#Classical Mythology

[theclassicalreview]

Why is Aphrodite even that important to Rome

It always struck me as weird that VENUS (Aphrodite) was claimed by Roman emperors - an empire famous for its conquest, violence and war prowess. Wouldn’t Ares (Mars) be more fitting? After all he is the father of Romulus and Remus, Rome’s founders.

But they did choose Venus. Not abstractly either; the Julian family (Julius Caesar and Augustus) built temples, minted coins and wrote poems boasting that they were descended from Venus (no matter how shaky that genealogy is…). A famous coin with the name Caesar stamped on it depicts Venus on one side and Aeneas carrying his father away from the destruction of Troy on the other side.

Rome was already Mars’ city by tradition. He symbolised military power, aggression, and masculine virtue. By linking themselves to virtue they had a connection with Troy - this glamorous ancient city seen as the root of Roman identity. Venus would even boast prosperity and fertility for Rome - as seen on the arapacis, a bottom panel is decorated with flowers to represent just that.

In the Aeneid, Venus doesn’t fight - she just guides and protects Aeneas. But that doesn’t seem particularly like a Roman trait to me. Honestly the Julian family would’ve been better off choosing Ares as their ancestor.

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Apollo, at the Behest of Zeus, Restoring Hector to Health and Exhorting Him to Engage the Greeks in Combat Artist: attributed to Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée (French, 1724-1805) Date: ca. 1790 Genre: mythological art Movement: Rococo, Neoclassicism Medium: pen and black ink, bistre wash, white gouache, and graphite Dimensions: 42.5 cm (16.7 in) high x 58.1 cm (22.9 in) wide Location: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, USA

The scene depicted occurs in Iliad Book 15. The Greeks have temporarily prevailed on the battlefield due to Hera's deception of Zeus, but upon Zeus's waking up, he sends Apollo to rally Hector (whom Ajax struck in the chest with a stone). The Trojans then resume their offensive and come within a hair's breadth of seizing the Greek camp and burning their ships.

This work was formerly credited to Jacques Réattu before being reattributed to Lagrenée. (Both artists were Italian-trained and frequently depicted mythological subjects.)

[wordsmithic]

Writing a Greek Myth Retelling? Make Sure It Rings True.

I'm a Greek writer living in Greece, offering professional sensitivity reading for writers reimagining Greek myths. I have helped many writers avoid cultural missteps, catch inaccuracies, and deepen their story with authentic insight straight from the source.

I often see published works with easily avoidable mistakes on Greek names, places, and cultural elements, and I want to help non-Greek writers get to know our culture better and create proper Greek representation.

How does this work? -> Like Beta reading, but for the cultural elements. You may have seen Sensitivity reading about marginalized identities, where focused feedback is likewise offered. Send me a personal message, and I will reply to all your questions, no matter how simple. I can also read and comment on "trial" chapters so you can see the process.

I don't think I need it. I have studied enough. -> Here's a long list of arguments of why you probably still need it.

Should I write my whole book/story before I approach you? -> It depends. Sometimes it's better to catch inaccurate things before you get things onto the page, so you don't get attached to names, scenes, etc that may need to change.

I worry that you will change too many things about my book. -> I am not here to change your story or make you feel bad about it. My goal is to make you knowledgeable enough on the Greek elements you are using in your story, and to help you understand why something is inaccurate and how it can affect Greeks and your audience negatively. As a writer, I feel how important your story is to you. When something needs to change, I work with the writer to find a workaround they are satisfied with, so the story and the message remain the same.

Have you done this before? What are your credentials? -> You can see my Fiverr for starters, but I have been doing it for longer than that. Don't hesitate to ask me if I have done something specific before, if you don't see it in the reviews.

Please boost this so the writing community finally gets the Greek culture correctly, and readers are not scammed into buying retellings, believing they will read about Greek culture. 🙏

Happy Writing! / Καλό γράψιμο!

Photo credit: Dawid Tkocz

[cjbolan]

Realizing the genius of the title of “The Song of Achilles”. Could mean not just Achilles’ story, but also the literal song he sings to Patroclus.

[constanzarte]

Ferdinand Leeke, The Rhinemaidens, 1913

[joemerl]

I love how every year or two, the internet decides to promote a random word of Literature. Currently it's The Odyssey, thanks to Epic: the Musical with some help from Christopher Nolan. A few years ago it was when Dracula Daily got big. Before that it was "A Cask on Amontillado." What's next for our online book club?

[t00thpasteface]

CHAKA!! tell her something good...

[little-miss-sad-eyes]

Just here to publicly thank Homer for giving us the best homosexual love story ever written (the Iliad) and the best heterosexual love story ever written (the Odyssey)

[glossc1]

born from an egg 🥚

[toyastales]

Beautiful craftsmanship and artistry.

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Penelope Unraveling Her Work at Night Artist: Dora Wheeler Keith (American, 1856-1940) Date: 1886 Genre: mythological art Medium: silk embroidered with silk thread Dimensions: 114.3 cm (45 in) high x 172.7 cm (68 in) wide Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, USA

[wordsmithic]

unpopular opinion but with the new tide of Greek mythology stories and retellings, Greek Cultural Sensitivity Readings are absolutely necessary. We are in 2024, with thousands of fics and retellings out there!! How is this not a thing yet?? There's vast improvement one can achieve by working professionally on their text with a Greek. I've seen it so many times!!

