#this and how he depicts a lot of the gods (namely ares Aphrodite and athena) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

maryroyale · 3 years ago

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The lovely @curiouselfqueen tagged me on this one. (Thank you! I love these things.)

Uh. I have *feelings* about these? I have no idea why I feel so strongly, but... uh... there you go.

deep violet or blood red? Both? Not at the same time, but I love both. Purple and red are both power colors, but they convey very different things. Old ladies are allowed to wear both because they have the power to pull it off.

sunshine or moonlight? Oof. My default answer is moonlight? Some of the medication I’m on makes my eyes super-sensitive to sunlight. I’m like a damn vampire. Even on cloudy days I need sunglasses. I like seeing the sunlight through the trees when I’m in the woods? It’s pretty and far less painful.

Don’t get me wrong—I do love the moonlight. It’s so beautiful. Winter moonlight and summer moonlight are gorgeous.

80s music or 90s music? How dare you! Don’t speak to me or my 874 music genres ever again. Seriously though, I really love music. I listen to a wide variety of genres and some artists span decades. I love new wave and synthpop, but I also love pop punk and the swing revival. I can’t say one decade is better than the other.

orchids or dahlias? I like to garden, and from a gardening standpoint it’s dahlias all the way. Orchids are a wildly diverse species (over 25,000 types), but the pretty, delicate orchids they sell in stores are not hardy and require a lot of intensive, specific support. They’ll die if you plant them outside where I live. And the garden outside is what makes me happy and brings me joy.

garnet or ruby? These are such different stones. It’s almost like asking if I like chocolate milk or cola. Yes, they are both brown and you can drink them—but they’re really not similar.

Garnet— it’s semi-precious, plentiful, in use since antiquity. A decent go-to stone for jewelry. Like any gemstone, the color is determined by the type of impurities, so garnet can be almost any color. Blue garnets are the rarest. The Mohs scale for garnet depends on those same impurities because some can actually strengthen the hardness of the stone. Generally 6 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.

I like garnets. Depending on the talent of the jeweler you can get lovely pieces set in silver that won’t cost an arm, a leg, and your soul. It was also my mother’s birthstone, so there’s that.

Ruby— Occasionally confused with spinels, rubies are pieces of corundum that contain the impurity chromium. Corundum that contains the impurities iron, titanium, vanadium, or magnesium are usually blue and referred to as sapphires. (Pink sapphires are actually poor quality rubies that the jewelry industry decided to rebrand to dupe the public. Similar to “chocolate diamonds” and other attempts to sell gems that don’t meet the criteria for their type.)

Corundum is a 9 on the Mohs scale. They highly sought after, have a rich mythos surrounding them, and feature prominently in history.

It seems like a lot of hype to me? They’re sturdy pieces of jewelry, not prone to breakage, but they ought to be for the price you pay. They’re pretty, I’ll grant you that.

moths or butterflies? Well, one is nocturnal and one is diurnal. One is fuzzy and stocky and one is smooth and slender. One is drab and one is brightly colored. I feel like I should picks moths on principle. I love Luna Moths. But butterflies are so very, very pretty. Moths I guess?

Aphrodite or Athena? Okay... so, um, here’s where it’s going to get heated. I apologize. I am *specifically* addressing how Athena and Aphrodite were worshipped/treated in Greek myths. I’m not looking at proto versions from Minoa, Mycenae, or Phoenicia. I’m also not looking at later syncretizations with other cultures e.g. Rome. It is the Greek myths that matter here because those are the myths and attitudes that were directly incorporated into Western culture. We’ve learned a lot about their origins, but *those* myths and attitudes were *not* incorporated into mainstream Western culture.

Athena was either born from Zeus’ head or his thigh. Either she has no mother—Zeus is her only parent—or Zeus swallowed her mother Metis (wisdom, prudence, counsel). This is critically important. In Athenian law, the father was the only legal parent. Mothers had no legal rights to their children at all. Athena is a very real symbol of that.

She is often portrayed as the goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and war. She is a goddess of industry (wine and olive oil). The thing we must ask is what kind of wisdom? What kind of war?

Plato argues this in Cratylus— that Athena’s wisdom could be a number of things from divine knowledge to moral intelligence. I think it’s important that Plato, one of Greece’s most celebrated philosophers, and more important one of the philosophers most embraced by Western Culture praised this choice of “moral intelligence.” [see Plato’s stance on poets in The Republic.]

Athena’s war is not the war of Ares, which is tied to passion and emotion. Ares represents the brutal aspects of war where humanity gives way to cruelty and inhumanity. Athena’s warfare is rational and “just.” Athena makes war on behalf of the city-state. Athena makes war to defend the government.

Athena’s purpose in myth and in poetry and song is to support the government. She is the shield of the king. She upholds and enforces the status quo. Look at her role in the Orestes trilogy. She supplants the Erinyes [the furies originally hunted and tormented ppl who committed matricide]. She decides that Iphigenia’s murder didn’t matter. Clytemnestra (Iphigenia’s mother) didn’t have the right to revenge for her daughter. Orestes was *justified* in murdering his mother because she killed his parent, his father.

Aphrodite also has a motherless birth, but it’s more incidental and spontaneous. Kronos cuts off his father Uranus’ genitals ( like you do ) and tosses them into the sea. Aphrodite is born from the sea foam. There’s a different feel to Aphrodite’s myth. An independence almost. Yes, a male god was involved because it’s a Greek requirement for any child, but it’s in such an incidental way. There was no purpose or intent on Uranus’ part. He had no control over her birth.

Aphrodite is an incredibly independent goddess. She owns her own sexuality and has autonomy over her own body. She is often referred to as the wife of Hephaestus, but in both the Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony, Hephaestus has wives with different names and Aphrodite is unmarried.

A goddess with this kind of freedom and power in her own right—not tied to a husband or male family member (sorry Artemis!)— is almost unheard of. It makes Aphrodite unique and interesting.

TLDR: I prefer Aphrodite.

grapefruit or pomegranate? Pomegranate. For so many reasons, not the least of which is it’s associations with death and fertility. It’s a lovely contrast and a reminder that death brings forth life e.g. Nurse logs.

angel’s halo or devil’s horns? Oof. This is another rant, guys. Horns as a symbol of divine power are used throughout history and throughout the Indo-European culture. From Egyptian gods like Amun and Isis to Hindu gods like Śiva to Canaanite gods like El and Yahweh, horns have been used to show their power and might. Moses has most famously been depicted with horns due to murky/difficult translations of the Hebrew verb keren/qaran, which can mean BOTH “to send forth beams/rays” and “to be horned”.

There was a concerted effort to associate horns with the devil/evil/bad. Horns are also used to imply fertility/abundance, and that may have played into the perception of horns as devilish. Moses with horns was used as a jumping off point to demonize Jewish people during the Medieval period in a variety of European countries and cultures.

Halos, too, have been used across history and cultures as a symbol of divine power. Sumerian literature talks about a bright emanation that appears around gods and heroes. Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art shows Buddhist saints with halos.

I choose horns because I choose to reclaim that divine power. I reject the idea that either symbol is wholly good or wholly evil. I reject the idea that sexuality by itself is evil/wrong.

sirens or banshees? Both!!! I must admit a partiality to Sirens that is based wholly on my preference for the sea/ocean.

lorde or florence + the machine? Both!!! I love both groups and I’ve listened to their albums so many times. I will admit that I end up listening to Lorde more often when writing.

the birth of venus or the starry night? Huh. I’m going to assume that you mean the painting by Boticelli, even though there’s more than one Birth of Venus.

Honestly, Venus Anadyomene (Venus rising from the sea) is my favorite. It’s her origin myth and anyone could paint it, draw it, write about it, and put their own spin on it. It is malleable because it is myth. It lives on and changes and grows with us. Boticelli’s version is particularly lovely.

Starry Night (1889) belongs to VanGogh. No one can really recreate it without copying his style or his vision. Verschuier’s The Great Comet of 1680 Over Rotterdam could never really be confused with Starry Night. Not even Munch’s Starry Night (1893) could be confused for VanGogh. The two paintings are wildly different in subject matter despite the fact that their subject is the night sky.

I doubt any modern painter would dare. O’Keefe called hers Starlight Night, and I can only guess that others would follow that naming pattern of not quite using the title Starry Night.

Boy, I bet @curiouselfqueen is regretting tagging me now... sorry?

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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How Xena: Warrior Princess used Greek Myth

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First of all, sorry if this bursts anyone’s bubble, but sadly Xena: Warrior Princess is not a ‘real’ character from Greek myth. Whereas Hercules and Iolaus from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys are both important characters from Greek mythology, the three most important characters in Xena: Warrior Princess – Xena, Gabrielle, and Callisto – are all original characters with entirely original stories.

Xena does have things in common with some characters from Greek myth. Most obviously, the Amazons (who appear in the series and adopt Gabrielle as their princess, but Xena is not one of them) are a ‘real’ Greek myth – not a real people, but a mythical tribe who appear in numerous stories from Greek mythology. They were described as a tribe of warrior women, who cut off one breast to make it easier to shoot arrows – oddly enough, the show left out that detail!

The closest non-Amazon character to Xena is probably Atalanta, a huntress who killed centaurs with arrows (with both breasts intact), won a wrestling match against the male hero Peleus, and refused to marry until a suitor could beat her in a foot race, which no one was able to do without cheating. The goddesses Artemis and Athena, who both appear in the series, had traditionally masculine attributes as well, and Athena is especially similar to Xena as she was associated with war (as well as the male god of war, Ares), but they were both completely divine beings, and so were considered a bit different to mortal human women.

Keeping it real

The series did include lots of elements from ‘real’ Greek mythology. Numerous Greek gods and goddesses turned up over the course of the show, from famous Olympians like Ares, Zeus, and Aphrodite, to less well known deities like Nemesis (goddess of justice), Morpheus (god of dreams), and Discord (in Greek Eris, the goddess of discord). Some early episodes were inspired by stories from Greek myth, like Hercules freeing the Titan Prometheus from being chained up and having his magically regenerating liver eaten by a giant eagle every day (Season 1’s ‘Prometheus’); the story of Odysseus, known by his Latin name Ulysses in the show, and his long journey home to his wife Penelope (Season 2’s ‘Ulysses’), and Season 1’s brief glimpse of the Trojan War in ‘Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts’.

For the most part, rather than directly adapting specific myths, the series used characters, elements and ideas from Greek mythology to create new stories. As a 1990s show, the series used the blend of arc plotting and standalone episodes that was common at the time. This meant that the show, like an anthology show, could do different types of stories in different episodes, allowing it to incorporate not just the tragic and dramatic tone of some Greek myths, but the comedic and light-hearted tone of others as well – for in the ancient world, playwrights used mythological characters and themes for both tragedy and comedy.

Ancient Greek playwrights would mess around with the stories people thought they knew to surprise their audience and keep their attention. The famous story of the witch Medea murdering her own children, for example, was an innovation of the playwright Euripides, adapting earlier stories where they were killed by accident or killed by other characters. So what Xena (and parent show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) was doing was exactly what ancient Greek dramatists did, taking ideas and characters people know and playing around with them to create something new.

Remixing the myths

One of the interesting things about Xena: Warrior Princess was the way the show took place in a vaguely described mythical time which seemed to cover millennia of not just Greek mythology and legend, but even well-known, real and dateable Roman history. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, there was a sense that the distant past was a time of myths, and that gods and heroes and monsters walked the earth long before their own time. However, they also had a fairly strong sense of there being a rough chronology to these stories. Certain myths happened in a certain order, and there was a clear progression of ‘Ages’ with different events belonging to different periods. The Titan Kronos was in charge first, then he was usurped by his son Zeus. Mankind was created by the Titan Prometheus, and Woman inflicted on them as a punishment to Prometheus by Zeus (ancient Greek myth was not as feminist as the show it inspired, as you can tell!).

