#maybe Perseus is not the hero of this story

[newnamesamecharlotte]

What if Medusa, a queen and the only mortal among her and her two sisters (all three gorgons), always had a head full of lovely snakes and just had sweet consensual sex with the dark-haired Poseidon in a soft meadow amid spring flowers? [1]

What if Poseidon was just into sexy snake-haired gorgon cuties?

And what if Perseus just cut off her head to show off or for fame?

What if Athena had nothing to do with all of this?

What then??

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay so I saw this post about dark percy (really him reaching his Limit and fighting full strength with everything he had) and I was imagining the potential fallout of that. Pretty bad, as you can guess.

The thing is a lot of percys strongest moments happen out of view of the olympians, especially in hoo. The hurricane atop the glacier in alaska, the poison scene in tartarus, bending the depression river and the one in the palace of nyx.

Stuff like the St Helens eruption got him washed up on an inescapable island literally removed from reality until calypso gave him the OK, the achillies curse he got tricked into losing by hera. Smaller moments, the minotaur, fighting ares, the stolen pirate ship, walking on water vs hyperion, freshwater sources, him knowing both Latin and Greek, they're more easily brushed off or at least mostly due to cunning, sword skills and sheer luck and grit.

But basically the olympians don't actually know the full extent of percys strength and divine power. They have hints - percy standing on the throne, winning against ares, his many victories - but what they aren't willing to brush aside in the heat of (an important) battle there have been pretty strong consequences for.

Heck, just look at Frank, he's no prodigy with weapons, he's polite and respectful, but his distant relation to two olympians letting him inherit shapeshifting earned him direct divine meddling and his life force tied to a hunk of half toasted firewood. Man is a honey bear with lactose intolerance and he was punished with a mythical death curse for being too strong.

If Percy's true strength came out, he would risk losing everything. His freedom, most certainly. If he wasn't straight up executed he might wind up in a Greek myth style imprisonment, the way of atlas, prometheus, calypso, or something like the myriad of ways Greek heroes met their end. Good scenario he survives a dozen curses and gets on with life with a dozen new disabilities, best case scenario he's stripped of every inch of divine power and dropped back to the mortal world, not even clear sighted. Total separation from the Greeks and Romans. Oh, annabeth would marry him either way, and his friends would hardly abandon him despite the gods wishes, but they'd hardly be able to see him, and no long range contact without the ability to IM him or vice versa.

All of that to say Percy is hiding his true strength from the gods themselves - maybe not consciously, and it's not even power he particularly wants - but if they ever find out?

It's game over.

But why is he so strong? I don't know. What I do know is that the half bloods of the books are so much stronger than the ones of myth. Used to be that divine blood would get you divine favour and a great fate whether you liked it or not. Maybe some cunning and bow skills. A spot of spell casting if you were really lucky. Achillies got his curse after he was born, Perseus had a dozen magic artifacts, orpheus had something going on but hercules is to my knowledge an outlier. Now? Everyone in camp has some special power. Flight, fire, necromancy, hypnotism, dream walking etc. However it's happening, half bloods are slowly but surely getting a lot, lot stronger every century that passes. Meta? I mean I guess. But.

What no one has done before is something that their godly parent couldn't.

Except.

Except Percy.

Except Percy, in tartarus, at his mental, emotional and physical limit, controlling poison with his mind, overpowering the goddess of poison in her home, making misery choke on misery. Feeling something in his chest crack. Doing something poseidon could not, and doing it better than the person who could.

Down there, hidden away from the gods, he evolved. For that brief moment, he did something, was something new.

And that was how the gods overthrew the titans.

And that's why they must never find out.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I HAVE BEEN REMINDED OF SOMETHING i think i've made a post about it before but maybe it's just sitting in my drafts. idk, whatever, I will ramble again. Said thing that reminded me was a tiktok by madison_murrah about how the PJO TV show doesn't get the balance between mundanity and magical correct for pjo and I want to expand on that cause while a.) it totally is a problem in the show and i take issue with it, b.) it is also a problem in later books and i ALSO take issue with that too and i would like to elaborate on it

this got long so ramble of the day below the cut:

so the thing is that PJO is actually pretty unique in it's approach to hidden world modern fantasy. like, hidden world modern fantasy is a decently established genre with a ton of examples, but there's a reason why PJO stands out so much, and that's because technically it's NOT "hidden world." There is very intentionally no distinction between the mundane world and the mythological, at least in first series. They 100% overlap. And you do not necessarily need to be "special" to see the "mythological world-" some mortals are totally naturally clear-sighted, a lot of kids are clear-sighted, and it's like 50/50 for if mortals can become clear-sighted. In fact, most demigods aren't immune to the effects of the Mist, all that really matters is if you're actually thinking about being able to see through it. And there's a reason for that!

In general, this format of the "hidden world" modern fantasy serves two purposes: One, as the series is meant to introduce people to Greek mythology and explain why it is relevant and how it can be relatable in modern contexts, it intentionally juxtaposes myths against modern concepts: Medusa runs an apparently average garden statue store. Procrustes runs a mattress store. The entrance to the Underworld is in LA at a record store. Circe lives on an island paradise that's secretly dangerous. Hydras are like chain donut stores that seem to pop up on every corner. Perseus and his mother struggle in Perseus' childhood but get a happy ending. Calypso has an island paradise where the challenge for the hero of our story is being tempted to leave behind his goals. The plot of Sea of Monsters is blatantly the Odyssey, and it's about Percy trying to get to his best friend (who he shares a literal psychic link to) who is in danger of getting married to someone awful (a literal monster) to help you understand Odysseus trying to get back to Penelope and how important to each other and in sync they are. Battle of the Labyrinth is Theseus and the Labyrinth and it's Percy/Theseus trying to protect his home and his people and fellow kids (like Nico) from the dangers in the maze. These are all supposed to help us understand what is actually going on in those stories.

We also still see how Greek mythology influence shapes and influences western culture in general in their world (which is supposed to be our own and so uses real-world examples) - in government, in architecture, in pop culture - Mythomagic is clearly supposed to be your standard TCG like Magic The Gathering. And in general there is no distinction between where the mythological ends and mundane begins - Camp Half-Blood is both a magical training space for demigods and your run of the mill underfunded summer camp, complete with cheesy camp songs and t-shirts and crafts. Olympus is located on top of the Empire State Building which is operating completely as normal except for when a demigod asks to go to a non-existent floor. Your best friend with a muscular disease in his legs is secretly a satyr. Your brother with down syndrome is a cyclops. Your teacher in a wheelchair is secretly an immortal centaur. Your crappy algebra substitute is a literal fury. But also they're still your teachers. The satyr is still your best friend, the cyclops is still your brother. And that brings me to the second aspect of all of this (which i have talked about before [here] and [here]) - the other purpose it serves is that it is an extension of the overarching disability themes that form the core of the series.

The entire reason that meshing of mundanity and magical is so intertwined is entirely because it's part of the disability metaphor, specifically inspired by early 2000s parenting/teaching concepts for children with disabilities, particularly learning disabilities, as trying to reframe disabilities as "superpowers" to empower kids (and still exists in some more modern forms - like referring to disabilities as "being differently-abled") (I talk about it in my previous post on the subject but this generally fell out of favor due to many kids/students finding it belittling of their struggles) - this is why we get the description of ADHD and Dyslexia being framed as "demigod superpowers." In the series this structure is intentionally made to encourage kids to reframe how they view disabilities in general as not something negative but something interesting and fantastical that they may be more open to engage with - and PJO does this in a really nice way where a lot of the disability struggles are still acknowledged and treated sympathetically. Kids still get bullied, Percy and Annabeth struggle in school or with reading/spelling, they grapple with both internal and external ableism. The entire reason for the titan war in the first series, at least from the demigod perspective, is criticizing flawed systems meant to support disabled people that don't do their job effectively or let too many people fall through the cracks. The Mist "hiding" the "mythological world" from mortals (and even some demigods) is about how most abled people (and some undiagnosed people) don't recognize disability struggles until it affects them personally. None of these things are glossed over! It's handled with nuance and care! The series says "you can be disabled and you can be like these fantastical heroes - not in spite of your disability, but alongside it. Neither negates the other." The series was explicitly made so Rick's disabled son could see himself in a hero and learn about mythology for school. Those are the two pillars of the entire franchise: Disability and learning about mythology.

