico, all petty to his crush's gf, basically going "if daughter of athena, why so stupid?" on annabeth was pretty iconic of him

[scrumptiousfoxglitter]

Trans Telemachus icons because either the siren knows something Odysseus doesn't (she got word of the princess of Ithaca's transition before Ody) or Odysseus knows something the sirens don't (most people who don't keep up with the Ithaca Fam™ only heard of Telemachus via news of the birth of Odysseus's new "daughter," unaware of the truth that would be revealed later, meanwhile Athena kept Odysseus updated, and he will not stand by people misgendering his son).

[aliciavance4228]

Finally Made a List With Modern Interpretations of the Greek Gods Which I Personally Dislike

Zeus is an incompetent asshole uncapable of rulling who took Hades' rightful position as the King of the Gods by cheating during the Division of the Cosmos;

Poseidon is just a cool funny chill uncle who likes swimming and probably smokes weed;

Hades is an emo feminist woobie who only wants to love his pastel goth wife and his beloved dog Spot;

Hera is only a victim of Zeus and every bad thing that she does is 100% because of him;

The polar opposite where Hera is a complete monster and a psychotic bitch who only cares about cursing and killing the women her poor innocent husband has slept with and his bastards;

Demeter is a Helicopter Parent/Overbearing Mother who still used to treat her daughter like a child before Hades kidnapped her and is completely horrible for standing against their pure and innocent love.

Hestia is a hypocrite lesbian (you know what I'm talking about);

Hestia who?

Athena is a shy, socially awkard nerd;

Athena is a feminist who only wanted to protect Medusa and hates love (and men);

Athena is a pick-me girl who never helped nor supported any woman during her entire eternity;

Hephaestus is an Incel who deserved to be cheated on;

Ares is the protector of women who is unfairly hated by the other gods, never raped nor abused any woman during his entire life and wants to overthrow his father for being a patriarchal figure;

Aphrodite is a brainless slut who only cares about herself, and the only way to redempt herself is being together with Hephaestus again;

Apollo is a piece of shit who thinks that he's better than anyone else and ruined Patrochilles FOREVAAAH!!!

Apollo is a bicon and femboy who never raped, murdered or cursed anyone.

Artemis is a lesbian misandrisst feminist icon;

Hermes is just the comic relief;

Dionysus is a dirty drunk old man;

Dionysus is an LGBTQ+ feminist icon ready to kill the bigots; (Yeah right, the LGBTQ+ Community of Ancient Greece...)

Persephone is an innocent flower girl who still looks and acts like a child and had no idea what sex is until she had her sexual awakening in the Underworld;

Persephone is a bad bitch, she's more dreadful and merciless than Hades, hates flowers or being a goddess of nature and 100% wanted to be kidnapped/willingly went with Hades;

Feel free to add anything else.

[anotheroceanid]

On Twitter

"Fun fact! The term "Man of loyalty" first ever recorded use was on Odyssey. That term was used to describe Odysseus after he had an affair with the goddess Perse Athenide, who was the goddess of loyalty in greek mythology"

Comment #1: So we had a whole term created because because some dude fucked a goddess? Iconic

Comment #2: "Man of loyalty" so they were calling him her bitch???

Comment #3: Another fun fact, because of that affair Odysseus spent the rest of his life suffering from sunburns because Perse was the crush of the god Apollo

Comment #4: No, but you guys don't understand how wild this is. Perse Athenide was Athena's daughter, Odysseus teacher, the goddess the entire greek pantheon swore to not "touch" and Odysseus of all people took her v-card, everyone hated him bc of that

Commenter #5: In conclusion: when we call someone a person of loyalty, we’re calling them bitches? Noted.

Commenter #6: Imagine being a goddess, going through all the turmoils to protect your daughter from horny gods, only for you pupil to hit it in a random Thursday

> answer: wait will you find out that one of Athena’s owl watched the whole thing and did nothing because it was told Odysseus wasn’t dangerous 😆

[colorsunlikeanythingseen]

What makes the tragedy of Jason's death so goddamn well written is that it is that there were three loopholes to his death prophecy, but for each of these loopholes to work requires people to be out of character.

