#Athens Return to the Acropolis

[pierppasolini]

Athens, Return to the Acropolis (1983) // dir. Theo Angelopoulos

[coffeeflavored-tears]

ALSO FUCK THE BRITISH MUSEUM FUCKING RETURN THOSE FUCKING ARTWORKS YOU PIECES OF FUCKING SHIT

[kaliarda]

Athens, Return to the Acropolis (1983) dir. Theo Angelopoulos

[gemsofgreece]

do you know the connection between poppies and ancient greece? all over athens and on acropolis there was alot of poppies- then they were depicted in objects at the national archeological museum aswell (crystal staff with poppy ontop). just curious!

Poppies had a lot of significance for the ancient peoples of the East Mediterranean and the Near East, such as the Sumerians, the Egyptians and the Greeks.

Poppies and poppy seeds had considerable presence in early Greek culture, namely the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. A lot of this significance survived to the Classical period and up to the Greco-Roman era. The poppy seeds were used in rituals, worship and medication for their psychoactive effects.

Demeter consumed poppy seeds to sleep and forget the abduction of Persephone. Apollo and Asclepius used them for medicinal purposes. Aphrodite was sometimes imagined with poppies, apparently for its seeds generating sensations of pleasure. Hypnos, Nyx and Morpheus, deities associated with sleep, night and dreams respectively, were also often imagined with poppies in their hands. The drug morphine, produced from the poppy seed, takes its name from Morpheus. The name opium, for the basic drug produced by the poppy's seeds, also comes from the Koine Greek name for it όπιον (ópion), and so does even Afyon Karahishar, the Turkish city in which one third of the global cultivation of poppy takes place. Extra fan fact: there was a double lexical borrowing and Greek opion through some modifications apparently towards ophion -> arabic afyun -> turkish afyon -> then returned back to post-Byzantine / old Modern Greek as αφιόνι (afióni). So, in Greek opium is both όπιο(ν) - ópio(n) and αφιόνι (afióni). Even though the old word όπιο is far more common, there is an interesting verb derived from αφιόνι, αφιονίζομαι (afionízome) which means "I go mad, delirious like I am under the influence of opium". Usually used when someone gets angry to the point of not making sense. You didn't ask for etymology and language lesson lol but my point was to show that evidently, even lingusitically, we see that poppies and the psychoactive, hypnotic and medicinal properties of its seeds were widely used in the Ancient Greek and then Greco-Roman world all the way until and beyond the interactions with the Arabs and the Turks, as the Greek words associated to the products of the poppy have travelled both west and east.

Carving of Demeter holding poppy seeds and wheat, Corinth, Greece photographed by Tiggrx on flickr.

Poppy field in Paros island. From DiscoverGreece.

PS 1: Since I made an etymology analysis for opium, the ancient Greek word for the poppy was μήκων (mekon) but the modern Greek one derives from the Latin papaver instead and is παπαρούνα (paparúna).

PS 2: The red poppy and the poppy that makes the drugs are not the same species but obviously all these exist in Greece so-

[wosowrites]

Greece and Wives (Patri Guijarro x Reader)

warnings: none

a/n: based off this request here

prompt: little moments on vacation with your wife Patri.

Vacation with Patri meant different things. It meant some late, late nights walking the streets of Greece, and some early, early nights cuddling in bed and watching a movie on of the limited channels on the hotel TV. But it mostly meant just feeling good. You both shopped together, having fashion shows and figuring out what to buy. You would bicker on where to have lunch and eventually, you would win because she just could not say no to you. You would swap shoes with her when she decided mid walk that the ones you were wearing worked better with her outfit. Everything was perfect.

Day one:

Patri woke you up bright and early by opening the blinds with one big movement and then jumping on top of you in the bed. By bright and early, it meant more like 9:00, but it felt like 7:00 am and you most definitely were not an early bird. "Wake up, mi amor," Patri said to you, brushing hair out of your face and kissing you. "Mhm im awake, i’m awake," you groaned. She smiled down at you and before she knew it, you had thrown your arms around her and pulled her back down onto you. "We should just stay like this all day," you said to her, playing with the hair on the nape of her neck with one hand and dragging your nails up her back with the other. "We’ll get hungry," Patri laughed. "Room service," you said to her. "Baby… it’s Greece! I love you but-" your spanish girlfriend started saying. "I know, I know. Let’s go," you groaned.

Eventually you guys managed to leave the hotel and head out to a little café. Your hotel was a ten minute walk from the water, and the terrasse you ate at looked upon the ocean. You had planned out you four day trip perfectly, only having a small amount of time before needing to return to Barcelona to pack to leave for your individual training camps in preparation for the World Cup. The first day would be spent doing guided tours, looking at architecture and parks. The second day you would do traditionally fun things, like go to arcades and have a picnic. The third day would be a beach day and then the last day would be spent shopping.

"I knew Athens was old, but this old? And this… historic. It’s weird," you told Patri, hand in hand as you listened to a guide tell you about the history behind the Acropolis of Athens. "Barcelona is pretty historic, you know?" Patri said to you, smiling at you. "I know, I know. But i’m Canadian! Seeing cities with ruins and the ocean and cool architecture is always shocking to me. The most historical thing we have in Canada is like… the parliament," you sighed. "Hey, don’t hate on your country now, gotta represent them at the World Cup soon," she said, squeezing your hand. "I love Canada! It’s just boring," you defended yourself, pointing absentmindedly to one particularly well kept piece of the Acropolis.

After that tour, you walked around the city with no specific goal in mind. "Ooh! Gelato!" Patri said, pointing at a cute little shop with a pink gelato sign. "Woah… gelato before lunch? I like this version of you baby," you said to her, jokingly running your hand up her abs and kissing her quickly. "Oh shush. What harm will it do? The season is over, we’ll be under so many rules before the cup… let loose mi amor!" she said to you.

And so you did. That day, you had gelato three times.

Day two:

Needless to say, you and Patri were extremely competitive... which only made arcade games more fun. Once you arrived to a popular but pretty empty arcade due to the fact that it was Monday, you had an idea. "How about we make this interesting?" you said after choosing your first game. "Hmm... what do you have in mind mi amor?" Patri asked. "The person with the most tickets at the end of two hours has to pay for anything the other wants when we go shopping," you proposed. "Oh easy!" Patri exclaimed.

She was so wrong. Growing up with four brothers made you extremely good at video games, and somehow, luck was always on your side. By the hour and a half mark, you had almost twice as many tickets as Patri. "How the hell are you doing this?" she groaned, pulling out ten tickets from the machine as you watched about 60 pour out and into your hands. "You shouldn't have underestimated me," you shrugged. "Okay. I give up, you win! Im calling it quits," she groaned. "YES! I WINNNN!" you exclaimed as your girlfriend watched you throw your hands up in the air. "Yeah yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "How about we put our tickets together and buy the rainbow monkey," you said, pointing at a pretty big prize hanging from the ceiling. "Hmm... okay. Do we have enough?" she asked you, pulling out a couple tickets. "Well with your 300 and my 1300, yeah, we do," you winked at her.

