#the greek Jesus

[eli-kittim]

Eli Kittim Reddit

[wolfythewitch]

My favorite guys

[namarikonda]

Jesus showing off his top surgery scars to the boys (John. 20:27)

[what-even-is-thiss]

So in the context of Greek mythology the tripod is a special three legged stool that the oracle of Delphi sat on when she gave her prophecies. The stool itself was sacred. Very important.

And. There’s a myth where Heracles goes to the oracle of Delphi to ask a question of how to atone for something he did and the Oracle is like “I dunno dude figure it out yourself” and Heracles is so mad about this that he steals the tripod and Apollo himself is like “NO NOT MY TRIPOD” and comes down to snatch it back from him.

Now this is one of those myths that isn’t sourced in a lot of places. Pretty much only The Library by pseudo-Apollodorus I think? But we know it was a very popular and well known myth because artists really really liked painting and sculpting it

Look at him he’s like bro give it back seriously that’s my chair what do you think you’re doing

[theoihalioistuff]

The ways Zeus is characterised in ancient sources is ~ fascinating ~ to me.

The overbearing patriarch of the Iliad who keeps his godly family in check with constant threats of abuse and domestic violence. The conciliatory diplomat of the Odyssey, acquiescent to the desires and honours of his fellow deities. The ideal king of the Theogony, commonly elected, virtuous alloter of good and evil. The frightened tyrant, the cruel tormentor of Prometheus Bound. The all-encompassing orphic entity, who swallowed down and brought forth and is the entirety of the cosmos. The enigmatic, ambivalent, and sometimes undignified figure who refuses to appear on stage. The embodiment of righteousness, of majesty, the ultimate good, the promoter and dispenser of justice, the adulterer, the rapist, the upholder of oaths who perjures himself in the name of "love".

Above all the mastermind, the constant plotter, whose plan and will [Διὸς βουλή] permeate greek literature from epic to philosophy, whether it be synonymous with fate or not.

This is why I generally dislike simplistic takes on him. Sure, almost any way you choose to characterise him will probably have a sourced basis, his multifaceted "identity" almost guarantees it. But the massive loss of complexity is so disappointing imo.

[dr-cruces]

Close-ups under cut. ;P

Text: Oh Son of God so powerful yet, cannot escape the gentle fanning of Hypnos' wings.

[yea-baiyi]

i keep thinking about the odyssey i am THINKING about wei wuxian as odysseus. you were dead. its been years since you’ve seen your family. the child you left behind is almost a man. you wear a face they don’t recognise, you sneak in through the back door. the dog gives your identity away. the world knows it’s you when you draw your weapon. the person you love recognises you by the original symbol of your love—a secret that no one else in the world knows about, still, because they kept it safe for all these years. you get the chance to go back and despite everything, you found home waiting for you; he kept your place and raised your son and he was still there waiting for you when you got back. tell me o muse, about a complicated man i am extremely not okay

[youryurigoddess]

On love and sacrifices

There’s so much more to this scapegoating business and big sacrifices referenced in the Good Omens narrative than the literal goats. And they’re only getting bigger, louder, final.

But let’s take it slow and start with the beginning, quite literally — i.e., with the Good Omens 2 title sequence. As we follow Aziraphale and Crowley on their journey, the universe warps and their usual left and right side positioning switches during the magic show (not accidentally an act of trust and sacrifice required both from the angel and the demon). They stay so throughout the next scene, which is their little dance in the air, and after they seemingly get settled on the A. Z. Fell and Co.’s roof and back to normal, the flipped sky in the background suggests that something’s not quite right yet. In the central part of the shot looms a large, humanlike shadow of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

The nebula is a part of a constellation called Cepheus, after an Ethiopian king from the Greek mythology who agreed to sacrifice his only daughter in order to appease the gods and end a local calamity started by her mother and his wife, Cassiopeia (talk about generational responsibility). With time and a delightfully ironic twist of fate, the name of said daughter, Andromeda, became more famous than that of her father. Although she was chained up to a rock and offered to the sea serpent Cetus, the girl was spotted by the warrior Perseus, casually flying over the sea — either on the back of the Pegasus or thanks to a pair of winged sandals — after his victory over Medusa. He fell in love on the spot, defeated the serpent (with the help of a magical sword or Medusa’s severed head, depending on the varying sources), and freed the princess. That’s not exactly where their story ends, but we won’t be getting into the rest here.

Not surprisingly, Neil has mentioned two parallel child sacrifice stories from the biblical context back in August. The first is one of the big ones — The Binding of Isaac. God's command to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, was a test of Abraham's faith. The angel of the Lord intervenes and provides a ram to be sacrificed in the boy’s place.