The Syble tells Jason that if Jason and Piper went to find the emperor one of them would d__.

The first and most obvious way for Jason not to die is to simply not help Apollo and not go after the emperor. Unfortunately Jason is heroic. Even worse he never shirks his duties. He won't be able to overlook Caligula's crimes and turn away. It's not in his nature.

This book somehow, despite Piper and Jason breaking up, sold me on their relationship. Those two are ride or die for each other even if things are rocky right now. They aren't going to run and leave the other to face the emperor alone. Their friend might die anyway. Also Piper also gave me the impression that she believed they wouldn't actually die just like with Leo's death prophecy and the general lack of permeant death in Heroes of Olympus.

Now the third way Jason could have survived. Turning into a dog. You might be laughing but I am dead serious. Apollo, god of prophecy, brought up this possibility and while he might be grasping at straws this could easily work. Turning into a dog would allow Jason to dodge Caligula's blow, and in the confusion he has a chance to escape. This happening is entirely feasible in the pjo universe. It is extraordinary common for gods in myths to turn people into animals. It is confirmed that the gods are watching. It could happen.

Unfortunately, no god is going to interfere. Hera is on thin ice after the stunts she pulled in Hero's of Olympus, Zeus was throwing lighting bolt at her and not the giants he was so angry at her. I got the impression that it could easily be her thrown to earth not Apollo. Hera can't interfere without risking it all.

The minor gods won't disobey Zeus either even if it means losing a priest.

Zeus on the other hand can interfere he just won't. It would be a politically sound decision to save his son. Jason is the former leader of New Rome and current priest for minor gods. By saving Jason Zeus would regain the support from both demigods and minor gods that he is clearly lacking. The Olympian council would support this, this might help Apollo's quest so Artemis is on board, Hera's support goes without saying, Aphrodite daughter is also on the line here, and I can't think of a god that would oppose this. This isn't beyond Zeus's capabilities. He turned Thalia into a tree in similar circumstances. Blatant favoritism. There is a possibility that he just didn't think about it, but I really doubt it. Not only did Apollo bring up this as a loophole Athena is Zeus's advisor she would tell him it's at least a possibility. Zeus has a lot of flaws being an idiot isn't one of them. If he really wanted to save Jason he could have.

So why wouldn't he? Jason disobeyed Zeus standing up for Apollo when he was punished. Zeus really hates being disobeyed especially when it is a son doing it. He gets very paranoid about it in fact. Jupiter gave Jason to Hera/Juno and their only conversation is Jason questioning his father's decision in the coliseum. They do not have a close relationship. They have the least bonding moments of any godly parent beating even Luke and Hermes. Zeus doesn't care about Jason that much. It's not worth justifying the interference especially when his son is rebellious. His paranoia tends to make Zeus shoot himself in the foot.

Besides it's not like Zeus mourned his son's death or lost anything with his inaction. Hera mourned Jason, not Zeus.

The other thing that made Jason's death iconic is how it's effects are handled but that's another post.

[not-a-princess-but-a-queen]

Wisdom Saga Time!!

1) Telemachus is a cinnamon roll!!!

2) Ok I don’t remember much about the Suitors in the main text but having something to really dig in and give it context is terrible?! All those guys just running around harming your child and wrecking your shit?!! Penelope is sooo strong!

3) The yell I let out when I heard Athena’s theme!!!

She called Odysseus her friend

Calypso!!! She sounds just the right blend of beautiful and unhinged lol

Ok more timeline questions….. 20 years?! Seven with Calypso?!

God Games is so good?!!! I got Mortal Kombat vibes each time a god was introduced lol

Interesting that Apollo cares more about the sirens than his cows

Ok thank you for having Aphrodite be concerned about the Platonic and parental love?!!! Also of course she’s not going to be a fan

Ares and Athena beef is iconic not matter the reimagining lol

Hera!!! Queen!!! Legend!!!

Did anyone else get the ick when Zeus used some of those Thunder bringer lines on his daughter?!! Ick

[thechthonicherbalist]

Who is...

Lady Athena?

