#like jason and aeson

[dreams-of-the-dead]

Just finished bbc atlantis and omg im so mad it was canceled but also I think Jason could have solved all of his problems if he had just read percy jackson as a kid

(which seems like such a normal thing to say except he's canonically from 2013/2014 soooooo)

Also the fact that he knows what a computer is and can probably drive a car(and a submarine)and simply never mentioned any of that stuff is batshit insane I'm scared of him

[oh2e]

My favourite thing about BBC Atlantis is that they make Jason be from now and time travel back to Atlantis and then? Just? Don’t mention it?

[tylermileslockett]

Book 1 of Argonautica begins with an invocation to Apollo and reference to a dark prophecy. King Pelias of Iolchus, (son of Poseidon and tyro), having usurped the throne from his half-brother, Aeson, is prophesied to be killed by a man wearing one sandal. When Jason, “son of Aeson,” arrives wearing one sandal at a court feast honoring the gods, (but neglecting Hera) Pelias devises a deadly quest for the hero to retrieve the fabled Golden Fleece.         

Argus, builds the great ship Argo with Athena’s guidance, who incorporates a piece of magical Dodonan oak, giving the wood keel the power of speech. Next, a lengthy list of the heroes and their family lineages is listed by Apollonius. At the shore, the gathered heroes, “shone like starlight between clouds,” (Poochigian). Needing a leader, Heracles suggests Jason, and the crew assents. They construct a beach shrine of stones and offer bull sacrifices to Apollo for a safe journey. That night over wine, an argument almost leads to blows in camp, but Orpheus calms the tensions with a lyre song about the primordial titans.         

As the group sets out the following day the demigod and mortal heroes are looked upon favorably from the gods in Olympus, Mountain nymphs of Pelion, Chiron the centaur, with wife holding up infant Achilles, so the hero Peleus could see his son one last time. Orpheus plays a hymn to Artemis while fish leap about the ship’s wake.         

After passing more landmarks such as Meliboea, the slanted city of Homola, Olympus, the Pallenean cliffs, and the Thracian Mountain of Athos, they row for the island of Lemnos, a place where the all-women society hold a dark secret. 

Thanks for looking and reading! if you share this image ill be sure to sacrifice some sweets into my stomach for you during this holiday! xoxo

Want to own a book jam packed with over 130 illustrations like this? Support my kickstarter for my book "lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in October.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tylermileslockett/lockett-illustrated-greek-gods-and-heroes

[mask131]

The myth of Medea (1)

As I went across the various Dictionaries of Myths I talked to you about, I noticed quite a number of Medea-related articles. So, let’s begin with an article about the “Antique Medea”, written by Alain Moreau. As usual, loosely translated by me.

I/ Positive beginnings

A dreaded sorceress and a bloodthirsty killer: those are the two traits that have been imposed on any depiction of Medea, and that for a very long time. To be precise, this portrait can be dated back to Euripides’ Medea in 431 BCE. It might surprise one to discover that it was not always the case, and that the original Medea might have been a benevolent goddess. As often in mythology, the name reveals (or betrays) the origins: Medea’s name seems to be formed of the Indo-European root “med”, which split in modern language in two domains, the one of “meditation” and the one of “medicine”. This etymological origin is reflected in the myth, as Medea prepares all sorts of medicine and remedies – it is with them that, during her stay in Thebes, she healed Herakles who had just murdered his own children after being cursed with madness by Hera. She is also depicted as having the power of rejuvenating the old Aeson, Jason’s father, as well as giving back youth to Jason himself and to the Hyades, the nurses of Dionysos. It is also her who, in Colchis, covers Jason’s body with an herbal ointment which protects him from the deadly fire blown by the bulls of Aietes (the herb used was the legendary “prometheion”, which appeared on the slopes of Caucasus from the blood of Prometheus which falls to the ground each time Zeus’ eagle comes to eat the Titan’s liver). Considering all of this, it is very likely that Medea was originally one of the manifestations or avatar of the great Mother-Goddesses that were once honored throughout Greece and the Near-East, in the image of Cybele, Gaia, Rhea or Demeter. It is not a surprise, according to this reading, that one day she gains for a paredra a male god of smaller importance, “Iasôn”, Jason, whose name is linked to the verb “iaomai” (to heal), to the character of Iasô, a goddess of health daughter of Asklepios, and to the term “iatros”, a doctor, a term still found today with terms such as “psychiatrist” or “pediatrist”.

Up until this point all is good. In the second stage of her evolution, Medea stays a benevolent character, but the goddess leaves the context of religion (and thus a static and synchronic state) to enter a “chronical” state, the one of a tale inscribed in time, the one of the legend and the myth. She becomes a helper, an auxiliary, who helps the hero to perform what seems to be impossible deeds. Thanks to her, Jason dominates the fire-breathing bulls, kills the giants born out of the ground, becomes the owner of the Golden Fleece, escapes Aietes’ ships. According to Hesiode, it is thanks to her, thanks to his new wife, thanks to the “virgin with glittering eyes” that Jason could return to Iolkos safe and happy. Still according to Hesiode, once back to Jason’s homeland she gave him a son, Medeios, who was raised by Chiron in the mountains ; and all of this was part “of the plan of the Great Zeus”. Reading these lines, one can hear the ending of a fairytale: “They married, had many children, and lived happily ever after”. With the slight nuance that Hesiod claims they only had one son.

Things however were already starting to look dark. Because in this tale, we recognize a folkloric motif: the hero of the folktales must triumph of the traps laid before him with the help of a princess. However this theme is deeply linked to another fairytale motif: “the hero is helped by the devil’s daughter”. Aietes, indeed, is a being of the Otherworld. He is the master of Aia, “the land”, a nameless land, located far away in the East, and which can only be reached by crossing the unpassable rocks, the Symplegades, similar to the doors of Hades. The difference between the myth of Jason and the fairytales is that, in folklore, the devil’s daughter usually stays with her father. The terrible mistake of Jason, or rather his respect of the deal he formed with Medea (the idea of Jason’s perjury only comes in later evolutions), leads to him bringing her into the world of humankind, where she does not belong, and where she can only cause blood and death. Pindar depicts, in his fourth Pythic, a blond-haired Jason filled with male confidence who accepts the terrible trials imposed by Pelias the usurper, and who leads gloriously the Argonauts expedition towards the Golden Fleece – but if Pindar presents us a beautiful and positive picture, in truth, already by 462 BCE, the myth of Jason and Medea is blood-stained.

II/ The infanticide

The determining element that shifted the glorious myth to the abominable tragedy is the theme of the infanticide. It appears with the epic poet Eumelos (8th or 7th century BCE) where Medea kills by accident her children in an attempt to give them immortality, by burying them in the sanctuary of Hera (the katakryptia process). But she fails, just like Thetis failed to give immortality to her son Achilles: the children die smothered alive. Medea has good intentions, but commits a bad action. Then, with the epic poet Creophylos (third quarter of the 6th century BCE), Medea is falsely accused by the Corinthians of killing her children, because they want to get revenge on her for the murders of king Creon and the princess Creusa/Glauke. Finally, it is Euripides, in 431, who synthetizes the two versions: he is the first to write that Medea actually and willingly killed her children.

As soon, the new image of Medea is set and fixed: she is a killer of men. She killed her brother Apsyrtos, that she stabbed before cutting him into pieces and throwing them in the sea, to slow down the Colchian pursuers. She killed the father, since he received an oracle telling him he would die by losing the Golden Fleece (according to Diodorus, he died during a night battle between the Colchians and the Argonauts). She killed Pelias, the uncle of her husband, manipulating his daughters into slitting his throat in the hope of bringing him back to life in a magic cauldron. She killed the king of Corinth, Creon, who was guilty of trying to marry Jason to his daughter, and to exile Medea. She killed her children, all boys – and this is the most famous part of her myth. She killed her husband, that she convinces to sleep by the shadow of the Argo, which was rotting on the sand: a piece of it falls and crushed his head. Finally, she is the killer of Perses, Aietes’ brother, who had usurped Colchis’ throne. Only Theseus managed to escape death at her hands in Athens.

III/ From one myth to another

Euripides is thus the one who completely shifted the myth and turned Medea into this beautiful and dangerous character that imposed herself in literature. By showing, at the end of his play, Medea flying away of the palace on a dragon-tied chariot sent by her grandfather Helios, he gives her back the supernatural nature she had lost by being turned into the princess of Colchis. But the benevolent goddess has been turned into an elemental power, monstrous and maleficent. According to Seneca, the name “Medea” is linked to other words in “m”: “mare” (the sea), “metus” (dread), “malum” (evil), “monstrum” (monster), “Medusa” (the Gorgon). She is also the “mater”, the mother, but a mother who kills her children. The summit of this nefarious power is reached with Dracontius, at the end of the 5th century CE, who tells of how Medea manages to “remove the horns of the full moon”, an immense feat of magic never repeated to this day. Considering this, it is quite surprising to see that Medea now ends her career as the mere wife of Achilles (alongside Helen, Iphigenia, and Polyxene) in either the Elysian Fields or the Blessed Islands. This part of the legend appeared with Ibycos, in the second half of the 6th century BCE, before being repeated by Simonide (556-467 BCE) and finally by Lycophron, an “antiquarian”, that is to say a mythographer who collected the older and more ancient versions of legends, those of a time when Medea was a benevolent entity.

We already saw two of the reasons that explain why Medea the generous goddess becomes the bloodthirsty monster: first, the introduction of a being of the Otherworld into the human world that is the Greek civilization ; second, the evolution of the motif of the infanticide. But there are three other important elements to take into account. First of all being her relationship with Thessaly: Medea is linked to this country through Jason, who is born in Thessaly, and through the city of Ephyra. The Thessalian land was considered to be the country of witches: the Latin poets and writers always had the word “witch” or “sorceress” be followed by the adjective “Thessalian”, and the connotations of witchcraft were almost always negative.