The Greek poet Hesiod outlined five Ages of Man. The Golden Age was the reign of Kronos, when men lived like gods. When Zeus took over, the Silver Age began, and men were now inferior beings who had to work for a living. The Bronze Age was an age of strong, warlike men who were destroyed by Deucalion’s flood (the Greek equivalent of the story of Noah’s Ark). Next was the Age of Heroes, and this is where myth starts to meet legend and pre-history. This is the period when the Trojan War supposedly took place – the war is fictional, but the city of Troy is real (it’s at a site called Hissarlik in modern Turkey) and so were the Greek city states described in the stories, so this war can be placed in a real timeline of human history, at around 1200 BCE, even if the war as described in the stories never really happened. The final age was the Age of Iron, Hesiod’s present day of around 700 BCE, an era of misery and toil (Hesiod was not much of an optimist).

Xena throws all of this chronology out of the window and blends everything together into a glorious mish-mash of myth, legend, and history. The 10-year Trojan War is covered in a single episode set at the end of the siege. Heroes from different stories appear in no particular order. King David of Israel turns up – he lived around 1010-970 BCE, which would be a couple of centuries after the Trojan War.

Why Xena: Warrior Princess Was Groundbreaking

By Juliette Harrisson

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Most bizarrely for a show supposedly about Greek mythology, substantial chunks of Roman history are thrown into the mix as well, forming major story arcs across the years, especially in the fourth season. Producer Rob Tapert is obviously keen on this period because he later produced the STARZ Spartacus series – starring his wife, Lucy Lawless, a.k.a Xena – which features several of the same characters including Julius Caesar, Crassus and (briefly) Pompey.

Even when using real historical characters, though, Xena folded in decades’ worth of history. Most of the characters and loosely adapted plotlines follow the collapse of the Roman Republic and the beginning of a monarchy under the emperors in the first century BCE, and although it’s loosely adapted to say the least, there are lots of genuine details. Julius Caesar really was kidnapped by pirates as a young man (and had them all executed later on) and the power struggles in the dying years of the Republic really did feature an alliance between Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey, and the famous love affair between Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The British Queen Boudicca, or Boadicea, however, lived over a hundred years later, and although Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, he never actually conquered it (it was the later emperor Claudius who did that) so even the Roman historical chronology is all over the place.

There’s something kind of wonderful about this ‘throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ approach to chronology. There are lots of fun depictions of Julius Caesar in pop culture (from the dude with the surfer hairdo in Tapert’s Spartacus: War of the Damned to Kenneth Williams camping it up in Carry on Cleo) but none are quite as off-beat as Karl Urban repeatedly trying to kill Xena and even escaping the underworld after death to create a new reality where she never met Gabrielle, in an attempt to save himself. And the idea that the first Empress and possible serial killer (depending which ancient Roman rumours you believe) Livia was really Xena’s daughter – and a formidable warrior – is rather fun too.

Playing in other cultures’ sandpits

It wasn’t just time that Xena jumbled up whenever the writers felt like it – the series also included plenty of gods, myths and heroes from other places that had nothing to do with Greece or Rome. From Norse gods (including Loki and Odin) to Hindu gods, to Tau Chinese characters, to the early medieval British hero Beowulf, Xena’s “time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings” and “land in turmoil” could be anywhere, anywhen. This gave the writers great freedom in choosing the stories they wanted to tell and playing with them in new and creative ways, as well as allowing them to cast a diverse group of actors to play them.

Casting black actresses Galyn Gorg and Gina Torres as Helen of Troy and Cleopatra respectively was reflective of academic movements throughout the late 1980s and 1990s to recognise the importance of black Africans to Mediterranean culture, and it has been argued that the real Cleopatra was black, as while her ethnicity was primarily Greek (her Greek ancestors conquered Egypt), her grandmother was a concubine of unknown origin. But the wide range of sources of inspiration Xena drew on meant that they could largely cast actors suited to their roles, regardless of skin colour. Although the goddess of Love, Aphrodite, was somehow still portrayed as a slim, ditzy blonde in pink, which is not a representation the ancient Greeks would have recognised – their statues of Aphrodite are a lot more rounded in body shape and wear even less clothing!

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Xena: Warrior Princess, like a lot of great shows from the 1990s, was a series full of good humour and creativity that didn’t take itself too seriously most of the time, but was still able to land a dramatic punch when it turned its mind to it. It’s a method of making television that, when done well, can give audiences the best of all worlds, and perhaps one that might see a bit of a comeback if audiences start to tire of heavily serialised, grimdark TV. The series’ approach to Greek mythology was like its approach to story-telling in general – use the things that you think will work, don’t be afraid to change things, to mix it up, to mess things around, and tell whatever story you want to tell using whatever tools are available to you to tell it. The ancient Greek playwrights would have been proud.

The post How Xena: Warrior Princess used Greek Myth appeared first on Den of Geek.

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timcurlyshepard · 5 years ago

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The Shepards as greek gods if you have the time or just want something to do...?

okay wait how did you know I’m a greek mythology nerd sksjsjsj okay I’m only gonna focus on some more well known gods/goddesses here because I don’t wanna get weirdly obscure lol

Also I decided to do everyone not just the Shepards because I got into this lmao

Pony Curtis

Apollo. He’s the god of like a whole bunch of stuff, most notably of medicine, music, art, poetry, and literature. I think that his focus on the arts and the fact that he’s always portrayed in a softer, less overtly masculine light makes him great for Pony.

Soda Curtis

I was torn for him between Aphrodite and Hephaestus (which is funny because they’re technically married), but ultimately landed on Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, which obviously suits Soda. She’s also the goddess of love, but a less serious form of love than Hera (goddess of marriage) which I think fits Soda because really, he’s young a likes a lot of pretty girls, but shouldn’t be in anything too serious yet (look what happened when he did get serious 🤦🏼‍♀️)

Darry Curtis

Hera. Again, I went back and forth on Darry, initially wanting to give him Zeus, but my gut saying that was wrong. I selected Hera because she has the leadership and power that comes with Zeus (being his wife, and sister but ignore that, queen of the gods). But whereas Zeus is often portrayed as overly cruel (Hera is as well, but to a lesser degree and really no more than any of the other Gods) Hera is often seen as less tempermental. She is the goddess of marriage and family, and she only really shows her dark side when those things have been threatened and she is seen defending her family and marriage.

Steve Randle

Athena. She’s the goddess of wisdom, but more than that she’s the goddess of battle strategy. I think Steve has a great deal of intelligence, especially when it comes to planning and knowing how to work his opponent. Athena also has a bit of a mean streak when challenged or if someone has presumed to be better than her at something. She’s also very much One Of The Boys, which fits my idea of Steve’s personality.

Dallas Winston

Ares. God of war and rage and a big time homewrecker. Need I really say anymore? I’m gonna anyway. This works for Dallas because there’s an anger in Ares that I think clearly exists in Dallas, but there’s also a fierce protection. A story of Ares gives us our first account of a murder trial (the original Law and Order if you will). He murdered a man, a son of Poseidon specifically, who raped his daughter, and was put on trial for it. I think this sort of anger, damn the consequences attitude is very Dallas.

Johnny Cade

Persephone. Goddess of springtime and the reason the seasons change. There’s a ton of different versions of the myth of Persephone and Hades, my favorite is the original that is less popular now, but for this purpose we will use the more modern one. In this version, her and Hades runaway together, ruling the underworld side by side. She flees her controlling asshole dad, Zeus, and finds true love and power. This speaks to Johnny because to some extent, this is what he has been doing his whole life, fleeing his dickhead parents and looking for something better. Did Johnny find his Hades, I don’t know, but I’d like to think he found something in the end.

Two Bit Mathews

Dionysus. God of wine, parties, and madness. He is well known for the big drunken theatre productions Athenians would put on in his honor, showing off various really funny comedies and satire. He, like Apollo, is often not depicted particularly masculine, being made softer and a bit kinder.

Tim Shepard

Hades. God of the underworld. This might seem a lil on the nose, but I absolutely love Hades. He has a bad rep because he’s like god of death (although he actually isn’t, that’s a dude named Thanatos, he’s more like death’s landlord) but he was essentially tricked into being that when his brothers basically shouted dibs on controlling the sky and sea and the underworld was all that was left. Circumstances beyond his control ringing a Tim Shepard bell for anyone? He’s also like not a dick, like the other gods. He loves his wife, Persephone, and unlike his douchey brothers doesn’t have affair after affair. He just seems really scary, but under that there’s kindness and a devotion to family, much like Tim.

Curly Shepard

Hermes. No, this isn’t the fashion designer. Hermes is the god of thieves and travelers. Literally the first thing he does after being born is steal his brother Apollo’s cattle like a little shit. I mean this is like Curly rembodied lmao

Angela Shepard

Artemis. Artemis is a bad ass eternally young goddess who protects maidens with her Hunters (basically a sick ass girl gang). In Ancient Greece, women would often run off into the woods hoping that Artemis would take them away to join the hunters and remain young forever. This just screams Angela, right?

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jflashandclash · 5 years ago

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Tales From Mount Othrys

The Versatility of a Guitar String

Warning: Depictions of Violence.

***

“Forget your family.”

Flynn’s melody murmured in my dreams like the silkiest spider threads rocking a slumberer’s hammock. “You deserve to enjoy this: the start of your new life. Let yourself forget.”

Her words cradled my mind in a tranquilizing solace. At the time, the only response I could utter was, “What other family? You’re all the family I need.”

--Memoirs of a Talking Head[1]

***

When Jack agreed to tear down the gods, he didn’t think it would involve him snorkeling in a toilet.

It did.

Jack thrashed and twisted, barely getting a gulp of air before being submerged again. His orange converses squeaked uselessly against the bathroom’s floor tiles.

The girl shoving his head into the water bowl was much stronger and larger than he, despite being several years younger. Between dunkings, her and her friends’ laughter reverberated off the walls.

This, unfortunately, wasn’t the first time someone had forced Jack to be well acquainted with the most vital part of a restroom. Last time, Ms. Daisy Blackwell, one of the prettiest girls at his church, had taken Jack behind the church after his solo at one of their concerts. She had said she wanted him to sing to her. When Tommy Higgles, her boyfriend, found out that she asked Jack to do more than sing to her, he and his friends cornered Jack in the boys’ bathroom at school.

Last time, Tommy had emptied all of Jack’s medication into the toilet bowl. “That straightening out your memory, freak!” Tom had shouted.

This time, the water was cleaner. Or, at least, it wouldn’t give him an overdose as he choked on it.

Last time, Jack had no idea it was going to happen. Ms. Blackwell had heard Jack “confused” things a lot, and that he was “confused’ about her relations with Tommy. But, afterwards, Ms. Blackwell wouldn’t acknowledge him in public, or that anything had happened between the two of them, like the other boys and girls that had taken an interest in Jack at his small high school.

This time, Luke had warned Jack that it was a Camp Half-Blood hazing ritual, one from which Luke could not spare him. Jack had to either fight off a hulking daughter of Ares or get humiliated.

Despite the warning, Jack felt himself thinking the same thing he had before: I’m going to drown.

The water seeped into his lungs during his squirming. Pressure mounted in his chest. There wasn’t enough time to cough. Panic made his heartbeat thud inside his head. His head smacked into the toilet bowl with each thrash.

The worst difference surfaced as he forced his limbs to stop fighting. Last time, Jack knew he would reach eternal salvation if he died the humiliating death of a toilet warrior. This time, as Jack willed his body to give up, he wondered, Do half-bloods even have souls?