You bought the monkey and then headed outside. Patri swung her arm around your waist and then pulled out her phone. She asked a woman if she would take a picture, and your spanish girlfriend kissed you and held you close to her as the woman smiled and took pictures. "You guys are beautiful," she smiled at you both kindly. You both thanked her multiple times before continuing your walk. The next stop for the day was a picnic. You stopped at a deli to get cheese, bread, charcuteries, pastries, fruit and drinks for the picnic. When you arrived at a park with blossoming trees and tall green grass, you set up your meal and ate, laughed and drank, all underneath the watchful eye of an old oak, and the monkey you had named Zeus.

Day three: Beach day! This was easily the day you were most excited for. You had already gotten a tan from just walking around the warm city, but you couldn't wait to even it out on the beach. That morning, you woke up at 8:00, quickly put on a black bikini and white beach pants, did some light makeup and put on gold jewelry before taking your turn to pull Patri out of bed. You had smoothie bowls for breakfast along with coffee and a danish and then you headed to the beach. The day could not have been better. Patri took hundreds of pictures of you, and you took thousands of Patri. She looked so cute in her bikini, you felt as though you would melt.

After an hour of tanning on the surprisingly quiet beach, Patri sat up and placed her hand on your back. She gently rubbed her hand up and down your spine, making you smile. "You want to go swim don’t you?" you laughed. You turned around to face her and she smiled at you with puppy eyes. "Okay, let’s go baby," you said, jumping up and grabbing her hand. You both started running madly. Sand flew up, your laughs were heard throughout the beach and your smiled were so bright. But when you reached the water, you had to uphold your girlfriend duties, which meant stopping your run and pushing Patri into the water. Your girlfriend fell forward with a huge splash. The water got strangely deep very quickly so she stayed under for a couple seconds.

The spaniard came back up, spluttering and coughing. "Y/n!" she yelled, looking at you with a shocked look as you smiled innocently. "Yeah?" you smiled.

Before you knew it, Patri had grabbed your waist and lifted you over her shoulder. You kicked your legs and screamed all while laughing but the spaniard was strong, and your efforts did nothing as seconds later, you were submerged in the water. When you came back up, you wiped the hair off of your face and laughed loudly. You pushed against the current to stand in front of your girlfriend, your body pressed to hers. Her hands lay lazily on your hip bones as yours wrapped around her neck. "Truce?" you asked gently. "Mhm… how could I say no to that face," she said, kissing you lovingly.

Day four:

Shopping. You had been so excited to shop, it having always been something you loved to do. And so, after sleeping in until 9:00 and leaving the hotel at around 10:00, you had a quick breakfast and then headed to the busiest street in Athens. The whole day was spent walking into shops and buying souvenirs for your friends and family as well as trying on hundreds of different pieces, mostly payed by Patri. But she didn’t mind, some of the things you bought she would have killed to see you wear every day, so she didn’t have a care in the world about paying.

You were currently in a small boutique that sold very original and colourful suits, and as you would both be attending an award ceremony soon enough, you thought that there was no better place to buy an outfit. Patri chose a purple suit to represent barcelona, and to match with her you chose an off the shoulder silk purple dress. You were excited to wear it with her.

By the time you returned to the hotel, you both had five bags of clothes and souvenirs.

You dropped the bags into a corner of the room and plopped down on the bed. "This was the best vacation ever. Thank you baby. Thank you," you said to her, turning your head and smiling at her. She was laying down next to you and her smile was wide. Her eyes traced your features and then she close the gab between the both of you. You kissed her lovingly, slipping your hand under her shirt and passing your hand on her abs. "Cant believe I need to leave you for two months now," she said sadly. "I’ll call you every day my love. Deal?" you said gently. "Deal, mi amor," she said sweetly.

[gojotron]

cherry wine

an alternate universe set during greece’s classical period in which diluc is the god of dread and terror, deimos, and the reader is a citizen of athens.

warning(s): strangers to lovers, language, alcohol consumption, spit, talk of children, hurt comfort (reader receiving), breeding mention, virgin reader, body worship (diluc and reader receiving), oral (reader receiving), unprotected sex, accidental cervix fucking, angst

word count: 7k

notes: wrote the first half of this an entire year ago …… spoiler, this does not have a happy ending.

glossary

athenians: citizens of athens

polis: greek word for city-state

agora: lower city of athens that surrounds acropolis

acropolis: a large rock known as the upper city of athens

nymph: spirit of nature

hephaestus: god of fire

panathenaea: annual celebration held for the goddess athena

athena: greek goddess of wisdom and war

elysium: an afterlife of paradise where gods and heroes go when they die

nectar: divine drink of the gods that holds the power to confirm immortality

hades: god of the underworld, or a name for the underworld itself.

Athens, Ancient Greece; 5th century circa 430 BC.

It was in Athens when you met him. He stood out amongst the colorful shops lining the city streets like a blossoming tree nymph in the rustic desert sand. His robes were simple, almost boring when compared to most living in Athens, yet his build held sturdy and strong. He was intimidating, so much so that his presence forced those passing him by to shy away. The setting sun glistened against the sheen of sweat coating his porcelain skin and it brought out the gold in his brown eyes despite the daggers within them. However, there was one point in his features that mirrored the mirth of Athens: his hair. His locks, wild and red like the flames of Hephaestus, were lively and thick, only tamed by the tie that held them together just below the crown of his head.

Truth be told, you couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. From the moment you spotted him from your seated position enjoying a glass of water, your body tensed fully and sweat beaded at your temple despite your spot in the shade. Fear clamped onto your muscles and dread pooled in your stomach, yet your gaze did not falter. You hid my frightened expression behind your cup to admire him further. You felt that if you looked away, even for a fleeting moment, he would vanish into the crowd. So, despite the indescribable feelings his presence seemed to place upon you and everyone else along the street, you continued to watch him.

When his eyes met yours you thought you would fall from your chair. To say the look in his eyes was intense would be an understatement. It was as if infinity was personified into an emotion only he could express. Your heart was pounding, your mind screaming for your body to be set free of the chills of fear rattling through your bones. He paused briefly in the crowd to return your stare, studying you for a brief moment, and before you could realize what was happening he changed his course and made his way toward your table. As he approached, the tension and terror in your muscles and gut faded with each step he took. He was merely inches in front of you now, and yet you felt as if the previous sensations were never upon you, ease replacing what was once apprehension. A new emotion, one most passionate and overwhelming, settled into your senses now that all fear was gone: lust. It made your heartbeat begin to race within the confines of your chest and pooled warmth just below your stomach.

Neither of you spoke for what felt like eons, before he cleared his throat and flicked his gaze to the empty chair positioned across your table. “May I join you?” His quiet voice, deep and cold, met your ears with a juxtaposed delight, and you nodded a bit too quickly for your own liking as you sat your cup down before him. He denied your offer of a drink, opting to watch you take another sip instead. His stare had your thighs pressed together tightly to ease the cry for friction coming from your cunt. You’d just met this man—had yet to even learn his name—yet slowly but surely his eyes, his hair, his voice were melting your resolve and turning you into melted wax within his palms.