Lady Athena is a #Hellenic goddess worshiped in Ancient Greece and beyond. Like many of the Ancient Greek Gods, Heroes and Lore, the story of her birth is not quite average. Zeus, mighty ruler of Olympus had received a warning, that one of his sons would take his throne & strip him of his power, as he himself had done with his father Cronos. So like his father, Zeus decided that cannibalism will solve his problem and swallowed his first lover, Metis, a beautiful Okeanide (Daughters of Okeanos and Thetys), while she was pregnant. Instead of bearing him the promised son, a wise girl, with the attire of a warrior was born from Zeus' head. Hephaistos, the disabled god of fire, metallurgy, and crafts came to aid Zeus as a midwife, effectively splitting his head open with an axe, to make way for Zeus' most beloved daughter, Athene, who stepped forth, with eyes of steal and fully armoured. If this is a special benefit of having a divine blacksmith midwife or a side effect of cannibal birth through your father's head is unknown.

("The birth of Athena" - Vase painting from 555 - 550 B.C. by the Phrynos Painter - British Museum, London)

Little Athene however was soon sent to be raised and educated in the arts of war, by the God Triton, alongside of his daughter Pallas, who became her companion (read: potentially wlw lover). Training together, the two girls would fight against each other with sword and shield and both were so skilled in their doing, that Zeus started to worry about his daughter, interfering in their play. This startled Pallas so much that she missed to parry a thrust of Athena's sword and got lethally wounded. According to some interpretations Athena was so devastated about the death of her lover, that she took her name as her own, to immortalize her memory and henceforth was known as Pallas Athena, whereas other interpretations identify Athena as aromantic or asexual.

(1. Contemporary bronze figurine of Athena, taking the fierce stance of a warrior with her iconic Medusa shield, her helmet and spear.) (2. Alternative shield of Athene's sporting the owl emblem, a symbol of her wisdom and crest to the city of Athens.)

Pallas is also synonymous with the word "girl" which goes hand in hand with another epithet of Athene's: Parthenos, meaning "maiden". In other words, Athena was known as the "Girl Athena" or "Maiden Athena", implying that she was rather young. Despite her everlasting young age, Athena became known as the wisest and most skilled warrior. Unlike Ares, God of war, her skills lie particularly with wisdom, protection and defense as well as diplomacy and righteousness, with which she aided many Greek heroes like Hercules, Perseus, Achilles and Odysseus according to Hellenic lore. Being an INFP (MBTI type) myself, and therefore a diplomat, I always admired her for these particular traits and often seek her council, aid and guidance, in order to act thoughtful and not get carried away by heated emotions, especially in the face of conflict and problems. (I'm not always successful, but that's why we ask for help. 😂)

("Athena Protects the young Hero" - Berlin)

Furthermore she is the patron goddess of arts and crafts, specifically those that serve the creation of useful objects and tools, but especially of crafts connected to thread and fabric. Notably she is also known as the Patron of Greece's capital city Athens, who sports an owl emblem in it's crest in her honour. The people of Attica chose her as such, after she gifted them with the invention of the olive tree, rooting the discovery of olives and their products in the hands of Greece, according to their lore. Furthermore she is known as patroness of Sparta, founder of Thebes and in association with the city of Corinth. Later Athena was also associated with Hygieia (goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene) and the Hippocratic oath, a pledge physicians make before various healing gods to practice medicine and healing in a honourful and ethical way. Therefore Athena is also sometimes depicted with a serpent-staff, like Asclepios.

(Athena as restored by Algardi - Museo nazionale romano di palazzo, Altemps)

Some animals & objects associated with Athene are:

The Owl and Serpent - symbols of wisdom

The Horse - symbol of equestrian skills

The olive tree - symbol of victory

Armour, Helmet, Shield and Spear - symbols of divine authority, protection, wisdom and strategy

Sphinx and Griffins - symbols of power, domestication and taming of the wild spirits, abundance

Well received offering for Athene are:

Food like bread, meat, milk, honey, cakes, barley meal, olive oil, fruit, wine and pure water

Olives and Olive Branches

Flowers, especially white roses

Spices, especially cinnamon

Burning or offering incense

Crystals, amongst others Sodalite, Marble, Shungite, Fluorite, Granite, Amethyst, Dumortierite, a number of quartzes, emeralds and opals

Dedicational work and worship can include:

