#naval history myths

[ltwilliammowett]

The Crow's nest, by Ed Parker (1946-)

[wantsusdead]

#Love A Man With A Sextant

Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier was elected to become a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) in 1827, after conducting valuable astronomical and magnetic studies on his three expeditions with Sir William Parry. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1843, in recognition of his outstanding work on magnetism. [X]

[lukesskywalkerr]

i had a payneland idea inspired by @thefutureandonceking’s post about dps and dead boy detectives and the second i read that i had an idea

what if edwin started the dead poets society and was the first member? what if when charles went to st. hilarions he was a pledge and then became a member?

what kind of ghost stories could come out of that and how would they be described in terms of the societies history, i mean it’s founding member died under mysterious circumstances right? he would be a legend, not just because of his infamy of never bringing in a piece that wasn’t his own, pieces that should have been published for the world itself, but for also dying mysteriously and possibly violently like all the great poets.

charles was already a surprising member having poetry be something he wouldn’t seem interested in, however be the most inthralled with poetry out of anyone at the time. maybe not writing the best poetry out of anyone but being able to find and read poetry with the emotional weight of a naval ship. a member who would have made the founders proud. now of course he dies and joins the ranks of those others in the club who had not just lived but experienced life.

imagine charles confusion as he hides from his once friends and he figures he’s hallucinating the face of the founder of his club whom’s face he’s memorized just like all the others in the societies past. he probably figured he was dying already and wanted a face he could not only recognize but relate to. now of course imagine his confusion as he realized he’s not having death visions he’s actually seeing the ghost of edwin payne, the myth and legend, who created that little club.

[carrotsnake]

Zelda and the Tale of Melusine

I'll be looking at the parallels between Zelda's arc and some Medieval tropes of female metamorphosis, using Melusine: Or the Noble History of Lusignan as an example. Specificially a translated copy of Jean d'Arras's version, since that's the most well known one.

To start, a run down of Melusine:

She's a half human, half fairy woman cursed by her mother for imprisoning her mortal father in a mountain. The curse dictates every Saturday she turns into a serpent from the naval down. She must marry a human man for a long time to slowly undo the curse and become fully human, but he must never see her monstrous form beforehand.

If he does, she'll lose her humanity forever and transform into a dragon.

She meets a knight in the woods, he suspects her otherworldly knowledge comes from "some phantasm or diabolical power", to which she goes don't worry about it kitten. But he likes her so he's like ok! ^_^ yay!

She keeps giving him cool fairy advice, and with it his life magically becomes a whole lot better - he gains wealth, power, and not just him but other people listen to her advice: crops flourish, castles are built. The kingdom is thriving! They love her just as much as he does, so it's no surprise they get married. But there's just one condition, she hides in the bathhouse every Saturday, and he's never to visit or peep at her.

He breaks his promise and discovers her secret. She says he's cursed both of them, and now he's lost her forever: "Be sure that as long as you live I shall always find pleasure in seeing you; but [...] never again shall you see me in female form."

The next passage is as follows:

'Melusine, uttering a very doleful cry and then a heavy sigh, leapt from the window into the void, and as she swept across the orchards she metamorphosed into a massive dragon some fifteen feet in length. [...] In her dragon form she circled the fortress three times, and each time she flew past the window she uttered such an excruciating, desolate cry that everyone wept for pity, knowing that she was leaving under constraint and against her will. Then she disappeared in the direction of Lusignan, letting out such rueful shrieking and strident cries that wherever she passed it seemed as if lightning and thunder were about to split the sky.'

He never sees her again after that. But phantoms of her start appearing in the castle, secretly visiting her children at night and generally just spooking people by standing there menacingly. And that's how the myth is born.

I've already drawn connections through the images above, but what's the point of this?

Like lots of other fans I was irked by the whole 'zelda jesus' thing in totk, yeah it is a little odd that everyone follows her advice without question, and it's never wrong.

I'm curious, if the team was drawing from Western myths, that this was supposed to echo the fae. Especially since most of the quests keep you on your toes on whether this was the real Zelda giving advice, or a fake - a phantom(!) - deliberately sabotaging them. It mirrors how opinions on Melusine were split between a benevolent fae or a demon. Splitting them into two entities though, I can see how that would defang it.

The og text wasn't exactly that nuanced either. I remember my prof joking the message amounted to "always listen to your weird snake wife!" Maybe we SHOULD listen to our weird snake wives.

It's interesting Melusine only interacts with children after the curse - botw+totk imply only young children who are pure of heart can see dragons.

I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find it! Then you can look for more parallels, and read riveting pieces of dialogue such as this:

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … December 14

c.530 – Venantius Fortunatus (d.circa 600/609) was a Latin poet and hymnodist in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the early Catholic Church. He was never canonised but was venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus during the Middle Ages.

Born in Treviso, near Ravenna in Italy, he spent his time as court poet to the Merovingians. After visiting the tomb of St. Martin of Tours at St. Hilary at Poitiers, he decided to enter a monastery.

He continued to write poetry, some of which have a permanent place in Catholic hymnody, for instance the Easter season hymns "Vexilla Regis" and the "Pange Lingua" (Sing, O my tongue, of the battle). Three or four years before he died he was made bishop of Poitiers. Although never canonized, he was venerated as a saint in the medieval church, and his feast day is still recognized on 14th December each year.

Like Paulinus of Nola, St Venantius's poetry also includes some decidedly secular verse of the romantic sort. That this celebrates male love is clear from its inclusion in the Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse.

"Written on an Island off the Breton Coast" You at God's altar stand, His minister And Paris lies about you and the Seine: Around this Breton isle the Ocean swells, Deep water and one love between us twain. Wild is the wind, but still thy name is spoken; Rough is the sea: it sweeps not o'er they face. Still runs my lover for shelter to its dwelling, Hither, O heart, to thine abiding place. Swift as the waves beneath an east wind breaking Dark as beneath a winter sky the sea, So to my heart crowd memories awaking, So dark, O love, my spirit without thee.

Fortunatus died in the early 600s. He was called a saint after his death, but was never formally canonized.

1901 – King Paul of Greece (d.1964) reigned as king of Greece from 1947 to 1964. He may have been bi-sexual.

Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer. On 9 January 1938, Paul married Frederika of Hanover at Athens. They had three children.

Before his marriage he is alleged to have invited the homosexual literary muse, Denham Fouts, on a cruise of the Aegean Sea, perhaps because they were lovers. However, Fouts's friend John B. L. Goodwin said Fouts often made up stories about his life, and literary critic Katherine Bucknell thought many of the tales about him were myth.

During most of World War II, when Greece was under German occupation, he was with the Greek government-in-exile in London and Cairo. From Cairo, he broadcast messages to the Greek people.

Paul returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, on the death of his childless elder brother, King George II.

David Lewis (L) with Producer Irving Pichel

1903 – David Lewis (d.1987 ), born David Levy, was a Hollywood film producer who produced such films as Dark Victory (1939), Arch of Triumph (1948), and Raintree County (1957).

He was also the longtime companion of director James Whale from 1930 to 1952. Although they were separated at the time of Whale's death in 1957, Lewis later released the contents of Whale's suicide note.

Lewis was portrayed in the 1998 film Gods and Monsters by David Dukes.