His presence was most curious and unexpected as it was obvious he was not native to Athens, but he also did not appear to be native of anywhere else particularly based on his features and the way he dressed. Today was the day of Panathenaea, an annual celebration of Athena for her protection over Athens, headed by her cult of followers and filled with animal sacrifice and competition from the city’s finest athletes. Why would an outsider wish to participate in these rights if not an Athenian themself? It was rare to even find travellers who worshipped Athena as loyally as Athenians did, but nothing about him or his robes signified his allegiance to the goddess.

Finally, your curiosity spurred up enough courage to speak to the mysterious traveller. “What is your name?”

After a moment of thought, he replied, “Diluc.”

How odd of him to pause, you thought, as if in search of his own name…

His husky voice cut through your wandering thoughts. “And your own?”

You spoke your name with a lilted tone; you always found your name beautiful as many told you it was throughout your life, so you were always quick to state it with pride.

He repeated your name back to you, let the syllables savor on his tongue; it sent a shiver down the ridges of your spine. You held your breath in anticipation for his next words, actions, anything if it meant it was coming from this beautiful stranger before you.

“Do you know of a reliable inn nearby? I’m looking for a place to rest my head for the evening.” His eyes not-so-subtly gazed up and down the column of your neck, as if he were wanting you to catch him in the act of doing so. It brought a flush to the flesh of your cheeks and your thighs to flex at the growing heat flaring in between them.

You cleared your throat before speaking. “All inns will be closed tonight I’m afraid. Today is Panathenaea. We will raise offerings to Athena with sacrifices and festivities.” You took a small sip of water, finishing up the rest that resided within the chalice. He left out a quiet sigh of annoyance and a pang of guilt mixed within your rattling, heightened heartbeat. Even though this wasn’t your doing, you felt at fault for the inconvenience to him. Clearing your head of the guilty ponderings you offered a proposition. “But if you are truly in need of shelter, it is no issue for my home to become your own for your stay in the city.”

You watched him mull over the offer in slight apprehension. You had shared only a few words with him but oh how you wanted for him to accept the invitation. Everything about him drew you in unimaginably; you had never before been so captivated by another being in the entirety of your life until him, for reasons you couldn’t possibly explain to anyone, not even yourself.

“If you shall host me, then your kindness is greatly accepted.” You couldn’t help the grin that spread across your face with his words. You were happy for him to accept the hospitality, happy to be able to spend the rest of the evening with the handsome stranger that was Diluc. He didn’t return your smile, but a sparkle appeared from the hidden gold in his irises, so perhaps your excitement was shared.

The games were glorious, the food even moreso. You felt as if the fruit and bread you had consumed that evening alone was enough to satiate a week’s worth of hunger. Diluc, however, did not eat or drink his fill. He simply stood silently by your side, which seemingly deterred any conversation from making its way toward you, let alone between you. He seemed to be on high alert, continuously scanning the crowd, the ground, the skies, in search of something, or someone. You paid no mind at first as it wasn’t any of your business, but as the dusk settled into night and he kept up his search, you grew restless with curiosity.

“What are you so ardently searching for?” He turned to face you for what you thought was the first time that evening. In truth, you were completely oblivious to his lingering glances and wandering gaze, too caught up in the festivities to consider his own lust brewing as your time together drew on. Thus he was quite surprised you had noticed his other antics, and he cleared his throat to swallow any lingering embarrassment before he answered your inquiry.

“To be quite honest, I’m unsure.” He thought he was slick with his lie, but you were more clever than that.

You were now seated among many other groups and pairs around a grand fire that had burned the bodies of offerings to Athena throughout the festival’s day; most in the city were gathered here now for the music being raised to the goddess from around the flame. Some hummed along, others sang outright, but most came to relax after the day’s end. You had kept your gaze upon the performers surrounding the fire for some time now, but you turned your eyes up to his own with his response. You were certain he could see the incredulous look within them paired with the reflection of the crackling, angry hues illuminating the cool night air that surrounded you. “You’re unsure? I don’t buy that.”

He blinked at you, unsure whether to roll his eyes and call you crazy or smirk at how quickly you caught on. He considered himself to have the tongue of a silver fox, but Diluc seemed to be a horrendous liar.

He considered your words before his own spilled forth. “Perhaps you shouldn’t; perhaps I am lying.” Diluc was testing the waters with this statement, both out of his own curiosity for your reactions due to the alcohol you had nursed all evening and because of one other factor: deep down, with enough interest, the god was quite the flirt.

“Perhaps you are. That would be my guess. It’s as if you’ve lost something that is imperative to get back. Athens is quite the paradise, you know; not many are so easily distracted from her beauty.” You reveled in the momentary reaction of surprise that he let slip past his neutral features. You smirked, for you knew you had guessed correctly, almost perfectly. His eyebrows raising slightly, his lips parting in the smallest of gasps, eyes going ever-so-wide with the surprise he was met with. He wasn’t angry that you had found him out, moreso impressed. The truth of the matter was Diluc had overestimated your drunkenness and underestimated your perceptiveness.

He chuckled, an incredulous half smile stealing the surprised blush from his cheeks as he faced the fire now. “Shocking. You’re an impeccable guesser. Have you considered this city’s pressing habit of gambling?” You shared a fit of giggles at his quip. He suddenly leaned closer to your ear as your laughter died down, breath fanning across the soft skin behind your ear. Your face filled with warmth at the proximity, anticipation gripping your lungs with baited breath as you awaited his next words. In a low whisper, he explained, “I am in search of a thief; he stole something of great symbolic importance to my mother, and I have come to your city and your celebration to retrieve it on a rumor that he would be attending. But in truth, I have not the slightest clue what form he has taken to disguise himself as.”

His words took some moments to process as one of his large hands now slipped up and down your thigh soothingly. You couldn’t recall the moment he had placed it there, but as soon as he did your head began swimming with thoughts of him and him alone. His words came secondhand to his touch in that instance. But when you processed them, particularly the wording of his final statement, it was as if all of the breath you were holding manifested itself into the sharpest yet most silent gasp you could muster. It was your turn to be shocked and surprised, for only divine beings could change their shapes. Only divine beings were known for chasing those they did not know, for only the gods and the like could recognize one another by mannerisms and auras alone.

His hand squeezed your thigh and he shushed you quietly at the sound of your gasp, his nose now nuzzled at your temple as he spoke. “I take it you haven’t seen the god Hermes in Athens recently, have you?” One hand flew to his wrist, the other to his forearm in any attempt to touch his skin with your own. He was driving you absolutely mad, goosebumps rising on every exposed part of you from the chilled night air clashing with the heat of the fire you sat so closely to. You had never encountered a god in your life prior to this, but you were absolutely certain that in that very moment, you were speaking with one there and then.

It took every ounce of strength within you to ask him the only question you could muster. “What is your name, Diluc?” An oxymoron of an inquiry, but if he were truly a god, Diluc was not his divine name. It was the one he had thought up when you first met, the one that had you pondering why he must pause before answering such a stupidly simple question. Your grasp upon him grew tighter as you hung upon his every word, eyes closed so that you could fully focus on him and only him. His touch, so soft and rhythmic at the skin now exposed by your robes slipping apart at their slit, his breath, warm and soft upon your cheek and down the column of your neck, and how his low voice rumbled his response directly into your ear.