The fingers clenching his hair pulled his head back, stretching his body in a strained arch.

He sputtered and coughed out the water.

Clarisse La Rue’s sneer loomed in his peripheral. “Had enough of a swim?”

At least there was a toilet directly in front of him, so no one would have to clean up the content of his lungs and stomach. That would be rude to any godly janitorial staff. He hacked, unable to talk for a moment.

Clarisse released him.

Jack barely missed cracking his head against the toilet bowl. Blurrily, he searched around, trying to prop himself up on the cool, slick floor.

The laughter echoed around the room. The massive girl stood.

“Why?” Jack finally choked out.

“To show you the pecking order,” Clarisse said. She and her friends got up and left the bathroom stalls.

Jack trembled. The first time he tried to get up, his legs felt like jelly. Finally, he got to his feet and stumbled to the sinks. He turned one on and dunked his head under, reminding himself that he was in control of the water rinsing him off.

The monsters on the Princess Andromeda had been way nicer on his first day. They at least ignored him or said he smelled good.

Someone shook Jack’s shoulder.

He flinched.

“Hey, we’re not really supposed to be in the girl’s bathroom.”

Jack tried to look through the water at his escort: a thirteen-year-old child of Apollo named Ryan. He had tan skin and an athletic build. Once he got Jack’s attention, he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

After a few more moments of feeling the water against the back of his head and his neck, Jack shut the sink off. He let his dripping bangs plaster onto his face and soak his flannel shirt. The top was already drenched. As it turned out, toilet water: not refreshing.

“Why didn’t you help?” Jack asked. To still be there, Ryan must have stood by the entrance the whole time, watching.

Ryan’s expression was skeptical. Like everyone else who had commented on how old Jack was, Ryan seemed disappointed by what he saw. “You think I can put a dent in a child of Ares?”

Jack shrugged. “You could have run to get help.”

“No one is going to help against Clarisse.”

No wonder Luke hates Ares and his children.

Although the room felt warm with the climate control, Jack hugged himself. It took every ounce of control not to tug at his hair and to, instead, dig his fingers deep into his ribs. He promised himself he wouldn’t mess this mission up and that meant acting as normal as possible.

Mission? Quest? Had Kronos called it a quest?

This was the exact time Jack should be asking Ryan questions. Phil and Luke both said Jack was perfect for this type of quest, because he was so unassuming and genuinely curious when asking questions. Charming and harmless, as Ms. Blackwell had teased him.

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Jack asked. “Were you dunked?”

Jack tried to imagine coming in here as a young kid, before he met Flynn and knew Greek monsters were real. He would have thought this was whole place was a cruel prank or a bad dream.

“All new people get dunked,” Ryan said. He looked impatient. “You get over it.”

Jack felt like his tongue was four times too large. That didn’t seem right, but he doubted saying so would get him any points with Ryan.

Only twenty-four hours, Jack reminded himself. Twenty-four hours before Luke, Lucille, Lou Ellen, and I need to get out. You can be normal for twenty-four hours.

He hoped.

Summer solstice was a day away. From what Luke got out of a quick Iris Message and a dream vision with Kronos, some kid named Percy Jackson should be starting some massive war with the gods. Percy should have been be dragged into Tartarus with something called the Master Bolt. Then, this camp wouldn’t be safe. It would crumble into a battlefield between the gods.

“Just remember when Clarisse dunks you that she’ll be killed in the crossfire. I’ll make sure of it,” Luke had said.

Jack didn’t want Clarisse and her friends to be killed in the crossfire. He just wanted her to be less mean. Seeing her in person, the former seemed much more likely.

Ryan sighed. “Come on. Let’s see if you you’re as bad at horseback riding as you are with archery.”

Jack shuffled forward. He guessed Ryan didn’t intend to sound so critical, but no one at camp could believe Jack had survived on his own for so long, being a son of Apollo. Although Phil immediately stated that Jack had been claimed—he hadn’t, whatever ‘claiming’ meant—whispers went around that maybe he was supposed to be in the Aphrodite cabin instead.

“At least he’s good for the girls to look at. Don’t think he’ll do much in the coming war,” he had heard Lee Fletcher, his cabin counselor, muttering when Jack accidentally elbowed Chiron in the chest during their archery lesson.

Jack knew he wouldn’t have survived on his own, but Luke had him under strict orders not to mention Flynn or Luke or anything about Kronos. As for that day, they didn’t know each other, which was a real shame. Jack wanted Luke to show him Thalia’s pine tree.

The rest of the training was similar. Fortunately, his cabin mates—is that what they were called?—and Chiron were too distracted by the fights that kept breaking out between the children of Athena and Jack’s siblings. Something about Poseidon being in the right to take a stand against Zeus? Jack had only recently learned the gods and titans were real. He couldn’t keep the internal bickering straight.

Most people were too distracted and tense to pay Jack much attention for the rest of training, which was a problem. That meant he couldn’t complete his mission either. He hoped Lucille was having more luck in the Aphrodite Cabin and Lou Ellen in the… where had Luke said she’d go?

Luke’s words haunted him. “Either we turn them or we consider them sword fodder. Anyone on the Olympic side will need to die, so you’re doing them a favor if you can show them how corrupt the Olympians are.”

Flynn, Jack’s girlfriend, understood immediately. That’s why Luke had sent her on a mission to a place called New Rome. Luke said that would be too difficult for Jack to tag along.

This quest was a test for Jack, Lucille, and Lou Ellen: a way to prove they were worthy of Kronos’ next world.

Like introducing people to Jesus, Jack mused. He remembered walking through the sterile halls of Botin’s Hill Hospital, how the sick welcomed him inside to hear him sing church songs. Pity he didn’t know any about our savor, Kronos.

Jack frowned. Luke and Phil kept saying he could heal people with his song. But, the sick people didn’t always get better when he sang. Sometimes…

“Jake, right?”

Jack flinched. The Apollo cabin was setting up for the campfire. He’d zoned out, watching as the Hephaestus campers stoked the flames. Everyone else referred to the cabins by numbers, but Jack couldn’t keep those numbers straight, so he tried to catalogue everyone by the few gods he did know.

A friendly, blond nineteen-year-old stood beside him. The familiar scar made Jack grin, despite his feelings of being a failure. He shouldn’t want to talk to Luke. That would mean reporting that he’d had no luck converting any of his siblings, or even seeing if they could be converted down the road. The children of Apollo seemed to love their—his—dad wholeheartedly, though Jack hadn’t gotten any specific person’s story yet.

Luke squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “How’s your first day going? You came in at a rough time.”

Jack knew that Luke had to pretend they’d never met before, but the convincing, detached quality of Luke’s voice was demoralizing, especially with how he got his name wrong.

Jack managed to nod at him. He hadn’t realized that, when he sat down on the log, he’d pulled his knees up and was rocking.

Almost frantic, Jack straightened out his legs and stopped rocking. Normal for one day. Normal for one day. He repeated to himself. Then, he could tell Flynn that he’d done a quest, right? He could show Luke that he’d be worthwhile in his army. Besides, the campfire was all about singing. This is where Jack could shine.

Jack gave Luke a much more confident smile.

“Just keep it together, buddy,” Luke said, his grip on Jack’s shoulder becoming uncomfortable. “I’m sure the rest of your night will be a success—”

Another camper, an Athena boy, raised his voice in middle of a discussion, drowning out Luke. “—maybe because someone needs to keep order in this camp—”

“Oh, can it! You’re still pissy at Poseidon for a rivalry that you won. Get over it! There’s no reason you’d be on Zeus’ side otherwise!” one of Jack’s siblings shouted at the Athena camper.

More shouts broke out. The campfire flickered uncomfortable, dark red. The flames looked too low on the wood to still be lit.

Jack felt like something was about to go wrong, something important.

One of the Ares campers shoved the Athena kid—Malcolm? He stumbled, barely dodging around the fire. He slammed into another camper to keep his balance. And—

The movement was too fast for Jack to dodge, not that he would have thought to.

One of Jack’s siblings toppled backwards.

Pain flared in Jack’s throat, as the kid’s—Will’s?—elbow smashed into Jack’s windpipe. Will hadn’t meant to, he’d been trying to pinwheel to keep his balance—

Jack flopped backwards, clutching at his neck. He coughed. Each breath rasped painfully.

Hands gripped Jack’s shoulders. They dug into his skin, dragging him away from the campfire. Another member of his cabin went to pummel Malcolm, even though the incident hadn’t been Malcolm’s fault.

The yells were jumbled. The bodies crashed into a scuffle—they looked more like a random mob of strangers than cousins and siblings. All Jack could think was, My throat—Dear God—can I still sing?! What if they crushed it? What if they crushed my windpipe?

A more logical part of him said that his windpipe would be fine. He needed a few minutes to recover. That would be it, right? What am I without a voice? That’s my only useful trait. Would Flynn want me anymore?

He wheezed.

Whoever was dragging him pulled him up onto his feet.

The pain lessened, but the panic made Jack clutch at his neck. He tried to talk. His voice came out a squeaky rasp.

He expected Luke to be his savor, to be chastising him for over-dramatics.

The person beside him was a foot too short.

“Come on. We have throat lozenges in the cabin,” Ryan said. He released Jack and started walking back towards the housing.

Jack pointed frantically back to where the campfire had become a battle zone. The Ares and Apollo campers teamed up against Athena. A centaur already stood in the fray, pulling teenagers off each other.

“Chiron will take care of it,” Ryan said, “We plenty outnumber Cabin Six and you’ll be in the way if you stay.” This time, the irritation in Ryan’s voice was unmistakable. “You’re really not cut out for this, are you? You had plenty of time to move.”

Jack trembled. He reminded himself that Ryan, like other kids that had mocked him, was a child of God’s and that all God’s children were…

Something flipped in Jack’s head. They weren’t equal, were they? And God—the gods—didn’t love them equally. Luke said that Percy Jackson—the son of Poseidon that Luke had framed for the thievery of the Master Bolt—that kid could control water. Thalia had been able to shoot lightning. These gods, the Greek gods, didn’t treat them as equal, else Thalia wouldn’t be a pine tree.

By the time Jack got enough of his voice back to talk, they approached the golden exterior of Apollo’s empty cabin. “You seem like such a natural,” Jack said. His voice was raspy, but functional.

A tightness squeezed Jack’s stomach when he examined his little half-brother. Throughout all the training that day, Ryan had excelled.

Ryan sighed. Tension released from his shoulders as he opened the cabin door. He paused. After a moment, Ryan held the door open for Jack. “My mom told me I was a half-blood when I was very little. She knew Apollo was a god, so she set me up with archery lessons as soon as I could pull back a bow. She was a pediatrician and let me play with all of her college text books.” He shrugged. “The other campers think I’ll surpass Chiron with a bow one day, and I’m already a better healer than Will, but I had a head start.”

This is was it! What Jack was supposed to be doing all day! Getting his new cabin mates to open up: about themselves, their feelings about being demigods, their opinions of their parents. For some reason, Jack didn’t feel better about the success. The tightness in his stomach squeezed until he felt his breath going short again. He wanted Ryan to shut up.

“You knew the monsters were real,” Jack said. He hadn’t realized that would be an option. He stepped inside.

“Well, yea, we all did,” Ryan said like it was obvious. The cabin door shut behind them. No one else was around. Ryan walked past the corner stacked with instruments to the medicine cabinet. He withdrew the lozenges and handed them to Jack.

Jack frowned, examining the packaging: ambrosia coated. Even with simple things like pain killers, he always checked ingredients in case they conflicted with his medication. Jack popped one in his mouth and bit down hard.