1915 – The American actor and dancer Dan Dailey was born on this date (d.1978). Dailey was born and raised in New York City and appeared in vaudeville before his Broadway debut in 1937 in Babes in Arms. In 1940, he was signed by MGM to make movies and, although his past career had been in musicals, he was initially cast as a Nazi in The Mortal Storm. However, the people at MGM realized their mistake quickly and cast him in a series of musical films.

He served in the United States Army during World War II, was commissioned as an Army Officer after graduation from Signal OCS at Ft Monmouth, NJ, after which he served with distinction until the war ended. Then returned to more musicals. Beginning with Mother Wore Tights (1947) Dailey became the frequent and favorite co-star of movie legend Betty Grable. His performance in their film When My Baby Smiles at Me in 1948 garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1950, he starred in A Ticket to Tomahawk, often noted as one of the first screen appearances of Marilyn Monroe, in a very small part as a dance-hall girl. In 1953, Dailey starred in Meet Me at the Fair. One of his notable roles was in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, and Johnnie Ray.

In 1950 the notorious "Confidential" Magazine (the National Enquirer of its day) printed a picture of him wearing female clothing. His studio, 20th Century Fox, rushed to repair the damage; gossip columnists were told that Dailey had simply been snapped on his way to a fancy dress party. But Andre Previn, the composer, tells in his biography No Minor Chords how Dailey turned up drunk and in female clothing for the press screening of It's Always Fair Weather in 1954. In the mid '70s, gossip columnist Joyce Haber was on television promoting a novel about Hollywood. Asked to dish some gossip, she mentioned that one of the top dancer-actors was a closet transvestite with a costly and beautiful wardrobe that many women would envy.

He had three failed marriages with women, but also was known to hang out in Gay bars. After the suicide of his only son, he was an embittered alcoholic. He died three years later, just after he playing boyfriend Clyde Tolson in (the unintentionally hilarious *and bad*) The Private Files of J.Edgar Hoover (1977). He appeared in over 60 films in his career.

1932 – George Furth (d.2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor.

Born in Chicago with the name of George Schweinfurth (he dropped the "schwein" on becoming an actor).

Furth made his Broadway debut as an actor in the 1961 play A Cook for Mr. General, followed by the musical Hot Spot two years later. He was also known for his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim: the highly successful Company, the ill-fated Merrily We Roll Along and the equally ill-fated drama, Getting Away with Murder. Furth penned the plays Twigs, The Supporting Cast and Precious Sons, and wrote the book for the Kander and Ebb musical, The Act.

Company has been revived many times over the years, sometimes updated to the Aids era, although requests from producers to give the show a homosexual slant were turned down by the unmarried Sondheim and Furth, although both of them were gay.

Frequently cast as a bespectacled, ineffectual milquetoast, Furth appeared in such films as The Best Man, Myra Breckinridge, Hooper, Blazing Saddles, Oh God!, Shampoo, The Cannonball Run, Young Doctors in Love, Doctor Detroit, Bulworth and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His many television credits include Tammy, McHale's Navy, Ironside, I Dream of Jeannie, That Girl, Green Acres, The Monkees, Batman, The Odd Couple, Bonanza, Happy Days, All in the Family, Murphy Brown, L.A. Law, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Murder, She Wrote, Little House on the Prairie, Love, American Style, Adam-12, F Troop and the made-for-TV film The Scarlett O'Hara War, in which he portrayed famed film director George Cukor. He was a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 situation comedy The Dumplings.

He adapted his play Twigs as a 1975 television production, starring Carol Burnett. He also worked as a voice actor in several episodes of the animated television series The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda for Hanna-Barbera Productions.

One of Furth's last writing projects was a foray into an area where he had not previously endeavored. Furth penned the lyrics for a musical revue, with music by Doug Katsaros. Furth and Katsaros shaped the work with San Francisco director Mike Ward into "The End - a new musical revue". The piece was performed at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center during the summer of 2004 and was billed as a "Pre-U.S. Tour Workshop Production". The piece was reworked twice, with the title changing to Last Call and Happy Hour, respectively.

Furth died on August 11, 2008 at the age of 75. The exact cause of death is unknown, although he had been hospitalized for a lung disease at the time.

1955 – Hervé Guibert (d.1991) was a French writer and photographer. The author of numerous novels and autobiographical studies, he played a considerable role in changing French public attitudes to AIDS. He was a close friend and lover of Michel Foucault.

Guibert was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, to a middle-class family and spent his early years in Paris, moving to La Rochelle from 1970 to 1973. In his teens Hervé Guibert lied about his age to work at the magazine 20 ans eventually leading to a job with Le Monde. After working as a filmmaker and actor, he turned to photography and journalism. In 1978, he successfully applied for a job at France's prestigious evening paper Le Monde and published his second book, Les aventures singulières (published by Éditions de minuit). In 1984, Guibert shared a César Award for best screenplay with Patrice Chéreau for L'homme blessé. Guibert had met Chéreau in the 1970s during his theatrical years.

Guibert's writing style was inspired by the French writer Jean Genet. Three of his lovers occupied an important place in his life and work: Thierry Jouno, director of an institute for the blind whom he met in 1976, and which led to his novel Des aveugles; Michel Foucault, whom he met in 1977; and Vincent Marmousez, a teenager of fifteen who inspired his novel Fou de Vincent.

In January 1988 Guibert was diagnosed with AIDS. From then on, he worked at recording what was left of his life. In June the following year, he married Christine, the partner of the late Thierry Jouno, so that his royalty income would eventually pass to her and her two children. In 1990, Guibert publicly revealed his HIV status in his roman à clef "À l'ami qui ne m'a pas sauvé la vie" (published in English as To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life). Guibert immediately found himself the focus of media attention, featured in newspapers and appearing on several television talk shows.

Two more books also detailing the progress of his illness followed: Le Protocole compassionnel (published in English as The Compassionate Protocol) and L'Homme au chapeau rouge (published in English as The Man In The Red Hat), which was released posthumously in January 1992, the same month French television screened La Pudeur ou l'impudeur, a home-made film by Guibert of his last year as he lost his battle against AIDS. Almost blind as a result of disease, he attempted to end his life just before his 36th birthday, and died two weeks later.

1960 – Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and Gay rights advocate, born; The former Mr. Universe, and International Federation of BodyBuilders professional bodybuilder, Bob Paris is a writer, public speaker and civil rights activist. He acknowledged his sexuality in the July 1989 issue of Ironman magazine and has graced the covers of scores of magazines worldwide. After Paris officially came out as a Gay man in the media, he and his then-partner, Rod Jackson, became involved in marriage equality advocacy, started successful non-profits, lectured on a wide variety of Gay civil rights issues, and made many television, radio, newspaper and magazine appearances. The two separated in 1995. Today, Paris lives with his spouse of eleven years, Brian, on an island near Vancouver, British Columbia. Bob and Brian were legally married after Canada equalized the marriage laws in 2003.

In addition to his writing career, Bob Paris remains a committed civil rights advocate as well as a motivational speaker, model and actor. In 1998, he made his New York stage debut, starring at Carnegie Hall opposite Bea Arthur, Sandy Duncan and Tyne Daly in the Broadway musical, Jubilee as the character Mowgli. He is one of the subject of photographer Herb Ritts' gorgeous book, Duo. His official website is: http://www.bobparis.com/

1966 – James Earl Hardy, born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, is an American playwright, novelist, and journalist.