“Deimos. Son of War and Love.” He was so clever and clear with his words you couldn’t help the faint laugh that escaped you, incredulous, breathy. He was already taking a large risk uttering his own name in a place where other gods could be lurking, but to utter the names of Ares and Aphrodite in Athens, a sacred city of Athena, during the Panathenaea, could have caused greater conflict between the gods than a mere stolen symbol. Of course you knew who he was, who his parents were, and why his identity must be kept a secret here. To speak the name of Aphrodite within Athens would be like asking for a war to ensue. The two goddesses had a longstanding hatred for one another for a plethora of reasons. Athena herself would smite you where you sat if you even dared utter it once. You knew this all for you were raised within the religion, taught from your very conception to show hospitality to any and all on the chance of this moment here and now. Any person or peoples who came to your doorstep could be a god. They could speak with you for a plethora of reasons, for mirth or pleasure or to obtain information or out of pure boredom. The gods did as they pleased, much to the dismay of one another, but within your beliefs provided your human existence and all of its necessities to you. Everything you knew, the air you breathed, belonged to the gods, belonged to Deimos. Diluc, you reminded yourself. He is Diluc to you.

You once more gathered your courage to speak to him, to now move yourself ever closer to him and his touch and his breath and his words. Turning your face toward him, your noses touched side by side. Your eyes were still glued shut, too consumed with nerves and lust to dare open them and face his own. “And why stay with me now? Why not continue your search?” If you were a mere inch closer, your lips would have brushed his own when you spoke.

You felt his chest rumble against your own in another chuckle. “You’ve become too interesting to abandon. I have millenia to search for that rascal; let me now rest with you, if only for the night.” Your eyes opened on their own accord to be met with a gaze so piercing with fascination that it filled your insides with warmth to the very core. His hand had snaked from your thigh with a gentle squeeze at the apex of your hip to rest around the curve of your waist, the other urging your hands up to his face by their wrists. All at once your heartbeat rushed blood into your ears, liquid courage mixing the heat of want within your belly as your trembling fingers stilled against the warmth of his cheeks. Nerves of embarrassment told you that people were going to stare, but nerves of anticipation told you not to care. Let them stare; plenty of other pairs found themselves caught in passion from the music and the flames. You wanted to fall victim to the moon’s call, but the craving for privacy overruled your unfiltered thoughts.

“If you’re ready to return home, I’ve some cherry wine I want you to savor with me, since you wish to humor my hospitality a little longer.” Gulping down your nervousness at last, you relaxed into his warm hands holding your body against his. He rested his forehead against yours as he pondered what he desired more in that moment: to have you here and now under the moon and its stars, or alone with sweetness on his tongue. He chose the latter, despite the rush of his own heart pleading for a kiss. With great dismay, he slowly pulled away to stand and offer you his hand to do the same. The trek back home had never dragged on for so long in all of your life.

“You seem to view Athens as a paradise, but do you hold any desire to leave?” His question was genuine, pushed through soft lips that only spoke after periods spent thinking logically before voicing his delicately created phrases.

You had returned to your home as briskly as you could, presenting your most prized bottle of cherry wine to share over conversation. It had started around the table, hip to hip, knee to knee, whispering as if your voices would let loose to the outside world the secrets you shared with one another, but now rested within your bed, him on his side, hovering over you ever so slightly, and you on your back, gazing up at him as if he were all of Elysium presented before you in the form of a vessel.

You blinked slowly, entranced firstly by his proximity and taking the pause to ponder your response, the alcohol in your system allowing you to fall pray easily to distractions. “Athens is known for its schools and music and art. I was born to a painter, my mother, and a philosopher, my father. I’ve tried my hand at it all—writing, singing, drawing—but none of the options I’m presented with here seem to suit me.” You watched his face closely as you spoke softly to answer his query. His gentle breaths fanned your face, his fiery hair down from its original ponytail to now frame his face and rest down his back and shoulders like a waterfall of flames. His eyes blinked between watching your lips as you spoke and gazing into your own with an intensity not of daggers anymore but of interest and intrigue. Your noses were mere inches apart, his body so close to being pressed against your own as his free hand that wasn’t supporting him up by the elbow cupped your face. How you became this close you couldn’t recall, but as you began to finish answering his question, all you could think of was that you wanted him closer, as close as you possibly could be. “Despite my education, I know nothing of this world because I haven’t lived within it. All I know is Athens, so if I don’t leave, perhaps it is all I will ever know.”

“The world is cruel,” he replied. “I would fear it might break you, but it seems your resolve is too strong. You wouldn’t allow it to touch you.” A faint smile graced his lips and the urge to capture them in a kiss, to bridge the gap between you, was so overwhelming in that moment. Your heart, racing as it always seemed to do when near him, was aching with yearn.

Kiss him. Kiss him you fool. Your eyes only watched his lips. “And what brings you to that conclusion?” Your hands, once resting at the apex of your chest, reached up slowly and shakily to grasp the robes upon his shoulders. You gripped onto the fabric to calm the small tremors caused by your hasty breath and fluttering heart. One hand feathered its way into his bangs, brushing them out of his eyes and behind his ear with the lightest touch you could muster. Touching him felt off-limits, as if you were admiring a sculpture and were instructed not to fiddle with it by its artist. But Diluc was real; his breaths, soft and warm on your face, his chest rising and falling steadily in sync with your own, grounded you in the moment.

“When I first spotted you across the plaza, you were staring back at me without fault. Your intensity outdid everyone else's but my own.” You shared a breathless chuckle at this. He inched his face closer, your hands rested around his neck. You fell into silence as your apprehension of one another slowly melted into courage, and as soon as you began to close your eyes his lips met your own.

You never knew what it was like to kiss another being, but you were certain his kisses were divine when held against all others. He was gentle, at first, as your bodies relaxed into the mattress and his muscular form finally lay flush against your own, the hand cupping your face sliding to the back of your head, caressing your cheekbone lightly during its retreat. He held you as if you were fragile, yet firmly as if you would fall through the floorboards and out of his grasp. His lips tasted of the wine fermented from tart cherries and sweet grapes you had shared earlier; everything about him in that moment became your own personal nectar from the gods.

You kissed him deeper, your arms once looped around his neck now shifting to cup his face within your palms, his jaw resting along your pinkies. His skin against your own was warm and soft and electric, a sensation almost as addicting as his kisses. As you parted for air, breaths panting against one another’s, he rested his forehead against your own. There it was again, that uncontrollable grin spreading across your face, except there was no object to hide it behind this time. And this time, it was paired with kiss-swollen lips and a flushed visage.

His position shifted to hover above you as his forearms rested on either side of your head and his knees pressed flush against your hips. Here your hands roamed his face, his hair, his shoulders, his chest; any and every piece of his skin and hair your hands could reach were yours to explore. He studied your face as you did this, peppering light kisses here and there above your eyebrows, along your nose bridge, slowly down your neck. It was quiet save for your stuttered breathing, peaceful save for the lustful mess he was making of you. You were so lost in his touch and his kisses that his serene voice calling out to you by name could barely pull you from your thoughts that were riddled with him and him alone.