Everyone knew that you were supposed to suck on lozenges; but, Jack wanted a sharp sensation in his mouth. Cinnamon spiked his taste buds.

Ryan gave Jack a wary look. “Listen, Jack, maybe you’d be better off at home with your mortal family,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want you here, I just don’t know if this is the safest place for you with this war brewing. Tomorrow, Summer Solstice, this camp might be about to explode, and you’re not really trained for combat yet…”

Ryan looked genuinely concerned. “We can loan you a weapon from the armory. Since you’ve made it so long without any help, I doubt your aura is that strong or ever will be strong enough to attract monsters. It’s not that we don’t want you here—or that Dad doesn’t want you here. I mean, he claimed you. That’s a big deal. It means he loves you and all, but—”

Jack bit down harder on the lozenge, wanting to crush it. He hadn’t been claimed.

“How soon were you claimed?” Jack interrupted. The twisting in his stomach kept getting tighter. He felt like he was on the cusp of something important and that something would make all the tension disappear. It had to do with what Ryan was saying, but he wanted the kid to stop talking.

“As soon as I stepped foot into camp,” Ryan said. He rocked onto his tiptoes, like he was getting impatient to go back outside. His gaze shifted back to the door as though the eye motion could shove Jack back out.

Jack hugged himself. “Apollo… Dad. You speak really highly of him.”

Ryan glanced at the door again, then back at Jack. He sighed, rolling back onto his heels. “Yea… I—I owe Dad. He’s kinda awesome.”

These campers seemed to know so much more about him. How could you say that a Dad you’ve never met was awesome? Had Ryan met him?

At Jack’s silence, Ryan got a sad smile on his face. “I guess I can tell you about it. My mom never fell in love after him. She said it was impossible after she had a full summer with him—”

A one night stand. A one night mistake, Jack remembered his mother assuring Steve about his conception, when Steven got nervous about the guy before him. They thought Jack hadn’t come downstairs for a nighttime snack. His Mom had never held that one night stand against Jack, had she?

“—so I was raised with my cousins like they were my siblings. My older cousin, Cindy, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Mom and I prayed to Apollo every night and I sang to her every night for a week. She… she got better. Way faster than medicine by itself should have allowed—”

The package slipped from Jack’s fingers.

The individually wrapped lozenges scattered across the cabin floor.

“Wow—you okay, dude? You look like you’re about to be sick,” Ryan said. The smile vanished from his face. He knelt down, plucking some lozenges from the ground.

Jack should have apologized. He should have knelt down to help. Normal for one day, echoed in his mind. The thought couldn’t penetrate his other ones. It couldn’t stop his hands from clutching at his hair.

What would it have been like? To grow up with a family that knew what was happening to him, to know he wasn’t crazy. Not to be medicated. Or outcast. No “you’re just confused, sweetie.” No, “All children are equal in the eyes of God.”

In that instance, Jack realized something. People treated life like it was a living thing that chose to be fair or unfair. It wasn’t. It just existed. People were made unequal. They would be treated unequal. These gods, their gods, played favorites.

“Ryan…” Jack whispered, trying not to hyperventilate. “You saved your cousin with your singing. Could you kill someone with your singing?”

His vision had tunneled. All Jack could see was the smaller boy, crouched under the instrument table, gathering a lozenge from a guitar. There were spare strings on the table. When Ryan put his hand on the table for balance, he knocked them to the side.

Then, Jack couldn’t see Ryan.

Shelby was the worst. Her body was sprawled in the middle of the hallway, on top of Charger, their German Sheppard. The other bodies—those Jack could easily pretend weren’t real. But, Shelby, had face-planted in a pool of her own vomit. The bile plastered her black hair around the wooden floor like a drowned victim’s hair splayed into a water halo… She was impossible to ignore. Jack had to carefully edge his way around her and Charger’s bodies, hoping the real one would show up and tell him to stop being silly, and terrified the real one would show up since they might increase his medication.

The day after they found his family, Jack had been too scared to tell Luke and Flynn why he thought their deaths were his fault.

He had been singing in the shower. He was thinking about how angry he was at his family while he sang. Then, they were dead, just like some of the patients at the hospital died as soon as he finished singing to them.

Why could Ryan save people, his loved ones, with his voice, when Jack could kill?

The pressure in Jack’s stomach made him feel like he’d throw up. That tension was wound so tightly, Jack knew it would snap. It was about to snap. He couldn’t stop—

“I guess, in theory,” Ryan said, beginning to rise from under the table, “I’ve never heard of someone—”

There was a loud thwack.

Jack didn’t know he’d cracked Ryan’s skull into the table. Not until the second time he did it. Ryan’s hair felt silky under his fingers. The head under his hand resisted the first time. Not so much the second.

Jack’s heartbeat thudded in his head, deafening. He didn’t hear the noises Ryan made. He didn’t feel Ryan’s head slip from his hands or how Ryan kicked backwards—how Jack’s leg gave out under the kick so Jack was level with the instrument table.

He saw Ryan’s mouth move, to sing to heal or call for help. Some autopilot took over, shut him up. Shut. Him. Up. We’ll make the two of us equal. We’ll play favorites the way that gods do.

A dull ache nagged at Jack’s knee, where he’d collapsed behind his little half-brother. He fumbled for something in the room to gag Ryan. His fingers snatched up something thin, metal, and pliable.

Jack didn’t remember shoving Ryan back to the floor; he must have. The intention was to wrap the guitar cord between Ryan’s teeth. Just to soften Ryan’s screams.

Then the metal cord pinched the skin around Ryan’s neck. The small kid bucked and thrashed. Ryan’s nails dug at metal. Those fingers fumbled backwards, swatting at Jack.

None of his attempts reached Jack. Jack’s knee now pressed into the small of Ryan’s back. The guitar cord was long enough that Jack could pull it taught at such a distance that Ryan couldn’t touch him.

The way Ryan squirmed, Jack’s own screams, the pain in his bruised knee as Jack simultaneously kneed the back of Ryan’s spine while jerking Ryan’s neck backwards: it felt distant, muffled.

Until someone covered Jack’s mouth.

“Be quiet!”

The words brought Jack back into reality. So did the hands that dragged him backwards.

“Holy Hera!” another familiar voice said.

There was a clop of hooves on the wooden floor.

Until that someone removed the hands from his mouth, Jack didn’t realize what he’d been screaming over and over.

Why does Dad love you more?

Ryan wasn’t moving.

Dad couldn’t love him now.

Jack trembled. He stared at his hands. Cuts lined his palms, where he had wrapped the guitar string to anchor them. Bruising would follow. His breath tightened. That tension inside him had snapped. He didn’t have any energy left. No anger. Just a sense of queer calm.

That same autopilot took control. Guilt nagged at his consciousness the same way pain nagged at his knee.

“No,” Jack said, “No—no. I—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”

“Shut up,” Luke repeated, slapping Jack upside the head. He sounded terrified.

Jack clutched at his hair. The strands felt slick with sweat. A sob caught his throat. What was happening to him? Had he just—

“Watch it, Luke.” Someone stepped around the two of them. Phil’s furry legs blocked off Jack’s view of Ryan’s body. “Flynn isn’t going to like it if she hears you’ve been smacking around her Jackie-boy. Now, let’s see. It’s been a long time since I needed to sneak a corpse out of a cabin. You sure like to keep me young and spry, don’t you, Jak-Jak?”

Phil’s comment was light.

No answer would come from Jack’s lips, at least, not beyond a whine.

Phil turned towards Jack and knelt down. Those dark eyes glittered with something that made Jack nauseous: compassion. He put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Kid, I need you with us. We gotta move fast. Which blanket won’t be missed if we wrap Ryan in it?”

*****

My betatester was very angry at me for the deficit of hugs and happiness for Jak-Jak. Don’t worry. Part II is more lighthearted. Okay, PHiL says it’s more lighthearted, though that guy could probably say that at a wax clown museum.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned next week for the last part of this short! I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! :D

Footnote:

[1] I’m going to write this one day.

#Tales from Mount Othrys #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #luke castellan #jack #TFMO #PJO #HOO #fanfiction #Ryan #Will #Phil #Chiron #Malcom #All the characters for less than a second!#clarisse #I want to dress up as character Jack for Halloween....#Lemme go grab some electric base strings...#And a Pax... I'll need a spare Pax handy....

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tipsycad147 · 3 years ago

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Aphrodite – Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty

The goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite (known as Venus in Roman mythology) is one of the most recognizable names in Greek myth. Aphrodite is portrayed as a woman of stunning appearance, with whom mortals and gods alike fell in love.

Who Is Aphrodite?

A few scholars believe that the worship of Aphrodite came from the East as many of the attributes given to her recall those of goddesses from the ancient Middle East – Astarte and Ishtar. Although Aphrodite was mainly considered “Cyprian”, she was already Hellenized by Homer’s time. She was worshipped by everyone, and was called Pandemos, meaning of all the people.

According to Hesiod’s Theogeny, Aphrodite was ‘born’ on the island of Cyprus, but there’s some debate about how she actually came into being. Some accounts state that she sprang from the foam in the waters of Paphos, from the genitals of Uranus thrown into the sea by his own son, Cronus. The very name Aphrodite comes from the Ancient Greek word aphros, meaning sea foam, which aligns with this story.

Another version written by Homer in Iliad says that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. This would make her the daughter of a god and a goddess, similar to most of the Olympians.

Aphrodite was so beautiful that the gods feared that there would be a rivalry amongst them because of her beauty. To solve this issue, Zeus had her married off to Hephaestus, considered the ugliest of the gods. The god of metalworking, fire, and stone masonry, Hephaestus had not even been considered a serious contender for Aphrodite because of how he looked. The plan, however, backfired – Aphrodite wasn’t loyal to Hephaestus as she did not love him.

Aphrodite’s Lovers

Although she was bound to Hephaestus through marriage, Aphrodite took on many lovers, both gods and mortals.

Aphrodite and Ares

Aphrodite had an affair with Ares, the god of war. Helios caught the lovers and informed Hephaestus of their tryst. Angered, Hephaestus designed a fine bronze net that would trap them within it when they next lay together. The lovers were only freed after the other gods laughed at them and Poseidon paid for their release.

Aphrodite and Poseidon

It is said that Poseidon saw Aphrodite naked and he fell in love with her. Aphrodite and Poseidon had one daughter together, Rhode.

Aphrodite and Hermes

Hermes is a god who doesn’t have a lot of consorts, but he was with Aphrodite and they had an offspring named Hermaphroditos.

Aphrodite and Adonis

Aphrodite once found a baby boy that she took to the underworld. She asked Persephone to take care of him and after some time she visited the boy who had grown up to become a handsome man, Adonis. Aphrodite asked if she could take him back, but Persephone wouldn’t allow it.

Zeus decided to settle the dispute by dividing Adonis’ time between the goddesses, but it was ultimately Aphrodite that Adonis would choose. He paid for it with his life, dying in her arms after either Ares or Artemis sent a wild boar to kill him. As the story goes, anemones sprang from where the blood of Adonis fell.

Aphrodite and Paris

Paris was tasked by Zeus to judge who was the most beautiful amongst Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. The latter won the contest by promising Paris the most beautiful girl in the world, Helen, the Spartan queen. This triggered the bloody war between Troy and Sparta that lasted a decade.

Aphrodite and Anchises

Anchises was a mortal shepherd who Aphrodite fell in love with. The goddess pretended to be a mortal virgin, seduced him, slept with him, and bore him a son, Aeneas. He paid for this affair with his sight when Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt.

Aphrodite: The Unforgiving

Aphrodite was a generous and kind goddess to those who respected and revered her, but like the other gods, she didn’t take slights lightly. There are several myths that outline her anger and vengeance against those who slighted her.