The second one isn’t nearly as popular, but you might have heard a variant of it in fairy tales or as the Law of Surprise invoked in The Witcher saga. In exchange for Israel’s victory over its enemies in battle, Jephthah had rashly promised God to repay the debt with the first thing seen on his return back home. The victorious warrior didn’t suspect to see his only child moving innocently "to meet him with timbrels and with dances" though. In horror, Jephthah covered his eyes with his cloak, but to no avail: ultimately, he was forced to honor his vow to God, and the girl was sacrificed. As grisly as it might look like in the Old Master’s paintings, it’s important to remember that human sacrifices weren’t limited to physical offerings only — Jephthah’s daughter might have been offered to God in the sense of officially shunning her family and dedicating her life to service instead, probably sequestered in a temple somewhere.

Interestingly, the main character of a big chunk of the Bible and the reason for the Second Coming happens to be THE most influential child sacrifice in the modern history. You know, a certain 33-year-old carpenter sent by his Heavenly Father to die on a cross for the sins of the mankind? Someone better call Aubrey Thyme ASAP.

Circling back to Aziraphale, he could be also seen as a representative of the concept of filial piety, since Eden willing to personally take a Fall not only for the humanity’s collective or individual transgressions, but the shortcomings of his Ineffable Parental Figure as well. Our favorite angel angel always fights for what is right and good, sure, but why would that be even a thing if God was truly omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent?

If Aziraphale’s medal is anything to go by, it looks like we might get an answer from the way it’s introducing another mythological narrative into the game, that is the story of Daedalus and Icarus. The most absorbing thing about this is the stark contrast to the recurring child sacrifice references for S3 mentioned in this post — Daedalus isn’t a father who wanted to sacrifice his son, it was his attempt to save him from imprisonment that ultimately drove Icarus to his death. The boy ignored his father’s explicit instructions, committing the grave and culturally universal sin of disobedience to one's parents that simply couldn’t go unpunished, one way or another.

But Icarus’s transgression could be seen both as high-flying ambition and striving for personal accomplishment as well as humanitarian sacrifice for knowledge and humanity’s advancement in general.

Similarly to a certain angel who left everything for what superficially seems like a work promotion, but is the ultimate act of love — both for his demon and the children they have been protecting and nurturing together for six thousand years. From the very Beginning, his white wings have been shielding everything he holds dear in this world.

[sleeping-at-sea]

People outside the EPIC fandom see Odysseus and say “Jesus?!”

I, someone who’s in the EPIC fandom, see Jesus and go “Odysseus?!”

[heiligetod]

Athos (2016)

[justanorthodoxgirl]

This crucifix is from Jerusalem, handmade and filled with holy earth and four essences.

Just beautiful!

[eli-kittim]

📕 Link in bio 📕

🎓 biography 🎓

Eli Kittim is a Bible scholar and an award-winning author of the Nonfiction Book, The Little Book of Revelation: The First Coming of Jesus at the End of Days. He has published articles in numerous prestigious journals and websites, including Rapture Ready, the Journal of Higher Criticism, The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Aegean Review (which has published work by Jorge Luis Borges, Lawrence Durrell, Truman Capote, and Alice Bloom) , and the International Poetry Review (a literary translation journal that has published work by Philip Sherrard), among others. Eli Kittim has studied Biblical Studies at Koinonia Institute and Liberty University's John W. Rawlings School of Divinity. He was born in Athens, Greece, but now lives in New York.

[wolfythewitch]

hehehe new charm designs

[whereserpentswalk]

When the human known to us as Christ arrived in the underworld, gods and shades alike were horrified. It was always a big deal when demigods arrived in the underworld, but this one had died so brutally, a young man, not even old enough to grow a beard, tourtued to death at the will of his own divine parentage, the blood dripping from his shade's hands.

The high gods of the underworld brought him up to their tower to figure out what happened. Christ had recoiled from them at first, thinking they were Devils, but had to take Anubis's hand to ascend the tower's steps, as his legs were badly wounded. The gods of the dead looked at him with both sympathy and horror, it was the first time a he had seen a god look at him with either of those emotions.

Hades swore that this was his brother's doing, but even then it crossed a new line. The description of a god impregnating a young girl in Bethlehem fit what Hades knew of Zeus, but to harm his own son in such a way, as part of a ploy to try to gain all of Rome for him alone, had proven his brother's reign growing darker. Still, he took mercy on the young man, promising him at least three days safety in the underworld without his father trying to claim him again. Hades wondered if the poor girl knew when she held her child that he was born to suffer and die, just as the mothers of great heros knew their destiny. Hades hoped Chrsit would have a chance to stay longer, his wife would return in the fall, and he had the same kind eyes as her, she would probably like to know him.