The second element to take into account is Medea’s relationship with the Orient, which also brings us back to witchcraft and magic. It is from the East that Helios rises every day on his chariot, on his journey to the West, and Helios has among his descendants many witches, such as Circe, Pasiphae… or Medea. But above all, the Orient is characterized by cunning, cruelty and barbary, all traits that Medea bears when she tricks the daughters of Pelias, when she lies to Creon and Jason, when she kills and disembowels, when she had the Corinthian princess die in atrocious pain through a drug that burns her like acid. The Barbarian is the invader, like the Medes who had invaded Greece (and whose name was linked to the one of Medea): this is why all the iconographic depictions posterior to 480 BCE (the battle of Salamine) show Theseus the Greek fighting against Medea the Mede.

The third reason for this change of good to evil is that, at least since Euripides, Medea is perceived as a “virile woman”: in a Greek society dominated by men, such a masculine woman is to be a monster. Euripides has her use constantly a military language: she prefers to be “three times on the line, three times with the shield by her side” rather than to “give birth one more time” ; she wants to “do like hoplits”, she wants to use a word, to use strength, she keeps talking about her enemies and her glory. The Athenian, who typically locks up his woman in the gynecea, can’t stand such words.

IV/ Terror and pity

Yet, Euripides is a much too talented of a playwright to create just a melodrama character. He uses the two tools of the tragedy, terror and pity. Medea is also the poor young woman abandoned by the one who seduced her, she is alone, far away from her family, of which she cut herself off due to her actions. She is the bronze-skinned foreigner that is disdained and dreaded, and as such she is the perfect scapegoat. She is a being of flesh torn by conflicting feelings, her hatred for Jason, and her love for her children ; children that she turns into tools for her revenge against her cowardly and unfaithful husband, while perfectly knowing that the crime she is about to commit will break not just Jason’s heart, but also her own. This duality is still maintained centuries after Euripides. Most authors of Antiquity (Ovid, Seneca, Dracontius) put a focus on the violence and monstrosity of the character – outside of a few, such as Apollonios of Rhodes or Valerius Flaccus, who rather focus on the birth of Jason’s and Medea’s love. However, modern and contemporary authors are much more nuanced: as such Cherubini, Lamartine, Grillparzer and Legouvé focus on the duality of Medea, putting at the center of their work the idea of this dark-skinned foreigner who is both dreaded and rejected. The picture of Medea as the gypsy woman is central in the works of Anouilh, Max Rouquette and Christa Wolf, who all stay faithful to the themes of the pharmakos and of the scape-goat, already present by Euripides’ work.

[a-d-nox]

jason, the unconventional hero (asteroid 6063)

"when talking about such a popular god/ goddess/hero i am going to for warn paraphrasing - of course all these stories have more details and all these popular gods have stories within stories. i would love to share them all/in detail but i would need a book and a lot more time to write it. my attempt in writing these posts are to inform you on the high level story of the god’s or goddess’s life. that being said if any one of the events regaled in the post pique you interest - please let me know i don’t mind giving a more in-depth tale of any of the events mentioned."

Son of King Aeson and leader of the Argonauts, Jason was sent away at a young age before he was more than just a boy prince. His uncle seized the land his father ruled - his father sent Chiron to raise him due to this. When he returned to his homeland as a young man, he came upon an old woman near a river who asked him to help her cross it. Jason took the woman across on his shoulders - this woman was Hera, who his uncle allegedly had been neglecting to worship. Hera inspired the boy to see his uncle. Pelias immediately felt mortified as he noted Jason was missing a sandal - for years he worried that someone would challenge him. So, in those years, he visited with an oracle who told him that he should be wary of a man with only one sandal. He immediately feared his nephew was there to steal his throne - so he questioned Jason about what he would do if someone challenged his reign. Jason answered as that he would send them on a quest for the Golden Fleece - these words were spoken by Jason but were guided by Hera once more. Pelias told him that is what Jason would have to do to prove he was the rightful king of the land. Jason was off to start readying himself for the journey - with Athena's guidance, he found the shipbuilder Argus who crafted Jason's ship, the Argo. He then recruited the Argonauts: Heracles, Castor, Pollux, Meleager, Orpheus, Peleus, and Telamon. Jason and the Argonauts traveled to islands made up of cursed women, six-armed men, Amazons, etc. Eventually he received the fleece with the help of the enchantress Medea (this part of the story, I have told - I will leave it to her post because, let's face it, she did basically all the work). The two fled together under near constant chase of her family - until eventually they found that if they were married they would have no right to chase after her. The two married; as we know from her side of the myth their relationship is an odd one. She tricks his cousins into killing their father King Pelias, his cousin kicks him out, Jason remarries - not really because Medea burns her in her wedding gown, Medea kills their children, etc. Unsurprisingly, Jason is abandoned by the gods because of his disloyalty to Medea and their shared vows. Jason then lives out the rest of his days alone - ironically, the rotting Argo collapses on him and Jason dies from a crush wound in his sleep. IN MY OPINION Jason in your chart can represent a) how you can improve your leadership skills, b) where you are a pawn in karma's game, c) where the gods guide you, d) where you get a lot of help from others, and/or e) how/where your break vows.

i encourage you to look into the aspects of jason along with the sign, degree, and house placement. for the more advanced astrologers, take a look at the persona chart of jason AND/OR add the other characters involved to see how they support or impede jason!

OTHER RELATED ASTEROIDS: hera (103), heracles (5143), athene (881), pallas (2), orpheus (3361), chiron (2060), peleus (11311), telamon (1749), and medea (212)!

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[stuffedwriting]

Love blinded fools

On the plains of Attica Medea wanders in search of a new refuge, as she walks a familiar voice fills her mind, “Here you are again, another exile, another attempted murder, I pity you, yet I do not know why, I should hate you more than any other”

Medea replied to what seemed to be her own thoughts “I do not need your pity, I do not regret my choices… Jason.”

A mist wisped in front of her sight, it seemed to come from her own head or right above it, the cloud changed into a humanoid form before gaining the detail of her lover. His body was semi transparent, it was obvious to Medea that this was not him but his spirit.

Medea addressed the specter “What do you want from me? Have you come to take revenge?”

The figure responded “That was my initial plan but I discovered that because of our oaths our souls are chained together, if I were to kill you they would be separated and I would be sent to Tartarus, now to avoid that fate I will keep you alive and protect you from harm.”

Medea smirked, “Is that so?” She chuckled, “That’s your revenge? My dear betrothed always keeping me safe?”

Jason became flustered “Do not mock me vile woman! I will make your pain endless! You will watch all you know fall as you out live all!”

Medea’s grin grew as she spoke “Oh woe is me, what a terrible fate, I’m so sorry for ruining your life after you ruined mine!”

Jason’s blush grew “I can sense your sarcasm, witch! I have no other choice but to do this! I will have my revenge and have you suffer as I have!”

Medea replied “It would seem you are in a worse place than I, tell me son of Aeson, why does your face become red as it did during the times when you thought me your lover? Does some drop of affection still lie in your heart?”

Jason looked away to hide his face from her gaze, “Do not be so coy, I despise you, my face does not become red with love, it is rage!”

Medea grabbed his chin with her fingers and forced him to look into her golden eyes, she spoke with a soft almost flirty voice “I do not believe you, you said yourself you cannot bring yourself to hate me, you want to protect me again because it makes you feel good.” She put on a fake cute voice “Jason my dear savior, you took me away from my barbarian homeland and to beautiful Greece, I thank you my handsome, hero, husband!” Her voice returned to its softness “Is that what you wanted to hear? Did you want me to praise you?”

Jason was too flustered to speak, she was in complete control of him with nothing but her words.

Medea leaned in to whisper in his ear “Do you still love me?”

Jason’s body felt like it was on fire, he whimpered out a response ���Yes, I do. I… missed being your hero.”

Medea kissed him and he returned it, whispering to him again after she pulled away. “There’s my hero, I love you too, now that you’re bound to me you can never leave my side for another woman.”

Jason whispered back smiling sheepishly, “I like that, I never want to leave you again, forgive me for what I’ve done, I’m yours.”

She placed her hand on his face and rubbed his cheek with her thumb, he melted at her touch. They smiled into each other’s eyes.

[magpigment]

list of names i use to pick character names!

i scoured several baby names sites years ago and i still use this list to this day if i’m stumped on what to name a character of mine! figured i might as well post it since it might help someone else! feel free to add on ^^

https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/50-baby-names-that-means-healer-for-girls-and-boys/ (boys?? ig??) Aeson Before Jason, it was Aeson. This variation of name had commanded the hearts and minds of the warriors. Aeson means ‘healer’. Alaunus Alaunus is the name Sun God in Gaulish. It also means prediction, and revenge, which also happens to be related to the Greek god named Apollo. The name Alaunus signifies ‘brightness’. Asa A simple, sober, and scriptural name, Asa, means ‘expert, healer, or an individual born in the morning sun’. This is a uni-sexual name, that sounds equally good on females. Galen Galen is the name of a second-century physician who developed the basis of medicine. Galen means ‘quiet or healer’. Helem Helem, an Israeli word, signifying ‘to dream or to heal’. This name is slowly losing its existence, however if you like sound of it, you can definitely pick it up for your boy. Jayr Jayr, which means ‘healer’, has been used in America since the founding of the provinces, all thanks to the Puritans. Despite being an old name, its a rarely used one. (girls?? ig??) Airmed The name Airmed comes from the Irish mythology. A woman named Airmed was known for her ability to heal people during battle. There goes a folklore that healing herbs sprouted from her tears and healed the body of the injured. Althea This sentimental and ethereal name comes from the Greek folklore and has a peaceful ring to it. Althea implies healing power. Amethyst Amethyst has been utilized in healing and enchantment since time immemorial. As Amethyst is a birthstone from February, it would be best utilized for a young lady from February. Emma Emma, the generally acclaimed name, has numerous takers everywhere throughout the world. So no big surprise individuals decipher it unexpectedly. While its most regular meanings are ‘widespread, complete or whole’, in Teutonic, Emma signifies ‘healer of the universe’. Leigh Leigh has several meanings. In Celtic, Leigh signifies ‘healer’. This name can likewise be spelled as Leigha. It is a unisex name. Reselda Reselda, an enchanting Latin American name, which means healer, is getting a charge out of moderate degrees of utilization in European nations. Sirona The name Sirona belongs to the Celtic healing goddess. In the eastern Gaul, the figure of Sirona appears in carvings near the German sulfur springs. Even its temples are built near the thermal springs and healing wells.