Hippolytus, son of Theseus, preferred to worship only the goddess Artemis and in her honor, swore to remain celibate, which angered Aphrodite. She made Hippolytus’ stepmother fall in love with him, which resulted in both their deaths.

The Titaness Eos had a brief affair with Ares, even though Ares was Aphrodite’s lover. In retaliation, Aphrodite cursed Eos to be perpetually in love with an insatiable sexual desire. This caused Eos to abduct many men.

As the Trojan war raged, Diomedes wounded Aphrodite in the Trojan War by cutting her wrist. Zeus warns Aphrodite not to join the war. Aphrodite took her vengeance by causing Diomedes’ wife to start sleeping around with his enemies.

Aphrodite’s Symbols

Aphrodite is often depicted with her symbols, which include:

Scallop shell – Aphrodite is said to have been born in a shell

Pomegranate – The seeds of the pomegranate have always been associated with sexuality. However, in ancient times, it was also used for birth control.

Dove – Possibly a symbol from her precursor Inanna-Ishtar

Sparrow – Aphrodite supposedly rides in a chariot pulled by sparrows, but why this symbol is important to her isn’t clear

Swan – This could be because of Aphrodite’s connection to the sea

Dolphin – Again, possibly due to her connection to the sea

Pearl – Perhaps due to her association with shells

Rose – A symbol of love and passion

Apple – A symbol of desire, lust, sexuality and romance, Aphrodite was gifted a golden apple by Paris when she won the contest of being the fairest

Myrtle

Girdle

Mirror

Aphrodite herself remains a powerful symbol of passion, romance, lust and sex. Today, her name is synonymous with these concepts and to call someone an Aphrodite is to suggest that they are irresistible, gorgeous and have uncontrollable desire.

The English word aphrodisiac, meaning a food, drink or object that stimulates sexual desire, comes from the name Aphrodite.

Aphrodite in Art and Literature

Aphrodite is well represented in art throughout the ages. She was most famously captured in Sandro Botticelli’s 1486 CE, the Birth of Venus, prominently displayed in the National Museum in Rome. The judgment of Paris is also a popular subject in ancient Greek art.

Aphrodite is usually depicted clothed in Archaic and Classical Art with an embroidered band or girdle across her chest, which supposedly held her powers of seductive allure, desire, and love. It was only later during the 4th century BCE when artists started depicting her naked or semi-naked.

Aphrodite has been referenced in many important literary works, most notably Venus and Adonis by Shakespeare. More recently, Isabel Allende published the book Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses.

Aphrodite in Modern Culture

Aphrodite is one of the most popular of the Greek goddesses referenced in modern culture. Kylie Minogue named her eleventh studio album Aphrodite and the tour for the aforementioned album also displayed countless images tied to the goddess of beauty.

Katy Perry in her song “Dark Horse”, asks her lover to “make me your Aphrodite.” Lady Gaga has a song titled “Venus” with lyrics referencing the famous painting The Birth of Venus which shows the goddess covering herself while standing over a seashell.

In the mid-20th century, a neo-pagan religion was founded with Aphrodite at its center. It’s known as the Church of Aphrodite. In addition, Aphrodite is an important goddess in Wicca and is often invoked in the name of love and romance.

Aphrodite Facts

1- Who were Aphrodite’s parents?

Zeus and Dione or Uranus’ severed genitals.

2- Did Aphrodite have siblings?

Aphrodite’s list of siblings and half-siblings is long, and includes the likes of Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Helen of Troy, Heracles, Hermes and even the Erinyes (Furies).

3- Who are Aphrodite’s consorts?

The most notable are Poseidon, Ares, Adonis, Dionysus and Hephaestus.

4- Did Aphrodite marry?

Yes, she was married off to Hephaestus, but did not love him.

5- Who are Aphrodite’s children?

She had several children with different gods and mortals, including Eros, Aeneas, The Graces, Phobos, Deimos and Eryx.

6- What are Aphrodite’s powers?

She was immortal and could cause mortals and gods to fall in love. She owned a belt which, when worn, caused others to fall in love with the wearer.

7- What is Aphrodite known for?

Aphrodite is known as the goddess of love, marriage and fertility. She was also known as the goddess of the sea and seafarers.

8- What did Aphrodite look like?

Aphrodite was portrayed as a stunning woman of breathtaking beauty. She was often depicted nude in artwork.

9- Was Aphrodite a good warrior/fighter?

She wasn’t a fighter and this is clear during the Trojan War when she is asked by Zeus to sit it out due to getting hurt. However, she is a schemer and with great power in controlling others.

10- Did Aphrodite have any weaknesses?

She was often jealous of beautiful and attractive women and didn’t take slights lying down. She also cheated on her husband and didn’t respect him.

In Brief

Alluring and beautiful, Aphrodite remains a symbol of a stunning woman who understands her beauty and knows how to use it get what she desires. She continues to be a significant figure in neo-Paganism and modern pop culture. Her name is among the most popular of all the figures of Greek mythology.

https://symbolsage.com/aphrodite-greek-goddess-of-love/

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itsraininginspace · 7 years ago

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Greek Gods and Goddesses – Greek Mythology Pantheon

Most of us have at least a passing familiarity with the Greek pantheon and the rich web of stories that tell of the lives, loves, battles and adventures of Greek gods and goddesses.

These tales have inspired millennia of writers and poets, and even prophets of later religions. They also served to entertain everyone else fortunate enough to read or hear them.

Here comes a very concise overview of the main gods and goddesses who populate the ancient myths in Greek mythology – to be updated with time to include minor gods and goddesses.

Zeus

His name might start with the last letter of the alphabet but Zeus was the foremost of the Greek gods and king amongst them. He was also their god of justice and the law.

Zeus was not always ruler of Mount Olympus but the youngest son of the first king of the gods, Cronus, and his wife, Rhea. Zeus overthrew his father and drew lots with his two older brothers to decide which of the three worlds they would each rule. Poseidon and Hades won dominion over the sea and the underworld respectively while Zeus became the god of the sky.

The chief Greek god is sometimes depicted with a shield named Aegis, which he uses to manipulate natural phenomena like storms and wind, and to control the level of brightness of the day. His weapon is the thunderbolt, a tool he readily uses against fellow gods who earn his ire and also against dishonest Men.

Zeus is called Jove (Jupiter) in the Roman pantheon.

Hera

Hera is Zeus’s counterpart – the queen of the gods. She presided over issues pertaining to females and womanhood like marriage, fertility and childbirth. Dominion over kings, domains and empires was also hers.

Zeus and Hera reigned over the gods together but their relationship did not end there – they were also brother and sister, children of Cronus and Rhea. Greek myths tell of how Zeus forced the relationship and many tales recount Hera’s attempts, often successful, at thwarting Zeus’s plans in spiteful revenge later.

The cow, the peacock and the lion are animals associated with Hera. Her statues are almost invariably of a youthful, crowned woman, and she is sometimes shown holding a pomegranate in her hand. The Romans worshipped her as Juno.

Aphrodite

The Greek goddess of love is arguably the most well-known goddess of the ancient world, a position perhaps only contested by her Roman equivalent, Venus. Aphrodite represented not just love but also physical attraction and sexual desire. She herself wore a magical girdle that induced passions in those around her.

There are two myths around her birth – one is that she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the other that she was born of the sea after Zeus threw Uranus’s castrated genitals into the water.

Aphrodite’s husband was the crippled Hephaestus and they had no children together. She, however, did bear many other children, including Eris, Eros, Phobos, and Deimos with her husband’s brother, Ares, and also had several other lovers.

Statues of the goddess of love always present a sensual, young woman either nude or only partially clothed. The scallop shell features often in relation to the story of her birth from the water, and she is also seen with roses and myrtle, sparrows and doves.

Ares

Known most widely as the Greek god of War, Ares was also the deity who oversaw all manner of bloodletting and violence that accompany battle. He was the son of Zeus and Hera but his father is said to have disliked Ares more than anyone else.

He had romantic dalliances with Aphrodite, his sister, and they were the parents of eight children, including Phobos (fear), Deimos (terror) and Eris (discord) who often accompanied their father into battle.

While he was the god of war, Ares was not altogether successful as a combatant in his own right. Greek myths regale us with stories of his many humiliating defeats and he was regarded as universally unpopular among both gods and men.

Ares is always depicted as a clean-shaven, armed, youth and is associated with vultures, snakes and wild boar. He evolved into Mars in Roman mythology, a vastly more popular character.

Hades

His name might be eternally linked to the dead and tormented but Hades was one of the three sons of the first rulers of the gods, Cronus and Rhea; his brothers were Zeus and Poseidon. After Zeus overthrew their father, Hades literally drew the short straw to become the lord of the underworld while his brothers gained dominion over sky and sea.

The name ‘Hades’ had such negative connotations in Greek society that they were loath to say it out loud. Instead, the name ‘Plouton’ (wealthy) was chosen because it alluded to the wealth of precious metals and resources mined from under the ground where his realm lay. ‘Hades’ was then used to refer only to the underworld itself.

Hades is depicted with a drinking horn, scepter and key. Two animals accompany him – a screech owl and Cerberus, the three-headed hound that guards the entry into the underworld. The Romans adopted a variation of Plouton for themselves, calling him ‘Pluto’.

Poseidon

Poseidon, god of the seas and oceans was the brother of Zeus and Hades, and the son of Cronus and Rhea. He also extended his control to smaller water bodies like rivers and controlled droughts and earthquakes. He won his role after drawing lots with his brothers to decide who would preside over which of the three planes of existence – sea, sky and underworld.

As lord of the waters, Poseidon is also the protector of all marine animals and is often shown with dolphins. However, he is also credited with creating the first horse, an attempt to create the most beautiful animal in his love pursuit of the goddess, Demeter.

After Zeus, Poseidon is the second most powerful of the Greek gods. His personality in myths of his exploits comes across as one driven by avarice and materialism. He is depicted as a powerfully-built man with a thick, flowing beard wearing a bejeweled crown and holding a large trident.

The Romans envisioned Poseidon as Neptune in their pantheon.

Apollo

Apollo is best known as the patron god of music, poetry and the arts. However, his spectrum of specialties extended to healing, knowledge and archery. In addition, he was charged with the task of pulling the sun across the sky every day, which he did riding his four-horse chariot.

His mother was Leto and his father, Zeus. When Hera, Zeus’s wife, discovered that Leto carried her husband’s progeny, she barred her from giving birth on land; Leto gave birth on Delos, an island that had just formed. Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis.

Apollo is always represented as a youthful man at his prime, handsome, powerful and athletic. While he is most often associated with all manner of positive things like light, truth and healing, it is said that arrows he shoots from his bow also have the power to cause disease where they land.

Apollo himself has no dominion over the sea but he is often associated with the dolphin, possibly because of the manner of his birth.

Artemis

The virgin goddess of the hunt is one of the most empowered female characters in Greek mythology. Twin sister of Apollo, she is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and oversees hunts, hunting grounds, childbirth and young girls.

According to Greek myths, she asked Zeus to grant her eternal chastity and virginity and thus never had relationships with any mortal or other gods. There is no shortage of instances, though, where various gods have tried to seduce and even force themselves upon her. However, Artemis emerged with her honor intact each time.

Always armed with at least one weapon and possibly more from an armory of hunting spears, knives and bows and arrows, Artemis is often portrayed in the company of animals. She is always young and lithe of form, dressed in a way that reveals her athletic build.

Artemis from the Greek myths became Diana to the Romans.

Athena

Another strong and positive female role model from Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of military tactics and strategy, reason, intelligence, literature and a variety of other fields which require keen mental acuity.