So, when you mess with that "hidden world" structure, the entire thing falls apart and it immediately doesn't feel right, because it's no longer serving either of those two purposes when it needs to be fulfilling both. Late-series Riordanverse has a tendency to compartmentalize the mythological and keep it entirely sectioned off from the mundane. Think about first series and even TKC versus later series - how many mortal characters are there? what do they do? are they just in the background or do they interact with the main cast frequently? are they more than just family or an extension to the main cast? First series we see Percy's classmates frequently, Percy talks about his mundane experiences at school, multiple mortal parent characters (and other mortal characters like Rachel) are active participants in and vital to the plot. We even see a lot of background mortal characters. In TKC, not only are all the magicians technically mortal, but also Sadie's completely mundane best friends help her out. Now think about HoO, or ToA, or even MCGA. Think about the mortal characters in those series. How important are they? Out of the important ones, how much are they in mundane situations versus being almost entirely involved in something mythological? How many aren't related to any of the main cast? How many aren't actively working for a god? The answer is basically zero! Why is that? Because Rick stopped letting the mundane exist. The entire draw of the main series is that Percy does continue to live this mundane life and that adds to his mythological life and makes the balance and meshing between them interesting, but basically all mundanity ceases to exist by HoO. Camp Jupiter is an isolated entirely magic town. Percy and Jason's schools are full of mythological beings as basically the only people they interact with. The Tri's headquarters is an entire giant building in New York City that they completely control that just so happens to ALSO be directly across the street from the local Oracle's house, because even where Rachel lives isn't allowed to be mundane anymore. Why is Olympus just at the top of the Empire State Building versus the Tri having an ENTIRE building? That feels weird and unbalanced, particularly given the difference in importance between those two! Because one is playing into that balance of the meshing of mundane and magical and the other isn't! The show continues this trend. It doesn't allow any of the mythological to exist within mundanity like it functions in the books, which creates a completely different atmosphere and doesn't allow those spaces or scenes or characters to serve their actual narrative purposes, either making it easier to understand mythology contextually or what disability metaphor or representation is occurring there.

It's part of the problem with show!Percy being too mythologically-savvy - Percy is supposed to be the mundane lens unfamiliar with mythology that the audience is learning by proxy through. That's the entire point of the series! If you have Percy already know everything because he's already too ingrained into this mythological environment from the start, and he just exists in this entirely magical world where he understands everything immediately then the literal target audience of the entire franchise (students being introduced to mythology) is left behind! That's part of why the pacing of the show feels so bad! It's rushing through every scene that's more or less the same as the books, particularly anything mythological, because the show is assuming you've already read the books and already know enough mythology to know what it is and what happens and that you don't want to see it again, so it rushes through. The show doesn't explain things that it presumes you already know - worldbuilding, character decisions, basically any mythology, etc, so it doesn't even bother with it.

Later books in the franchise do this too - as long as it's tangentially Greco-Roman mythology, or if it's anything to do with the main series like a reference in TKC or MCGA or etc, it's not going to elaborate much if at all. HoO speeds through Jason's introduction to CHB, and the only reason we get much introduction to Camp Jupiter is because it's actually new. We're no longer trying to contextualize or learn about mythology, it just all becomes set-dressing and references thrown at you rapid-fire as filler. By late HoO and into TOA and TSATS and such, we're not longer even within the realm of pretending like we're adhering to mythology at all. Why is Iris a vegan? Why is Rhea a hippie? Dunno, don't care! Literally doesn't matter! Why are the pandai panda/elephant-monsters and the troglodytes frog-monsters when that's not part of their actual history at all? Well a.) literally just word associations and b.) possibly a little bit of racism (they're supposed to be humans from India and northern Africa, and you made them monsters. cool. okay. and their plotlines totally aren't horrible within those contexts. awesome. please try thinking literally at all next time, thanks). We're not even bothering to look at mythological instances anymore for a basis, a lot of it's written like we're just going based on the first results on google (hi Menoetes and the cacodaemons - the latter of which is not even spelt correctly once in the entire book - which is weird because they do say "daemon" so they know the word. Not that the cacodaemons are mythologically accurate at all because then they would be humanoid. Instead they seem to just be inspired by the things from Doom). None of it serves the purpose of the narrative at all; we're literally just making random choices, some of them quite distasteful! In large part due to refusing to acknowledge the actual contexts of the myths and how that might translate into something similar or equivalent a modern setting to help conceptualize it - something the first series did inherently by design. And we need this! A.) So that you're less likely to make bad decisions because you are inherently thinking about the historical and cultural contexts of these things and how to compare/explain it, and b.) because the audience for later books/the other series and the show is going to be the same as the first series! Those nonsensical references may be at best cameos to people who are already familiar with them, but if your intended audience is new to mythology then making references like that is just going to leave people out of the loop! You don't shift your target audience in the middle of a franchise!

Later books in the series and the show are failing to understand what the first series was actually doing narratively and how it was approaching these subjects and its audience. When you fail to do that, it completely messes up the general worldbuilding and the core themes and intentions of the franchise as a whole. Once you lose touch with that you might as well just be writing a completely different franchise. You need to approach it from the same lens or else it will feel completely off, because otherwise you've lost all base touchstones that make the series what it is.

[softlytowardthesun]

I’m thinking about Danaë, Perseus, and Andromeda.

Danaë was a princess, once. Her happy life was upended the day her father caught wind of a prophecy that his grandchild would be his undoing. She was imprisoned in her own home, and when her son was born, she and the baby were banished and left for dead. Yet Danaë powered through, as heroes are known to do in these types of stories. This single mother in a strange land raised her son with pride — not hubris, but true, righteous pride. They have no need of gods or monsters or the kingdom that cast them out; all mother and son need are each other.

Perseus’s call to adventure begins when yet another evil king decides to treat Danaë as an object instead of a person. Polydectes will force Danaë to marry him unless Perseus can cross the world and return with the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus is in no place to protest, not when the truest hero he’s ever known is counting on him. This is not a quest for glory, but piety: the duty a child owes to their parent.

In his travels, Perseus meets Andromeda, chained to a cliffside and awaiting her grim fate. She too, has a story of a mother and child. Queen Cassiopeia foolishly offended a long list of sea gods and their kingdom will be washed away unless the gods exact their price. Cassiopeia did the offending; it should be her on the cliff. But Andromeda has to suffer for the sins of her family, just like Perseus. He chose to risk his life for his mother; Andromeda had her fate chosen for her.

Maybe Andromeda tried to talk herself into thinking her death would mean something. She’s grown up as a princess, where each generation of the dynasty is meant to be in unbroken continuity with the generation before. The crown she is presumed to wear weighs down any hopes for her own life. If Cassiopeia tells her to die, it is her duty and honor as the child to obey. Secretly, she prays that her death will mean something for her mother — that the next child she has will be granted the freedom of choice Andromeda herself never knew.

But Perseus, raised by a mother worthy of her role, knows that is bullshit. He knows Andromeda deserves better than this, and he breaks the cycle by destroying the monster and breaking her chains, will of Poseidon be damned. And when Cassiopeia reunites with her child, it’s clear she has learned nothing. She immediately tries to force Andromeda into an unhappy marriage - just like what Polydectes means to do to Danaë.

Now Andromeda and Perseus are both angry. She is ready to let her so-called family crumble. She shields her eyes, and lets her suitor and her mother meet the Gorgon’s eyes. She walks away from the stone to which she was chained, into a new life of her making.