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Gothic_Baby_Names Arachne (girl) - Young woman who challenged Athena and was turned into a spider Balor (boy) - One-eyed giant in Irish mythology Griffin/Gryphon (boy) - Mythological beast with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle Isolde (girl) - tragic Irish heroine Moon (unisex) - ancient symbol of fertility (last names) Addams - from the famous show The Addams Family Bara - a noted femme fatale from the 1910s Baudelaire - French poet famous poet from Gothic period in literature Gorey - artist who has a goth aesthetic Mortem - after fashion design Rose Mortem who is married to Goth band frontman from The Awakening Stoker - last name of the writer of Dracula (dark sounding names) Akeldama (boy) - field of blood; where Judas Iscariot committed suicide Dade (boy) - dark one Draven (m) - Child of the shadows Leila (girl) - Arabic for night Mara (girl) - a maleficent female wraith in Scandinavian folklore that causes nightmares Shadow (unisex) - black Shiva (boy) - God of destruction (creepy) Avarice (girl) - greed Badriyah (girl) - full moon Golgotha (unisex) - Hebrew for skull Melancholia (girl) - a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition Morte (boy) - French for dead Thorne (unisex) - sharp Vladimir (boy) - alleged vampire Wolfe (boy) - deadly beast (creative gothic names) Ascelin (unisex) - of the moon Aelfwif (boy) - Germanic word for elf + battle or war Alaric (boy) - first king of the Visigoths; means all-powerful ruler Clove (girl) - spice Draconia (girl) - dire Druscilla (girl) - it sounds dark but actually means fruitful Dyrk (boy) - one who admires nighttime Mallory (girl) - cursed or ill-fated one Perdita (girl) - lost in Spanish Quillon (boy) - sword Twilight (girl) - dusk Vespers (unisex) - Catholic evening prayers Xander (boy) - vampire hunter from the television show, Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (nature) Ash (boy) - what's left after a fire Belladonna (girl) - poisonous plant with purple flowers Branwen (boy) - Bran is a Celtic word for crow Briar (boy) - a thorn Chrysanthemum (girl) - flower associated with death in Japan and some European countries Foxglove (girl) - a beautiful but poisonous flower Hellebore (girl) - flower that blooms through the snow in the middle of winter Hemlock (unisex) - poison Socrates took to commit suicide Merula (boy) - Latin for blackbird Oleander (unisex) - a beautiful but poisonous plant Onyx (unisex) - stone that is pitch black Raven (girl) - bird often associated with death Sage (unisex) - a spice Willow (girl) - weeping tree; symbol of death (books) Basil - from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Desdemona (girl) - tragic Shakespearean heroine Grendel (boy) - name of the beast from Beowulf Eulalie (girl) - figure from Edgar Allen Poe poem Manfred (boy) - the lord in The Castle of Otranto, a gothic novel by Horace Walpole Nimue (girl) - an Arthurian sorceress Tempest (unisex) - as in by Shakespeare

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/celestial-boy-names-related-space-astronomy (galaxy) Baade - last name Burbidge - last name Cygnus - swan Fath - conquest Fornax - furnace Helix - spiral ornament Leo - lion Phoenix - dark red Reinmuth - counsel mind Serpens - the serpent Virgo - young (planet, moon, satelite) Atlas - moon of Saturn; name of a Greek titan who held the heavens on his shoulders Hyperion - moon of Saturn; named for a Greek titan Jovian - name of the system that includes Jupiter, its rings, and its moons Mars - planet name representing the Roman god of war because the planet is red Mond - German word for "moon" Oberon - moon of Uranus; named after the king of the fairies in a Shakespeare play Phobos - one of Mars' moons named after a horse who pulled Roman god Mars' chariot (star and constellation) Alnair - the bright one Aquila - the eagle; constellation Azmidi - unknown Celaeno - the dark one Chertan - two small ribs Dorado - the swordfish; constellation Elgafar - the forgiver Felis - cat Hydrus - the male water snake; constellation Wurren - little fish (astronomers) Asaph (Hall) - discovered the moons of Mars Edwin (Hubble) - American astronomer who created a galaxy classification system Kepler (Johannes) - determined planets traveled around the sun in ellipses Sagan (Carl) - American astronomer who helped popularize astronomy (astronomy terms) Albedo - ratio of reflected light Aphelion - the point where a celestial body is furthest from the sun while orbiting Barlow - type of lens for a telescope Blazar - type of active galaxy Comet - ball of ice and debris orbiting the sun Dob - short for Dobsonian; type of reflector for a telescope Equinox - when day and night are of equal length Phoenix or Phoena (The magical fire bird in Greek mythology. In Greek, Phoenix means "rising bird" and Phoena means "mystical bird" or "purple.") Gibbous - when the moon appears more than half illuminated Meridian - imaginary north-south line Mak - nickname for the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope Zodiac - set of constellations

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/137-magical-girl-names Althea (Greek for "with healing power) Andromeda (In Greek mythology, she became a star. The name means "advising like a man.) Diana (Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon who is often associated with witchcraft and Wiccans. The word means "divine" in Latin.). Holly (English word for a type of plant, the name is often associated with Wicca.) Iris (Greek for "rainbow" and also the name of a flower. Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow.) (fairy) Aine (Irish name that means "brightness or splendor." In Celtic folklore, Aine was the queen of the Munster fairies and a goddess of the summer.) Asteria (Greek for "star." She was the goddess of justice. Also known as the "crying fairy.") Calliope (Greek for "beautiful voice.") Devas (Persian/Greek fairies that live in nature and appear as small balls of light, like fireflies.) Mab (Irish for "baby." In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Mab is the queen of the fairies.) Selkie (In Scottish mythology, Selkie is a name for fairies which means "seal folk" as they had the ability to change into seals and human form at will.) Titania (Greek for "great one" or "giant." Titania was the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.) (dark fairy) Agatha (Greek for "good woman." Agatha Harkness is a witch in Marvel comics.) Belinda (German/Spanish word for "pretty one" or "serpent" or "beautiful snake." A goddess of heaven and earth in Babylonian mythology." Ceridwen (Welsh for "beautiful as a poem." A Celtic goddess of poetry and a sorceress in Welsh folklore.) Dahlia (Swedish origin, the name for a flower. A dark witch character in the television show The Originals.) Eris (Greek goddess of discord and strife and a witch in the Maleficent Disney movie.) Koko or Kohko (Algonquin name that means "the night.") Lamia (Evil witch in the book and movie Stardust. A Lamia was a snake with the head and breasts of a human female in Greek mythology.) Melinoë (In Greek mythology, a nymph associated with nightmares and mental illness as well as the moon. She is associated with wearing the color yellow.) Opal (A dark pixie character in the Artemis Fowl series. The word comes from the Sanskrit and is a type of gem.) Tanith (A Phoenician goddess of the moon. Tanith Lee is an acclaimed dark fantasy author.)

(elven) Amberle (Elven princess character from the Shannara series.) Elanor (A Sindarin name that means "sun star.") Siofra (An Irish name that means "fairy" or "elf.") Vila (In Slavic mythology, a type of winged elven race that are beautiful and live in the clouds.) Willow (English origin. A type of tree and also a witch in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) (witch) Alcina (Greek for "strong willed." A witch from Greek mythology and also an opera by Handel.) Aradia (The "first witch" from the Wiccan work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.) Aurora (Goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology and also the name of Sleeping Beauty in the Disney movies.) Circe (Geek for "bird." Circe was a witch in Greek mythology.) Cirilla or Ciri (A pale-haired sorceress from The Witcher books, video games and television show.) Fleur (French for "flower." Fleur Delacour is a French witch in the Harry Potter series.) Lilith (Asyrrian word for "ghost." Lilith was Adam's first wife in Hebrew mythology who became a demon.) Merlinne or Merlynne (Welsh for "sea fortress." A feminine version of Merlin, the wizard in the story of King Arthur.) Minerva (Latin for "of the mind; intellect." Minerva McGonagall is a witch in the Harry Potter series.) Sabrina (A name of Celtic origin that means "white rose." Also a famous teenage witch on television.) Sadira (Persian for "lotus tree." Sadira is a sand witch in the Aladdin Disney television show.) (mystical) Aisling (Irish name that means "dream or vision.") Amitola (A Native American name that means "rainbow.") Ariadne (A Greek goddess of fertility.) Avalon (The mystical "isle of apples" in Celtic and Arthurian legend.) Celeste or Celestia (Latin for "heavenly.") Epiphany (Greek word that means "revelation" or "revelation of a divine being.") Kachine or Kachina (A "sacred dancer" or "dancing spirit" in southwestern Native American cultures.) Luna (Italian for "moon." Luna was a Roman goddess of the moon.) Maia (Greek for "mother." Maia was the goddess of spring and "mother earth" in Roman mythology.) Merope (Greek for a bird that eats bees. In Greek mythology, one of the seven Pleiades, a group of nymphs who were turned into stars by Zeus. Also Voldemort's mother in the Harry Potter series.) Nokomis or Nakomis (Chippewa name for the daughter or grandmother of the moon.) Seraphina or Serafina (Hebrew for "fiery," Seraphina is based on the seraphim which are angels in Judaism and Christianity. Serafina Pekkala is a witch in the His Dark Materials series.) Ulloriaq (A Native American name that means "star like.") Zorya, Zora or Zarya (A pair of goddesses in Slavic mythology who are the morning star and evening star.)