Hel came to comfort Christ once he had a chance to rest. She helped tend his wounds, and pet his head, and for the first time christ was held by a divinity that didn't expect anything from him. And she told him stories of her father to cheer him up after meeting with such a horrible fate. And she told him that no father should ever do such a thing as what his father had done to his child, that if she had known in time she would have saved him. And she let him be comforted as a human, instead of being a lord of all humanity. And for a momment he didn't have to be the son of god who felt alone while bleeding and dying, but the son of the carpenter Joseph who had been reminded of home when he felt the wood of the cross.

He wasn't allowed to stay, his father wanted him back, back to be the bleeding prince of a new and lonely kingdom. And the underworld wept for him, not because the underworld was deprived of Christ, but because Christ was deprived of the underworld.

[the-moonprophet]

concept: Riordanverse demigods meeting up (for whatever reason), and they bump into a young man, probably not much older than themselves. He’s dressed casually—just a hoodie and jeans—but there’s something off about him. Not in a bad way, necessarily, but the demigods know enough to be wary of him.

“Should we talk to him or something?” Carter asks.

“He hasn’t done anything, though…” Magnus puts in. Still, they all have a strange feeling they should approach the guy.

Percy’s the first to move. He strides up to the guy, who’s staring down at a book while he waits for the bus.

“Hey,” Percy calls out to him, and the guy looks up. There’s something weirdly magnetic about him—Percy finds himself wanting to stand closer. The other demigods apparently feel the same gravity; when Percy glances over his shoulder, they’re standing right behind him.

“Hello,” the guy responds, his warm eyes studying the group. “Can I help you?”

“Um…” What is Percy supposed to say, exactly? He isn’t even sure why he’s speaking to this stranger.

Recognition passes through the guy’s eyes, and his brows twitch upward. “Oh, it’s you guys?”

Magnus steps forward. “You know us?”

“Of course!” The guy shrugs, tucking his book under his arm. He didn’t even mark his page. “What kind of person would I be if I didn’t know who you are? You’ve all saved the world, haven’t you?”

Some of us multiple times. Percy thinks. Somehow, he’s not surprised by this guy’s knowledge of their heroics (if that’s what you want to call it).

“Well… What kind of person are you?” Sadie asks cautiously.

The guys laughs, and Percy finds himself smiling along with him. “What do you mean?” the stranger asks.

“Y’know,” Magnus shrugs, gesturing around their group. “We’re all descended from all-powerful beings and such.”

Normally, they should’ve been hesitant to share this kind of information. But something about this strange man makes them drop their guard. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter that they know nothing about him, including his name.

The guy grins. “Yeah, we’ve got that in common.”

“Which god is your parent, then?” Percy asks. He finds himself hoping it’s a Greek deity; he would love to bring this guy back to Camp Half Blood. He’s certain everyone would love him.

“God,” the guy says in a thoughtful tone, his fingers tapping the book under his arm.

“Yeah…” Carter says haltingly. “Gods. Like the deities that control different parts of the world?”

The guy chuckles. “No, I know. That was my answer.”

Nobody says anything for a long moment.

Percy breaks the uncomfortable silence. “You’re descended from…”

“God,” the guy confirms with a gracious nod.

“Like, capital G God?” Magnus the Atheist says, looking pale.

“But—isn’t everyone? Technically?” Sadie asks. None of them know much about christianity, but hadn’t all of mankind been created in the Big Man’s image?

The guy laughs again—it’s an oddly healing sound. Any worries that had been swirling at the back of Percy’s mind instantly vanish.

“Well, I suppose if you want to get technical about it,” the guy says with another shrug. “But I myself am the only direct descendant.”

The Kane siblings can do nothing but blink at the man. Magnus looks like he might pass out. Percy seems to be the only one capable of getting more information out of the stranger, but even he feels like his voice is stuck in his throat.

“You mean…” Percy stutters. “You’re—”

The screeching of brakes cuts Percy off. The guy looks up as the bus doors swish open, and he grimaces.

“Ah, looks like our time was cut short.” He shoots an apologetic look at the demigods. “It was nice to meet you all. You’ve done humanity proud. Keep up the great work!”

The words would have sounded incredibly shallow and unimportant coming from anyone else, but when this guy spoke them, Percy felt like he’d been applauded by the president of the United States—or, more accurately, by the prince of the universe.

The guy waves them goodbye and steps onto the bus. No one moves until the vehicle peels away, leaving them gaping at the empty bus stop.

“Was—” Magnus croaks, swallowing hard. “Was that really—”

Percy nods. “The son of God.”

Man, Percy couldn’t wait to tell Annabeth.

[perroulisses]

The guys