#the origin point of these thoughts is actually oedipus at colonus

[finelythreadedsky]

keep thinking now about the idea of the ancient greek stage building as a doorway into death, which is separated from the stage (the space of the living) by the screen of the skene. cassandra calls it as much ("the gates of hades") when she enters the house of atreus. by convention characters cannot die on stage but must exit, usually into the skene, to be killed. cassandra's just extra explicit about it because of her foresight, but every entry into the stage building is a step into death. and then some people come back out of it!!!

[mythologe]

What are some topics that interest you? Also how can I get into Greek mythology? Any tips?

Some topics that interest me right now: witchcraft, pottery, costume design, the process of making coffee, Russian & Filipino folklore, how light becomes photographs, free public spaces that are inviting and green, and finding new music that inspires me to write. 

As for how to get into mythology (This got really long so it’s under a cut):

I would start at your local second hand store. If you are entirely clueless on Greek mythology, I would actually recommend looking in the children’s section for short stories there (D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire is the first ever book of Greek myths I received as a kid!). 

If you can’t find one there, look for any of these books on the mythology shelf:

Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal

The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (The Golden Fleece is part of this as well)

The Odyssey by Homer

The Illiad by Homer

Sophocles I (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone) edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore

Antigonick (Sophokles) translated by Anne Carson

Those are the most prominent books I can think of, and I have a few on my shelf. I think they really are great starting points for anyone interested in Greek myths, and if you can’t find them in a second hand store there are no doubt free pdf versions online.

Another good place to start are podcasts, if you happen to have a lot of downtime or are busy and can only catch bits of information at a time. I sadly don’t listen to podcasts (don’t have a long enough attention span) but there are some really great ones out there. Just search for greek mythology! Also, the internet is a great place to look, both for the pdf versions of the books mentioned here, and glossaries or collections of Greek myths.

There’s also the option of reading retellings of Greek mythology. I loved The Song of achilles by Madeline Miller (I have a signed copy that I’m so proud of finding in a used & new book store) and the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I also I’m thinking of reading The King Must Die by Mary Renault, which is less of a re-telling as much as a factual telling of the life that could have developed the myth of Theseus. 

And as a bonus, here are some great overall views on mythology, which included some Greek myths, I’ve enjoyed:

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell (or really any work by him!)

The Minipedia on World Mythology, edited by Arthur Cotterell

Myths & Legends: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and Meanings by Philip Wilkinson

And three books I just found hiding in the corner that would also be an interesting read as further background:

Socrates: the Man and His Thoughts by A.E. Taylor

Plutarch’s The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert

Greek Civilization and Character by Arnold J. Toynbee

Now this is all a lot of information and recommendations, but you don’t have to follow this list at all! Like I said, go to your local second hand store and pick up a book that looks interesting to you. That’s how I got started and it’s most certainly the easiest. 

[girlwithouthands]

#polymestor goes with his sons into death but then is dragged back...#killers like clytemnestra and orestes take their victims into death and leave them there#the origin point of these thoughts is actually oedipus at colonus#but VERY much hecuba and all three electra plays and the classic sophoclean *she exits silently into the house to kill herself*#also the way phaedra and hippolytus invert each other in death and directionality#it'd be interesting to do antigone with a setting switch during the choral ode where she does her own lament#so that the skene becomes the cave where she's imprisoned and then turns back into the palace for the last scene

keep thinking now about the idea of the ancient greek stage building as a doorway into death, which is separated from the stage (the space of the living) by the screen of the skene. cassandra calls it as much ("the gates of hades") when she enters the house of atreus. by convention characters cannot die on stage but must exit, usually into the skene, to be killed. cassandra's just extra explicit about it because of her foresight, but every entry into the stage building is a step into death. and then some people come back out of it!!!