(mermaid) Acantha (Greek for "thorn." A nymph in Greek mythology). Asrai (A fairy that lives in seas and lakes in English legends. They are associated with the moonlight.) Asterope (A Greek word for "starry face." She was a nymph in Greek mythology.) Clio (Greek for "glory." Cleo was a sea nymph in Greek mythology.) Daphne (Greek for "laurel tree." Daphne was a nymph in Greek mythology.) Kailani or Kailee (Hawaiian for "sea and sky.") Larissa (Greek for "citadel." A nymph in Greek mythology and the name of one of Neptune's moons.) Lorelei (In German folklore, Lorelei was a mermaid who lured sailors to their death in the Rhine River.) Melia (Greek name that means "work." Melia was a nymph in Greek mythology and the daughter of Oceanus.) Narice or Nerissa (Greek for "from the sea." Niamh, Neve, Nieve or Neave (Gaelic for "bright." In Irish folklore, Niamh was the daughter of the sea god.) Ondine (Latin for "little wave." Ondie was a nymph and water spirit in German folklore.) Sereia (Portuguese name that means "mermaid.")

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/47-rare-boy-names-that-are-unexpectedly-cool Aero (air-oh) - air Axton - swordsman's stone Asar (ah-sar) - unknown; Greek form of Osiris, God of the Dead Benno - bear Brage (brah-gee)- first Druid (droo-ihd) - strong seer; Ancient Celtic priest or magician Enos (ay-nohss)- man or mortal Kalix - most beautiful Omri (om-ree) - my sheaf Orvar - arrow Osten - stone island Rodion (roh-dee-on) - song of the hero Scion (si-on)- descendent Taft - building site Torin - chief Yudel (yoo-dehl) - praise Zoar (zor) - light or brilliance (Extraordinary and Rare Long Names for Boys) Alderic (ahl-day-reek) - old ruler Benesh - blessed Caishen (ki-shen) - god of wealth Coleman - dove Jacobus (juh-koh-bus) - supplanter Janeiro (juh-nayr-oh) - January Ledger - tribe spear Raiden - thunder and lightning Taranis (tuh-ran-iss) - thunder Tristram (trihss-trum) - riot Whittaker (wit-uh-ker) - white field Yorick - farmer Zhubin (zoo-bihn) - spear-like

(elemental) Aidan (Gaelic) - fire element; fiery Ethereal (English) - air element; extremely delicate Garnet (Middle English) - earth element; dark red gemstone Gale (Middle English) - air element; jovial Rain (American) - water element; abundant blessings River (Latin) - water element; flowing body of water Sky (Old Norse) - air element; cloud Zephyr (Greek) - air element; west wind https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/graceful-tree-names-girls Apple Ash Aspen Catalpa Cherry Hazel Holly Juniper Laurel Madrone Magnolia Myrtle Poplar Willow Yew (scientific tree inspired) Balsamea - Abies balsamea, or balsam fir Betula - Betula lenta, or black birch Carya - Carya ovata, or shagbark hickory Castanea - Castanea dentata, or American chestnut Celtis - Celtis occidentalis, or common hackberry Cercis - Cercis canadensis, or redbud Gleditsia - Gleditsia triacanthos, or honey locust Ostrya - Ostrya virginiana, or American hophornbean Swietenia - Swietenia mahogoni, or mahogany Taeda - Pinus taeda, or loblolly pine Tilia - Tilia Americana, or American Basswood

(unique/cool) Baylisiana - there is only one Pennantia baylisiana, or Three Kings Kaikomako, left in New Zealand Dentelle - there are only two Bois dentelle, or Lace Wood trees, left in Mauritius Erythrina - coral tree, or Erythrina schliebenii, found in Tanzania Kaikomako - also inspired by the Pennantia baylisiana (Three Kings Kaikomako) in New Zealand Mpingo - African blackwood tree with a purplish hue Pennantia - also inspired by New Zealand's Pennantia baylisiana (Three Kings Kaikomako) Socotra - Socotra dragon tree, also known as Dragon Blood tree, found in Yemen (rare) Auxin - hormones in trees that stimulate cell growth Cambium - the growing part of the tree trunk Chi (Vietnamese) - branch Clematis (English) - twig Crown - the upper part of the tree with the branches Dalia (Hebrew) - hanging branch Lignin - a strong, natural chemical glue that holds the central heartwood of a tree together Ritva (Finnish) - birch branch Verbena - leaves, twigs (meaning tree) Alani (Hawaiian) - orange tree Anargul (Kazakh) - blooming pomegranate tree Ashley (English) - ash tree clearing Björk (Icelandic) - birch tree Eglė (Lithuanian) - spruce tree Elowen (Cornish) - elm tree Fidan (Turkish) - sapling Hadas (Hebrew) - myrtle tree Hadassah (Biblical) - myrtle tree Hollis (English) - holly trees Iva (Slavic) - willow tree Jela (Serbian) - fir tree Kalina (Polish) - viburnum tree Kiri (Maori) - skin of a tree Liepa (Lithuanian) - linden tree Lina (Arabic) - palm tree Lovorka (Croatian) - laurel tree Melia (Greek) - ash tree Moriko (Japanese) - forest child Oihana (Basque) - forest Ornella (Italian) - flowering ash tree Pomona (Roman) - fruit tree Randa (Arabic) - scented tree Taimi (Finnish) - young tree

if anyone has more they’d like to add feel free!

[darabeatha]

@ardenssolis​​ replied ; Amg you know -- the last image with Jason looks like wings

   / U KNOW WHAT- I absolutely did not notice that- and now that u mention it, i can’t unsee it ! so i’ll proceed to now overthink about it and give some sort of semblance for a meaning behind it (which holds no spoilers bc i myself have not read through this l.b yet) BUT BASICALLY IM THINKING;; wings and 2 possible symbolisms I could tie with Jason and why the spilled blood could have taken the shape of wings;

1. Golden-woolled winged ram;  the initial gist over why Jason embarks on this big adventure starts bc Jason’s uncle (Pelias) killed Jason’s dad (Aeson) and usurped the throne (that originally belonged to Jason’s dad and therefore makes Jason the heir of it) but Pelias will only surrender his kingship to Jason if he retrieves this special fleece from a golden-woolled winged ram called chrysomallos, who’s wool ends up in Medea’s father’ (Aeetes) hands. Many depictions show it as simply a golden-woolled ram (like the statue of Medea down below) but he has wings!

2. Athena;  some sources differ on this but it happens to be that whoever ends up planning/constructing the Argo (Jason’s ship) receives the help and/or is made with the help of Athena; Athena in the third book of the Odyssey takes the form of a sea-eagle and is said that on early times presented herself as either an owl or as a bird goddess in general, so once again, the topic of wings pops in (also a curious thing i read; some aspects of the cult of Athena seem to have been influenced by other goddesses such as Ishtar and Anat, whom both carry the symbolism of wings). Without Athena’s help, there would be no Argo, so she is of vital importance indeed !

something else that popped inside my mind (3?). Something about Jason’s hair looking like the color of gold and the color of the winged ram's wool’s being gold;  something about how the fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship; how despite him being the rightful heir to the throne, it would be bringing this fleece to Pelias what would would serve to actually prove that he is worthy of being a king,,, something along those lines,, i’m sure that with some further cooking, there would be something taken from this -nods-

[nashali-mga2023mi5019]

Hebe goddess of youth Cupbearer to the Gods (potential topic for the green hat)

In a way, one can argue that hebe is a solution for aging and her chalice is a method of restoring youth… so like green hat let's go!!!!

Hebe (meaning "youth" or "bloom of youth") is the goddess and personification of eternal youth in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera and the wife of the Greek hero Hercules. Hebe serves as the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, and she has the gift of restoring youth to mortals.

HEBE SERVED THE DEITIES OF MOUNT OLYMPUS WITH WINE, NECTAR & AMBROSIA IN GOLDEN GOBLETS.

Although Hebe was the daughter of the king and queen of the gods, she was given the role of cupbearer to the immortals. Her role is in line with ancient patriarchal customs, where the females in the home assisted with serving guests. She served the deities of Mount Olympus with wine, nectar, and ambrosia in golden goblets. In the Iliad, Homer mentions that Hebe served wine to the gods as they watched the battle between Menelaus and Paris.

Hebe's time as cupbearer to the gods came to an end after she experienced a moment of ungracefulness and slipped while serving the gods. Zeus immediately dismissed her from her role and replaced her with the Trojan youth Ganymede, considered the most beautiful mortal by Zeus. Naturally, Hera was angered by her daughter's dismissal and her husband's affection for Ganymede. Annoyed by her anger, Zeus only continued to show his love for the youth by setting Ganymede's image among the stars as Aquarius, the water-bearer.

Other sources state that Hebe stopped being the cupbearer to the gods when she married Hercules. Early on, Hebe was known as Ganymeda, which suggests that this deity was split into two – the male Ganymede, who carried on the job of cupbearer to the gods, while Hebe became a wife to Hercules and a mother to their two sons.

AS THE GODDESS OF YOUTH, HEBE HAD THE POWER TO RESTORE YOUTH TO MORTALS.

As the goddess of youth, Hebe had the power to restore youth to mortals. The ancient Greeks viewed her as being brave and generous. Philostratus of Lemnos (190-230 CE) writes that Hebe was the youngest of the gods and the most loved. According to him, Hebe is the reason why the Olympian gods are eternally young. Hebe's power is touched on in a few myths, which are retold in Ovid's (43 BCE to 17 CE) Metamorphoses.

The Greek hero Jason pleaded with his sorceress wife, Medea, to take years off his life and give them to his ailing, elderly father, Aeson, so that he may live longer. Medea refused to do this, not able to face taking years off her husband's life. Instead, she told Jason that she would ask Hecate for help. Medea and her dragons roamed the Earth for nine days, collecting herbs of renewal. She built two altars of green turf, one dedicated to Hecate and the other dedicated to Hebe. She invoked the sorceress and goddess of youth for help. Sure enough, with their help, Medea was able to restore Aeson's youth.

Hercules asked his wife to bestow the gift of youth to his dear friend and nephew, Iolaus, so he could take revenge on King Eurystheus for the hardship he had put Hercules, Iolaus, and their families through. Hebe agreed and gave Iolaus his youth back, but then swore that she would never use her gift on anyone else. However, Themis, the goddess of justice and divine law, stopped her from making that promise and reminded her of the Theban civil war taking place.

Themis prophecized that Callirhoe, daughter of the river god Achelous, would beg for Zeus to add the years that Iolaus had lost to her own young sons so that they could avenge their father. Hebe's gift would therefore be granted through Zeus' intervention. The gods were not happy that others would be given the gift of youth, and each one put forward someone they had in mind to receive Hebe's gift.