Generally considered the first to depict same-sex love stories that take place within the hip-hop community, his writing is largely characterized by its exploration of the African-American LGBTQ experience.

Hardy's best-known work is the B-Boy Blues series. The B-Boys Blues series comprises six novels and one short story. B-Boy Blues was adapted into a play in 2013 and into a film, directed and co-written by Jussie Smollett, in 2021.

Hardy attended undergraduate school at St. John's University and afterward went on to graduate from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 1993. From 1992 to 1994, he wrote for Entertainment Weekly as a music journalist.

1968 – Yotam Ottolenghi is an Israeli-English chef, restaurateur, and food writer. He is the co-owner of six delis and restaurants in London, as well as the author of several bestselling cookbooks, including Ottolenghi (2008), Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012) and Ottolenghi Simple (2018).

Ottolenghi was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Forces in 1989, serving three years in IDF intelligence headquarters. He then studied at the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students of Tel Aviv University, where in 1997, he completed a combined bachelor's and master's degree in comparative literature; his thesis being on the philosophy of the photographic image. While working on his thesis, Ottolenghi served as a night copy editor for Haaretz.

In 1997, Ottolenghi and his then-partner Noam Bar moved to Amsterdam, where he edited the Hebrew section of the Dutch-Jewish weekly NIW and considered getting his doctorate in comparative literature. Instead, he moved to London to study French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu.

Ottolenghi met his partner Karl Allen in 2000; they married in 2012 and live in Camden with their two sons, Max and Flynn. In 2013, Ottolenghi "came out as a gay father" in a Guardian essay that detailed the lengthy process of conceiving Max via gestational surrogacy, an option that he believes should be more widely available to those who cannot conceive naturally.

Ottolenghi served as a pastry chef at three London restaurants: the Michelin-starred Capital Restaurant, Kensington Place, and Launceston Place in Kensington New Town. In 1999, he became head pastry chef at the artisanal pastry shop Baker and Spice, where he met the Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi, who grew up in Jerusalem's Old City. Ottolenghi and Tamimi bonded over a shared language—Hebrew—and a joint "incomprehension of traditional English food".

His debut cookbook Ottolenghi was published in 2008 and has sold over 100,000 copies. Six volumes have followed: the all-vegetable cookbooks Plenty (2010) and Plenty More (2014); Jerusalem (2012); Nopi (2015); the dessert cookbook Sweet (2017); and Ottolenghi Simple (2018).

Ottolenghi's bestselling cookbooks have proven influential, with The New York Times noting that they are "widely knocked-off for their plain-spoken instructions, puffy covers, and photographs [that Ottolenghi] oversees himself, eschewing a food stylist". In 2014, the London Evening Standard remarked that Ottolenghi had "radically rewritten the way Londoners cook and eat", and Bon Appetit wrote that he had "made the world love vegetables".

1988 – The movie version of Harvey Fierstein's play "Torch Song Trilogy" opened in New York.

1989 – Amini Fonua is a Tongan competitive swimmer.

Fonua was born and raised in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand to Tongan lawyer Sione Fonua and British-born mother Julie. He holds dual Tongan and New Zealand citizenship. His family includes two other sisters.

Fonua's swimming career began at the Roskill Swimming Club based at Cameron Pool in Auckland, coached by Sandra Burrow from 1999–2007. He broke numerous Auckland and New Zealand Age Group Records under Burrow's tenure. He then moved to West Auckland Aquatics in 2007, and was coached by Donna Bouzaid. In the Fall of 2008, Fonua enrolled at Texas A&M on a swimming scholarship. While at Texas A&M he was a peer voted Team Captain, Big XII Conference Champion, NCAA All-American, and recipient of The Aggie Heart Award. He graduated with a Telecommunication and Multi-Media degree, with a Minor in Creative Writing in May 2013.

He was the first Tongan swimmer to win a gold medal in international competition, when he took gold in the 50 metre breaststroke at the 2010 Oceania Swimming Championships.

In preparation for the 2012 London Olympics Fonua was trained by New Zealander and designated head coach for Tonga, Jon Winter. He served as his nation's flag-bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. As a swimmer at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke, failing to reach the semifinals.

Fonua made an international comeback at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. He created history by becoming the first ever Tongan athlete to ever win 3 Gold medals at a Pacific Games by sweeping the Breaststroke events, setting 2 Games Records in the process (50 m and 100 m Breaststroke). He is the only Tongan athlete in history to ever hold dual Oceania and Pacific Games titles.

Fonua is openly gay and an advocate for LGBT rights.

1993 – In Denver Colorado, Judge Jeffrey Bayless ruled Amendment 2 unconstitutional. The amendment to the Colorado state constitution sought to eliminate all gay rights laws in the state and prevent any more from being passed.

[is-the-19thcentury-man-okay]

I was very pleased with my English 1820s man. I made sure he had enrichment of a scholarly nature, to balance out the Romantic tendencies they have. He took to studying classical history and language, and I confess I was proud to have such an intelligent 19th century man. More recently he took an interest in current affairs but, as he is quite young, I assumed this was a sign of maturing. Then, just like that, he ran away! I went out searching and a neighbour informed me that he'd gone to Greece to fight against the Ottomans! I was horrified and went straight there, but I found him with a pack of Greek 1820s men and he adamantly refused to come home. What should I do? I worry that he will get hurt fighting, or that his constitution will not survive rough living in the Greek mountains. But he's having such a good time. He is learning the modern iteration of Greek (such a clever man), enjoys the local cuisine, and even wants to dress like his new friends. Is he in great danger if I let him stay, and how could I take him home without breaking his heart? (I don't want to risk any of those Greek 1820s men getting angry either, if I take their lucky mascot away.) Many thanks for your advice!

Romanticism and nationalism make for a very potent combination, as you have learned by now, and for many 19th century men of a certain social class and level of education, the attraction of the Classical world adds another layer of mythical folklore; not to mention the allure of pagan ceremony and skimpy neoclassical clothes.

For 1820s-1830s men, the Byronic appeal of exotic "Eastern" nations can be irresistible, and in general you will find a lot of national myth-making and interest in folk costumes.

Lord Byron in Albanian dress, 1813. This man is not Albanian!

You also have to be aware of your 19th century man's possibly very different ideas of national and imperial boundaries. He learns the polka in Bohemia, he wants to fight the Ottomans, he wants to fight in the Miguelite war—he might support Romantic German nationalism! It's not always the national and cultural understandings of the 21st century.

Being British is also not a guarantee of sensible behaviour. You might think that your British naval officer is going to rest on his laurels after the Napoleonic Wars, and the next thing you know, he's leading a fleet in the Chilean Independence movement!

Thomas Cochrane, naval officer for hire.

19th century men are not for the faint of heart. It can be challenging to balance their Romantic desires with a sensible course of action. Since your man has already spent so much time with his new Greek friends and has embraced their lifestyle, you could suggest that it's important that he document his experiences in a travel narrative that will also champion their cause.