Also, duh, I'm offering the service BUT I want you to know that the situation with the inaccuracies of SERIOUS works is so dire that initially I didn't even do it for money. As a writer I just wanted to... fix things, to set a new standard for writers and the industry that sells us the most heavily Americanized pop-culture material and passes it as "authentic vibes of Greek mythology". (And of course there were writers who wanted to do right by their story and they had reached out to me. So kudos to them as well!)

Okay, but why does Cultural Sensitivity Reading make a vast difference and it's not just smoke and mirrors?

As a Greek, I am tired of well-meaning writers and authors butchering very basic elements of my culture. It's not their fault exactly, since they were raised in another culture with a different perspective. And nobody clued them in on how different Greek culture is from theirs, so writers sometimes assume that their culture is the default and they project that into ancient Greece. (Even published professionals like Madeline Miller have written "UK or US in antiquity" (with a very colonialist flavor) instead of writing "Ancient Greece". (Looking at you, Circe!)

Even writers who researched a lot before coming to me still had a lot of misinformation or wrong information in their text, easily verifiable by the average Greek. Again, not their fault. They can only access certain information, which does not include Greek scholarly work and scientific articles that DO offer valuable context.

Translation, accuracy, and meaning: If you ever wondered what a word means or how to pronounce it, here's your chance! There are Greeks like me who are knowledgeable and have a keen interest in antiquity and they will be able to read and compare ancient texts, and dive deeper into the work of Greek scholars regarding those texts.

If you want to create new words, you can do that as well! (It doesn't always work, but we can try. Greek is a really rich language and has a word about everything) If you use existing words, I can help you separate reality from fantasy in the context of your story.

(Do not assume we Greeks are ignorant of our heritage, or that we don't know how to research! Our archaeology sector is huge and archaeological museums are closer to most of us than your local Target is to you)

I guarantee there are things you never thought about Greece and the Mediterranean - from the ancient to the modern era. Sprinkling elements like phrases, types of interactions, customs, songs, instruments, dances, etc , into your text will make your text absolutely rich in culture.

Names matter!!! The genders of the names matter, diminutives matter (If I see one more "Perse" for Persephone I will claw my eyes out along with a few thousand Greeks), naming traditions matter!!! In many cases you should not even use a diminutive!!

You will be able to write about a foreign culture easily! Because of the continuity of Greek culture, you can even write a few more recent Greek elements to fill in the gaps. I can make sure they are not mismatched, and they will complement your ancient setting. I have observed a few things I didn't know we had since antiquity, but they make sense because our land has certain characteristics.

Non-Greek writers often miss the whole context of Greek culture! Do you know how Greek respect towards deities and parents looks like? What tones we use when we talk to our elders? When to use honorific plural - if your setting is more modernized?

Oh, and please let's avoid caricatures when describing Greeks?? (even fantasy Greeks) There can be heavy exotisation and odd descriptions of Greeks, as if we are another species. Even in published works. For many western writers it's difficult to catch, unfortunately.

The whole process is actually way easier than you think. You send me a text, I make notes and then we have some discussion on your vision.

It's always okay to seek guidance from the locals! You are not "guilty" when you admit you don't know! How can you know if you don't ask?? You can't imagine what relief and "πάλι καλά!!!" I read/see from other Greeks when I tell them another foreigner is using me for cultural sensitivity? Greeks want you to seek help and will NOT shame you for it!

(On the contrary, you have no idea how many eye-rolls Greeks do when they see a blatantly wrong thing in a story... Which has happened pretty often for many years now. Can we do better as an industry?? Please???)

You can send me a personal message to share your story, or ask what this whole cultural sensitivity thing is all about, or ask about what I have done so far and how I can help. But for the love of all that's good, don't let your story be another "generic greek myth retelling"! And don't let others sell you their generic greek myth retellings!!

[polepositioned]

MAX VERSTAPPEN [#MV1] x "iliad" by homer, "ilium" by dan simmons && "the silence of the girls" by pat barker -> on complex antagonists, glory days and subjective mythos

articles quotes were taken from can be found here [ x , x , x , x ]

[ tags: @28ms28 , @cazzyf1 , @darlingnemesis , @mvlionheart , @versedicis , @vesrtapen , @carbonmono , @sebsonism ]

[jacobpking]

After 170 hours and 2 different drawing tablets, its finally here: My Illustrated guide to the Odyssey!🌊

This is the single biggest proejct I've ever made, it almost took as long as both Trojan War pieces combined. Needless to say, it'll be a long time before I make another big project like this

I also want to give a huge thank you to @katerinaaqu who's been brilliant in giving me lengthy odyssey quotes translated from the original greek, and helping me brainstorm character designs. She's been incredible and this project wouldn't be as good as it is now without her

[helpmeimblorboing]

Had a dream that Epic had an unfinished song called Love Remains in which the ghost of Achilles tells Odysseus that over the years he has been dead, all the desire for honour and glory he once held close had faded away, and the only thing that remained was the love of Patroclus, and I kind of wish I was a better songwriter because damn