[alchemisland]

Sharp

Your love is like a needle

Source of addiction and depredation, depraved about you

Paved about you pathways to varieties of demises

The miser Mike has become stranger

Your love now something needful

Essential affection, by conviction a conniver I will court and don your attentions

Your abstention from me abhorrent, seedless like an old torrent my barren ballsack

My poems thrive like flies on overripe fruit, rotting on the bough

Eve of battle on deck near the bow rutting sailors, gums sails gusted cheeks and empty scabbards flapping

That you know that I know that you know makes us evil

Printing our deceitful spirals, circling like forest rivals though together thriving

Flimsy centres, nature of bond to splinter, nature of suture to sunder, strength to surrender

Partners are for dancing, any more spoils the broth, where stood His brother when Rome’s raising finally ended?

Your love is like a needle

Hates me and when I grow deflates me

Embraces me lovingly but despising sizes me up for coffin

Bullhorn like Helm Hammerhand’s redresses my routed ranks

Pretending I don’t own you, both of us; scenes seen before Iolcus at Thessaly

I would die before being killed, Aeson father of Jason recognize his Pelias.

Your love needles me

Ensures whatever I do is wrong.

[grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales]

Ah Atalanta is warrior and I love her very much, but honestly I think she is holding herself incredibly well given the opponent because opposition is pretty much, well:

Poison Medea used on Glauce started a nightmarish fire that consumed not only Glauce and Creon to the bone, but spread and devoured entire palace and city/kingdom of Corinth. Sometimes fire is described as impossible to put out with water, and behaving like living things, spreading and devouring whatever it finds ( Euripides, Medea; Seneca the Younger, Medea)

Ability to raise dead, specifically she is noted to be able to resurrect dead even younger, stronger, healthier and beautiful than they were in life, as she does with a ram and even her own father-in-law Aeson. This is why Jason's cousins, Pelias's daughters, murder their father, as they think Medea will do same to him (Ovid's Metamorphoses, and several other sources I can't recall now sorry)

As noted above, Medea helps Jason fulfill one task her father sets by making him invulnerable to the fire, which is motif mentioned and presented in pretty much every source mentioning Jason's labors

Sometimes she is described as yoking fiery bulls and controlling, enthralling and putting to the sleep or outright killing Colchian dragon by herself ( Propertius, Elegies; Ovid, Heroides; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History)

Another of guardians of the Golden Fleece is Talos, immortal bronze giant either created as Hephaestus, or last survivor of the mythical Bronze Age that came before Heroic Age of Greek myths and was finished with world flood. While in some versions Medea tricks him in dying with words, in some she either drives him to madness and suicide, or kills him outright, by malevolent magic of evil eye (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica)

She is sometimes attributed incredibly potent powers of summoning other creatures and entities to her assistance. This ranges from summoning hordes of venomous serpents, over monsters such as Hydra and Sirens, and divine chariot pulled by dragons of Helios, to outright calling up chthonic deities such as Keres (goddesses of violent death, sisters of Thanatos and sometimes counterparts to Fates) or invoking Furies (goddesses of retribution and punishment (Euripides, Medea; Seneca the Younger, Medea; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica)

She is also sometimes attributed power to greatly control elements, weather and nature, to the point of disturbing order of seasons and freezing blossoming land in summer, and also creating bountiful harvest within winter ( Seneca the Younger, Medea)

She is very often attributed the famous power of Thessalian witches, to cause eclipse by drawing Moon down to Earth and holding it captive; Medea's powers however are extended to the point that she is said to be capable of commanding and halting the stars too, and even controlling and drawing down and imprisoning the Sun itself (Ovid, Metamorphoses; Ovid, Heroides; Seneca the Younger, Medea; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica)

This last one is very important, as Sun and Moon are gods Selene and Helios, and Medea's magic works by overpowering, binding and compelling the gods themselves, which is even more striking since Helios is her grandfather and thus supposed to be her superior and source of her power.

I love Atalanta though I will be open and admit that Medea is my one and supreme favourite haha; and I do think that Atalanta has advantage of superior physical prowess, but I do think that she is holding out very well when faced with opponent whose abilities include mind control, making people die or commit suicide from distance, resurrection, achieve invulnerability to fire ( and possibly other damages such as stabbing and steel), wide scale weather and element control, binding gods and controlling and moving celestial bodies; without even taking in account Medea's penchant for trickery and cruel violent comebacks, she has deck bit stacked against her.

Of course, given how Atalanta's main requirement for marriage was to have somebody beat her and she does not seem to consider trickery cheating, this may end very well, very passionately.

Sorry if I am bothering with this!

Ancient Woman Thunderdome 2023

FINAL ROUND (Round 6): Atalanta vs. Medea!

The rules: Vote based on who would win in a fight, NOT who you like more. Consider factors such as physical prowess, intelligence or cunning, and magical ability.

If the character has multiple non-godly forms, consider the one you believe to be more powerful. If the character is a goddess for a portion of their life, please only consider their mortal or non-godly form.

The fighters:

Fighter: Atalanta Source(s): Apollodorus's Library, Ovid's Metamorphoses, various other mythological sources Bio: Atalanta was a huntress associated with Artemis. She was a virgin who lived in the wilderness, and at one point killed two centaurs who tried to rape her. She may or may not have sailed and fought with the Argonauts, and defeated Peleus in a wrestling match at Pelias's funeral games. When Artemis sent a boar to Calydon to punish the king for not sacrificing to her, Atalanta joined the hunt and drew first blood. Later, her father found her and tried to get her to marry. Atalanta, knowing she was faster than just about anyone, said she would marry anyone who could beat her in a footrace, but if the suitor lost, he would be killed. Many men were killed, until Hippomenes prayed to Aphrodite and received three golden apples, which he threw to the side during the race to distract her. She did marry him, and, after she bore his child, they were both turned into lions in retaliation for having sex in a sacred area.

Fighter: Medea Source(s): Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, Euripides' Medea, various other mythological sources Bio: Medea was a sorceress from Colchis, where the golden fleece was housed. When Jason arrived in pursuit of the fleece, Hera wanted to help him, so she got Aphrodite to make Medea fall in love with him because she knew Medea had skills that would be useful. Medea did help, in exchange for Jason's hand in marriage: she used her magic and knowledge to protect him through the tasks the king had him complete to get the golden fleece, and then when it turned out the king didn't plan to give Jason the fleece, Medea put the dragon guarding the fleece to sleep while Jason stole it. She then joined Jason and the Argonauts in flight. When the Argo was caught by Medea's half-brother, Apsyrtus, Medea tricked him into a trap so Jason could kill him. When they returned from their voyage, Jason was meant to trade the golden fleece for the king Pelias's throne, but he wouldn't give up the throne; Medea then tricked his daughters into killing him by telling them that if they cut him into pieces, she could bring him back to life. From there, she and Jason fled to Corinth, where they lived for some time before Jason decided he wanted to marry another woman, Glauce, the daughter of the king (Creon). Creon exiled her, and so Medea went to Athens and got Aegeus, the king there, to let her stay. She then called Jason to her, apologized for her reaction to his desire to marry someone else, and asked if her children could give Glauce gifts as an apology. The gifts, a robe and crown, were poisoned, and killed not only Glauce but also Creon when he tried to save her. She then killed both her children in an attempt to hurt Jason.

[robocracker]

and now i’m at the final episode of season 1!

hercules has been getting on my last nerve this entire season, but his speech about how jason shouldn’t sacrifice himself just to die like a hero, and how the 3 of them will save ariadne or die fighting is the absolute best. iconic.

i don’t know his name, but the soldier who comes in pointing a sword at pythagoras only to dramatically reveal where his true loyalties lie is my new favourite minor character

i love the ongoing conflict between pasiphae and the oracle, but god it makes me wish the sister relationship between pasiphae & circe had been explored in like... literally any depth whatsoever, imagine how complex and fascinating it would have been. instead we just have circe wanting pasiphae dead and then getting herself killed. and that’s it.

the bull!! i remember this now and as horrifying as it is, i have to agree with pythagoras, it’s kind of amazing

i really had myself convinced that this show was gonna wait until season 2 to resolve the mystery of jason’s dad, but of course they didn’t do that, and now he knows he’s jason’s dad but jason himself doesn’t even know, and i am not emotionally prepared for the reveal

it’s no surprise whatsoever that heptarian miraculously survived getting stabbed in the chest, but in my AU version of the show he dies right there in the mines, taken down by an unnamed leper. just what he deserves.

no but the fucking DRAMA of it all, imagine going to hunt down your stepdaughter and her interfering friends, you manage to capture her boyfriend, only for your ex-husband of all people to wander out of the trees and tell you that the boy is in fact your son. and then, your current husband who’s supposed to be dying is in fact no longer dying. there’s never a dull day in pasiphae’s life

[hekateanwitchcraft]

An Introduction to Worshipping Medeia

As a Hellenic witch, the worship of Medeia is an important part of my practice. She was a witch and priestess of Hekate, possessing nearly unparalleled knowledge of magic and poisons. I wanted to write this post to give some background on who Medeia is, her role as a witch and a priestess, and how I have come to honor her in my practice.

Who is Medeia?

Parentage

Medeia (Μήδεια) is given mainly two parentages, either Aeetes, son of Helios, and Eidyia, daughter of Oceanus, or Hekate and Aeetes. Hesiod offers us a description of the first, writing:

“To the tireless Sun the renowned Oceanid Perseïs bore Circe and King Aeetes. Aeetes, son of the Sun who makes light for mortals, married by the gods’ design another daughter of Oceanus the unending river, fair-cheeked Idyia; and she bore him the trim-ankled Medea, surrendering in intimacy through golden Aphrodite” (Hesiod 31)

Alternatively, Diodorus names Hekate and Aeetes as her parents, explaining:

“Perses had a daughter, Hecate, and she excelled her father in her brazen lawlessness...She was a keen contriver of mixtures of deadly drugs [pharmaka], and she discovered the so-called aconite. She tested the powers of each drug by mixing it into the food given to strangers...After this she married Aeetes and gave birth to two daughters, Circe and Medea, and also a son Aigialeus” (qtd. in Ogden 78)

Either of these parentages could make sense, but I personally observe the first.