Legends tell of how Zeus swallowed Athena’s mother whole while she carried her in the womb. He started having terrible headaches and the other gods cleaved his forehead; Athena emerged from within fully grown and fully armored. It is because she went through Zeus’s head that she is associated with intelligence and cleverness.

Zeus admired Athena and she was even permitted her to wield his thunderbolt. However, Athena is most often associated with defense instead of attack. The Greeks credited Athena with a slew of priceless inventions, including the bridle, rake, plow, yoke, pot, flute, chariot and ship.

Statues of Athena show a lean, athletic, young woman with a crested helm and often a spear as well. The wise owl and wondrous olive tree are associated with Athena. To the Romans, she was Minerva.

Demeter

Woman in her classic gentle and nurturing form was represented by the ancient Greeks in the personification of the goddess Demeter. She was the goddess of the earth, agriculture, harvest, grain and nourishment.

Demeter stood amongst the gods as sister to Zeus, daughter of Cronus and Rhea. With Zeus, she bore Persephone, who was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. It is said that winter is the period when she withdraws her gift of earthly bounty to man and mourns her daughter. This bestows upon her the title of the goddess of the seasons.

Depicted as a sober, mature woman and usually shown with a cornucopia and/or sheaves of wheat in her hands, Demeter also often carries a lotus staff. Pigs and snakes are associated with her. In Roman mythology, Demeter became Ceres, from whose name we get the English word ‘cereal’.

Hestia

While we seldom associate the words ‘humble’ and ‘unassuming’ with gods and goddesses, Hestia certainly deserves both titles. Being the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and sister of Zeus, this virgin goddess of the home and hearth had excellent blood. However, she abdicated her position at the table of the Twelve Olympians, allowing Dionysus to ascend in her place.

Hestia’s symbols are the hearth and kettle, making her the goddess of the domicile. In that respect, she was not worshipped publicly (in contrast to her Roman counterpart, Vesta) and there are no temples dedicated to her. Instead, it is believed that homes usually had a small prayer house or altar to honor the goddess.

Hestia took a vow of chastity and she is usually represented as a middle-aged woman wearing a veil.

Dionysus

The Greeks were known for their wild revelry during festivals and most joyful events, particularly those where wine was consumed, were considered to be blessed by Dionysus. He was the Greek god of that intoxicating substance as well as revelry, merrymaking, drunkenness and earthly pleasures.

Dionysus is unique in that he is the only immortal Greek god born of a mortal woman. Fathered by Zeus, he lost his mother to a jealous Hera’s machinations while still unborn. Zeus stitched the fetal Dionysus to himself and his birth from the king of the gods bestowed immortality upon him.

Hera pursued Dionysus even after this, and Zeus left him in the charge of the mountain nymphs. This is why festivals dedicated to the god of wine were held not in temples but in wooded areas.

Statues of Dionysus from ancient Greece depict an older man with a thick, curly beard, always brandishing a wine cup and often holding a bunch of grapes. In later Greek society, he also gained the name ‘Bacchus’, which was subsequently adopted by the Romans.

Hermes

Hermes, messenger of the gods, was always one of Man’s greatest allies in their coexistence with the beings they worshipped. He is the god of travel, communication, trade and boundaries (his name means ‘boundary maker’). His swiftness and wanderings made him the patron of both athletes and thieves.

He is often seen as a guide, leading souls of the dead on their journey to the afterlife. Myths about Hermes paint the picture of a mischievous god, always brimming with ideas for a laugh at his fellow deities. However, his nimble mind is also employed by various gods when in a quandary.

Images of Hermes always portray a youthful man, unbearded and with a pleasant countenance. On his feet are his legendary winged sandals, a gift from Zeus in recognition of his speed and agility. The Romans named him Mercury.

The post Greek Gods and Goddesses – Greek Mythology Pantheon appeared first on Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, Rollo, Vikings, Ouroboros, Symbols and Meanings.

Source: http://mythologian.net/greek-gods-goddesses-list-greek-mythology-pantheon/

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shyscience · 7 years ago

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Worshiping the gods

Here are some tips and ideas I wanted to share from my personal experiences of worshiping Hellenic gods and goddesses!

For this guide, I’ve tried to incorporate some ideas I don’t usually see in these sorts of things. Not to say I’m the first to think of them, just some things I feel need some more love and appreciation.

💀 I’ve made a Hades specific post similar to this if you’re interested, here!

List under the cut below :)

🌙 Get personal!

One of the main things about working with deities is that everyone’s relationship with them is different. There is no set, 100% right way to worship a god or goddess, so don’t be afraid to try new things. Think outside the box, no one wants to just do the same exact things as the next guy, right? That being said, this gets easier the more your relationship builds. Don’t feel pressured to find a completely new and unique way to worship, especially not right off that bat. Simple things work just as well.

Like, finding things your god likes that isn’t in the history books. For me, Hades, I've found, is fond of blueberries. That, as far as I know, is not historical. But he seems to like it whenever I give him raw blueberries or ones covered in dark chocolate (another found favorite of his).

🌙 Colors. Colors! Colors!

This is really more important than you’d think and can make worshiping subtly and/or quickly a breeze. For example, wear colors you associate with the deity of your choice. If you think of pink for Aphrodite, wear that lace, baby pink dress that’s been hiding in your closet. Or with makeup, you can do a powerful, blue smokey eye for Hera, or a more natural look for Athena, or use rusty, sparkly reds the remind you of fire for Hestia. As long as you’re doing it in their name respectfully, they will love it.

Don’t underestimate the usage of just colors when working with deities!

🌙 Don’t forget epithets!

You would be shocked at how much you can learn about a deity just from some old nicknames. I advice you to go look some up, and not only use them when addressing the deity in question, but really take the time to learn more about ones you find interesting.

Such as: Aphrodite is more than just love and lust. She has epithets pointing to the possibility she was once considered a war goddess, epithets referring to darkness and death, and one meaning “skilled in inventing”, just to name a few.

🌙 Reading!

And I don’t mean just reading their myths, though that’s a good idea too. I mean read things that simply remind you of them. Athena might enjoy a good mystery novel or Apollo would appreciate some fine poetry, perhaps Shakespeare.

Also, maybe pick up an ancient Greek epic like the Iliad or Odyssey; or an old Sapphic poem; or something by Hesoid, Aristotle, or Plato; something that can be universal to all gods of that pantheon or easily devoted to a specific one. Not to mention how many context clues and first hand ideas about the gods you get, as well as some awesome stories.

Don’t forget to annotate and take notes!

🌙 Digital Entertainment!

Besides reading, one can also use modern technology to better connect with the gods. You can, honestly, watch things you enjoy while also honoring deities. For example, watching makeup tutorials on youtube? Aphrodite would love to get in on that. Just put on an action film, maybe some cool, fighting super heroes? Invite Ares to join in. Hell, in the morning Zeus might even like watching the weather with you while you drink your coffee.

Or, put something on specifically for that deity. Like, you think Hera wants to watch “Say Yes to the Dress”? Put that on and either watch it with her or just carry on with your work if you’re busy and let her do her thing.

Also, I know a lot of pagans, myself included, make playlists dedicated to different gods and listen to it when worshiping or just when we feel the need to connect to that certain deity. This is a good way to use your personal tastes and likes to worship.

🌙 Devote a Journal/Diary just for them!

If you’re feeling especially close to a certain deity, consider having a journal or some other type of book where you write strictly about that god or goddess. A lot of pagans have a BOS or something similar, but this is something more personal to whichever god or goddess you’re doing it for.

I did this with Hades and he adores it. I bought a Dark Brotherhood (Skyrim) inspired journal and I use it to write all about Hades, including information, myths, personal things about our relationship, ect. It’s a good place for me to keep all my collected information about him without cramming my normal BOS full and so I’ll have all the information together for much easier, faster access.

You can also use a journal or diary to simply write letters or ‘talk’ to deities casually if you don’t feel comfortable talking out loud but don’t want to just speak in your head. Writing things out physically might be a good choice.

🌙 Jewelry and Clothing!

This one is pretty self explanatory. You can wear anything that reminds you of your deity, which is a great way for subtle worship. Like I mentioned before, colors can be a big deal, but you can use imagery as well. If you want to wear a flower crown and praise Persephone or Demeter, go for it. Have any earrings with musical notes on them? Apollo thinks they’re very pretty.

🌙 Art and Writing!

Another self explanatory one. Drawing deities or things associated with them is a common and well received offering. Some people even make their own jewelry, clothing, veils, statues, or other crafts, there really is no limit here. If you can think it, you can do it!

You can also write any number of things as worship. Write a hymn, a poem, a song, a fanfic, a made up myth, a modern story, ect.

🌙 Tattoos!

I highly advise you don’t jump at the first opportunity to do this or take this lightly. Tattoos are permanent, obviously, but that’s also what makes this sort of devotion so special and dangerous. You can get a depiction of your god on your body, sure, but not everyone wants that. Instead, consider a sigil (maybe that you made), something associated with them, a quote that reminds you of them, ect..

If you decide you want to bring Persephone with you everywhere you go, maybe you’d get a flower. or get some wings on your ankles, if you’re so inclined, for Hermes. Create a personal sigil for Hekate and get it tatted. This is another devotion that lies heavily on personal preference and creativity!

Don’t think either that you have to get something you don’t like just because you think they’ll like it. Its your body, if you don’t want to get a big tattoo of their face on you, then don’t. You can get something small, easy to cover up later (just in case), that has another meaning to you, or is hidden under clothes.

Again, don’t take this act lightly and think very hard on it before seriously considering it!

🌙 Donating and Volunteering!

This is by no means required of you to do and not everyone has the time or money to do so. But a good way to honor a deity is to donate money or time to people in need.

If you think Athena is going to just turn a blind eye to the fact you gave a dollar to help build a library in a less fortunate area, then you’re in for a surprise. Or if you gave your extra five to Planned Parent hood, Aphrodite would be pleased. Even giving your only spare change to a homeless person you pass on the street could be considered a blessing from Hestia or Zeus (protector of men, protector of strangers).

🌙 Be Sincere!

What I can’t stress enough is be sincere in your devotions and offerings. Even if it’s just giving thanks for an answered prayer or a quick hello as you pass your alter before going to work, do what you do with meaning. However, don’t confuse sincerity with pure enthusiasm or excitement. If you’re feeling low, don’t feel bad that you weren’t motivated to do something huge for your deity. They understand, really. As long as you’re doing what you can in the moment, they appreciate you even taking the time to talk to them, especially in moments where you feel down because it shows them how much you’re trying.

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This is in no way a complete list, but I hope it gives some people some ideas or inspiration in their worship! Remember, everyone’s relationship is different, so you are in no way expected to do all or any of the things listed here, this is just a little peak into how I do it.

I’ll likely add more to this list in the future or even make others!

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myheartisbro-ken · 8 years ago

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For your greek!mythology au for supergirl do you think Alex would be daughter of Athena or Ares? Who would the other characters parents be? Winn would probably be the son of Hephaestus right? J'onn would be like the son of Hecate. What are some of your headcanons?

Okay so FIRST OF ALL!!!! That is mean. I’ve been racking my brain trying to decide which is a better fit for Alex, and you just forced me to do research (I love it, thank you).

Here we go. (Kara and Lena here)

Alex:

Whilst in a first look, Ares would be a good fit for Alex, I think that’s mostly an act. I think all that aggressiveness of hers is mostly an act that she puts on so she won’t get hurt, because if you see her with Kara and Maggie, she’s the softest softy. Also, in the books it is said that daughters of Ares are massively built ‘Ares’ daughters, in particular, have the physical bodies, skeletal structure, and muscle distribution of exceptionally large, strong, and well-conditioned human men.’ and Alex is tall but rather tiny in structure (Chyler is very skinny, I’m afraid she’s going to break like half the time I see her)

Most of the cool stuff Ares gets Athena also has. Athena is, after all, the female counterpart of Ares.