Your eyes met him with full attention as he whispered to you, “What is it you want of me?”

You answered without hesitation, “All that you’re willing to give. You have my full permissions as long as I have yours.”

His lips went back to your own with your words. His kisses were deeper, more fervent as if they were trying to draw you closer than you already were. He was nervous to relax his hips against your own before, but with your outright consent, his body moved more freely now. You had spent the day admiring him, lusting over him, so the friction created by your legs wrapping around his waist and his growing cock pressing against your cunt was greatly welcomed. It left you inhaling sharply against the kisses you shared, gripping at his shoulders as your hips moved in slow rolls against one another’s.

Nothing else mattered more to either of you in this moment. No god or city could keep the magnetism he somehow possessed from drawing you into its charge. He was providing you with sensations you had never felt before, an electricity of warmth shooting throughout your limbs at every press of his hips into your own. Everything was entirely too hot, too much in the best way they possibly could be. You were squirming in his hold in a desperate attempt to slip the robes from your shoulders, to feel the heat that radiated off of him in salt waves in the entirety of their ocean.

Diluc seemed to understand your wants; his robe was already halfway down his shoulders from your wandering hands. He pulled away from the kisses, slowly, languidly, a string of saliva connecting your lips to his causing the heat in your face to deepen at the sight. His large, calloused palms soothed down your arms, dragging your robes along with the caresses. Your chest was now exposed to the open air, nipples pebbled from the cool night air and the arousal his touch brought you.

The look in his eyes as he gazed upon your body was like you were something anew, like your mere existence graced breath into his lungs and granted his heart the ability to beat. Stars sparkled in his pupils and an awestruck sigh escaped him. You knew the gods to be insatiable beings who used their titles to seduce women and men alike, but something Diluc said earlier into your night together struck you now with how he regarded you beneath him.

“Do you have any offspring?” you inquired, twirling one of his long crimson locks that had escaped past the curtain of his shoulders around your index finger.

He smiled softly at your question, somberly almost, before answering with an almost immediate finality. “No. I have had very few interactions with humans.”

You wanted to know what drew him into you. A god showing such interest in you was flattering, but seduction from a deity usually meant the need to produce a legacy. Diluc had been nothing but kind to you, accepting and reciprocating of your advances, but if ulterior motives were at play, you needed to halt the feral beating of your heart and the slick building between your thighs.

Diluc smoothed the wrinkle that had formed between your eyebrows as you pondered his response. He chuckled as you looked slightly startled by the touch, having been too lost in thought to notice how long of a lull in the conversation had emerged.

“What is it?” he encouraged, brushing his hand across your forehead before placing a whisper of a kiss where his thumb once resided.

Your eyes wavered as you considered voicing your concerns. The anxiety of the possibility of all of this being a trick to bed and breed you sloshed in the pit of your stomach, even sent a slight tremble into your hands.

“I can’t seem to fully comprehend you.”

Diluc felt this anxiety, but he had not been the one to cause it. He knew he couldn’t just take it away, because in doing so would only brew it forth again in an overflowing kettle of confusion. Only reassuring words could cool the bubbling nervousness within you.

“I do not wish for children. Not with a mortal, nor with a god.” The frown that tugged the corners of your lips gently downwards disappeared as he began. This made him inhale, albeit shakily, before opening up his own anxieties unto you. “Having a child with a human would be painful. The other parent will die and the child would only serve as a reminder of their existence. It makes that heartache twice as prominent.” You hummed in acknowledgement of his words. “Having a child with a god would only cause more chaos amongst us.” He chuckled at this, and you returned one to him, gracing his ears with an indicator that your anxiety was fading.

“Most gods are disloyal and selfish. They see human life as a nuisance. Very few mourn them when they’re gone.”

“Do you?”

Your question struck him like a blow to the back, one that makes the air hide from your lungs in a manner that takes all too long to find again. Diluc knew himself to be selfish; if he is wronged he will hold onto that hurt until the end of time. But he is not cruel, he does not retaliate out of that selfishness. You somehow felt this truth though he did not utter it into existence.

“No, not often.”

“But you have?” You did not want to admit this, not even to yourself, but you pressed these questions with the implications of your own mortality. If you were so captivating, would Diluc mourn you when you descended down into Hades?

“Yes. I think human life is a gift for gods to mold.” Diluc saw satisfaction within you from these responses. Every word was truth.

This truth reflected now in his pupils, blown wide and round in admiration and lust. The allure of your soft skin made his hands more bold as they palmed your breasts. A soft moan from you followed his touch, for no one had seen you, held you in this manner before. The foreign feelings were welcomed because they were being created by him, and the sight of him alone now washed comfort where dread once resided.

Diluc wished to hear anything and everything he could from you. Paired with his desire to feel all he could, his lips kissed from your lips to your chin and down the column of your throat, trailing his tongue over where your breasts swelled from lying down. One hand continued to palm at your right breast as his lips sealed around your left nipple. You moaned, louder this time, the sensation both strange yet heavenly as he suckled lightly. A flick of his tongue sent your back arching into him, hands scrambling to press him further against you by the back of his neck. His now free hand smoothed up your back, supporting you from between your shoulder blades.

His hands were so large and, despite their millenia of existence with littered scars and calluses to prove this, they were soft and gentle, moving with the beating of his heart sewn into their warmth. You couldn’t help but whine his name as he stopped his ministrations on your left breast, but a breath of a laugh at your displeasure fanned across the goose flesh raised on your skin as he switched to your right breast, free hand sneaking your robes further down your form.

His lips all too soon followed the fabric, kissing down to your naval where he dared soft love bites upon the flesh of your tummy. The sensation of his teeth grazing softly against your skin tickled more than anything, causing soft giggles to mix into your moans. He smiled at this, however small, looking up at you now from the apex in between your thighs.

You met his gaze, admired the wild blush that stretched from his cheeks to the tips of his ears down his kiss-bruised neck and chest. The sight alone made you long to clench your thighs together for any form of friction at your disposal, but his hands now cupped your inner thighs, holding them apart with just enough force to halt the action.

Another subtly frustrated whine met Diluc’s ears as he freed a hand to rid you completely of your garments. “Needy little thing,” he purred as he kissed and licked at your inner thighs, hands massaging and squeezing the flesh as he moved your knees over his shoulders.

Your lip trembled at his quip. “Just…” He blew softly against your folds, causing a shiver to frost up your spine. “Just need you. Please.” And who was this god to deny you? Diluc believed you to be the peak of what humanity could be as he observed you during the night’s outing, how you shared the food and drink you purchased with anyone who asked. How you played along with the children who approached and the stray dogs begging for the kind attention you granted your fellow humans. How you took in his aura meant to deter any unwanted bystanders during his search for the fucker that was Hermes yet couldn’t bring yourself to look away. He would be cruel to deny you now after he’s built you up and holds you fragile in his palms, and Diluc was not a cruel god.