As much as possible, you want to convince him that he's very valuable as a writer and/or visual artist giving voice to a cause—too valuable to foolishly risk his life or ruin his health abroad.

[athensandspartaadventures]

Athens and Sparta Adventures: Chapter 9: Libation Bearers pg. 1

[previous] [contents] [next]

Quick Ref:

Corcyra: An island in northwestern Greece known today as Corfu, Corcyra was one of the large naval powers alongside Athens and Corinth, her mother city, in the 5th century BCE.

Syracuse: Another early colony of Corinth in Magna Graecia, Syracuse might be considered "the Athens of Sicily" in terms of naval power (and being rather ostentatious with a flair for the dramatic).

Comments:

Some of the text here are quotes, either from Aeschylus' Agamemnon (Sparta is repeating such a quote here) or from its sequel play and the inspiration for the chapter title, Libation Bearers.

A little more background on the plays that might shed some light on some of the images:

Argos' "death" is reminiscent of Agamemnon's (he was king of Argos rather than Mycenae in the titular play, a political gesture from Athens to his ally?) while Corinth is holding Clytemnestra's axe.

The masked chorus is quoting Electra and Orestes, the children of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, in Libation Bearers.

Athens and Megara are enacting the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis, this time Athens is in Agamemnon's role.

The snake is a reference to a prophetic dream Clytemnestra has about nursing a snake, an allegory for Orestes. It is this dream that prompts her to send belated libations to Agamemnon's grave.

It's not an easy one-to-one relationship between the myths and the history, so don't overthink it too much and just enjoy the ride! :)

Heeeey Argos! We thought you were dead!

Argos isn't dead, don't worry, but part of the reason he sat out the Persian War is because Sparta had decimated his population of young men. While they both were major players in Homeric epic, the two fought a lot in the archaic and classical periods, and it seems there is still a long standing grudge between them when this chapter takes place.

Sparta is holding a kopis, by the way.

[blueiscoool]

The Hunt: What Happened to the Great Sphinx’s Nose?

The mystery of the Egyptian statue's missing nose has fascinated people for centuries.

Much like the desert winds that perhaps helped shape it, conspiracy theories swirl around the Great Sphinx guarding the Giza plateau—especially regarding how the winged lion’s human head lost its nose. One enduring hypothesis blames Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops for blowing the snout off during target practice. While that conspiracy’s long-debunked, it persists in popular culture. Director Ridley Scott knowingly depicted the myth in last year’s Napoleon biopic, without sacrificing any of his film’s critical acclaim. However, Egypt’s Dr. Zahi Hawass told Britannica, “We have, really, to say to everyone that Napoleon Bonaparte has nothing to do with destroying the Sphinx’s nose.”

Napoleon’s 1798 battle didn’t even take place on the Giza plateau, but 10 miles north at Imbabah. Some theories have posited that storms and earthquakes shook the Sphinx’s nose from its face. Others squabble over which regional conflict (if not Napoleon’s Battle of the Pyramids) led to the nose���s destruction. In 1990, J.P. Lepre noted that “the figure was used as a target for the guns of the Mamluks,” who were actually Napoleon’s opponents.

The French emperor did, however, lay eyes on the Sphinx’s face when he arrived in Giza, with many soldiers, painters, and engravers in tow. “Thousands of years of history are looking down upon us,” he reportedly exclaimed beneath the monument’s gaze. Napoleon didn’t respect borders, but he did respect history. The Waterloo Association called the lingering accusations against him “particularly unjust because the French general brought with him a large group of ‘savants’ to conduct the first scientific study of Egypt and its antiquities.” The resulting Orientalist survey ignited an Egyptian fervor back in Europe.

Primary materials prove the nose removal predated Napoleon, too. Danish naval captain Frederic Louis Norden’s sketch from 1738 depicts the Sphinx without its central facial feature. What’s more, French naturalist Dr. Pierre Belon visited the Sphinx in 1546, writing that it had sustained damage and “no longer [had] the stamp of grace and beauty so admired by Abdel Latif in 1200”.

Medieval Arab scholars such as al-Maqrīzī pin the damage on Muhammed Sa’im al-Dahr, a 12th-century Sufi Muslim from a respected Cairo convent, who was allegedly angry that peasants used the Sphinx to entreat Abul Hol (the Arabic name for the sphinx) into helping their harvests. Removing an idol’s nose was an accepted method to suffocate spirits inside. Still, the details remain up for debate. Hawass believes that al-Dahr acted alone. Others claim he hired men to desecrate the Sphinx. Most experts, however, agree the great statue’s nose came off with a chisel. It is also generally accepted that al-Darhr’s actions got him killed by angry villagers. Sadly, the nose itself has likely crumbled into the desert.

By Vittoria Benzine.

[alwayslosingtheplot-blog]

Making a world (Part 4)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 3.5

It's culture time!

I should be writing my book (or practicing for my driving test -_-) but I'm doing this instead because the novelty is more appealing. I'm going to do each island individually, focusing on settlements but talking a bit about the native species of plants and animals, food sources and all that.

The Island of Alseid

Alseid is in encircles by a ring of other islands. No monsters comes from the mainland or from the sea as they are many more places that are more convenient.

This city of Alsea is considered a wonder of history, art and invention. The shining city on the hill has been an inspiration for many heroes, poets and legends of old (think Arthurian).

Being inland, and on a hill helps keep the city safe from attack from raiders, while the wide river Achelous allows decently sized ships to travel to the sea.

Other than the city, there are five large towns worth mentioning: Crocus, Nelumbo, Nucifera, Iris and Lycoctonum. Yes, these are all flower names. There are many, many farms and small villages and shires that follow the river in both directions to and from the city itself.

Alseid is a gentle island with rolling hills and many small woods and forests. It's beaches are rocky and its weather is gentle with most of the storms having blown themselves out over other islands before arriving from the sea.

The main crops grow like corn but the kernels need to ground up into a flour in order to be used. The roots of this plant are also edible when roasted, but considered to be a poor person's food and is often used instead to feed the short, wooly cows found here instead. These cows are sometimes eaten by eagles and the small number of wolves that still live on the island.

The children here are educated until they reach ten and any of those who have shown talent (or have connections) will be given a patron to pursue their talents.

All others are allowed two 'fallow' years where they are allowed to work or be with family before being conscripted (until they reach 16). Once again, those who have shown talent are encouraged to remain in the military and those who have not are released.

There are policies in place to try and find every boy a trade to study at this stage. For some, it is easy. For example, a carpenter's son will be placed with his father unless there is good reason not to.

The girls are brought to the temple to serve for another year, where they are awarded merits. These merits are used to increase their bride-price for their family. Girls without families are also awarded merits and their bride-price are given towards the temple unless they decide to become priestesses.

Women are considered to be the protectors of the Alsean culture because of an old myth and all women are taught to read and write and write poetry in other to safe-guard the Alsean way of life. Any Alsean woman who travel out into the world (with their husbands, for the temple or by themselves) are expected to bring their culture with them and establish their traditions in new settlements.

Children educated outside of the city have instructors, who are to report any 'auspicious' children. Each school is visited yearly by a examiner who interviews the children and looks at their work. Any children who show talent are brought to a school in the city.