Studying, reading and educating yourself

Promoting peace and seeking diplomatic solutions and conversations to resolve conflict

Arts and crafts, especially weaving, knitting, crocheting

Learn and practice martial arts

Educating or writing informational works

(Athena with Owl and Shield, Replica)

[serial-unaliver]

Do you have a list of the main people you spectate in your world? It's hard to ask questions about people you don't know, unless you'd prefer it that we don't engage. Also, if you don't mind me asking, how do you view your world? Is it inside your brain like a thought, or is it an outward experience like dissociating? Maybe a third thing? You don't gotta answer if it's too personal

sometimes it's more visible than others depending on sensory interruptions, but generally it's either entirely that world I see or people from it but interacting with the surroundings of this world which is funny but gets my coworkers questioning why i'm always "looking at nothing"

everything is also usually at eye level. so just like we see walking around in this world!

the main people I spectate list would be short because i'm mostly seeing flash & crew but there are others involved sometimes. list: flash, athena (flash's wife), storm (flash's brother who lives with the family) jiji (flash's iconic daughter), digre (flash's failson), josen (storm's NOT failson), crisco (flash's youngest son), ace (friend and business partner of flash), wyler (flash's personal assistant), veski (leader of socialist movement in flaurdea). these are NOT the only people in my world, just prevalent because they are important in flash's life in some way.

[bassguitarinablackt-shirt]

MAKING A POST ABOUT MY OLD PJO OCS LESGOOOOOO

Arlo Cannon

they/he, child of apollo

kind of a dumbass. this boy is only alive because of sheer dumb luck. he may be a half blood but you will have to pry "oh my god" and "jesus christ" out of his cold dead southern hands. he can play a few instruments and sing kinda well but hes annoying about it. he once wouldnt stop playing megalovania on the piano to annoy the other apollo kids. has a mental breakdown if he has to think about his feelings for more than thirty seconds.

Maximillian "max" Maxwell

they/them, child of ares

insecure about being insecure. dresses like a lumberjack. will kill you if you call them maxmax. bi disaster. my friend once said theyre giving man on tinder holding up a fish in their pfp vibes. wields an axe. they're 4'8 and yet still manage to contain the rage of a thousand suns.

Sullivan "sulli" O'Malley

she/her, daughter of athena

weird little trans girl. eleven years old. much like an owl shes strange, wise, and has a wide eyed unblinking stare. shes very much an athena kid but first and foremost shes her fathers daughter. aroace icon. homeschooled. has a fucked up sleep schedule to the point of being pretty much nocturnal. thinks camp half blood is weird and would much rather be with her dad every summer. autistic.

Quinn Evangeline

they/she/he, child of aphrodite

thinks hes alot cooler than they actually are. aromantic. loves to give love advice thats either really good or ends up crashing and burning. dyes their hair blonde. holds a grudge against her mom. their mortal dad is married to a man giving them two dads. has THE BEST fashion sense. thought he was a lesbian when they first realised shes not attracted to men.

Cameron Flores

he/him, child of hermes

quinns best friend. the day his executives start functioning its over for you all. gay disaster in all directions. acts and kinda looks like a tiktok fuckboy. often gossips with quinn in the back of aphrodite cabin. quinn made him swear not to date any of the aphrodite kids. devious little fucker. i hate him/aff

tagging @daggerhobbit @possibly-astraeus @fakevariety @o-kye

[mer-acle]

Girl, so confusing featuring lorde is so Athena and Ares post god games.

Those two siblings are two halves of the same coin, they are so similar yet so different that people can't help but compare the two of them.

And the rift in their relationship just gets worsened by Zeus, seeing that Athena is (was?) his favorite daughter and Ares is his least favorite.

"Forgot that inside that icon There's still a young girl from Essex"

Like this lyric is Ares realizing after God Games that Athena still is just another child of Zeus and they finally start to heal their relationship

Dont know if I'm making any sense but your Ares and Athena posts inspired me to think about our favorite war siblings

Oh that's so accurate

God, it's so confusing being a god ;)

"You know I'd ride for you too." Successfully made me sob thx

💜💜

[that-ari-blogger]

Medusa, A Myth Set In Stone?