The young couple returns to Seriphos. Perseus saves Danaë from the dread altar. A worthy king claims the throne, and in a remarkable stroke of luck for Greek mythology, Perseus kills his evil grandfather without technically violating Ancient Greece’s taboos on kin-slaying. Andromeda and Perseus ascend to the throne of Mycenae, and have that rarest thing in any myth: a happily ever after.

Andromeda gets a husband and a crown, sure, but she also gets Danaë. Danaë is everything Cassiopeia wasn’t: humble, resilient, and loving. She raised Perseus well, and she teaches Andromeda how to stand tall against monsters: not the sea beast, but the creatures that would rather offer up their own children than admit that they were in the wrong.

[thefreakandthehair]

A Steddie fanfiction written for the @steddiebang with art by @sungods-healingg and @oriarts. 55k. Rated E.

Chapter One coming soon to ao3 on November 25, 2023! Sneak peek included below!

“Give it, hey! Give me the check,” Eddie argues, trying to pry it from Steve’s hands. “I’m not letting you pay, c’mon.” 

“I—” Steve starts grappling and tries to maintain some degree of subtly in the still bustling diner. “I’m paying, give it.” 

“Not a chance, I don’t want stories going around that I’m some kept boyfriend who uses Steve Harrington for his money.” Eddie’s lips purse and his eyes narrow. “Hand it over.”

With a final tug, Eddie celebrates internally as he yanks the envelope from Steve. He realizes belatedly that he only won that battle because Steve freezes. It takes a few seconds, maybe a moment as he slips his credit card into the little pocket and flags down their waitress again, to figure out why. 

Boyfriend. 

Presumptuous at best and enough to scare Steve off at worst. The silence is hard to read so Eddie simply hands over the check and stares with wide eyes, his heart pounding in his chest. 

“Or-- you know, just, someone who uses Steve Harrington for his money. Big baseball contract and all that?” He tries to brush it off and deflect with humor, something that usually works well enough but apparently, not on Steve. 

“You said boyfriend.” He says simply, ignoring Eddie’s attempts entirely. 

Suddenly, Eddie regrets that sweet dessert for dinner because his stomach is tumbling in a dangerous way. He rubs the back of his neck and pulls at a strand of loose hair.

“I uh, yeah, I guess I did. Do you… have thoughts? On that?” 

Steve blinks at him, three times in quick succession, before the right corner of his mouth quirks up. “I do, actually. But I think I’d rather show you and I’d probably lose that big baseball contract if I did that here.” 

“Oh?” Eddie teases, pausing to grab the check back from the waitress to sign and slide his credit card back into it wallet. When she’s far enough away that Eddie’s sure she won’t hear, he reminds Steve of their location. “My apartment’s just like, two blocks over. If uh, if you’d like to show me in a more private spot?” 

The first time Eddie massaged Steve, he felt called back to the dangerous adrenaline rushes of his youth, all impulsivity and carelessness, and he feels it again as he invites Steve back to his apartment. Or maybe, it never even left. Maybe it’s just been slowly eroding his resolve for the past two months.

Whatever the case, his body trembles when Steve says Yes. 

tagging people who've asked, expressed interest to me or in tags, etc. and some pals: @hbyrde36 @steddieasitgoes @sidekick-hero @dryptid @sharpbutsoft @cuoredimuschio @kkpwnall @starryeyedjanai @scarcrossdlvrs @marvel-ous-m @pearynice @judasofsuburbia @corrodedbisexual @shares-a-vest @hellion-child @pumpkinspicestevie @delta-piscium @perseus-notjackson @thisapplepielife @withacapitalp @nostalgicbones @hereforanepilogue @stevethehairington @nostalgicbones @t-boyeddie @theheadlessphilosopher @stobinesque @imfinereallyy @hexiewrites @maxineholtzmann @starrystevie @steddieas-shegoes @daysarestranger @goodolefashionedloverboi

[pinay12204]

I was reading abt the Book Of Heroes from PJO and the book , as we know , is being narrated by Percy so its kinda funny how when it came to the part of Atlanta , Psyche , and Perseus' love lives he is just basically projecting his healthy loving relationship with his girlfriend into these three stories

Case 1: Perseus , his literal namesake and one of the few heroes to have a happy ending and a happy marriage with his wife who he had tons of kids with , being tongue tied when meeting Andromeda and knowing it was true love whe she hugs him can be attributed to how many time Annabeth hugs him and him being tongue tied when Annabeth is around during their early years and quite possibly hoping the he would get this kind of happy ending with Annabeth once everything is at peace or less troubling in their lives.

Case 2: Psyche , that one line about Eros and Psyche thinking that they don't want their lover to see them in a dirty and messy state despite them both thinking that the other looks great despite the mess. NEED I SAY MORE? Percy even said that He had experienced the same situation with Annabeth, finding her cute even with a rats nest hair. (Also about how despite being in pain they both still love and care for each other)

Case 3: Atalanta- an amazing blonde, fierce, and strong princess and a prince who is LITERALLY a grandson of POSEIDON with DARK hair and GREEN eyes who immediately fell in love with the Atalanta finding her amazing as she killed her suitors and was insanely strong and wanting to be with her despite all those challenges. Percy a son of poseidon who has dark hair and green eye falling in love with Annabeth who is insanely strong and amazing and wanting to marry and grow old with her despite all the challenges. NEED I SAY MORE?

I know some maybe a bit of a stretch but all I can see is Percy giggling and kicking his feet while writing these three heroes love stories while thinking about Annabeth

(Also they have a monthly Argo II reunion party that he stated in the book and now that Jason is gone I bet their next reunion party is going to be a funeral)

[lilislegacy]

Thinking about percabeth kid names. When they have children, do you think they would give them names from greek mythology, like Perseus? Or do you think they want their kids to have their own names, not tied to someone else? I feel like it could go either way, but I lean more towards their own names because I feel like most people from greek mythology are either terrible people or die tragic deaths, and I feel like they wouldn’t want their kids to have that association. But Idk, it’s worked out fine for Percy, and Annabeth might love the deeper meaning. Or maybe they would give them family/friend names. But then that brings me back to the question of whether they want their kids to have their own names.

If you have name ideas, please comment them!

[kakiastro]

Mars-Uranus-Algol Conj Transit: Off with their Heads!

Guysss!! We are near one of the biggest and nerve racking transits in our lifetime!! Mark your calendars July 15-16th

Mars= motivation, war, sex, aggression , the head and your physical body

Uranus= innovation, unpredictability and urgent changes

Algol= known as “demon star” or the “Medusa star” it rules over misfortune, electrocution, decapitation, mob violence. In other words Algol is the damn boogeyman. However, she does bring fame, a strong presence, being well known in a infamous way,

Algol is in the Perseus constellation sitting in Perseus hand that’s holding Medusa head.

This triple transit conj is definitely one to look out for because it wont happen again for another 500 years!!

The last time this transit occurred was in 1522 and 1942!

Taurus rules financials, physical home, resources, values + morals, economy, throat, food

It’s happening at the 26°(Taurus degree) so it’s full on Taurus energy

2 + 6= 8

8 is a scorpio number which is ruled by Pluto , Pluto is in Aquarius . It’s also an 8 year in numerology which is ruled by Saturn, which is in Pisces

Since this is a big Taurus transit, we have to look at its ruler Venus. Venus will be in Leo at this time.

Leo rules over fame, dating, creative spark, passion, children, ego, soul missions

This conjunction only last for a few days but the energy will last the rest of this year until 2026.

The Moon will be in Scorpio during this and it will oppose this conjunction.

Those with Taurus placements especially those with 20°-29°, I personally see this as end of an era for you! Perseus beheaded Medusa. I see this as a cycle that’s being beheaded and you’re about to be legendary. Now I’ll be honest , change won’t be easy at all, especially for you all because Taurus not fond of change but yall It’s time!!

My predictions: these are just my own personal ones. This is also globally and doesn’t pertain to a specific area! It’s everybody

-more protest against government leaders and system

-money matters, maybe a new system? Or lots of talking of the future of the economy.

-housing market , rent cost, and homelessness will be hot topics of discussion.