All 12-year-olds have to report to the city for their military training. Celebrations and festivals in Alseid mostly feature its naval pride and discipline in some way. Either through parades, the cleansing festival (think of it like a country-wide spring clean), the celebration of the construction of a new ship or a new bath construction. There is a celebration for births, but they only happen a year after the child is born and focuses on the mother 'overcoming the battle of birth'.

Naming conventions in Alseid are quite simple. A person's has a family name, but outside of their hometown the will refer to themselves as having the name of that hometown as their last name.

For example: in Iris, Atticus will be referred as Atticus Hann. Anywhere else, he will be Atticus Of Iris. Unless he meets someone else from the town, in which case they may swap 'home names'. I have a bit more on each of the towns themselves, (such as Crocus being Alsea's shield and Lycoctonum being next a wild forest with various beasts inside used for the last round of training for recruits in a annual 'Hunt') but the post is long enough.

I also have an idea for a series of short stories about a kid growing up through the military training and experiencing the island's features and faults - but I have a book to write and I really should focus on that.

[ruins-of-gods]

In compartment 98A12K12 of frame 127, there is, between the Dagron family's possessions, inherited through the centuries, a suit of armor worn in the worst days. Most of the time, the ship is calm, the world placid. Sometimes, it is broken by naval gunfire and the roar of distant AA guns, the blast of the general quarters klaxon...

But for the most part it's quiet, interrupted only by the inquisitorial detachment ensuring readiness and checking for corruption in their door to door.

Sometimes, though, there is the Jump. The Jump happens every so often, it isn't a regular jump. Regularly the ship is calm even if there are voices or whispers and the inquisition team has to come by with the autoguns afterwards. But every so often there is... The Jump.

In those times the family brings out their suit, encrusted in seals and blessings. It is flak armor that has taken the appearance of carapace, with so many scrap pieces lovingly moulded and painted into shape by ancestral hands.

In the madness of the Warp, during those hell hours where the gellar fields run thin and physical law becomes suggestion, this grants it power. But they don't know that. All they know is that for the last century, the one who wears it has skin of adamant and may be marked with the double headed eagle.

The honor it brings is a strange thing, codified in myth now that all those who remember its true history have fallen. All agree that, for a time, it was passed down from father to daughter, from mother to son. Armsman Karo Ludevic wore it, that much is known - his name is still inscribed on the nameplate beneath the aquila on its chest, and the great scar that mars its shoulderplate can come from little else than the daemonette he is said to have fought hand-to-hand. The old voiders say that his bravery granted him the title of Sergeant-at-Arms, and that it was his survival that showed to all the armor's holy might. But occasionally, in the bleak hours when they've been off-shift too long and the claustrophobia begins to eat at them, they whisper that the chip mark inside its helmet is the remains of a stubber shell, put through Karo Ludevic's head when the Inquistorial Detachment learned of what he'd begun to do after his experience, and what he'd begun to hear and see even outside the Warp.

Who bore it next, none truly knows. Some say it was Alenia Ludevic, Karo's daughter, who saved the Ludevic line from utter extermination when a World Eaters incursion party breached the ship. Others say that Gunman Nolan Tamoor bore it in the brutal Battle of Frame 449, and that with his dying breath he slew the raving leader of the cultist uprising. For a time, the old voiders say, huddled over their cups of gyn, their eyes focused on things that are not the present, it was lost in the Dee-Pree, when a warp predator dragged a claw down through Frame 127 and depressurized it in its entirety, and two thousand good voiders, man, woman, and child, were lost to the vacuous madness of the Immaterium. It was only when the breach was located, almost a century later, and repaired while the ship took on crew, that Faros Dagron found it in its cabin, sealing a gash in the floor with its bulk, the skeletons huddled in a corner all that remained of those it had protected.

From then on, the Emperor's Armor, as Faros lovingly called it, became his family's symbol, and its most treasured possession. Faros Dagron made Sergeant-at-Arms while wearing it, and then Chief Petty Officer, defending Frame 127 in a grueling two-week-long siege against a genestealer invasion. He wore it during the hideous Five-Decade-Jump, and when warp madness took him in his sleep his daughter Kenna Dagron bore it in his stead, and swore that his name and his bravery would not be forgotten. She defended his name and his honor for her entire life, all brutal forty-three years of it, and when she fell at last it was in defense of a corridor filled with some hellish, stinking gas that caused worms to rip themselves from the orofices of those that breathed it. Five hundred yards she walked down that corridor, as her fellow soldiers told it, with only that armor and her faith in the Emperor to protect her, as she lost one eye and then the other and had to find her way to the gas-release by hand. But find it she did, and as she collapsed choking blood across the deckplates, the great pumps pulled the gas from that forsaken place, and reclaimed one more corridor in the name of Dagron and the Emperor.

Her son Rorick Dagron wore it next, displaying the award his mother was given upon its plating alongside its ever-growing collection of medals and seals. In it he saw out the last of the Five-Decade-Jump, standing at his fellow voiders' side as they fell with volleys of lasgun fire. In it he led the Charge of Compartment 98A33K415, and in it he stood with roaring fury before a scuttling, hideous thing that belched madness from its maw. He firmly believed he would die before the Jump was ended, and he raised his twin children Othello and Olaris to be comfortable wearing it, so that they could carry on his name and that of his family. But somehow, by the Emperor's grace, he was alive when the ship pushed back into realspace, hailed as one of the heroes of Frame 127, tired and wounded but somehow, blessedly, breathing.

He was given his own cabin in reward for his service, and he dedicated a part of it to a shrine to that armor, and to every myth and voider's tale he could find of its might and glory. He vowed that it would not be forgotten, and that it would stand as his family's proud symbol until the day the ship was destroyed. And he vowed alongside that his family would always be worthy of this gift the Emperor had granted, and that each Dagron who fell within it would add to its history and glory, another soul for this temple to the Emperor's might.

[eggman91]

random dnd worldbuliding stuff I quess of the world of edo

ok so I play dnd with my friends for years now and over that time we bulid up our world with random stuff also some wargames play a part and existing stuff but yeah here 5 random things that I got written down in my world book warning I may ramble

5 cult of hastut (made by my brother he play couple of clerics and paladins of this faith)

while the follower of hastut covered in scars and blood rushing into battle like gore mad berserkers, they are the quite opposite of what you think they would be.