CW: Mention of sexual assault.

Medusa is possibly the single most iconic monster from Ancient Greek Mythology. To the point where if you are writing a story drawing from that history, you need to namedrop her at least once. Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical includes her as a character, although that's actually a confusing addition.

Stray Gods is about family, and trauma, and choice, and Medusa doesn't have a direct link to that. Does she? We'll get back to this.

Medusa's mythology is varied, and adaptations pick and choose elements to include. So, this post will take a look at how Stray Gods goes about adapting her to fit its themes and narrative. But I'd like to examine the musical in comparison to another take on the character that I found fascinating. One Piece, and Boa Hancock.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The first thing to point out about Medusa is that she's not a historical figure, she's a mythological one. So there is no exact character to draw on. Also, because Ancient Greece was such a diverse place, the myth has also diversified.

So, lets start with what we know. Medusa has snakes for hair. Well... no. In his Theogony, Hesiod described her and her sisters as women with snakes hanging from their belts.

She had sisters? Yes. Two of them. They were all the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, both primordial sea deities.

I've found references to older stories in which she couldn't petrify people, only kill them. But these references are dubious and do not cite their sources. Which is frustrating.

This all leads to Ovid, who wrote Metamorphoses. And before I explain his take on this, I need to point out his biases. Ovid was a Roman poet who lived until the 1st century AD (notably seven centuries after Medusa's first reference), and he was exiled from Rome during the writing of his most famous work, according to Britanica.

As such, Metamorphoses has a tendency to either embellish or completely make up features of stories, as well as being noticeably anti-authoritarian and anti-deity. The gods in Metamorphosis are more callous than usual. For example, this is the book in which the usually level-headed Athena turns a lady into a spider, simply for addressing Zeus' infidelity.

The point is: In my opinion, Ovid seems to have gone out of his way to make the gods and goddesses of ancient Greek mythology seem as cruel and impersonal as possible.

Which finally leads us to Medusa. In Ovid's tale, Medusa is a beautiful woman who earns the attention of Poseidon who sexually assaults her in Athena's temple. Athena then decides to punish Medusa for this and transforms her into the snake haired monster that the modern world recognises.

Later interpretations have pretty much used this story, but with one majour adjustment brought on by poet Percy Shelley's On The Medusa Of Leonardo DaVinci in the Florentine Gallery. The transformation by Athena becomes a blessing, not a curse. Athena bestowed upon Medusa a way of protecting herself. As Dr Emily Zarka put it in the youtube video, Medusa, Victim Or Villain?:

"A creature that could literally turn the leering male gaze back on itself."

Boa Hancock is one of the most interesting characters in One Piece who isn't a Strawhat. There is so much going on with her character that I can't mention here because this is meant to be a post about Stray Gods. If you want a full breakdown of the character, @melonteee has a fantastic video on the subject, that I would highly recommend.

In essence, Boa is a victim. She was forced to eat the devil fruit for the entertainment of the world government, so now she has a distrust of men and an ability to turn people to stone. The medusa references in her story are not subtle, and the allegory inherent in being forced to eat the fruit is rather blatant.

The interesting thing about Boa is how she is introduced. Boa is initially shown as a terrible human being. She kicks a small animal for the fun of it, because she is evil, and because she can get away with it. People look at her and just see her beauty, and they expect things of her. They don't care to look at the story or the character or the trauma, it's just the beauty. People within One Piece do this, and an uncomfortable amount of people who read or watch it have the same view of her.

Boa is a protector, Amazon Lilly is her home, and she protects it from shame, and from trauma. She protects her people from having to bear the same scars as her, physically and psychologically.

That's why she acts the way she does and dresses the way she does, its a mask to draw attention, to scare people away. Like Medusa, she weaponises the idolisation of beauty in order to protect.

Contrast this with Stray Gods, and the Medusa portrayed by Anjali Bhimani. And we see a remarkably similar take on the character.

This is a character with a level of self-loathing that render the entirety of the rest of the cast egomaniacal, but that is almost hidden by a veneer of confidence.

Medusa slithers as she walks. She gets close to Grace and in her face, she's revelling in her power. But the second Grace pushes the right buttons, that entire demeanour changes. Those buttons being two words: Monster and Athena.