-mental health discussions, serious talks about it

-more celebrity downfalls. I actually think the Entertainment industry is about to split. Think Drake vs Kendrick, that was a prequel

- bizzare natural disasters happening more than usual

- more dark and hidden secrets coming out about people(especially famous ones)

-people are really going to be asking about our food supply. What are we really putting in our food?

-the Kids! We are really going to be discussing is the type of world we want for the next generation. I predict we’re going to see extraordinary stories of kids doing extraordinary things that we didn’t even think about at their age.

-so many people are going to be moving overseas to foreign lands

-medical breakthroughs.

-unsung heroes such as creatives, teachers, regular people becoming huge in the spotlight!

I know this doesn’t look or sound good but please don’t freak out! This post isn’t suppose to put fear in your head but make you more aware on what the hell is going on. So when things hit the fan, you’ll at least know why it’s happening. Think of it like this, we are in the era of change and new beginning. When has that ever been easy?

It’ll be okay y’all! We gone be alright! Say it with me “we gone be alright!”

[hoeratius]

okay, asking this question is maybe the dumbest i've ever felt bc it feels like there should be a straightforward, obvious answer here, but every time i've tried to look it up, i've found nothing but pages upon pages of what feels like people talking in circles and only serving to make me more confused in the end. since you're the most knowledgable person i follow when it comes to the Classics, i figured this might be a good place to ask and maybe get an actual answer? (that being said, it's fine if you don't want to/don't have the time to answer this! obviously!!)

where can i read about the older greek myths? as in pre-trojan war. mostly, i'm interested in theseus but also just pre-trojan war stories in general. i know not everything got the iliad/odyssey treatment and there's probably not any surviving text to point at in a lot of cases, but there must've been something. every time i try to look up where to read about the history of theseus, i'm being directed to a bunch of modern retellings, but google has gotten so bad as a search engine, i literally cannot find anything about the origins of this thing everybody's retelling

from what i understand, theseus was sort of everywhere sticking his nose in everything at all times, so i'm not asking for a comprehensive timeline of his whackass life and everything he ever appeared in or anything, but if you could point me in the direction of anything about him--actual plays or academic texts, anything like that--that's more credible than, like, a self-published, self-described "bold new reimagining" with a stock image of a dude in party city roman cosplay as the cover, it would be MUCH appreciated 😭

(again, sorry about how... basic this question is i guess lol? i'm very new to classics in general and still pretty ignorant about everything, so it's EXTREMELY likely that this is a very dumb question with a very obvious answer, but thank you regardless!)

Hello! What an exciting ask (and apologies for my excited and maybe incoherent answer)!

Since you seem to be most interested in Theseus, I’ll use him as an example but much of this can be applied to other Greek heroes/myths/stories more generally.

As you noted, few get the Iliad/Odyssey treatment. In fact, even Achilles and Odysseus don’t, considering the Iliad spans only 7 weeks or so, and the Odyssey misses out on Odysseus’s actions before and during the Trojan War, and after he came home – and he did a lot after he came home. So where to go to find all the other stories that happened?

Some things to keep in mind:

Writers assumed their audience was familiar with the hero’s greatest deeds already

The big boys – Achilles, Odysseus, Theseus, Perseus, Heracles, Oedipus – had their stories shared in many formats. Think of the Parthenon metopes, which show Theseus’s key deeds in sculpture, or vases, hymns, public performances, bedtime stories, etc. People would encounter these often enough that the outlines of these heroes’ stories were known to them from a young age.

One of the Metopes of the Parthenon, showing (probably) Athena and Theseus.

As a result, ancient texts never show the entire story; they select the moment they want to tell and focus in on that. Hence the Iliad focuses on Achilles’s wrath, the Odyssey emphasises his homecoming, and the Argonautica tells the story of the Golden Fleece. Similarly, tragedies will choose a meaningful moment: not all of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s struggles, but his return home in the Agamemnon, or the events that lead directly to Pentheus’s dismemberment in the Bakchai.

So finding one text that will give you a useful overview will be hard!

These heroes are often also connected to so many other famous characters, that sometimes they show up as a side character in their stories, so it depends on which stories capture your interest most.

Pre-Homeric texts are few and far between

But this is not to say there aren’t pre-Trojan-War myths!

There are loads! Anything with Heracles or Theseus is pre-Iliadic, and others, like the house of Pelops, link more to the Trojan War but are also separate from it. Plus, there is Hesiod’s Theogony (roughly contemporary with Homer), which tells of the births of the gods and goes all the way back to the start of the universe.

The Ovid situation

Many Greek texts are lost, and we’ve only got allusions to this or that part of the myth in the existing fragments, etc. etc. So how do we still know so much about so many of these stories?

Enter my fave: Ovid.

Far later than Homer (1st century versus 8th century BC), but with access to all the Greek texts and them some, he wrote a lot of fairly comprehensive stories. These include the Heroides, letters written from the perspective of female characters trying to connect to their male lovers, with letter 10 coming from Ariadne to Theseus, and Metamorphoses 8 with parts of Theseus’s story.

If you’re looking for a high-level overview of what was what in ancient myth, starting with the Metamorphoses will give you all the big boys and many of the smaller ones.

Theseus specifically:

I must admit that Theseus is not my strong suit, but sources I’m familiar with that I would recommend:

Hippolytus, by Euripides and Phaedra by Seneca: these both tell of Theseus’s second wife Phaedra falling for his son Hippolytus and causing his death

Catullus 64: A lament from Ariadne after Theseus has abandoned her on Naxos

Metamorphoses 8, 12, by Ovid: Snippets of Theseus’s life, incl the Minotaur

Ones I’m not as familiar with but might be up your street:

Life of Theseus, Plutarch: a historian/scholar’s biography. He had them in pairs, where he compared the two; Theseus is linked to Romulus

The Argonautica, Apollonius Rhodus: Follows Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece; Theseus is one of his heroes

Oedipus at Colonnus, Sophocles: apparently Theseus is a major side character here but I don’t remember!

There is also The King must Die by Mary Renault, a modern retelling from the ‘80s that blew me away. The only book set in ancient Greece I’ve ever read that doesn’t shy away from how alien their culture and values are to us today and doesn’t try to sugarcoat things.

And if you’re looking for more heroes: Wikipedia is your friend!

The Classics-related pages are pretty reliable, and they often mention the main sources per character.  

I hope this gets you started but please do hit me up with more questions, I always love diving into these things!

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

PJO TV SHOW (and book) SPOILERS beneath cut!!!!!

What follows is simply a bunch of my nonsensical responses to the first 2 episodes in no particular order; I really cannot explain that any other way I’m afraid

“Whose side are you on?” “Hers, always. She’s my little sister” JUST RIP OUT MY HEART WHY DON’T YOU

Mythomagic. Mythomagic. Mythomagic.

Sally saying not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster - THE FORESHADOWING??? THE REFERENCE TO BOOKS THAT ARENT EVEN BEING ADAPTED YET IM LOSING MY MIND - Also, the justice for Medusa in this was absolutely gorgeous and so well done because it didn’t black and white anyone as just a hero or just a villain but very well highlighted the woven and layered morality of a very complex web of stories, personally I’m mostly a Medusa defender but give me a good quality, well written Perseus retelling and you could probably convince me otherwise I think the point of many of these stories is that there is never a true victor and nothing is ever as easy to understand as a hero and a monster. I’m getting distracted now but hey let’s keep going, I really love Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes, which very strongly labels Perseus as the monster and Medusa as the victim, but I also think there is an argument that Danaë’s plight was diminished/overlooked in it and I would be open to hearing opposing views on that. Since I’m in this tangent I should add I don’t study classics I am just a fan, so I’m not the expert and would generally expect others to know more than me so get it out there I’m eager to learn. Anyway, Percy Jackson (sorry for the tangent)

Percy saying he thinks he’s made real friends I WANT TO CRY

They softened Gabe up quite a bit, or at least I thought they did maybe you guys think otherwise, but I wonder how his death will come across in this case(????)