(Art: Medea by Frederick Sandys)

Medeia as the Witch Priestess of Hekate

One of Medeia’s most important roles in literature and myth is that she is a priestess of Hekate and a witch, being called “Medea of the many spells” (Apollonius of Rhodes 109). In most literature there is no way to separate these roles. 

She was extremely devoted to Hekate, Apollonius of Rhodes stating that “as a rule she did not spend her time at home, but was busy all day in the temple of Hecate, of whom she was priestess” (116). Euripides also writes that Medea says “I swear it by her, my mistress, whom most I honor and have chosen as partner, Hecate, who dwells in the recesses of my hearth” (Euripides 13). Clearly, the relationship between her and Hekate was very close, and it was said on occasion that she even learned magic from Hekate, Herself. Apollonius of Rhodes writes that “[t]here is a girl living in Aeetes’ palace whom the goddess Hecate has taught to handle with extraordinary skill all the magic herbs that grow on dry land or in running water” (123). Diodorus also claims this, but adds an interesting addendum that attributes to the character of Medeia:

“They report that Medea learned all the powers of drugs from her mother [Hekate] and her sister [Kirke], but her own inclination was the opposite. For she continually saved the strangers that put in from dangers” (qtd. in Ogden 79)

(Art: Medea the Sorceress by Valentine Cameron Prinsep)

Regardless of the origins of her powers, they were no doubt incredible. Apollonius of Rhodes explains that “she can put out a raging fire, she can stop rivers as they roar in spate, arrest a star, and check the movement of the sacred moon” (123). In one instance Apollonius states that “the beautiful Medea spell through the palace, and for her the very doors responding to her hasty incantations swung open of their own accord...From there she meant to reach the temple. She knew the road well enough, having often roamed in that direction searching for corpses and noxious roots, as witches do” (148). This is clearly an indicator that her powers are incredible, but what is even more awe-inspiring is what Apollonius says happens next:

“Rising from the distant east, the Lady Moon [Selene], Titanian goddess, saw the girl wandering distraught, and in wicked glee said to herself: ’So I am not the only one to go astray for love, I that burn for beautiful Endymion and seek him in the Latmian cave. How many times, when I was bent on love, have you disorbed me with your incantations, making the night moonless so that you may practice your beloved witchcraft undisturbed!” (148).

Medeia is said to be able to actually banish the moon Herself from the sky, an unimaginable feat. This is indicative of the degree of power she possesses, having sway over nature itself.

She is most known to have used her knowledge and powers repeatedly to help Jason, her husband, on his quest for the Golden Fleece. The first instance of this was that she made Jason an ointment which would make him invincible. Apollonius describes this in length, writing that:

“She had twelve maids, young as herself and all unmarried...She called them now and told them to yoke the mules to her carriage at once, as she wished them to drive to the spending Temple of Hecate; and while they were getting the carriage ready she took a magic ointment form her box. This salve was named after Prometheus. A man had only to smear it on his body, after procreating the only-begotten Maiden [Hekate] with a midnight offering, to become invulnerable by sword or fire” (131-2)

He continues, detailing the ritual of how she obtained the plant she used to make this ointment:

“Medea, clothed in black, in the gloom of night, had drawn off this juice in a Caspian shell after bathing in seven perennial streams and calling seven times on Brimo, nurse of youth, Brimo, night-wanderer of the underworld, Queen of the dead. The dark earth shook and rumbled underneath the Titan root when it was cute, and Prometheus himself groaned in the anguish of his soul” (132). 

Here we see a process that is depicted often, the bathing of Medeia and her ritualistic harvesting of herbs. We also see her here call on Brimo (Βριμω), an epithet of Hekate, in Her role as nurse of the young (Kourotrophos/Κουροτρόφος), night-wanderer (Νυκτιπολος/Nyktipolos), of the Underworld (Χθονιη/Kthonia), and Queen of the Dead (Ανασσα ενεροι/Anassa Eneroi), indicating the importance of Hekate to her witchcraft. 

(Art: Jason and Medea by John William Waterhouse)

A similar harvesting of herbs and roots is seen in fragments of Sophocles’ play The Root-Cutters. What we have of the play states that “She [Medea] covers her eyes with her hand and collects up the white-clouded juice that drips from the cut in bronze jars...the covered chests conceal the roots, which this woman reaped, naked, with bronze sickles, while crying out and howling” (qtd. in Ogden 83). Hekate is then said to be “crowned with oak branches and snakes” (qtd. in Ogden 83). Then the women chant “Lord of the sun and holy fire [Helios], sword of Hecate of the roads, which she carries over Olympus as she attends and as she traverses the sacred crossroads of the land, crowned with oak and the woven coils of snakes, falling on her shoulders” (qtd. in Ogden 83). In this short but incredible fragment we see that Medeia calls on both Hekate and Helios, her grandfather, to bless their ritual. We also see a repeat of incantations to harvest magical herbs, and an introduction of her association with bronze. 

Another one of Medea’s feats was charming the snake that guarded the Golden Fleece into a slumber. In the Argonautica, Apollonius of Rhodes writes:

“The monster in his sheath of horny scares rolled forward his interminable coils, like the eddies of black smoke that spring from smoldering logs...But as he writhed he saw the maiden take her stand, and heard her in sweet voices invoking Sleep [Hypnos], the conqueror of the gods, to charm him. She also called on the night-wandering queen of the world below [Hekate] to countenance her efforts...the giant snake, enchanted by her song, was soon relaxing the whole length of his serrated spine and smoothing out his multitudinous undulations...Yet his grim head still hovered over them and the cruel jaws threatened to snap them up. But Medea, chanting a spell, dipped a fresh sprig of juniper in her brew and sprinkled his eyes with her most potent drugs and as the all-pervading magic scent spread around his head, sleep fell on him.” (150-1). 

(Medea and the Dragon by Maxwell Ashby Armfield)

She was also said to have killed the giant Talos, a gift given to Zeus from Hephaistos, with her witchcraft, specifically the Evil Eye. In this more horrifying passage, it is said that:

“[W]ith incantations, she invoked the Sprits of Death [Keres], the swift hounds of Hades who feed on souls and haunt the lower air to pounce on living men. She sank to her knees and called upon them three times in song, three times with spoken prayers. She steeled herself with their malignity and bewitched the eyes of Talos with the evil in her own. She flung at him the full force of her malevolence, and in an ecstasy of rage she plied him with images of death” (Apollonius of Rhodes 192). 

In this passage, she calls on the Keres, and with them is able to use the evil eye to bring immediate death to a direct creation of the gods. This is a horrifying feat, not only for the power it must require, but for her ability to kill in an instant. 

Finally, she also is said to have rejuvenated Jason’s father Aeson. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Jason pleads with Medea to take years of his own life to give more to his father, but she rejects him saying that Hekate will not allow such a thing to take place. Instead, she offers that through her witchcraft, instead, if Hekate is willing to help her, she may rejuvenate him. Under the full moon, Medeia performs the ritual. She calls on Hekate, Night, the Moon, and Helios to aid her in her task (126-7). A chariot drawn by dragons appears to her and she takes it to gather herbs harvested with her bronze scythe. After nine days and nights, she returns to Jason to perform the ritual. The ritual is extensive and is essentially repeated in full. She builds two altars, one to Hecate and one to Hebe. She also digs two ditches on sacrifices a black sheep into the ditches, also pouring wine and milk into them. She also calls on the “deities of the earth” which may mean deities of the land or chthonic deities, and Hades. Once she appeases these gods and goddesses, she spells Aeson to sleep on a bed of herbs and tells Jason to leave her to perform her magic. She then dips sticks into pools of blood and lights them with the flames on the altars, then purifying the man once with fire, three times with water, and three times with sulfur. 

She then adds many herbs, roots, and flowers to her bronze cauldron as well as “hoar frost gathered under the full moon, the wings of the uncanny screech owl with the flesh as well, and the entrails of a werewolf which has the power of changing its wild-beast features into a man’s. There also in the pot is the scaly skin of a slender Cinyphian water-snake, the liver of a long-lived stag, to which she also adds eggs and the head of a crow nine generations old” (Ovid 129). Then, she slits the throat of Aeson and replaced his blood with her potion, finally rejuvenating him. 

There is more descriptions of Medeia’s magical feats throughout literature, but these are simply some of the most detailed and famous. She is clearly a very powerful witch and a significant figure within the history of Hekate worship. With her bronze cauldron and chariot of dragons, she is quite awe-inspiring.

(Art: The Sorceress by R. Willis Maddox)

Medeia’s Character

One of the issues we run into with Medeia’s mythos is her defamation and portrayal as a child-murdering and vengeful woman. She is indeed vengeful against Jason, and rightfully so, for he bade her to leave her homeland, murder her brother, and constantly had her aid him with her witchcraft, only to abandon her for another. However, Euripides’ tale of her brutally murdering her children has some criticisms from scholars who note that there are other versions of the tale. 

One such tale is that from Apollodorus who writes that “Another tradition is that on her flight she left behind her children, who were still infants, setting them as suppliants on the altar of Hera of the Height; but the Corinthians removed them and wounded them to death” (1.9.28). In the modern era, a scholar named Sarah Illes Johnston, author of Restless Dead and Hekate Soteira, also writes that Medea prays to Hera Akraia to make her children immortal, and Hera either declines or breaks her promise to fulfill this task, leaving the children to die (62-3). Johnston denies the implication of Medea in her children’s death, instead attributing it to circumstances outside her control or by the hand of another.

These different tellings of Medeia’s story fits with the Colchian princess who aids Jason in a much more believable way than the suddenly spiteful women who murders her children. This variation is less popular, the other being popularized perhaps to demonize magic and women of power.