They are followers of god of justice, the god of fairness of sacrifice. No one know where the worship began but the legend said it hastut was a mortal man his village had committed some great crime and so the gods punish them But he hastut step up to take all the punishment for his people all all know torture and pain hastut was still standing all his skin gone his eyes burned suffer pain greatly then any other and so he ascended to the pantheon or not .became his own god

his followers ranges form the scars of the free who fight the southern slavers city states of gash freeing the slaves there to the order of broken hand giving shelter and food to the poor in the herzland “a odd sort ain’t a mad and flaying their own skin i don’t how they still live by they they kill slavers so cool by me “ gallo a member of the one anti-slavers groups in gash hilllands

4 cor’Quessir ath swi “‘’king of swing” (made by me as a dm and warlock

A Fae being of sorts a one focus on music partying and having a good time his worship and followers bought many strange things to edo such as jazz swing and other stuff other fashion trend like top hats

(but that a myth the first top hats was made by the Halfling of erdia and it was common for those wearing top hats to be attack by religious fanatics or anti-fae people but that practice stop after marley one of the major naval power government officials and lords start to wear them so that became uncivilized thing)

not hav seen this king of swing himself in ages but his court is still playing the Savoy in his realm the band still popping there was one time a bunch of city goblins who was influenced by the fae king they along with the local ratmen form a family of sorts a criminal family in the city of sunhaven which spread to other cities

3 Olaf murinson (this mostly happen in games of one page rules and this happen the most recently and don’t underestimate dwarf miners they got bombs)

in the fourth age like that of the elves the dwarves was falling many holds and fortress was lost to greenskins the underdark or the underearth was losing to drow and other creatures of the dark and infighting and clan wars was numerous and mirrormere stars was fading the oldest mountain hold the twin peaks was still ruled by a dragon

(fun fact, one of the games actually involve that dragon muratasxa and my player actually help her)

it was not looking good for the dwarves of all kin but in the hold of kelgathgard a thane rose after a battle with the men of the herzland and this thane Olaf murinson of clan blackshovel rose though many things the battle of kegath hold (Pepsi hold) the battle of the ruined house (there was a magic gem of the old elven Phoenix empire and he was able to get it) he united the northern leagues and clans into a new high kingdom which spead to the new holds like the south an across the sea ( fun fact dwarves try to build a navy to fight the eleven one in the secondth age the great stone fleet was quickly erased form the history stones)

reforging the old dwarven kingdom even with the slag or petty dwarves form the Kodar mountains trying heal the rift he basically dwarven, Charlemagne and Aurelian and ( my players did join in those efforts when we played an All dwarf party as a one off but that was happening on a different continent then we normally played) but before Olaf could reclaim the twin peaks he was slayed in battle by undead but his kingdom did not collapse a council of leagues thane and petty kings try to hold it together who knows but the kodar dwarves already left who knows if the kingdom of rock and stone fall again or will it hold?

2 elves yay😕 most like elven falls

Ok so elves start as the first race made by the earthmother or light goddess or elune or whatever they was the first to fight teh shadows of old myth and drove them back to there plane of darkness and these elves was the most of unearthly tall and black eyes but after a time there children became tire to the world and embraced more civilizations naming nature elune or whatever which confused there older kin (like why pray to this earthmother there. Perfectly good tree over there and etc)

these elves would raise as the high elves or ella’quor and rivaling with the dwarves and the left over giants and dragons (which they got there magic form the dragons)but then boom first demon invasion that never destroy them but boom Elrond came and destroyed them destroying the portal gate, whatever that was bringing them into the world( those demons who was left later interbreed and became Teifling and etc)forming his Phoenix empire that would last 300 years

then like the eldar decadence, hedonism, self-righteous end that was the Phoenix empire at it end wizard kings rule and princes fought each other over petty things cults of dark gods like lolth or kahine rose and well then the human migrations happen coming from the north with there serpent ships so like rome they panic there armies was overglorify spearelves and well they turn to magic to stop them…oh shit they got magic too like runes and thennic magic

(thenns was a large cultural group of the humans migrations, mostly settling in the western continent many was with the East there magic a mix of tomb necromancy and runes and minor magics and since there was more shamans then there was wizard kings and minor elven sorcerers well quantity over quality )so they turn to blood Mages and there flesh crafted starting off from the basic gremlin and ogre throw in some capture humans the greenskins was born orcs and goblins of many different breeds along with anthros(breath in wulfen tirgans marleians foxvisn and etc etc )and minor stuff like centaurs they sent them to go fight the human well just like rome that backfired hopefully the oven empire fell apart many fled but many more was slaughtered The Elven groups that survived were divided into two groups, light and dark, which was extremely bias light made up of remained high elves wood elves and snow elves dark made of drow and many many different dark elves groups (also sea elves but those freaks are just jumped up, ancient pirates)

1 infernal and the abyss

What is hell? Where the souls of the Damned are sent? Infernal id just normal dnd hell princess and all etc throw in some seven deadly sins and chaos gods but

The deeper you go, you arrive to the abyss with no demon of a infernal dared to go for they are just the imps compared to what down there true hell laid there abandon all hope who enters there.

any questions?

[ltwilliammowett]

The Flying Dutchman, by Howard Pyle (1853-1911)

[cbairdash]

Author’s note: Hoist the Colors may eventually inspire fiction. Most likely will and I’ll gladly write it. But right now, it’s a role-playing game setting with what I hope is an interesting take and look at an “Alternate History” of Earth. It isn’t really “steampunk”, though I can see how someone would get that impression. For me, it’s more a “flintlock fantasy” set on Earth of 1722 in all it’s historical mess… that I’ve stirred up even more!

So, this time we're diving into supernatural effects in Hoist the Colors! Arcane Gates!

Arcane Gates

Arcane Gates appeared right after Crossing’s Fall. They changed the world and how we scurry over it. But make no mistake, those portals are a harbinger of just how dangerous the world has gotten. Even if the Gates are a necessary evil.

Captain Elias Driftwood, Captain of the Mystic Seas

Once the Rainbow Bridge collapsed, or so the story is told, the shattered remains of Otherworld crashed to Earth. This caused all manner of catastrophes, disasters, and changes. But the one that stand out most are the Arcane Gates.

These gates, either natural or temporary, are glowing sentinels to how much the world was changed. Arcane Gates are portals of raw magical power that stand silent watch in the Earth’s oceans and seas. Menacing, glowing portals that towered over the tallest ship’s mast by 100 or even 200 feet or more.

Once visible, they often appear as magnificent arches with frames of ever-shifting glowing knotwork, mystic amber symbols, and ethereal images from myth and legends. In the center flows a cobalt-blue, water-like power, as turbulent as the ocean. A mystic energy flowing and undulating within the archway, while fog billows up and out where the entire mystical structure touches water.

No one understands why they only appear in oceans and seas. But one thing quickly became clear, a ship can use one to travel from one side of the world to the other, or to Otherworld remnants, in a second. Arcane Gates changed the nature of travel, trade, and naval power forever.

About the Gates

Some Arcane Gates are natural. Mysterious structures that appeared immediately after the Crossing’s Fall disaster. As best as the most skilled Navigator or Wavebinder understand, these are a direct manifestation of the Etherwave Arcana itself.

These Arcane Gates sit in certain locations on both Earth and the shattered remains of Otherworld. Places where the veil between Earth, Otherworld, and the Etherwave Arcana is at its thinnest. But, for unknown reasons, these nexuses of power are only in the ocean, even if offshore from a mainland or island.

The gates resonate strongly in the Arcana. They are felt by anyone who can Channel the mystic powers from miles away. It isn’t a direction as accurate as a compass, but a strong feeling. A compulsion drawing a person attuned to the Etherwave Arcana to these natural magical knots.

Once a ship sails close, such as a cannon shot away, the gate appears in a flash of emerald lightning. Power boiling along their edges waiting to be used. But, while Wavebinders can sense the Gates, the raw chaos mixed with the forces of nature, it eludes their control. Only a skilled Navigator has the mind and arcane skill to plot a course through them that allows a ship to wind up where it should be on the other side. Many a ship with her crew have been thrown against rocks, shattered against the side of a Gate itself, or vanished forever, without the help of a trained Navigator.