His lips met your clit in a sloppy kiss before his tongue flattened up your folds up to the pulsing bud. Your walls fluttered around nothing, a moan of newfound pleasure harmonizing with the groan Diluc relented at the taste of you swirling on his taste buds. He continued to lick at the slick before sucking softly on your clit, causing your thighs to tremble and clench around his head. His hands, hooked around your thighs, soothed them apart ever so slightly so that the moans you produced would not fall on muffled ears.

His mouth slipped from your clit to his tongue pushing past the lips of your cunny into your warmth, the loss of friction and foreign sensation sending your hips bucking up against his mouth. His hands slipped down to your hips now, grip the slightest bit forceful if only to hold you in place as he pleased you.

“Be still for me. I’ve got you.” Your eyes shined with the conviction behind his words, his touch.

His tongue began lapping in and out of you, coating the corners of his mouth and his chin in your shine. With a return to your clit and a few more forceful sucks and circling on his tongue there, your orgasm washed over you with grace.

Toes curling and eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, relief in its purest form spread from its roots in your stomach throughout your veins in a heat that was just as cool as it was blistering. Diluc softened his actions but still proceeded, helping you ride out your first high from pleasure, until the hands that tangled in his hair pushed at his cheeks with whimpers of the beginnings of overstimulation.

“You did so well for me, darling,” he praised. His voice was slightly gravelled with lust. “How does it feel?”

“Like divinity,” you whispered through labored breathing. A hand now caressed his cheek, and he grasped it within his own to place a kiss upon your palm.

Diluc leaned back up to meet you face to face, robes now discarded as well, allowing you sight of his hard cock pressed along your folds. Desire began to course through you once more as he kissed you with fervor, tasting yourself on his tongue, causing you to moan as his hips collected your growing slick along his shaft.

The anticipation of having him inside of you was outweighing the anxiety of the discomfort that was sure to emerge initially. The way your hands gripped his forearms, his biceps, conveyed to him unspoken pleas. Be gentle. Be kind. Be mine.

Diluc’s hands cupped your face, eyes searching yours for any sliver of dread he could find. “How many lovers have you bewitched, such as myself?” A grin spread across both of your cheeks with his love-soaked words.

“Just one.” His eyebrows raised and lips parted to inquire further, but you cut him off with reassurance. “He beholds me now.” You giggled at his sigh of relief. Diluc cared not for virginity, nor measured purity of heart by such an abstract thing. He just did not think he could take it if he found any other man had abandoned the beauty he now found himself above.

His tip now aligned with your entrance, shining with your slick in the vanilla candelight. “Breathe for me,” he uttered, and with a hand still cradling your face and the other grasping his length, he entered you. You sucked in a harsh breath at the stretch, a painful burn following as he slowly moved toward fitting inside you entirely. You remembered his words, breathing as deep as you could, inhaling the lingering scent of firewood on his skin and wine on his breath. It took some time, some halting his movements from your trembling hand on his chest, some moving again as you uttered his clearance to do so.

When he finally reached the hilt, hips flush against your own, you moaned deeply against one another’s panting mouths. Diluc squeezed his eyes shut at the sensation of your heat in its entirety. “Perfection…” he gasped. “I have never felt such perfection.”

Your eyes took the time to wander while his were closed. The burning sensation of before was fading fast, and you awed at the revelation of your connection, proven by where his pelvis hit snug against your own. Your gaze slowly travelled up his toned stomach where a thin trail of crimson stopped at his naval, then up his scarred and sun-freckled chest to find deep, brown eyes already staring back at you when you returned to them.

You were crying, you realized, silent tears from the initial discomfort, that his thumbs swiped away as soon as they crystallized at your lashes. “Tell me what you need. Is this too much?”

Your hands caressed down his sides then up his back, cradling his chest against your own. “No, no,” you stuttered. “Yes, just…please move.”

His lips pecked your own, quirking a smirk in one corner at the desperation your urgent words conveyed. “As you wish, dove.” The nickname had the butterflies in your tummy fluttering aggressively, desperate to break free of you in search of purchase in Diluc’s ruby hair as a decoration of the effect his mere existence had on you.

He took one of your legs wrapped around his waist and slid it up and over his shoulder, leaving a kiss to your ankle. He pulled back to push back into you almost just as slowly as before, but this time he somehow fit deeper within you. The moan you both released as he began his movement was loud and unfiltered. He was drawn into you again and again, pace picking up quickly but not harshly, your hips jutting to circle in time with his thrusts.

One of your hands went searching for his own and you intertwined your fingers as he lavished you. He brought your hands up to his lips, kissing each of your knuckles between groans and panted breath, admiring the sight below him through it all.

“Diluc, I need you.” There was this ache in your chest that you couldn’t describe. He was right in front of you, as close to you as he possibly could be without merging his being with your own. So what had your eyes pricking with tears and voice cracking at your declaration?

He shushed your sniffles and shifted where his nose brushed against your own. “You have me, darling. Why do you fret?” His hand intertwined with your own pleaded this, grounding you as the pleasure built and built. This ache in your chest spurred the same tautness in your muscles as before, but it didn’t relent into euphoria so quickly this time.

Diluc could feel this, he felt your walls reacting to his words and his touch as his thrusts got sloppy from his own building pleasure. However, a shift in his hips sent a thrust too deep and a high pitched yelp escaped you, a bump to your sensitive cervix causing you to shift up the bed to escape the jolting shot of pain the contact caused. Diluc’s eyes grew wide with your reaction, cursing under his breath before halting his movements entirely. He called your name and tried to exit you, but you kept him where he was with a tight leg around his hips.

“I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” He continued a string of curses and apologies as he smoothed down your hair and gazed at you with worried eyes. You nodded, encouraging him to move again by grinding your hips against his own. The friction the movement provided your clit caused moans to ensue from you once more, allowing Diluc the courage to slowly begin once more. He brought one hand down to your clit, thumb beginning pressured circles that built you up much faster than his languid thrusts alone.

“Diluc, please, I’m almost there, I’m-” A more angled thrust cut off your frantic words as the tip of cock hit a spot within you that had you throwing your head back against the pillows and your eyes crossing, stars dotting your vision as he continued to hit that textured spot repeatedly.

He kissed you hard and deep as he came, head spinning as warmth spread within you as his form shuddered above you. This sensation paired with his thumb circling hearts against your clit sent you reeling, coming undone so intensely it had your vision blurring as loud, cracked moans escaped your raw throat.

Diluc kissed your temple, lips lingering the sweat-sheened skin there as you both caught your breath. You stayed tangled within one another for another moment until he pulled out with a hiss, cock twitching as his cum began dripping out of your puffy, reddened folds.

“I think your mother has cursed you.” He glanced at you with slight confusion as you chuckled at your own words. “She must have; I’ve barely known you yet I am so in love with you it’s causing my heart to break.” You smiled, melancholy and adoring, watching his handsome features shifted from confusion to understanding.

“Perhaps,” he mused along, settling between your legs with a small smile and wrapping his arms around your waist. “Or perhaps she has blessed you with the ability to seduce any man you so choose.”

“Even a god?” you quipped.

“Even so.”