(Art: Medea by Eve De Morgan)

Worshipping Medeia

Now that Medeia’s character and mythological status has been discussed, I think it’s important to talk about how I actually go about worshipping Medeia. I worship Medeia in both divine and ancestral ways, which I suppose could be attributed to methods of hero worship in Ancient Greece. Worshipping Medeia can be done alongside Hekate and/or Helios, as well as alongside Kirke. If you observe the Mighty Dead or Witch Ancestors, she could also be worshipped alongside them.

Offerings

Offerings for Medeia can include wine, frankincense, milk, honey, food, poisons, sacred plants, bronze artifacts, candles, snake parts or figurines and dragon figurines, artifacts of witchcraft, and even Hekate iconography. One could also offer her blood, but that is up to your personal discretion. 

Names and Epithets

Names/epithets I call Medeia include ‘Of the Many Spells,’ ‘Vengeful Maiden,’ ‘Witch Priestess of Hekate,’ ‘Medea of Poisons,’ ’She Who Knows All Herbs,’ ‘Giant-Slayer,’ one that could also be said of Hekate, ‘Princess of Colchis,’ ‘Granddaughter of Helios,’ ’Daughter of Sun and Moon,’ one I use to indicate her relationship to Helios and her devotion to Hekate, and Medea Pharmakeia, or Medeia of Witchcraft/Magic. 

Sacred Objects

Sacred plants of Medeia could include any poisons, juniper, olive, and aconite specifically. Sacred animals include dragons and snakes. Bronze is also sacred to Medea, as are cauldrons of any kind. 

Specializations

Medeia can be called upon for justice and vengeance, especially for spells of justice and vengeance, witchcraft of any kind, to bless herbs, for gardening, for aid in Hekate worship, for the downfall of your enemies, for protection from harm, for protection from snakes, and for guidance in magic.

Prayers to Medeia

Prayer for Medea’s Aid in Witchcraft

Prayer to Medea for Vengeance

Conclusion

In conclusion, while Medeia may not be a part of the usual canon of hero worship, or worship in general, if you are a devotee of Hekate or Helios, worshipping Medeia might be right for you. Likewise, any witch who observes the Hellenic pantheon should give serious thought to venerating Medeia in their practice. 

Works Cited:

Medea by Euripides

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden

The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes

Theogony by Hesiod

The Library by Apollodorus

The Metamorphoses by Ovid

“Corinthian Medea and the Cult of Hera Akraia” by Sarah Illes Johnston

(Art: Medea Casting Spells by Henry Ferguson)

[griffintail]

Tommy paused, glancing over at Techno and the girl softly.

She smiled happily. "Jason!"

"Jason huh? Alright. Well Jason was born to the king of Iolcus, Aeson. However, when he was born, the half-brother of Aeson, Pelias, made a move to steal the throne and got rid of Aeson's children, all but Jason because he was already thought to be gone. With such a miracle, Jason was sent to the centaur Chiron who took care of him and trained him to be a good man.

When he was old enough, Jason left to claim his rightful place on the throne. While he was, the goddess Hera, blessed him after he helped her cross a river as she did not like Pelias as he did not honor her and wanted Jason to succeed. Once he got there, he went to Pelias with only one sandal as he had lost one in the river and this worried Pelias as he had been told that he should be wary of the man with one sandal.

Pelias asked Jason what he would do if he had just met the man destined to bring about his downfall. Jason answered with bring the golden fleece and so Pelias promised to step down if Jason did so."

[365days365movies]

March 12, 2021: Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Part One)

I am so goddamn excited for this one.

Back to Greek mythology, my first mythological love! And not just Greek mythology, because this...THIS...this is the first true Avengers story. Oh, yeah, like The Avengers.

After all, mythology produced the first equivalent of our modern superheroes, with demigods and legends that wield fantastic abilities and powerful items to fight the forces of evil. I mean, it’s the most superhero thing I can think of, and it’s literally a story as old as time. Fact of the matter is, I love superheroes, and I love mythology. Which is why I’m excited to finally see an adaptation of one of the biggest superhero team-up stories ever: Jason and the Argonauts!

See, it all starts with Hera, queen of the Olympians and petty as FUCK.

See, the newly (and wrongfully) ascended king of Iolcus, Pelias, honored the gods after stealing the throne from his brother. Well, all of the gods except Hera. So, Hera, rightfully pissed off, decides to fuck Pelias over by recruiting his nephew, Jason. Jason’s a naturally hot blonde kid who was raised by the centaur Chiron, also making him wise...theoretically.

Hera tests this kid, and he passes, so she gives him her favor, and tells him to fuck up his uncle. Jason arrives in Iolcus, and demands the throne from Pelias. His uncle agrees, IF he can bring back the Golden Fleece, a legendary treasure that is guarded by a vicious monster and a zealous king. Pelias didn’t think Jason had any chance, but Jason had the gods on his side. They sent their best subjects to his aid, and Jason procured an awesome ship, the Argo. So, who’s coming to help? Oh, you ready for this? ARGONAUTS ASSEMBLE

Now there are anywhere between 46-85 heroes that are assembled in the Argonauts, with different members in different iterations of the myth. But the big members are:

Heracles, son of Zeus, with the strength of a thousand men

Orpheus, son of the muse Calliope, and master musician

Calais and Zetes, sons of the North Wind, with the ability to fly upon it

Atalanta, the swift-footed huntress, and only female member

Castor and Pollux, twin half-brothers (yeah, really) and horse-riders

Theseus, son of Poseidon, and slayer of the Minotaur

Tip of the iceberg there, but you get the point: we’ve got a superhero team on our hands! And these heroes would perform MANY great deeds on their journey to the Fleece. They fought the Harpies to defend an oracle, they passed the dangerous Clashing Rocks, they battled the Stymphalian Birds, with feathers of metal. Sirens, fire-breathing bulls, and a giant bronze man named Talos.

Different one. Eventually, they procured the Golden Fleece on the island of Colchis, where they fought a dragon with a help of the young sorceress (and niece of Circe), Medea. She fell in love with Jason, and the two fled the island, married, and had twins. Only for Medea to reveal herself as a stone-cold sociopath, and only for Jason to ditch her for another woman. That goes...VERY badly for Jason. Breaking off his marriage pisses off Hera, THE GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, and he dies sad and alone after Medea does...Medea does a lot, I’ll just leave it at that. Jason, completely fucked at that point, takes a nap at the foot of the now rotting Argo, which collapses on top of him and kills him.

For the record, I truncated that story A LOT. There’s a lot to it, but I have a movie to watch, goddamit! And I’m really excited because this is my first Harryhausen movie! You know, Ray Harryhausen, one of the early greats of practical special effects in film? A specialist in stop-motion from its earliest days, he revolutionizes the art throughout films in the 1950s and 1960s, with this one being one of the most successful. You’ve definitely seen his influence, from stuff that he’s done directly...

...to those inspired by him and his methodology...

...to the arts that were descended indirectly from his groundbreaking effects.

Oh yeah, I’m fucking GOING THERE. Fun fact: Ray Winston Studios, a stop-motion group active during the ‘80s and ‘90s, and a descendant of Harryhausen’s works, were originally going to do the animation for the dinosaurs in this movie, in Claymation. However, the recent advent of advanced animatronics, alongside ILM’s founding, caused them to take some of those principles, and apply them to CGI and animatronics. So, yeah, I’m claiming an indirect connection here!

Anyway, enough being a nerd, LET’S WATCH THE GODDAMN MOVIE! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

As the bombastic and epic score plays, the credits role of a Greek-style fresco, detailing the various adventures of the Argonauts. And before the movie starts, I come to a realization: there is a high chance that I’m going to hate this movie’s inaccuracies to Greek mythology. It’s not impossible. I’m real persnickety about my mythology adaptations, just warning you all now. I’ll probably get into it in this Recap, too. Full goddamn warning.

We begin with a seer, reading the future for the treacherous Pelias (Douglas Witmer). He sees first a Golden Fleece at the end of the world, but Pelias ignores this, and asks of his upcoming conquest of the kingdom of...Thessaly. Not, uh...not Iolcus. Mmmkay.

The seer fortells that Pelias will seize the throne, by force, from his brother and the king of Thessaly...Aristo...not Aeson. OK then. The seer says that he will be successful, but will eventually fall to one of Aristo’s kids, who will take his throne. He has two daughters, Philomena and Briseis, and one son, Jason. Looks like they’re gonna die, too.

The invasion begins! Amongst the chaos, Briseis (Davina Taylor) takes her baby sister, Philomena, into the temple of Hera, and pleads to her for her protection. However, they’re found by Pelias, who asks who she is. He’s interrupted by a priestess of Hera, who claims that the Queen Goddess has answered the girl’s prayer for protection.

Pelias responds in kind.

Well...I’m sure that’s gonna piss off Hera. He claims it to be the will of Zeus, but she states that it is his will, not Zeus’. The gods have abandoned him, and he will one day fall to a one-sandaled man, Jason. And as the woman reveals this...she disappears. Nice. FUCKIN’ NICE.

This “priestess” is Hera (Honor Blackman), of course. She goes to her husband, Zeus (Niall MacGinnis), and asks if he ordered Pelias to destroy and profane her temple. He says no, as that was Pelias’ attempt to stave off his inevitable fall by Jason. However, Jason has escaped Pelias’ wrath, as has his sister Philomena. Hera decided, however, that she wants to take down Pelias, and Jason is the best was for that to happen. Hence, she wishes to sponsor Jason.

However, Zeus, being the classic misogynist, says that he will allow it, but she may only help Jason 5 times, once for each time that the fallen Briseis prayed to her. She agrees, and waits 20 years to start fuckin’ with Pelias. Pelias, meanwhile, is growing more paranoid over the one-sandaled man prophecy that Hera gave him.

One day, on the bank of a river, Hera appears to make Pelias fall off of his horse into the river. He’s saved from drowning by a young man, who loses his sandal in the process. This is, of course, Jason (Todd Armstrong), who was already on his way to see Pelias for some reason.

For the record, this is an adaptation of the original story, in which Hera disguises herself as an old beggar-woman, and Jason proves himself to her by helping her across the river, after which she gives him her favor. To be honest, I like this a bit more, or at least as much.