Most wonder why, since it should be a matter of sailing straight through. Which would be simple enough, but sailing through a gate isn’t a matter of setting a course ahead. The power in between the magical arches is as thick as the most blinding fog. Sailing through a gate is a matter of resolve. Seeing where you want to go, since sailing through an Arcane Gate, is also sailing through the Etherwave Arcana itself.

To Harness Chaos

Casting a gate isn’t like dusting crops or lighting candles with the Arcana. It takes a bit of skill and willpower. It’s a bit like trying to lasso a hurricane.

Lyrandar Starwhisper, Navigator of the Sea Path

For the rest about Arcane Gates in Hoist the Colors, see the link above!

Taglist: @thelaughingstag

[greekingout2024]

May 30th:

Today we toured the museum and archeological site of Delphi. Our tour guide explained that people would travel to Delphi, specifically to the sanctuary of Apollo, to pose a question to the Delphic Oracle, the most important oracle of Ancient Greece. As the site was located on the side of a mountain, it was quite difficult to reach, and the oracle even had three winter months “off” as the snow made it even more dangerous. We learned that the oracle was located in a room below the sanctuary of Apollo, and that a priest was the interpreter of her prophesies. There was a definite need for an interpreter as the oracle actually sat atop a crack in the earth that released gases from below and she would also chew on plants that resulted in an altered mental state. The oracle would respond to a question in hysterics, screaming and crying, and it was the duty of the priest to not only interpret, but also to relay the message to those who were waiting outside of the sanctuary. When I first learned about Greek Mythology in 4th grade, I was immediately intrigued, but it wasn’t until 9th grade when I read about it in depth for an english class. I had always imagined the oracle to be a haggard old woman who was blind and “saw” things, but almost none of these details were correct. In the beginning, oracles were young, local, noble/wealthy women selected by the priests, until the priests started falling in love. Then, the new requirements became a woman old age (35-40 years of age) who was also noble/wealthy. I was also completely unaware of the existence and role of the priest. He truly had the most important role being the interpreter. The priest’s role actually reminds me a lot of what I aspire to be (in a way), a genetic counselor. The clinical laboratory geneticists contact the genetic counselors to relay information regarding the patient’s genes, but it is the responsibility of the genetic counselor to interpret these results and to inform the patient and/or family. Essentially, clinical laboratory geneticists are “oracles” and genetic counselors are the “priests” of genetics!

In the museum, we were informed about the many ancient artifacts recovered in the complete excavation in 1892. One of the largest statues recovered was that of a sphinx. However, compared to the Egyptian sphinxes they were influenced by, the Greek sphinx had the head of a woman, wings, an archaic smile, and was standing up. We were also able to see the remnants of the Treasury of Siphnians, the first three-dimensional relief of ancient Greek sculptures. In Delphi there are also two recovered Navals marking what ancient Greeks believed to be the center of the earth, according to the myth of the two eagles Zeus let fly and the place they were reunited. Lastly, there were inscriptions excavated from the archeological site that tell historians, and now the public, details of battles, sports, and even some every day events. I learned that these inscriptions were meant to “show off” and were not created as a form of written history. Today, we purposefully leave inscriptions so as to tell the future about the past/our present. I have personally added notes and trinkets to a time capsule, and I know most people have a family member with a gravestone inscribed with their loved one’s name. These are two modern examples of preserving the past that I was able to take part in, but I find it fascinating that Ancient Greeks somewhat “accidentally” preserved their history.

-Kat Oen

[academic-thoughts]

Atlantis and It's Evolution

J.R.R. Tolkien feigned to uncover lost documents when he wove various ancient myths into the lore of Middle Earth.  This is a technique originated by Plato in constructing Atlantis.  Plato claimed he found a source in Egyptian recounting the stories of Atlantis.  His “translation” into Greek is the justification for several phonetically Greek names.

Although Atlantis was not the most significant element in Plato’s dialogues, it has inspired the imagination of successive generations and become a cornerstone of fantastical storytelling.  Nor was it the only fantasy tale in Antiquity, as Lucian of Samosata wrote A True Story in the Second century A.D. to mock the genre of fantasy as a travelog.  Tales beyond the edge of the map of the known world were quite popular in Antiquity.  Of them all though, Atlantis is the only one still widely known by almost everyone in the World and certainly by every adult in the Western World.

In 360 B.C., Plato penned the story of ancient Athens defeating Atlantis.  Plato was discoursing upon the ideal civil state in two dialogues, Critias and Timaeus, written as sequels to The Republic.  In his dialogues, he discusses two different states.  One is the wealthy and luxuriously decadent world power of Atlantis, while the other is the almost spartan ancient Athens.  Plato’s ideal Republic is a system in which men and women are both educated and equal, but only within their state-assigned class, and only the warrior class rules.  Personally, I believe that this system is remarkably similar to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

These two Platonic dialogues both reference Timaeus’ ancestor, Solon as the wisest of the seven sages and lawgiver of Athens who visited Egypt, where he heard the tale from several Egyptians.  Salon told Dropides who told his great-grandson Timaeus, from which Plato found the tale.  It is a tale of a great island, just past the Pillars of Heracles (the modern-day Strait of Gibraltar) in the Atlantic Ocean.  The Kings of Atlantis descended from Poseidon and Cleito.  Atlantis was the source of the metal Oreichalkos, which is only a bit less valuable than gold.  Although Plato places Atlantis 9,000 years into his past, he inserts Athens into the tale as an ally until Atlantis becomes corrupt and imperialistic in its decadence.  Morally superior Athens defeats Atlantis in war, freeing the entire conquered world.  Then Atlantis is sunk beneath the waves with earthquakes and tsunamis as divine retribution for their corruption.

The dialogues are an allegory designed to caution the people of Athens from becoming too decadent or imperialistic.  Plato warns against the decay of morality in favor of decadence, and imperialism, and he cautions against transgressing divine morality. This caution against doing folly may have been influenced by Plato’s experience of the Peloponnesian Wars and by the events and choices made by Athens leading up to the Wars.  His cause was performed for the Panathenaea Games in honor of Athena and may be seen as state propaganda.

Plato’s claim to the historicity of Atlantis is belied by his dating of Athens as an ancient contemporary, making it over 9,000 years old in Plato’s time, older than ancient Egypt, and requiring a reminder of its past by Egyptians.  This is about as realistic as Tolkien’s feign.

Still, people are inspired to look for a grain of true history within Plato’s account.  Some point to the destruction of Knossos and the Minoans from the eruption of the Thera (modern Santorini) super-volcano in the 1,600s B.C.  Others say the “sea people” accused of precipitating the Bronze Age Collapse around 1,200 B.C. may be the source of imperialism or refugees.  Others note the Wars between the Greeks and Persians in which Athens defeated the much larger Persian navy and established itself as the region’s naval power may have been an inspiration.

Perhaps some of these accounts are accurate inspirations, but they do not suggest Atlantis existed.    In the 1880s, Ignatius Donnelly authored Atlantis and the Antediluvian World.  He argued that Atlantis was not a myth, but the birthplace of humanity’s first civilization prior to Noah and the home of the Nephilim and their giant offspring.  He argued that ancient peoples of Europe and America worshiped the Atlantean kings who colonized Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Western Europe, from which we derive Aryans.