I actually really like that they had Annabeth clock who Percy’s father was and push him into the water instead of it being Clarisse shoving him into the creek and stumbling upon it by accident, because it really heightened that idea of her being six steps ahead

I think the conflict between Grover and Percy was interesting and I’m intrigued as to how easily it’s resolved with the quest coming up, and on that point am I right that Sally making Grover swear to protect Percy was a new addition? Because I’m guessing that if the conflict between them is still heightened then that’s going to be the logical reason Grover uses to get into the quest, but also they made a big deal out of that and I kept expecting her to request he swear it on the Styx but she didn’t, I wonder if it was meant to be implied (?) or maybe I’m just reading into it

There was less Annabeth screen time than I was expecting but every second she was on screen was PERFECTION

The casting could literally l not have been better I love them all omg

I was kind of surprised they didn’t confirm Percy’s dyslexia and ADHD in the first episode and instead had Luke mention it because I always thought that Percy had already been diagnosed long beforw he call to camp but maybe I misremembered that (?)

THE D’ANGELO REFERENCE YES - like I know it wasn’t about them but it has to be intentional right?

The blink and you miss it Kane Chronicles reference amused me I haven’t actually read all of the Kane Chronicles yet but I really should

WAS THAT BLACKJACK!!!!!??????

I’m guessing that mechanical monster Percy saw out the window was reference to the bulls in book three sorry I can’t remember what they’re called, and with that the doodles in his notebook YES!!! I noticed a cyclops, Medusa, the minatour, and what I think might have been the hydra but I haven’t rewatched yet so stay tuned for possible correction on that lol

I love camp so much! The cabins are incredible and the interior of the Hermes is so much nicer than I imagined whilst still maintaining a kind of overcrowded atmosphere, I love it.

“You are Poseidon’s son” “I am Sally Jackson’s son” y’all don’t understand I almost screamed oh my good lord yes yes yes yes yes

Also, sassy Percy

[m3r1m4r5u333]

So... Turns out, Buddie is actually an urban supernatural rom-com 🤪 (this is a total brainrot post, just me having fun)

Buddie... an epic love story,

of forbidden love growing between

a slayer of monsters and...

a chimera.

Here's our slayer:

Bellerophon[1] or Bellerophontes (Ancient Greek: Βελλεροφόν; Βελλεροφόντης; lit. "slayer of Belleros") or Hipponous (Ancient Greek: Ἱππονοος; lit. "horse-knower"),[2]

He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles",[3] among his greatest feats was killing the Chimera of the Iliad...")

"A chimera: The term "chimera" has come to describe any mythical or fictional creature with parts taken from various animals, to describe anything composed of disparate parts or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling. In other words a chimera can be a hybrid creature. "

And here's our chimera, a hybrid of many creatures...

A Buck:

"a male animal especially : a male deer or antelope"

A golden retriever...

And a bi...son. Here the bison is pictured with his dad:

... In this modern retelling, our great slayer, the horse-knower... is a man called Eddie... who does not believe in magic.

So when a chimera finds his home, and starts nesting...

Eddie refuses to admit how magical it is.

(Chimney: So wait... Are a hex and a jinx the same thing?

Eddie: .. By that do you mean "both totally made up and not real?

Chimney: What more proof do you need Eddie, we are trapped in a death box. Thousands of volts of electricity, coursing through every nook and cranny...")

He just ignores it, ignores this electricity... It's not real!! And tries to find a horse.

Gotta get back on that horse! Where's a horse, quick! Just give him a mare, heck, maybe even a wilder horse, a stallion.

C'mon Eddie, just ignore the magical, fantastical chimera, not even killed by a lighting. It's not really there.

Nesting.

Nesting.

Nesting.

In his home.

And when he ignores the chimera, and just stubbornly shops for a horse... that hurts the chimera, who feels unseen, cast out.

Even though he's everywhere in that home.

Even though Eddie cannot really find anything that compares to that magical chimera, which he can actually see...

Has always seen...

And is just trying to fall out of love with.

....

Eddie... Fuck bying oats!!!

There's a chimera who keeps returning to you, keeps making your home his home. Let it in.

Really, Eddie. There's a goddamn chimera on your couch. How amazing is that? So stop trying to slay it, you dumb thing. You don't like all of these boring, mundane imposters.

✨You've got magic!! ✨

[hellomisst]

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes is such a missed opportunity that it is disappointing

I picked Stone Blind in the bookstore as a chill read, but I was expecting to be swept away like how Circe by Madeline Miller did. Stone Blind, according to the synopsis, is about Medusa and her story; it is a retelling, a reimagining. A "fresh" take. Well, for starters, it is not.

It is not difficult to please any reader like me. I never had a book completely disappoint me in all the years I've read. I'm 24 now, and I started reading books when I was like 10. All I want is for a book to entertain me enough to give my mind a leisurely ride while keeping it relaxed, to give me something new to think about and wonder for awhile, or to completely mind-blow me if it is really that good.

This book did nothing of any sort. There are a LOT of lapses in the story because it tried to do a lot of things at once, but it failed to neatly and cleanly pack it all up in the end. It seems that this book did not understand the Ancient Greek culture at all. Even the Greek gods did not seem to have any solid personality in this book. The characters all felt so shallow. Stone Blind is simply literally retelling what anyone with basic knowledge of the Greek mythology already knows, and put some dialogues there to fill in some blank spots.

Spoilers beyond this line.

Now, before we continue, let me tell you that I am not attempting to make an unbiased review of the book. I am writing this as someone who has immersed herself in Greek mythology as a kid, as someone who wanted a pleasant read while having her finals week in the university, as someone who simply wanted something new to think about, and as a woman who enjoys a good feminist retelling of a story of a woman in fiction who was demonized through out history.

Stone Blind promised a "fresh take" of Medusa, "the original monstered woman." As said, there was nothing fresh in the book's take. Nothing revitalized. Nothing reconstructed. The dialogues were mostly bland; the characters, barely there. It did not even feel like Medusa was the main character. It was basically a story of Athene at first, then Perseus. Many parts of the story were unnecessary to the point that you would forget something else happened because they were barely relevant halfway in the story and/ or in the end.

One good point I have for Stone Blind is that when someone is raped, the author really uses the word "rape". At first, I thought maybe this is the lack of creativity and/ or better words, but then I realized that she wants to say it as it is so that there would be no other interpretation, no misunderstanding, and no more debate as to what really happened. That is the only good point I have for this book.

But my main complaints? Let us enumerate them:

First, everyone—Panopeia (whoever that is in the story; the chapter was named Panopeia but it was not in the list of characters even when the olive grove and a random crow made it there), Athene, Hermes, and Gorgoneion (apparently Medusa's head but you would not know until Medusa gets beheaded and says it herself)—or shall I say, the author herself, kept forcing the readers to hate Perseus. Gorgoneion had chapters dedicated to shitting on Perseus: "You're probably feeling sorry for him now, aren't you? Poor little Perseus, the reluctant hero. Defender of his mother's honor. Boastful little fool..." Knowing that Gorgneion is Medusa's head might let us know that she hates Perseus because he killed Medusa, that is true. But the thing is, it is not only Medusa who keeps saying that Perseus is arrogant, whiney, incompetent, foolish, annoying, and more. Even Athene, as a narrator and a character, and Hermes said it. Basically anyone who has interacted with Perseus and narrated the story said it. So it must be true, right? But is that how you write a story? Sure, they all keep saying that Perseus is all that and does not deserve to be called a hero, but they fail to show the audience how! It keeps being said but it is not shown. The author wants us to hate Perseus by saying it but does not show us why.