This is why Medusa is in the story. Because the relationship between her and Athena is, at least in my reading, analogous to an abusive parent and child dynamic. Athena professes to protect Medusa, but she is the reason Medusa is the way she is, she controls Medusa's every move, and Medusa fears what might happen if Athena would find out about her actions.

I said Medusa and Boa are similar, and I meant it. Both put up a facade of confidence as a means of defence. And when that facade cracks, then we see what that character truly is.

"Don't look at me"

Medusa couldn't be further from her facade. That's what this line signifies, the transition from "look into me" to "don't look at me" shows in no uncertain terms the breaking away of that mask. Although it does come back for a brief moment, in a fascinating way.

"You're lost little girl, no more Hail Mary's"

This is a repeated line in the musical, the idea of being directionless. We keep hearing it, in variations of the same tune. And now we hear Medusa say it. But there's two things going on here.

First up, this is projecting, Medusa is lost, and she is shifting the blame for that onto Grace.

Second, this is just what others have said. Medusa is simply repeating what she has heard and has no defence of her own.

"The "not unhot" girl is you, the monster is me"

Medusa is clutching onto her idea of self, she has to be the monster, because otherwise everything Athena did to her was unwarranted. She has to have deserved it, right? She's rationalising, and projecting, and avoiding.

I've seen people do this in real life.

The mirror is a fascinating little detail here. The visual focus of a large portion of this song is the flipping between who is in the mirror and who is on the outside. Because the two characters are trying to connect, and they are mirrors of each other as victims of Athena's meddling.

The wording of Grace's offer here is interesting.

"Appollo could get you free"

Not cure or fix, but free. That's what Medusa needs, freedom.

In conclusion, Medusa is a monster and Medusa is also a woman and a victim and many other things. Those who say a story must abide by the canon of mythology don't understand mythology at all. There is no canon. Sure, stick to the spirit of the myth, don't make the minotaur into a bird, but a character like Medusa can be anything, and adapting the myth isn't remotely a new thing. Ovid did it, One Piece did it, and Stray Gods has done it. All of them taking a different part of the myth and creating a story out of it for their own purposes.

I am excited to see who tries their hand at it next.

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[justmenoworries]

I think not enough people in the Greek Mythology Fandom™️ talk about the fact that Athena was kind of a Pick Me and Ares was kind of a feminist, actually.

Modern depictions of the two really like to make Ares into a dumb brute who hates all women because obviously God of War = Mysoginist Macho and Athena is a Feminist Icon because she is a woman and also a War God.

When, according to mythology Athena:

Was the biggest fucking Daddy's Girl and took her father Zeus' side in damn near everything. Y'know, the god who is notorious for assaulting women, both divine and mortal, knocking them up and then doing nothing when his jealous wife comes after them.

Said in The Euminides that her emerging from Zeus' forehead means she has no mother and so she has no love for women and will always rule in favor of men

Was practically the mascot goddess of Athens, one of the most anti-women cities to ever exist, even by ancient Greece standard

Did nothing when Persephone was kidnapped by Hades despite being present

while Ares meanwhile

Was the father and patron of the Amazons, a whole culture of badass warrior women

Once went on trial because he brutally murdered a son of Poseidon for sexually assaulting his daughter Alcippe (Ares won that trial, by the way)

Is literally the only male god in the entire pantheon who has never sexually assaulted a woman, all of his relationships were consensual (the bar is in Tartarus here, but nonetheless)

Has Gynaecothoenas, which translates to "the god feasted on by women", among his many epithets, from the time the women of Tegea (Arcadia) took up arms against and defeated a Spartan invasion, then organized an entire feast in honor of Ares which only women were allowed to partake in.

That's not to say Ares doesn't have negative qualities and that Athena doesn't have positive ones. I just find it really interesting the assumptions Greek Mythology Fandom™️ tends to make about these two just from knowing what their basic deal is.

Like, obviously Athena must be a feminist, since she's a badass female warrior and has a high position in a society as notoriously patriarchal as the Greek pantheon.

And surely Ares, the god embodying the brutality of war, must be dripping toxic masculinity, hate women and endorse violence against them.

Right?