Pelias brings Jason back to a camp for a celebration, with him as an honored guest. Jason reveals exactly who he is, and that he was raised outside of the city by one of his father’s loyal soldiers. He has come to reclaim his right place as king of Thessaly, and to restore it to it’s rightful glory. However, Pelias hasn’t revealed himself as king, and asks Jason how he plans to accomplish these feats. Jason replies with his ultimate plan: obtain the Golden Fleece.

Here’s the deal about the Golden Fleece. One of the most legendary items in Greek mythology, the fleece is essentially a symbol of royalty, and is the coat of a ram with wings found on the island of Colchis. Now, the meaning of the fleece has long been debated, with the main consensus stating that it’s a symbol of royalty. However, some claim that it’s a symbol of prosperous farming (golden grains of wheat), the forgiveness of the gods for some unknown deed, Zeus in the form of a ram, or simply the promise of the unknown at the edge of the world.

What it DEFINITELY ISN’T is a magical healing garment, as Jason claims it to be. But OK, whatever, we need a good reason to get the Fleece, sure. Pelias, not revealing himself, says that Jason should try to get the Fleece, with a boat and a crew, and bring it back to Thessaly, returning and killing Pelias in order to take the throne. Of course, Pelias thinks that this is impossible, which he says to his son Acastus (Gary Raymond). He also knows that if he kills Jason, he it will mean his own destruction, as Hera told him.

Jason goes to ponder this journey, only to encounter the seer. The seer asks if he has come to pray to the gods, to which Jason states that he doesn’t believe in them, nor does he have cause to. The seer offers to give him that cause, and reveals himself as Hermes (Michael Gwynn), the swift-footed messenger god, god of medicine, and trickster god of the Olympians.

Hermes isn’t usually directly involved in the myths of Jason, but that’s OK. He also does something particularly unusual, and brings Jason TO Olympus to meet the Gods themselves. Which, uh...yeah, hot damn. Zeus and the rest arranged for Hermes to bring Jason to them. They ask how they can help him on his quest. Zeus offers him a ship and crew, but Jason refuses, much to the gall of EVERYBODY.

Hera helps him by telling him where to find the Golden Fleece: the island of Colchis, at the other end of the world. To get there, though, Jason’ll DEFINITELY need a ship. He decides to go to the shipbuilders of Greece, and tell them that great treasure lies on Colchis, and they may receive some for their aid. As for the crew, he’s got a similar tactic. Offer the reward to the athletes and heroes of Greece, who will compete in games to determine their eligibility.

Not from the original myths...but it actually makes a lot of sense. Goddamn, is this going to be a good adaptation? I’m excited! The games are held, and many athletes win their place on the journey. They include: Castor and Pollux (Ferdinando Poggi and John Crawford), Acastus, and of course, Heracles (Nigel Green). And yeah, he’s called Hercules here, but I don’t care.

When Hercules arrives, this grabs the attention of the young Hylas (John Caimey), who arrived to late to compete in the games. He challenges Heracles to something, believing that beating Heracles in something will guarantee him a place on the ship. 

While everyone mocks this, Heracles agrees to go up against him in a discus-throwing contest. They must hit or pass a rock in the ocean by throwing their discus. Heracles hits it easily, of course. And the frail Hylas...

...Nice. Did not see that coming, and that’s actually very smart. Also takes a lot of skill, because I could NOT do that. Hylas wins his place in the ship, to the delight of both the crowd and the Olympians. And yes, Hylas actually is a companion of Heracles in the original stories, so that’s neat!

Now for the boat, being built by master builder Argus (Laurence Naismith), who is coming on the ship with them. He notes that something appears to have guided his hand during the ship’s construction. In the original myth, that would be Athena. However, here, it’s probably Hera, as the figurehead is specifically carved in her image. And is also...alive?

Well...to be fair, in many myths, the ship contains wood built from a magical tree that could speak, and see the future. So, OK, magic ship, fair enough. Well, hopefully, that ship’s guidance will happen soon, as the voyage immediately proves difficult. No water, no rest, and frustrated men.

Jason asks the figurehead for help (which would be help #3) and Hera speaks through it to tell Jason to head to the Isle of Bronze, where Hephaestus once had his forge. However, the island is lorded over by a powerful something called Talos. I know what Talos is, but the movie hasn’t revealed him yet.

The Argo makes its way to the island, and the men head ashore to get food and water. They see goats there, which will provide them both food and drink, and Heracles and Hylas chase after them for just that aim. And that’s when they blunder into a giant bronze statuary, lorded over by the statue of Talos.

The two enter a chamber in the statue’s base, which is filled to the brim with gold and treasure. However, Jason warned the men of the Argo not to take anything from the island but food and water. Hylas remembers this, but Heracles doesn’t care, and takes a golden staff from the chamber. And Talos...Talos doesn’t appreciate that.

Oh, that’s a great place to take a break! See you in Part Two!

[jensonsbuttons]

RACE WINNER PIERRE GASLY

OH HO HO BOY. I AM SO PROUD OF PIERRE. He deserved every. single. second. of this win. I put all my thoughts under the cut cause boy... i cannot stop smiling at how much he deserved this.

I cannot explain how proud I am of Pierre. I really cannot. I know we all love an underdog story but this is more than that. This is Pierre having such a widely criticized exit from a toxic team broadcast to the world and then coming back and saying “how about that?” This is Pierre proving to absolutely no one in particular but himself that yes, he does deserve to be here. After all the shit that Red Bull put him through. After all the harsh comments that he had to endure. This is Pierre saying “I’m here. I’m ready. Give me the chance and I’ll prove myself over and over again.”

This race was so much for Pierre, especially with last weekend in Spa. I cannot imagine how proud Antoine is right now looking down from wherever he is. And I know Pierre was thinking of his friend during the win today.

I don’t know exactly what went through Pierre’s head during those last 15 laps or so. I really don’t. But, all I can imagine is that he was just gunning it and hoping it worked out. Then, I think when he got towards the end he KNEW it was going to work out. He knew that he had a team to back him and that he was skilled enough to win. He played the game correctly and took it home first place.

And how good must that feel? How good does it feel to prove to people that “yes I belong here” after all the shit they’ve given you? This is much more than an underdog.

Immediately when I saw Pierre win and someone else mention David and Goliath, I thought yeah that is just about right. But, also, I think of Jason, the greek hero. Now, no one from Greek mythology is always a great person but there are some points that I went “huh” with. Obviously the story of Jason doesn’t line up exactly but go along with me here folks.

The biggest part is that Jason has his famous crew: the Argonauts. Jason was tasked with getting the Golden Fleece and it seemed like an impossible task. That was before Jason had his famous crew to help back him up and back him up they did. They supported him and helped Jason get the fleece and helped make the impossible a reality. Sound familiar? Red Bull wasn’t great for Pierre but from what Pierre has said and what we’ve all seen, it really looks like Pierre has a home in the Alpha Tauri crew. They accept him there. They know he’ll make mistakes but they still want him to thrive and make that impossible podium a reality. That's exactly what they did today.

The next big part that stood out to me was that Jason was the son of the king of Iolcus, Aeson. Jason’s half uncle basically killed all of Aeson’s kids (except Jason escaped) and so his half-uncle got the throne. Yes, Shakespeare ripped Hamlet from here but thats a story for another time. The way that Jason is supposed to get the throne back is to bring back the golden fleece. Thats right. He has to do something impossible to get his seat on the throne back.

Here’s the thing that I love about this point: Pierre is a Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri driver. He is destined that at some point he is supposed to get that coveted seat at Red Bull. Now, no overthrowing happened but a certain someone said some bad things and ope, there goes Pierre’s spot at Red Bull. Now, Pierre is tasked with the impossible. I’m not saying that Pierre WANTS the seat at Red Bull back. He might not. I don’t know. I’m not him.

But, what I do know is that he still has the expectation and the “impossible” task of getting a podium so at least someone will stop saying that he never belonged at Red Bull in the first place. Once he gets that coveted podium, maybe then they’ll see that he was fine at Red Bull but shit happens so stop saying bad things about him.

So, with a fully supportive crew behind him, he sets out on an impossible task. But in both stories, it becomes reality. Jason gets his throne back. Pierre gets people to see that hey, its not that he was bad at Red Bull but things didn’t work out. He is still a good driver and being on the first step? Yeah. That’s Pierre’s throne for the day.

I also think about the connection between the fact that as Kerry pointed out in the chat that the last French winner was 1996. Pierre was born in 1996. I don’t know what to think about fate and destiny but going along with greek myth, its only fitting it sounds a lot like fate or destiny or what have you. Not to say that it was all fate and that Pierre doesn’t have talent. No, he absolutely does. It's that deadly combination of fate and talent that propelled him to the top.

And what is there to say about the fact that one of Pierre’s heroes is Seb? A man who has already endured so much shit this year. Seb started at Toro Rosso and won Monza in 2008. Like, the parallels are already so so just… full. And then you add this and its a whole other layer.

Lets also touch on the fact that you can tell Pierre is respected by his peers. The amount of cheering from his ever supportive crew. The countless drivers that found him after the race to congratulate him. Romain was right beside him and I heard some French being spoken. Lewis even posted on Instagram how much this must mean for Pierre and that they all race together. The respect is endless from driver after driver after driver. Others… not so much.

And I cannot imagine how thrilled Pierre is with himself. Like I said, he was so nice in thanking his crew but he was the one driving. It's a team sport. Crew and driver matter. He has got to be proud of himself. He raced his heart out and got the prize in the end. And you know the cool thing? He gets to wake up tomorrow and see “race winner: Pierre Gasly” over every news article that covers F1. He gets to have his name as a damn race winner and boy, that’s gotta feel good.

I don’t blame him for taking a minute to sit by himself on the podium today. Fuck, he had to be absolutely overwhelmed with all of it. I can only imagine what he was feeling. The happiness, the joy, the sorrow of not being with friends, family, fans, etc. But, at the end of him sitting there he was smiling. Because he did it. He won. He and his crew made the impossible a reality.

Pierre deserved this podium. He deserved every single second of it. Not only as a breath of fresh air from our “regular three” but to also just say to everyone “hey I’m still here. I’m still a good driver.” I respect the hell out of this man and I hope others come to see that as well.