This is where it feels like the book fails to understand Ancient Greek culture. The point about Perseus being an annoying and arrogant little prick circles around the fact that he wants to set out on a quest to get Medusa's head but he does not know what a gorgon is, what to do, where to go, and all that shit. He also "complains a lot" and when he got Medusa's head, he "liked killing people" and became "arrogant". First, honor and pride are the center of Ancient Greek stories, characters, and heroes. This is why Greek gods and goddesses intervene in wars and quests. This is basic in any Greek mythology thing! And even without these values, of course Perseus would not want his mother to be taken by any man, even by a king! Why would we fault Perseus with that? Gorgoneion kept saying in one chapter that had Perseus not intervened, the king would have grown tired of Danae (Perseus' mother) and would have cast her aside because he was not interested in her anyway; he just wanted whatever his brother, Dictys, had (Danae and Perseus was taken in by Dictys when they escaped Danae's kingdom long ago). But how would Perseus know that? All Perseus knew, as a 16-year old boy, was that their peaceful life was disturbed by a king and now the king wants his mother. What child would not want to do anything and everything to intervene, Ancient Greek mythology character or not?

Next, Perseus was sixteen! A child! An Ancient Greek child, at that. Of course, he would not know what a gorgon was, where Nereids lived, what he needs to behead a gorgon, and all those things. He did not grow up as a prince being educated on what gods, goddesses, and monsters looked like; he grew up in a fishermen's village learning how to live day by day beside a sea! He was well-taken care of by Danae and Dictys, of course he was mostly comfortable in life. Of course, he would complain when there are painful and uncomfortable moments in his quest! Anyone would! Anyone would grow frustrated and complain when they do not know stuff, but know that they have to do something or else their parent would be taken away, but somehow they keep failing and/ or getting lost! It was stupid, yes, to set out not figuring things out first, but if you were given only two months to do something known as impossible with your parent's freedom at stake and with no one else to support you (even Dictys did not speak against the king, his own brother), even you would go impulsive.

In moments in which Perseus does something abhorrent, his actions seem random and forced, just so they can say that he is bad. For example, Perseus used Medusa's head to turn someone to stone when they denied him food and lodging. They said he had to get the king's, Atlas', permission first and the directions they gave him was lengthy and confusing that it annoyed him, so he turned them to stone.

In the end, most of his being annoying and whiney can be attributed to the fact that he is just sixteen but he feels that he has to do something impossible to save his mother. His being arrogant can be attributed to the fact that he is just sixteen yet he killed and outsmarted gorgons with the help and favor of the gods. He was also mostly kept company by gods who are known to be arrogant. Now, I am not in any way defending Perseus—I know Ancient Greek men in the mythology are shitty—but this is how I view the author's persistent shoving in the face of Perseus being a prick. The author keeps taking Greek mythology out of context; Stone Blind keeps being pulled to modern world and standards that it cast aside the context and nuances of Ancient Greece and Greek mythology. It is not impossible to apply modern idealogoies like feminism in Greek mythology; Circe by Madeline Miller did it. Proper contextualization and a good understanding of Greek mythology can do the trick. And in the case of Medusa? It should have not been difficult at all. Common people on the internet have done it! Medusa has already become an icon for survivors of abuse and harassment. How did the retelling of Medusa's story in Stone Blind fail in this?

Second, how did a book claiming to put women at the center fail to write women in better light? Stone Blind kept trying so hard to say "men bad" but in the end, it seems like Athene was the villain and Medusa was no better than the Perseus she kept insulting; and no man faced any consequence nor retribution. Retelling and reimagining a classic, an ancient story already gives you the edge to make a difference, to send a better message, yet Stone Blind failed so miserably. Sure, maybe the idea was that, "if men can be so bad they can kill anyone, maybe my being vengeful and heartless as a woman is not so bad?" But if this is so, then it all becomes so wrong. How is Medusa's "killing" people "empowering" for women when in the end, she was just a weapon used by Perseus that she did not even have the agency to choose when and who to kill?

The root of it all was Poseidon. Poseidon violated Medusa in Athene's temple. But Athene cannot directly offend Poseidon, so she goes to Medusa, the easier target. Poseidon tricked Hephaestus to take Athene as a bride. Zeus blessed the idea. Hephaestus violates Athene. Athene takes Athens to offend Poseidon. And that is it. Athene did not even craft any long-term plan to take vengeance on Poseidon, the root of it all. And what of Hephaestus? What was the purpose of that scene!? Sure, that was part of the real mythology, but in this book, what was the purpose? If it was to show that even goddesses are not safe from the evilness of men, that even Athene, the one who cursed Medusa for Poseidon's sin, knew how it felt to be harassed, then why did she not change her thoughts about Medusa and her curse? Why did she not change her perspective on women? Because she is an Olympian and Olympians are arrogant? Or is all this just so that the author can retell the story of how Athens became Athene's, and then the olive grove, Elaia, can narrate a small part of the story that is not all that significant anyway? Such a missed opportunity to change the tides in Medusa's story. Women tore each other down; men stood unaffected by their own actions and the consequences.

Then there was also this small appearance of a woman who could have done something: Amphitrite, the wife of Poseidon. According to Stone Blind, Amphitrite was pursued by Poseidon nonstop until she gave up hiding and just gave in. So she knew how Poseidon is. And she knew Medusa caught Poseidon's eyes. The book said, "...she wondered if she should warn the Gorgons of the danger their sister is in." What was the purpose of this line, or the whole chapter's thought, for that matter? To show that the own wife of Poseidon became his wife because he would not stop going after her, even after rejection? To show that Amphitrite also went through what Medusa was about to go through? And then what? Nothing.

Gaia, the titan goddess of earth, was also introduced. During that pointless titan vs. gods war, Gaia was introduced as a mother who wanted to help her titan children, but was immediately defeated by Zeus through god-knows-what. And that war, my god, what was that for!? If that was only to introduce Gaia and allow her to get Hephaestus' semen (from Athene's discarded cloth when she wiped herself after the harassment) and create a child out of it for revenge to Athene, and for that child to grow and help in settling to whom Athens will go to, then it really was not that important. Because: how is this relevant to Medusa?

More on the lack of better characterization of women? Let us talk about Cassiope and Andromeda! Cassiope, and her husband, the king Cepheus, wanted Andromeda to marry Cepheus' brother, an old man. Andromeda vehemently refused, Cassiope felt her loss of power and beauty, and so she blasphemed saying she is more beautiful, if not as beautiful, as the Nereids. The Nereids got offended by her hubris and demanded Poseidon to punish their kingdom. The kingdom gets flooded, and they demanded a sacrifice as an offering to appease them: Andromeda. Andromeda, before getting eaten by the sea monster who was apparently Medusa's mother, gets rescued by Perseus... by using Medusa's head to turn the sea monster to stone. Andromeda, then, wanted to marry Perseus, but Cepheus and Cassiope have doubts. They are correct in having doubts in him, because in Stone Blind, Perseus is said to be bad. But Andromeda refuses to listen nor believe in them because she no longer wants other people to dictate her marriage, which is good for her! She wants what she wants. But in the end, she still is not better than Cassiope because she also believes Cassiope is at fault. She is, but Cepheus' inaction should have been just as bad. What makes their story difficult to follow is how women in this story immediately face terrible consequences for relatively small offenses, while men do not; and it is also women who punish and look down on them. And again, what was the purpose of Cassiope's vanity and hubris in the run of Medusa's story? To show excess vanity can lead to hubris and a godly offense? To make Medusa meet her mother? But then, what was the point of Medusa meeting her mother? For her to think, "Why did I not close my eyes?" Why not, indeed?

Do note that I know this all sounds like I am putting the responsibility on women, rather than men. But remember: the author kept explicitly saying "men bad" (and so far men really did bad things and/ or stood by on the side when something was happening, so that checks out); and if this is a book meant to focus on women and retell their stories, then women should have been written better and differently from their original accounts. But so far, nothing. They were all as they originally were. And they stood by, like the men, when something happened to their fellow women.