Athena’s children’s abilities include:

Enhanced strength and swiftness.

Able to adapt to using various types of weapons quicker than normal.

Never forget what they heard.

Immense expertise in war strategy.

Great control over any weapon.

Highly skilled in armed and hand-to-hand combat.

Possess high intelligence and wisdom.

Again, Athena is the goddess of: courage, inspiration, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, etc.

Alex is very brave, Alex is just, Alex is a fighter and a genius, she admittedly loves the sciences, she’s very good at using various different weapons (we’ve seen so many) she’s great at hand-to-hand, she’s a good strategist, she’s in a really good rank at the DEO so that proves that she is very intelligent even if we hadn’t seen other proof.

So Alex would be a Daughter of Athena.

Winn:

Winn is also a constant struggle for me because I can see the Athena qualities in him, but let’s analyze Hephaestus.

Hephaestus was the god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges and the art of sculpture. He was a kind and peace-loving god. And he made a few of the other gods’ weapons as well as armors for demigods, he also made jewelry and many other crafty stuff. Was the patron of the arts.

on the books, he is also the god of technology, craftsmen, and blacksmiths.

Hephaestus children’s abilities are:

They are expert builders.

They are mechanics.

Technokinesis: As children of Hephaestus, they can control and manipulate machines.

Can sense machines, mechanics, or metal.

Can identify machinery type and use by touch.

Can sense faults in metal ore.

Can find and sense traps in the ground.

These all fit for Winn the techy guy who likes toys and computers and other machinery and is really good at making stuff, including suits, armors, traps, gadgets and so on. Like, just everything Guardian is enough to prove this, and that is only a fraction of what we’ve seen him do. Winn is a genius with mechanics, great builder, and good at fixing stuff. He is also comical and stubborn and kind and not very into fighting, which are all traits of Hephaestus.

But he is much more than simply mechanical minded, he is a genius in other fields of expertises, admittedly good with math and sciences and languages and being a super nerd.

So Winn would be a Son of Hephaestus but I’ll go as far as saying he’d have the grace of Athena as well.

J’onn:

I’ve never thought of J’onn as being on the same level as the rest of the characters. He is Spacedad. He has his own category.

I like the idea of J’onn being a full on immortal who directs the camp and loves all the campers as his own children. However, he coul be a demigod who gained immortality from the gods.

In that case, I don’t really think Hecate would fit him because she’s the goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads, trivial knowledge, and necromancy. Those aren’t things I associate J’onn with.

I feel like Hypnos would fit him better. Although he is the God of sleep, here are some abilities of his children:

They are capable of memory retrieval.

They are capable of memory alteration.

They can induce sleep.

They can use hypnosis.

They can astral project/dream travel. (when asleep)

They can manipulate dreams.

J’onn is a telepath, on the show he can both retrieve, read and alter people’s memories, hypnosis is also a thing for a lot of telepaths and astral projection would be something I wouldn’t cross out of his powers just yet, it’s definitelly something I think he could do. He is also very calm and knowledgeable and insightful, and the son of Hypnos we see in the books, Clovis, is like that.

So J’onn would be an immortal Son of Hypnos and the director of activities of the camp.

Other characters,

James:

James is a little tricky one. But I think he could be a Son of Apollo like Kara.

Not only is he ridiculously good looking and athletic, but he is also very artistic, he is a skilled fighter, could be a good archer if they just gave him a bow on the show. He is a photographer, and Photography is all about light and Apollo is the god of light. Children of Apollo are skilled in physical contests and games, James is shown to be good at anything physical he likes games. Children of Apollo are natural healers and James really cares about helping people so I think that is something James would like to have do great use of.

And I’m sorry but that is literally the only God I could think for James.

So James would be a Son of Apollo.

Maggie:

For some reason, I think she’d be a daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of agriculture. I don’t have a good excuse for that, just that there are a few jokes of her being vegan and Demeter children can control plants. It’s silly, sorry.

But for real, Maggie could be a Daughter of Nike, who is the goddess of strenght and victory. I particularly like Nike.

Nike’s children’s abilities include:

They are extremely competitive.

They live for contests and never settle for second best.

They can be pretty intense and driven but they are hard workers and tough opponents.

They never turn down a challenge.

I think that fits Maggie. She is always making bets and challenging people at pool, doesn’t seem like the type to turn down a challenge or settle for second best. She’s tiny and she had that air that she’s ready to fight and challenge everyone all the time. She seems very competitive from what we’ve seen, and hard worker.

So Maggie would be a Daughter of Nike.

Vasquez:

I love her, we need more Vasquez.

Vasquez is a Daughter of Nemesis, goddess of balance, justice, and vengeance.

Children of Nemesis:

Believe that people who are full of themselves should be brought down.

Never forget an insult.

Make good allies.

For me it fits Vasquez, she’s a great ally for the Danvers’ sisters, she looks like she’d fight people for calling her the wrong name, and she cared about justice and fucking up the patriarchy. lol

Lucy:

Lucy is really smart, but she would definitely not be a Daughter of Athena. I think Lucy would be a Daughter of Aphrodite. She’s very poised, she always looks good, canonly smells great and seems to have a lot of social skills and awareness.

Cat:

My love. Cat is brilliant, Cat is elegant, Cat is witty, Cat dominant (ha, yes I rhymed). She’s really good with her words, she knows how to hold herself, she knows how to control people and boss them, she constantly insults people for their appearance and sometimes lack of wit/a brain, she always looks perfect beyond comparison, she’s sophisticated, she’s attractive, she is hinted to be strong on seduction, very influential, high social abilities and awareness.

Cat Grant is a Daughter of Aphrodite!

Like, there’s hardly room for debate on this. But she definitelly would have the grace of Athena.

And I can’t think of any other character of Supergirl, but I’m taking the liberty to add my favorite Flash characters here as well because why not, though I won’t go much into them because this is already huge, but they’re pretty much obvious

except for Barry and Wally, so here:

Hermes is the god of roads, speed, messengers, commerce, travel, thieves, merchants, athletes and mail deliverers (cuz that’s not random). Hermes was known to be quick and cunning and had the ability to freely move between the mortal and divine worlds. He is also the patron and protector of travelers, herdsmen, thieves, orators and wit, literature and poets, athletics and sports, invention and trade. In some myths Hermes is also depicted as a trickster where he would outwit the gods either for the good of humankind or for his own personal amusement and satisfaction.

Children of Hermes:

Are skilled at theft and trickery.

Have a high athletic ability.

Are persuasive.

Some or all of Hermes’s children have the ability to pick most locks with their minds.

Can sense any physical traps.

Are good at alchemy and making potions.

Are good with money.

Barry is a forensic Forensic scientist which means he is good with alchemy, he is a speedster and a good leader. He can ‘freely move between worlds’ and he is also good with inventions.

Wally likes the roads, like literally, he was into car racing, he loves speed, I’m pretty sure he is skilled at theft and lockpicking, he seems to be really into sports, he is witty and fun, totally into playing tricks on people.

So we have:

Kara Danvers, Daughter of Apollo

With the grace of Zeus, aka she can fly

Alex Danvers, Daughter of Athena

J’onn J’onzz, immortal son of Hypnos and camp activity director

Winn Schott, jr, Son of Hephaestus

With the grace of Athena

Lena Luthor, Daughter of Athena

With the grace of Aphrodite

Cat Grant, Daughter of Aphrodite

With the grace of Athena

Lucy Lane, Daughter of Aphrodite

James Olsen, Son of Apollo

Susan Vasquez, Daughter of Nemesis

Maggie Sawyer, Daughter of Nike

Barry Allen, Son of Hermes

Iris West, Daughter Aphrodite

Wally West, Son of Hermes

Caitlyn Snow, Daughter of Athena

Cisco Ramon, Son of Hephaestus

As for Headcanons:

Athena is the only deity to claim their children at birth, but Lena was ‘adopted’ by the Luthors and Lionel died when she was young, Lillian decided to never tell Lena about her real mother. And so Lena remained oblivious to her demigod nature and parentage until she went to camp at the age of fourteen

Lena is immediately claimed by Aphrodite when she arrives at camp and it takes a few years before she finds out she’s actually a daughter of Athena, so she’s the only demigod(ess) to be claimed by more than one God and because of that, some people don’t like her.

most people feel abandoned by their godly parent so they don’t like her having too much attention from the goddesses

Children of Aphrodite don’t like her because she’s too smart and cares more about studying than caring about her looks

Children of Athena don’t like her because they think she’s too vain, but they eventually come around when she proves herself as a true daughter of Athena

When she still believed to be a daughter of Aphrodite and lived in cabin 10, she would mostly spend time with children of Athena studying and stuff

It is said on the books that Hephaestus has a crush on Athena, and also he is married to Aphrodite, so Winn totally has a huge crush on Lena, for both her claims and they are total besties. Lena is constantly sneaking into the forgery to work with Winn on their crazy inventions

Winn doesn’t have Pyrokinesis, but he has bunker 9 and managed to open it one time when his gadget exploded in his hand while he tried to fix it.

Literally everyone in the camp is in love with Kara

Everyone but the children of Aphrodite and Athena have the hugest crush on Lena because she’s just ridiculously hot

Single mother Eliza Danvers raising her two demigod daughters, Alex and Kara, by herself and taking in Winn when he is not on camp

Winn actually being led to the Danvers, by J’onn, when his mother died before any of them went/were sent to camp

Eliza is just so freaking smart that Athena took a liking of her so much so that Alex is one of the only Daughters of Athena with a human mother

Alex, Kara and Winn all arrived at camp together after some crazy spider attacks on the girls’ bedroom made Eliza decide to send them off for the summers. Kara was six, making her the youngest person to arrive at camp, Winn was seven and Alex was eight

James was the one who showed them around when they arrived and decided to take Kara and Winn under his protection because they were both so tiny. Alex was initially jealous of him because ‘they’re my siblings’, but came around when she saw how well he took care of Kara

Kara cried the first few nights at camp because she had never been away from Alex and Eliza before, but James made sure to calm her and tell her she was safe and she’d be able to spend time with Alex the next day

Kara cried when James said she had to throw part of her food in the fire for the gods

James arrived at camp with a satyr at the age of nine, he was eleven when Kara, Alex and Winn arrived

Cat was fourteen when Kara arrived, Kara all but imprinted on her and decided to follow the ‘pretty girl’ around. Cat pretended to be annoyed but she adored Kara

Cat was the counselor of Aphrodite’s cabin and passed it down to Iris

Lucy and Cat are a little bit of nemeses

As an Aphrodite tradition, Lucy was told to break James’ heart but refused and they maintain a strong lasting relationship

Alex fights everyone who dares look at Kara, she once broke a boy’s nose because he tried to kiss Kara and a boy’s arm because he checked Kara out with too much avidity… they may of may not be the same person named Mike.