That was not the last time you made love that night, but it would be the final night you were to see him. In the moments you shared, you knew not of this. Mortal optimism coaxed forth daydreams of a life with Diluc, perhaps changing his mind about children and why he did not want them. Mortality was not the only reminder children served; they shared the parent’s memory in their own aspects and existence.No words could convince such a thing of him, however. One night was not enough to ground the god from his lonely eternity.

“Stay with me,” you urged, voice drowsy as sleep called out for you. Diluc said nothing, merely kissed your forehead and nestled into the covers with you in his arms as you dozed off.

As you slept soundly against him, he kissed the top of your head and mumbled a promise to you within your dreamland. “The day you die, I will come find you. I will relieve you of any fear you have of death before you go.” Diluc knew Hades, knew he was a kind man despite their juxtaposition, knew he would take care of you when he could not.

When you awoke the next morning, chilled from the emptiness in your bed, your mind told you it was all a dream, but the empty bottle of cherry wine on your table with two chalices beside it revealed otherwise.

property of gojotron 2022; do not repost my works on this cite or others. do not translate my works.

[bonesandthebees]

I saw your post the other day about Athens, and seeing the Parthenon in the picture awakened my art history loving mind like a sleeper agent so I wanted to share some fun facts!

Athens itself is named after Athena. This comes from the myth about who will become the patron of the city, Poseidon or Athena. The two gods decided to have a competition, each presenting a gift to the city. Poseidon struck a rock with his trident, producing salt water, while Athena presented an olive tree. It was decided Athena gave the better gift, so the city was named Athens. Outside of the Erechtheion is supposedly the original olive tree Athena gave to the city, and inside is the rock that Poseidon struck.

Visually, the Parthenon looks perfect, but in actuality it's not:

The stylobate (the base of the columns) is slightly curved, the middle of each side is the tiniest bit taller than the outer edge. This is to combat the curvature of the ground, as well as to reinforce the building against earthquakes and so rainwater doesn't pool in the center.

Because the stylobate is curved, and the columns are all the same height, the lintels or beams across the tops of the columns and the roof are also slightly curved.

The columns are tilted inwards, and if they were to continue upwards they would meet 1.5 miles above the stylobate. This was done because of the curving of the stylobate, if the columns were perfectly straight it would look like they're leaning outward.

Additionally, the columns are slightly wider in the middle, called entasis. This is because if the columns were the same width in the middle as the top and bottom, they would appear to be thinner in the center.

Uuuuhh that's all I have right now! I just like info dumping about art history!!

This is all so cool aaaaa and perfect timing too, I actually just visited the Acropolis this morning (I saw this ask while I was walking there, only answering it now bc I’ve had a busy day)

Don’t apologize for the infodump at all, I loved reading this before I went to see the structure in person. It’s so fascinating learning how the Parthenon was built in such an intelligent way. They knew the area and knew how to build the structure to work best for it! The curved stylobate is especially so cool to me!!

We visited the Acropolis museum afterwards and man. I’d already heard about the caryatids and how the British museum refused to return one, and how the Acropolis museum specifically arranged the remaining ones to make the absence incredibly obvious, but seeing the display in person really hammers it in. The entire way the museum was set up emphasized all the shit stolen by the British Museum and it just infuriated me. Still, thought the pieces they did have were gorgeous

Here’s some pics :)

(For those who haven’t visited, the reason you see the caryatids (the statues of the girls) on the actual structure and in the museum both is that the ones on the structure are replicas put in place of the originals while the ones in the museum are the real originals)

[soulinkpoetry]

Amazing mural being created in Athens Greece of one of the karyatides. The one that is missing from the Acropolis museum in Athens Greece. It’s being held hostage by the British museum. They will not return what Elgin stole from the Greek heritage since the Ottoman Empire occupation of Greece . Our hearts will forever cry until all the Elgin marbles have been returned from the British museum.

Please support the return of the Elgin marbles to their rightful owner.

.

The term Parthenon Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures (Greek: Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα) refers to sculptures—the frieze, metopes and pediments—from the Parthenon held in various collections, principally the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum in Athens.[2]

From 1801 to 1812, Elgin's agents removed about half the surviving Parthenon sculptures, as well as sculptures from the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaia, sending them to Britain in efforts to establish a private museum. Elgin stated he removed the sculptures with permission of the Ottoman officials who exercised authority in Athens at the time.[3] The veracity of Elgin's claim has been disputed.[4]

Their presence in the British Museum is the subject of longstanding international controversy. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some,[5] while others, such as Lord Byron, likened Elgin's actions to vandalism or looting.[6] A UK parliamentary inquiry in 1816 concluded that Elgin had acquired the marbles legally.[7] Elgin sold them to the British government in that year, after which they passed into the trusteeship of the British Museum. In 1983, the Greek government formally asked the UK government to return them to Greece, and subsequently listed the dispute with UNESCO. The UK government and British Museum declined UNESCO's offer of mediation. In 2021, UNESCO called upon the UK government to resolve the issue at the intergovernmental level.[8]

The Greek government and supporters of the marbles' return to Greece have argued that they were obtained illegally or unethically, that they are of exceptional cultural importance to Greece, and that their cultural value would be best appreciated in a unified public display with the other major Parthenon antiquities in the Acropolis Museum. The UK government and British Museum have argued that they were obtained legally, that their return would set a precedent which could undermine the collections of the major museums of world culture, and that the British Museum's collection allows them to be better viewed in the context of other major ancient cultures and thus complements the perspective provided by the Acropolis Museum. Discussions between UK and Greek officials are ongoing.[9][10]

Source: Wikipedia

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# return the Elgin marbles

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Video by Constantino Mass

[artschoolglasses]

The Caryatids and the Erechtheion at the Acropolis in Athens.

Sculptural details of the Erechtheion are currently being held by the British Museum—including one of the caryatid pillars—and have still yet to be returned to Greece despite repeated calls to do so.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

[blueiskewl]

Vatican Returns 2,500-Year-Old Parthenon Sculptures to Greece

The Vatican has signed an agreement to return three sculpture fragments that have been part of the Vatican Museums' permanent collection for the past 200 years. Holy See officials have also indicated a timeline for their repatriation later this month, according to a press release. The move could ramp up the pressure on the British Museum to return the Parthenon marbles in its possession after decades of wrangling with the Greek authorities have shown signs of resulting in an agreement in recent months.

Officials signed off on the "donation" of the 2,500-year-old fragments — which show the heads of a horse, a bearded man and a boy — in a special ceremony at the Vatican on Tuesday attended by figures including Barbara Jatta, the director of the Vatican Museums. The Vatican previously announced plans to return the sculptures in December, shortly after Pope Francis met with Ieronymos II — the archbishop of Athens and Greece, and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church — in 2021.

The fragments will be definitively transferred to Athens on March 24 with a special ceremony planned to receive them, officials said in the press release.

Papamikroulis Emmanouil, who attended the signing ceremony on behalf of Ieronymos II, said in a statement that the agreement marked "a historic event," adding that he hoped Pope Francis' gesture would "be imitated by others." He also suggested the move "partially compensates for" traumas resulting from injustices of the past.