Third, the characters are bland and are mischaracterized. The only good people depicted who are relevant to Medusa are her sisters, her fellow gorgons. They are also the only characters who have personalities. They even have more agency than the supposed main character, Medusa. Other than that, Perseus, we already talked about him; Dictys, introduced as a kind protector of women who wash up on the beach, but suddenly did not defend Danae when the king wanted her as his wife? He was kind enough to take them in, wise enough to move away from his king of a brother when he was clearly unwanted and it seemed he induces paranoia in him brought about by insecurity and envy; but when the king himself shows up and claims that he wants Danae, who Dictys said that he sees as his own daughter, for himself, he suddenly cannot speak against him? Changing a character's personality so suddenly to drive the story forward?

Now, about the gods. The gods, the Olympians, are only depicted as one thing: arrogant and prideful. All of them. Gods and goddesses alike. No other personality. And so when Athene and Hermes were made to banter, it comes off all wrong, weird, and irrelevant. Sometimes, the author tries to put humor in Athene, but it is just wrong and out of character. One time, the author made her whiney and childlike when she demanded a "thing" because all other gods have a "thing", it felt so out of character because throughout the story, she was just serious and arrogant. But then this scene happens just to show how Zeus made owls her thing. And owls did not even become relevant in the story (though a crow randomly narrated a chapter). This might have been there to show dimensions and depth of Athene as a character, but it just failed because: it did not become relevant.

The ending also felt so weird and out of character for Athene. Athene, the goddess of wisdom, literal brainchild of Zeus, who should be serious, sure, and always knowledgeable, for some reason, does not know the extent and capabilities of the curse she herself put on Medusa! What the fuck was that? She wanted Medusa to "change her back"; Athene accidentally turned a priestess of her temple to stone because the priestess looked into Athene's breastplate where she put Medusa's head. One, how does the goddess of wisdom accidentally turn someone to stone because she forgot she was wearing Medusa's head and regret it? Two, how does the goddess of wisdom not know her own curse that she herself put on someone? Three, how does the goddess of wisdom forget that that happened a century ago, and not know a century, a year is longer than an hour? And four, how does the goddess of wisdom, an Olympian, not know when a torch is lit not for her but for the priestess she turned to stone?

More than that, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Athene wants a home, but not the temples nor Olympus. She felt homesick and lonely. But why? How? Nowhere in the story did it say nor show that she felt anything of the sort. And she opens this up to Medusa, and allows Medusa to turn her to stone. Why? In this kind of ending, what and where is the resolution?

Lastly, all Medusa was in this story is still a helpless gorgon whose agency in her own story was so minimal that she was not able to change her own fate. She even turned her own mother to stone, and then thought, "Why did I not close my eyes?" The same question I kept thinking of every time Perseus takes her head out of the bag and uses her as a weapon. When Medusa was first beheaded, she made sure to look at the ground only to avoid turning anyone else to stone, but wanted Perseus to accidentally look because she was so angry she wanted to turn him to stone. The first time Perseus took her out to turn people to stone, Medusa felt too powerful and seemed to regret it. I thought, as a revenge and to finally make her own move and decisions, she would maybe start closing her eyes whenever she is taken out by Perseus. But no. I thought, maybe it is because she claims to no longer be the Medusa who cares for mortals. Because a mortal killed her, she no longer feels sympathy and no longe cares when she kills mortals. Alright. But then, I thought you hated Perseus, so why allow him to continually use you as a weapon? Why agree to be used by him and help him succeed?

Eventually, I realized how everyone in the story is an unreliable narrator, especially Gorgoneion aka Medusa/ Medusa's head. That would have been fine if not for the fact that the characters themselves are mischaracterized throughout the story. And to make things worse, why are other characters, mainly men, and other storylines used for Medusa's story to progress? The only reason I can think for this is that the author herself does not understand Greek mythology, Ancient Greece, and the values upheld by Ancient Greeks (at least, in the mythology) well enough to apply modern ideologies in it and so she did not know what to do with Medusa in Medusa's story herself.

[loojii]

Oh, I simply love Hydra's design! Stunning indeed 🥰🥰. Hope to see more of their designs in the future! I'm excited to see Hercules if you ever made his sketch!

Because I can tell he's gonna get the most hate or fear from most of the constellations he killed 😂.

Fun fact, there's Cancer, Leo, Hydra, and Draco from his myth that are mentioned. Taurus could be also in if he's from the Crete Bull story

Heres my sketch for Hercules :D As said before I imagine him to have a prison and see him as a peace keeper between everyone, taking his job very serious. Maybe the constellations Cancer, Leo, Hydra, and Draco could break some rules from time to time and Hercules gets angry at them haha! You can't see them all but I wanted him to have twelve braids, as a nod to his twelve trials. Twelve trials in the morning to braid them all

He's Orion's brother because they're both big beefy man. No other reason lol - Perseus (Another Greek Hero constellation) would probably be their brother too! (I got an ask about him so maybe I sketch him up next! :) )

[seleneprince]

I need help to make a decision.

I'm writing a female Percy Jackson fic and I'm deciding on the name. I have two options, each has their own symbolism and heavy meaning in the narrative, since I'm gonna follow the canon fact that Sally wanted her child's name to have a strong influence in his life (and that most mothers of demigods choose names that tie them to the gods).

I'll explain my reasons for each one and then I hope you can help me because I really can't decide:

First one is Persea. I know, sounds like just Perseus with an added "a", but it's more than that. In Greek mythology, Persea was one of the Oceanids, who were all water nymphs daughters of the Titan Oceanus and Thethys. Other variations of her name are Perse, Persa, Perseide and Perseis. She married Helios, God of the Sun, and was the mother of Circe. Also, her name in Ancient Greek literally means "destroyer".

Amphitrite, Poseidon's wife, is a water nymph too and, depending of which interpretation of her origins you prefer, she's a sister or cousin of Persea. Since she has a rather important role in my au, it wouldn't be weird that Sally chooses a name that endears her daughter to Amphitrite, a name that honours her stepmother in some way. Unlike other goddesses, she was actually kind to Poseidon's demigod children, and in the books she even bakes cookies for Percy when he stays at her and Poseidon's palace. Maybe this small detail with the name would make her like Percy even more. And this way, she still keeps her unfamous nickname. "Sea" would also be a nickname for her, which I think fits perfectly with her theme.

Then we have Ariadna. My explanation for this one is much shorter, because the symbolism here would be more about the romantic aspect of the narrative than her identity as whole. Ariadna (or Ariadne) was a daughter of King Minos, son of Zeus, and Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios with his wife Persea, which also made her half-sister of the Minotaur. There are many interpretations of her myth, but in all of them she falls for Theseus, helps him kill the Minotaur to escape the labyrinth and he abandons her on an island while she was sleeping. Then Dionysus finds her, becomes determined to make her happy again, and in the process they fall in love, eventually getting married. In the books, their marriage is described as a loving one, so you could say Ariadna was one of the few heroes that got a happy ending, like Perseus.

In my au, she's going to have a rather complicated relationship with Luke through the story (let's leave it like that), and Ariadna is very conscious about her namesake's myth, because it's a cautionary tale as much as a hopeful one. Ariadna finds happiness after facing her own tribulations, sure, but the reason of her suffering starts because she trusted her heart to a man that was only using her for his goals, who pretended to love her as well. Ariadna Jackson sees Luke as the Theseus of her story, a boy who has her heart but also causes her pain. She knows trusting him could easily end in disaster, and she refuses to commit the same mistake the original Ariadna did. At the same time, it's not clear wether Luke only wants to use her or holds genuine feelings for her. It's all a mess.

This could be a somewhat comedic point in her interactions with Dionysus/Mr D when they meet, because the reason he despises heroes is for what Theseus did to his wife, but then this kid, this aspiring hero, is named after said wife. It'll be confusing, maybe uncomfortable for both. He either hates her or treats her somewhat kindly, and she can't understand for the life of hers what the fuck did her namesake saw in this man. She feels weird with the situation, even disgusted at being named after such man's wife.

Her nickname would be Aria. Aria Jackson. It certainly has a nice ring to it.