Within the context of the 1880s, the remains of the city of Troy, long believed to be a Homeric myth, had just been discovered.  Other archeological sites were slowly being explored, including Knossos and Mykene.  Most people still believed the Biblical flood as literal, with all cultures having an apocryphal flood story, Plato’s timeline placed Atlantis well before Noah.

Donnelly’s theories were adopted as state propaganda by the Nazis.  The Nazis argued they are the living descendants of the true Aryans who survived the fall of Atlantis.  They argue the Atlanteans were superhumans who fell not from divine judgment of their corruption but by intermixing with “lesser races”.  Only by purifying Aryan blood, and removing corrupt lesser races, could the superhuman be restored to rightly rule the world.

In more modern times, people still search for Atlantis, saying Plato had some details of time or place wrong.  Without any real evidence, people have placed Atlantis in the Canary Islands, the Guelb er Richat (Eye of the Sahara), Minoa, and Bulgaria or the Black Sea, amongst other possibilities.  They repeatedly source Egar Cayce, a supposed psychic.  He supposedly had thousands of genuine readings.  He claimed the Atlanteans had been reincarnated as the American people from the United States.  

“Be it true that there is the fact of reincarnation, and that souls that once occupied such an environ [i.e. Atlantis] are entering the earth's sphere and inhabiting individuals in the present, is it any wonder that—if they made such alterations in the affairs of the earth in their day, as to bring destruction upon themselves—if they are entering now, they might make many changes in the affairs of peoples and individuals in the present?" (pg 50 Edgar Cayce on Atlantis by Edgar Evans)

"In Yucatan there is the EMBLEM of same. Let’s clarify this, for it may the more easily be found. For they will be brought to this America, these United States. A portion is to be carried, as we find, to the Pennsylvania State Museum. A portion is to be carried to the Washington preservations of such findings; or to Chicago." (page 89 Edgar Cayce on Atlantis by Edgar Evans)

In the Discovery series Hunting Atlantis, author Stel Pavlou and volcanologist Jess Phoenix, who has a Bachelor’s in history and a Master’s in geology, say Atlantis existed in 4,900 B.C.  They say Plato “based his timeline on ancient Egyptian Kings’ Lists” for his date of the 9,000s B.C. and it was in Bulgaria on the Black Sea.  However, Plato did not have access to these King Lists and any version accessible today is known to have been altered.

In the National Geographic series Drain the Oceans, the show slowly showcases four underwater environments.    All except the third are merely natural environments that are played up for drama, admits the series.  However, the third environment, an ancient town named Pavlopetri,  is a genuine Bronze Age town that had sunk below the sea due to the rise in sea levels and other natural disasters. It seems as if the idea of Atlantis was used simply to garner views instead of something genuinely investigated.

Most people are content to enjoy Atlantis as little more than an interesting setting for adventure stories.  J.R.R. Tolkien had Numenor as a fictional island setting in the first two ages of Middle Earth.  It was the first great kingdom of men, but it was corrupted by the fallen angel Sauron into attacking Valinor, the undying land of the elves and angels.  As punishment, the Creator destroyed Numenor by an Earthquake and tsunami in the second age of Middle Earth, a few thousand years before the Lord of the Rings where Sauron was finally defeated.  This is Tolkien’s Atlantis.

Disney adapted the idea in Atlantis: The Lost World and the sequel, Atlantis: Milo’s Return.  Disney’s original movies have Atlantis still existing in a giant cave under the ocean with its air pocket, and the Atlanteans being trapped primitives aware of the outside world.  Disney’s sequel took inspiration from Donnally’s book.  The characters leave Atlantis to travel to the surface world for further adventures in Norway and Mexico and in other nondescript places before returning to Atlantis and then bringing it back to the surface.

The video game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has downloadable content titled Atlantis DLC, allowing for a story with some time exploring Atlantis, almost as a set-aside.  The first two chapters are set within the Underworld.  The content involving Atlantis only begins in the third chapter.  Atlantis was merely set dressing for the story.  While the setting is as Plato described, the characterization is less true to Plato.  The in-game Poseidon admits to routinely sending great deluges when the Atlanteans prove themselves to not be worthy of mercy.

Others believe that Atlantis was a historical civilization that existed 11,000 years ago.  It’s simply that such knowledge has either been purposefully hidden or lost.

In Secret Origins, the author relays his ideas of  how Atlantis actually existed and how such knowledge might have been kept secret.  He “quotes” Plato, Edgar Cayce, Ishmael Perez, Helena Blavatsky, and Matthias De Stefano, all without citation.  The author merely expects his viewers to believe his claims.  It was certainly an interesting and educational set of videos.

Atlantis seems to have become a lost city-state starting around the late 19th until today with figures such as Ignatius Donally and Edgar Cayce.  Up until then, the city was considered nothing more than a fable and parable created by Plato to flatter Athens and warn of the folly of men.

Acknowledgments:

Louis D’Angelo

He played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey's Atlantis DLC

[ebelal56-blog]

Dilal Raja's Darkest Secrets Revealed by Top Experts!

Imagine a time, centuries ago, on a small island off the coast of present-day Bangladesh, where the waves whispered tales of bravery and rebellion. This is the story of Dilwar Khan, or as he became known, Raja Dilal, the last independent ruler of Sandwip. Picture him: a man born around 1585, who, against all odds, would rise to become a symbol of hope for the oppressed, a figure reminiscent of Robin Hood, robbing the rich to feed the poor. His legend is woven into the very fabric of local folklore, a tapestry of strange and fantastical stories that still echo through the streets of Sandwip today. Now, let’s rewind to the beginning. There are many legends about his early life. Some say he was shipwrecked as a baby, washed ashore on the beaches of Sandwip, protected from the scorching sun by a cobra. Can you believe that? A cobra! It’s as if fate had already marked him for greatness. But other historians argue he hailed from Dhaka, where he served in the Mughal naval forces. It’s a blend of myth and history that makes his story all the more compelling. As piracy surged around Sandwip, the island became a battleground for power. Dilwar, initially a naval commander under the Mughal Empire, made a daring choice. He abandoned his stable position to seize control of Sandwip, establishing his own kingdom with his family and loyal soldiers. Why would he trade security for a life of uncertainty? Perhaps it was a calling—a sense of duty to his people, a desire to forge a new path. For nearly fifty years, he ruled, navigating treacherous waters both literally and politically. Imagine the scene: a ruler who disregarded the caste system, a leader who treated his Hindu subjects with fairness and respect. His judicial system was unique, requiring disputing parties to stand in the same spot until he arrived to judge their quarrel. It speaks volumes about his commitment to justice. He was not just a ruler; he was a mediator, a father figure to his people, ensuring that everyone had a voice, regardless of their background. But let’s not forget the strategic genius of Raja Dilal. Sandwip was vulnerable, accessible only through a narrow creek that could be treacherous. He fortified the island, erecting a formidable fort to defend against enemies. When the King of Arakan sent troops to subjugate him, Dilwar executed a brilliant ambush, turning the tide in his favor. The area where this battle took place became known as Magdhara—literally meaning “the place where the Maghs were captured.” It’s a testament to his tactical prowess and the respect he commanded.