The moment she set her eyes on Kara, Lena was in love

Kara and Lena became really fast friends, but neither Alex nor James were very fond of the situation. Cat and Lucy were their number one shippers

Kara and Lena danced around each other for two years before Lena kissed Kara on the last day of summer, they started officially dating the winter after that when Lena spent the holidays with the Danvers instead of going home

Even before they started dating Kara would fight anyone who tried to say anything bad about Lena. She spent three entire weeks without talking to James because he called Lena untrustworthy and wouldn’t let her be in their team for capture flag and two days without talking to Alex because she called Lena vain. Has physically fought people for things they said about Lena. Broke a guy’s arm and nose because he touched Lena’s butt and tried to kiss her, Alex had never been more proud

Alex only started liking/accepting Lena when it was revealed that she was actually a Daughter of Athena

Vasquez is always Alex’s second at capture the flag and Kara is often jealous

Maggie went to camp at the age of twelve after her parents kicked her out

Alex and Maggie started dating without even knowing. Everyone just thought they were dating and when they found out they didn’t care to correct people and decided to start dating anyways

Winn is the nerdy and annoying little brother of the group. Everyone calls Winn ‘Danvers’ and he loves it, Alex and Kara never corrected this, and have many times encouraged and used the name for him

Winn likes to tease Alex about Maggie and run to hide behind Kara before Alex can hit him

Alex and Maggie take turns scaring Winn, James and Kara are his protectors

Alex and Maggie always compete against each other, they are never on the same team for anything, they like trash-talking the other with the silliest lines. Alex calls Maggie Adidas to get her riled up, Maggie teases Alex about not having a bellybutton and calls her ‘brainy’

James and Maggie stay at camp all year around. Kara, Winn and Alex stay on school breaks (all of them). Lucy only stays on summers. Lena goes to boarding school when she’s not on camp. Cat refused to stop going to camp even after she started college, she goes back every summer. No one knows anything about Vasquez’s life, there is no pattern of when she stays on camp, she disappears for long periods of time only to show up again as if she never left.

Eliza takes in any and every demigod that shows up at her door, her children often bring home friends to spend the last week or so of summer

And I will stop now because this is too long and has taken up too much time, I’ve been writing this for at least six hours why am I like this? I got a little bit carried away, can you tell?

#answered asks #Supercorp #sanvers #(like just a little bit)#pjo au #greek mythology au #supergirl

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agent-7-at-your-service · 8 years ago

Text

Future Plot: Project Titanomachy - Chapter 20 (Part 3)

((Camille, Inkopolis Defense Force Planetary Secret Service, and the Wonderful Splatwoon belongs to @inklingleesquidly

Nebula belongs to @myzzy and @agenttwo

Agent Blueshift belongs to @myzzy

Depiction of Agent 2 belongs to @agenttwo

Celeste and Willow belong to @alpinesquid

Arsenic and Nebulous belong to @a-demo-of-a-hero

Agent 0 and belongs to @son-of-joy

Justice Society of Inkopolis belongs to @inklingleesquidly @myzzy and @son-of-joy

Agent 7, Calypso, Cassandra, and others belong to me ))

Iris's Meditation Spot - Strofades (Strofadia), Greece - Morning

Camille slept the rest of the night in the willow groves; she was lying on the marble bench like it's a bed.

Someone touched her shoulder, trying to wake her up. Camille quickly got up, alarmed. Hermes was the one that woke her up. He was in a faded blue cape, orange tunic, a winged bronze cap, and a pair of winged sandals. In one hand, he was carrying a caduceus. And since he's an inkling incarnation of the human original, his ink hair color is a darkened yellow and his eyes are blue.

"Are you ready?" Hermes asked.

Camille yawned. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" She rubbed her eyes.

Maybe I should've returned to the monastery to sleep, Camille thought.

"Are you ready to return to Olympus?" Hermes looked serious."I also go terrible news: He got away with it. He took the Key to the Underworld. He mortally wounded my half-brother, Hephaestus."

"Who did all that?" Camille got up and stretched a bit.

"Chaodis... he's betrayed all of us now," Hermes answered.

Camille stopped stretching and stood silent for a moment. She knew Chaodis would do something further than betraying her. Before she can talk about this situation, she had to put together somethings.

"You knew, didn't you?" Camille asked. "You knew that I was innocent."

Hermes nods and mentions Agent 0. "And the Champion of Ares knew something was up when they apprehended you. We did what we would to send you to this island, I made sure you survived, and I tried to convince the other Champions that you're innocent. It took a lot to make them realize your exile is a mistake."

"....Thank you." Camille hugs him.

"Athena would've been a great friend to you," Hermes responds, hugging back.

At least there will be apologies made once Camille returns. All she needed to do is get off this island. She lets go of Hermes and stares into his eyes with a serious look. She hasn't forgotten that she needs to face the Titans and Typhon. She can take care of Chaodis later.

"Take me to Hephaestus's Forge....now," Camille ordered.

Hermes and Iris manage to get Nyctimene to fly back to pick up Camille. They escorted Camille back to the forge as soon as possible.

Hephaestus's Forge, Mount Olympus, Greece 9:00 AM

Once she's there, Chaodis has already caused havoc in the forge: most of the cyclops were having wounds mended by Willow, Hephaestus has already been healed with only a stab wound and broken shoulder blade, Telemachus has been taking some alone time, and the rest of the Champions were helping rebuild some of the rooms with Arsenic leading the reconstruction.

There were still some cyclopes were creating three massive machines made of bronze and brass; they machines had a thousand arms.

The Octo-Inkling Hybrid Kitzeh was with them, wearing a tunic along with grapevines and a panther skin cloak. She was a champion of Dionysus now. She was providing the meals and refreshments.

Camille approached the guys who were currently rebuilding the entrance to the entire forge. They actually stop their work to face her while Nebula was face-to-face with her cousin. Both of them teared up and embraced.

"I'm so sorry, Cammi," Nebula apologized.

"No, I should be me that should be sorry, Nebby..." Camille responded.

After all the fighting against titans, the loss of friends, and the betrayal of the rest of her friends, Camille couldn't help but feel loved again. And all this time Camille thought of herself as tough and diligent only to see this journey prove otherwise. It stripped her of two squids she held dear, a future she has made for herself, and a love that disguised as a betrayal.

"I'm sorry...," Camille muttered, "I'm sorry for hurting you like this... and..."

She began to tear up, repeating the words "I'm sorry" several times for several things. She buried her face into Nebula's chest, crying.

Nebula comforted her. "There, there, Camille... let it all out." As she comforts her cousin, she sang a lullaby that both her and Camille would know from their mothers, Callie and Marie.

Afterward, a gold automaton approached them and bowed.

"Hephaestus asks for all of you champions to come to his main forge," the gold maiden ordered, "He has also called upon the Argus Initiative to bring representatives of countries in every part of the world."

Agent 7, Calypso, Cassandra, Agent 2, and Agent Blueshift were also there waiting for a meeting with the Olympian Champions. They brought along another individual to represent the superheroes (and that includes Inkopolis Defense Force Planetary Secret Service and it's retired Wonderful Splatwoon, and the slightly fragmented Justice Society of Inkopolis); her name is Nebulous. She was asked to represent the superheroes under the condition that Agent 7 represents for all Agents and make an apology and reparations.

Hephaestus's Main Forge, Mt. Olympus, Greece - 9:30 AM

"The Omphalos Stone is in Chaodis's hands now. I should've trusted Hermes and the Champion of Ares!" Hephaestus was pissed about almost getting killed. He was circling the meeting room table.

"Well it's my fault for being under his spell," Camille sarcastically responded. She then muttered something.

"You miss, show some respect!" Hephaestus pointed his hammer at her.

Agent Blueshift was whispering to Nebulous about what's going on.

"So what now? Olympus--well, part of it-- is breached, morale is at an all-time low for the Olympic Champions, and we only have six more titans to destroy." Agent 2 reviewed.

"And thanks to Camille being exiled, I had used it as an excuse for me to have military powers again. Thus, my branches can take action to help the Olympians." Agent 7 notice Camille looking annoyed. "No hard feelings, right?"

Camille rolls her eyes.

"We just need one more person to be Heracles's champion." Hephaestus puts his hammer away. "Apollo's and Artemis's Artifacts refuse to find another champion."

"We'll figure that out later," Nebula intervened, "For now if what Agent 7 has said is true, I say we all take an oath."

"To do what exactly?" Calypso asked.

"Take keep watch." Nebula raises her hand. "If the titans come, we all come united to face the threat. Who's with us?"

At first, there was silence. Camille raised her hand. "I'll keep watch."

Then Celeste and Willow raised their hands.

"We'll keep watch, Nebula." Celeste smiled.

Telemachus raised his hand. "...I'll keep watch."

Agent 7 noticed the reference and tries to interrupt. "Seriously? Are we seriously doing this?"

"I'll keep watch." Kitzeh raised her hand.

"Kitzeh, not you too!" Agent 7 face palmed.

"We'll keep watch, but I'm doing this just for Nebula." Justinian and Hera raise their hands.

"....Wow, Justinian, just wow." Agent 7 shook his head.

"Hermes and I will keep watch." Antero and the messenger walk into the room each with their hand raised.

"Hephaestus and I will keep watch." Arsenic raises her hand and she elbows Hephaestus to do the same.

Nebulous notices the pattern and raises her hand. "We'll keep watch?"

Arsenic nods at Nebulous.

"Blueshift and I will keep watch." Agent 2 and Blueshift raised their hands.

Calypso notices this unusual pattern and reference as well. "Hmph. This is ridiculous, why--"

"I'll keep watch." Cassandra still had her eyes closed and she raised her hand.

"Cassandra!" Calypso couldn't believe this.

"You would do the same to save the world, right, Calypso?" Cassandra faces her sister.

".....Fine!" Calypso raised her hand. "If it's to return to being an arch enemy of Agent 7 then I'll keep watch.....happy now, squids?"

Only Agent 7 was the last to raise his hand and take the oath. He looked at everyone and raised his hand. He sighed and smiled.

"We'll I guess.... I'll keep watch...." Agent 7 shakes his head. "See this guys? We're all raising our hands.... thinking there's magic in our palms.... a bunch of jacka--"

Soon there was the sound of rumbling.

".....An earthquake?" Justinian looks at Nebula since she's a champion of Poseidon and Triton.

"That's not me that's doing that." Nebula shook her head.

"No, it's not an earthquake... they're battle formations," Cassandra corrected.

Camille, Nebula, Celeste, Justinian, Hera, and Telemachus made their way out of the forge to face the possible horde. But what they discover is an army of Centaurs and Centaurides and Satyrs and Satyresses along with a pack of hunting dogs, a Pegasus, five griffins, a group of dryads and nymphs, and numerous animals that are enough to fill in Noah's ark.

They were all lead by the many minor Olympian gods that are left after Olympus fell.

The army bowed to the six champions.

The Titan’s Castle - Alpha Centauri Beta (Proxima)- Night

Chaodis was standing before the remaining Titans: Cronus, Rhea, Oceanus, Hyperion, Theia, and Coeus. The inkling boy was in his Olympian form, wearing his mother's garments. Cronus sounded furious.

"The Athenian.... is in love with you!?" Cronus questioned, probably thinking Camille is from Athens.

"I was the one in love with her, not the other way around!" Chaodis argued. "And how was I supposed to know this love was true! Aphrodite and Eros cursed me with the girl!

"You dare have Erote's influence interfere with our alliance!?" Cronus got up.

Rhea calmed her husband down and she looked to Coeus. Coeus nods and stands up.

"Enyalus Strife... do you have the stone?" Coeus asked.

Chaodis shows the silver stone.

"Your wish is at our command..." Coeus bows.

The rest of Titans did the same. Chaodis smiled and raised the Omphalos stone up high.

"I will finish what I mother has started," Chaodis said in a cold tone, "And Earth will descend into chaos once more."

Cronus laughs and summons his generals: A minotaur, a werewolf, a giant, and a Lamiai (Vampire Daemon). Cronus then slams the floor with the end of his scythe.

"There has been a change in the war... time to end this on the very Earth that the mortals live on now." Cronus looks to Chaodis. "Strife, if you want to redeem yourself of this love... kill her."

End of Part 3

#Future #Plot #Project Titanomachy

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