[sarafangirlart]

Idk why by the 5 ages of man like kinda fucks with my idea of like the “timeline” of Greek myth for me and I don’t know why. Like there’s no real timeline but there’s at least like a flow and an order. Idk how to explain it. Maybe like it’s to rigid or feeling separate from what myths must have happened in each age

Yeah, idk if that’s intentional but the early age of heroes has more magical stuff in it like the stories of Bellerophon, Perseus and Cadmus, while the end of the Heroic age is the Trojan war and most of the stories are more grounded.

[abooklover]

Rewatching the first two episodes of the Percy Jackson series for like the fifth time like any sane person and just wanted to make a comprehensive (and I mean comprehensive so bear with me here) list of all my thoughts, however unhinged they may be so here goes.

EPISODE 1

Walker’s monologue at the beginning gives such great background and I’m not gonna lie it destroyed me hearing ‘look I didn’t want to be a half-blood’ as the first words. Not to mention the fact that half of that monologue is pretty much word for word from the book which is something I die over whenever it happens

Blackjack looking out for Percy - we love a bit of foreshadowing

The light that comes into the picture when he says things changed when he met Grover. This is literally everything to me, I am so glad even just in the first two episodes they’re showing how strong of a bond they have. Also let’s not forget that they have Mythomagic cards

Sally Jackson (my goddess) imparting words of fucking wisdom - ‘not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster’

Also her explaining to Percy the story of Perseus (his name sake) - like I am sorry but the centring of the mother/son relationship which only amplifies once Percy loses her is something I don’t know how to explain how much I love (like her even prays to her over his father who is a literal god but we’ll get to that later). ‘hold fast Perseus, brave the storm that was made to break us for we are unbreakable as long as we have each other’ 😭

‘hang on to that, it is a mighty instrument’ - oh yeah it is

Grover spouting scientific facts about bullying - ‘childhood trauma, feelings of inadequacy’ - like he’s written a research paper on it 🤣

Percy and Grover swapping things on their sandwich like they’re siblings

‘I was thinking more like shoving Nancy in the nearest dumpster’ and there mischievous smile afterwards - oh I love you Percy

Grover saying ‘If there’s one thing I know about bullies, you should never stand up to them’ and Percy saying ‘that doesn’t sound right’

I was a little underwhelmed with the whole Mrs Dodds encounter. I don’t know I think I just expected something longer and with the whole drama of Mr Brunner throwing Percy the pen but I think maybe in hindsight it makes more sense cause it’s easier to convince Percy that it didn’t happen

Gotta say that the first time I watched the scene in the principals office I did not even realise Rick was in it but now I can’t not see him

Grover ‘betraying’ Percy was heartbreaking cause you know Grover doesn’t want to do it but knows that he has to and you know that Percy feels like he has lost the only friend he had

Actually really glad that Eddie is a nice sympathetic guy not one of Gabe’s poker buddies

Still disappointed by Gabe - I still think he needed to be a bit more grimy and disgusting (and the way he talks in the scene was just not right for me, don’t know whether it was the acting or the script but it was a no from me). Though Percy’s ‘Losing at imaginary poker’ line was funny

Logical and Sally Jackson. That is all. Just know that I actively sob every time I watch this. Also her sitting in the rain so contentedly will never not hit me, on a personal level knowing how certain things can just provide peace and an escape from life otherwise but also more contextually with her and Poseidon (bottom line: water is the ultimate comfort)

Of course Sally believes Percy and brings him blue candy. Keeping the most important themes of the book. The mother-son bond (which I will to more later) and the blue

I always thought Brunner was pronounced runner but with a b in front of it

D’Angelo’s - yes I will take any peace of nico that I am given (fingers crossed for the lotus casino scenes)

My kin sally Jackson crying in a car while watching her son sleep knowing what lies ahead, nope sorry but I’m not okay and neither is she

‘You fell in love with god, like-like Jesus?’ - oh Percy my love. If nothing else this is who Percy Jackson is.

Percy fully believing that something is wrong with him because that’s what he’s always been told

‘What is he doing here, I don’t want to see him’. Grover and his impeccable timing and panic. Don’t get me started on why I think the ‘You didn’t tell him about me?’, ‘You’re early’ exchange between Grover and Sally is the funniest thing to me.

‘Why is there half a goat in your pants?’ and ‘Why is it wearing underpants?’ - Percy asking the important questions here

I honestly don’t know how they didn’t figure out Percy was Poseidon’s son after the whole Nancy no of it and then Clarissa like it was quite obvious

‘I’m actually 24’ oh Grover we know you bleat when you’re anxious

Sally’s goodbye to Percy - I am a sucker for sadness

I do agree that riptide should be bigger but the only thing I can think is that maybe it’ll grow with him

EPISODE 2

‘You drool when you sleep’ the iconic line. It kinda disappointed me not going to lie.

PETER JOHNSON-pretending to be Percy’s father-PETER-using Percy to break the rules Dionysus introduction and pipeline (oh he is horribly perfect)

‘Yeah but did you’ persassy is in the house and I hope he never leaves (one of my favourite lines and the way walker delivers it is perfection)

Camp looks incredible. I know people have issues with the grandeur of it all but that’s the way things work in the film industry and I personal adore it

And can we talk about Chiron’s injured back leg. Like am I forgetting something (probably) but I don’t remembered him being injured

For those who don’t know, finding out that like is the bad guy is probably gonna destroy them. Charlie bushnell really was like I’m gonna make everyone love me only for them to be crushed (and even though I know I am still gonna hurt - yes I have a soft spot for Luke)

I was so confused when Grover went into the woods and saw the council (it was the only part that I was like what in the world is this, this wasn’t in the books)

Luke being the one the comfort Percy and show him around - oh a genius choice narrative wise but I do miss my girl Annabeth

Introduction to Clarisse was everything - Dior is my goddess

‘Should I try again’ and the resounding ‘NO!’

‘Is there a Greek God of disappointment. Maybe someone should ask him if he’s missing a kid’ - Percy Percy Percy stop making me love you more than I already do like I don’t think my heart can take it

Then Chris’s lovely little tangent and Luke going man why the fuck are you saying this and reassuring Percy - you go storyline building up the loveable Luke (I’m already hurting)

‘They like the smell of begging’ - top teir line

‘You burn what you’re gonging to miss the most’ flash forward to Percy taking this and burning his blue candy praying, not to his father who is an actual god, but to his mother (I cannot handle this, like this kid knows that his mum is the real goddess)

Walker’s voice breaking on ‘well’ - I am sobbing

And the fact that he says he made actual friends - the narrative damning us to inevitable torture

The resentment in his voice when talking about his father - I am so glad they leaned into this

I kinda loved the bathroom scene. And how we are first introduced to Annabeth in this and how she is her blunt self (still don’t know how they could not have known)

Like calling Annabeth his little sister and saying he will always be on her side (I am hurting even more - we never get to see Luke’s perspective in the books and this, this absolutely ruined me)

Pronunciation of Thalia is still going to take some getting used to

Chiron forever in that suit jacket and fence is just not sitting right with me - doesn’t fit the whole trainer of warrior vibe he should be giving

‘Not you sunshine’ - honestly better than seaweed brain

Percy tripping over the branch and Annabeth just standing there and her facial expression (on Leah you are everything)

‘When it’s time he’s going to be ready. I know it.’ Cut to a montage of Percy doing the most 12 year old things possible, including but not limited to flossing (which I thought was kind of out of place and cringe) and petting a random gecko (which I thought was out of place but one of the most hilarious things ever so I’ll give it a pass) while his helmet and weapons lay discarded

Percy I thought you were meant to be proving yourself to your dad to get his attention or something, telling people where the flag is to avoid a fight is not exactly how to do that

Honestly any time Dior is on my screen is a good time - her manic laugh and anguished scream Dior is the moment

Annabeth’s bluntness will always be everything to me - ‘listen, Percy, I’m sorry’ and Percy’s ‘what is wrong with you’ (top five moments of the show)

The reveal - Percy Jackson son of Poseidon

‘I am Sally Jackson’s son’ yeah you tell them Percy (you will always be first and foremost Sally Jackson’s son)