Setting a precedent

Sculptures and friezes previously removed from the Parthenon — a former richly-decorated temple on the Athenian Acropolis built by Pericles between 447 and 432 BC — are currently displayed in museums including the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Italy set a precedent for their return last year, when Palermo's Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum transferred a fragment to Athens showing the foot of a goddess peeking from the bottom of a tunic.

Debate over the Parthenon marbles currently displayed at the British Museum, which are known as the Elgin Marbles after the British ambassador who removed them in the 19th century, has intensified in recent months. Following initially secret talks between Greek officials and the British Museum, Jonathan Williams, the museum's deputy director, told The Sunday Times in August that they were "calling for an active 'Parthenon partnership.'" Last month, George Osborne, the chairman of the British Museum, hinted on BBC Radio that the marbles would be shared by and exhibited in both Greece and the UK.

Speaking at Tuesday's signing ceremony, Cardinal Vérgez claimed that returning the marbles would help countries build stronger ties.

"This gesture aims to build bridges of fraternity and show the world that a road of dialogue and peace always exists, as we hope will happen in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine," he said. "The Pope's art collection must become an important point of contact between peoples, faiths and the churches, overcoming every barrier."

By James Imam.

[mariacallous]

The Meidias hydria, an ancient Greek water jug from about 420 BC, along with seven other ancient objects, is being lent by the British Museum to the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

“Meidias hydria was acquired in 1772 by the British Museum, and ownership of this vessel is not disputed, the Greek Ministry of Culture said in answer to a question by an MP.

“This in no way applies to the Parthenon Marbles”, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni clarified, adding that “there is no question of [Greece agreeing to] a lease or loan” for those.

“The Parthenon marbles were stolen by [Lord] Elgin, abused, vandalized and sawed up to be in England,” the minister said.

“Even when they went to the British Museum, they were abused and acts followed not particularly protective of them… [which is why] we cannot accept either ownership, or possession, or jurisdiction [over the marbles] from the British Museum,” Mendoni added.

The Parthenon marbles, also known as the Elgin marbles, were removed in the early 19th century by agents of British diplomat Lord Elgin when Athens was under Ottoman rule. Elgin sold them in 1816 to the British government, which placed them in the British Museum.

The latest loan from the British Museum followed the cancellation of a planned meeting in late-November in London between British PM Rishi Sunak and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Sunak allegedly canceled the meeting because Mitsotakis was planning to raise the issue of repatriating the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. Mitsotakis expressed his disappointment with the move.

A July 2023 survey in the UK by YouGov found that 64 per cent of respondents favoured returning the marbles to Greece.

But a complicating factor is UK law. The British Museum Act forbids the museum from permanently disposing of, donating or alenating any items in its possession. Permanent return of the marbles to Greece would therefore require the UK parliament to change the law.

[spider-xan]

Not all the smug 'progressive' whites acting like Egypt, Greece, etc. don't have archaeologists and museums of their own (ANCIENT Egypt had archaeologists ffs) and that Yes All Museums are Evil, like, what, did you cheer when the local museum in Maui burned to the ground in the wildfire bc omg theevilisdefeated.jpg then? Do you think the National Museum of African American History and Culture is evil by virtue of being a museum and is morally on par with the British Museum and the Met?

(Conversely, 'The only evil museum is the British Museum!' is like, also wrong, please look at a lot of traditional museums in the US, Germany, etc.)

'All museums should be shut down and return their stolen loot to their original countries!' The Acropolis Museum in Athens should shut down and return their own artifacts to themselves??

[gemsofgreece]

Famous artists support the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece. A big concert for the cause took place in Athens yesterday, after the artists had been given a tour in the Acropolis museum. The concert took place in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. 

Some of the participants were Alice Cooper, The Rasmus, Desmond Child and Bonnie Tyler. Sakis Rouvas and Phoebus were the artists representing the Greek side. 

PHOTO STUDIO PANOULIS

[trinoxtrinox]

A party to be remembered through the ages (part 3)

Ectoberhaunt 2022, Side Chaos. Prompt: Costume Party

Summary: Danny invites Pandora to the party as his third plus one.

Author's note: this is escaping my hands, it's out of control I swear to god there's no way for me to properly guess how long it'll be XD I say there'll be only 1 more but maybe they'll be 2 more parts? who knows? certainly not me XD

Edit: First - Previous - Next

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The Acropolis of Athens was within sight, and once again Danny flew with the Specter Speeder in the direction of his objective with a plan in mind, or well, it was more of an idea in mind, Danny’s not the best when it comes to making and following plans after all.

“Ok, so I’ll just park the Speeder nearby, travel through the maze once more, maybe say hi to the gorgons and minotaurs if I see them, reach the end of it, say hi to Pandora, invite her to the party, and return to see how the guys are doing with the beginning of my costume.” Muttering to himself Danny did the first part of the plan, and put the vehicle in a safe place before exiting it, closing the doors with lock, and floating towards the entrance of the maze. Upon coming to the entrance however, Danny found himselfs with a Minotaur that simply pointed him upwards, and Danny, thinking that meant he could fly above the maze, simply followed that instruction, and found himself glad with finding out his suspicions were true for nothing happened when he skipped the whole thing and managed to reach the entrance to Pandora’s Palace.

“Pandora, are you there?” Danny asked as he waited at the umbral of her palace, not wanting to intrude by entering without permission.

“Who dares visit my abode?” Pandora’s voice could be heard reverberating from inside as her shadow was slowly being noticeable from the outside

“Uh, it’s me, Phantom.”

“Danny!” Her voice gained warmth in an instant as she rushed from within the insides of her palace to stand in front of the halfa, “oh it’s a pleasure to see you, how are you doing young man?”

“I’m fine Pandora, how’s everything going on here? Boxy’s still doing his punishments from last time?”

“Oh no, I let him go after a few months of punishment. I could only take so many turns overseeing his punishment before he became grating to my ears.”

“Yeah, I get it, Boxy can be very obnoxious and bothersome if you spend more than a few minutes with him at a time without something to distract you.”

“I blasted him each time he began to articulate the word beware, but that soon became tiring and I just gave up soon after that.”

“I swear he has an obsession with the word beware as well as boxes.”

“Well, enough about that, I’m sure you came here for more than a simple conversation. Would you like some snacks to have our conversation with?”

“Oh absolutely, your snacks are always delicious.”

“I’m so glad you think so, now come on inside, I’ll ask one of my shade servants to bring us some food while we begin our conversation. Come take a seat.” Pandora offered Danny a seat in one of the chairs made of marble chairs, decorated with lines of copper all over them giving them an intrinsic design, and the seats covered in enough yarn blankets to make one sink a little when sitting down, as shown by Danny doing exactly that as he let himself lay on top of said chair; Pandora laughing softly as she sat in her own bigger chair, maintaining her composure all the while.

“Oh shut it Pandora.” The teenager countered the laugh with a smirk of his own as he said so playfully while righting himself.

“Well, what would you like to talk about dear Phantom?”

“Well there’s this party that Johnny 13 is hosting, and he invited me.”

“Oh, does that mean that you can bring a friend with you? I suppose so since you’re telling me about it at least.”

“I can bring 3 actually, though they can only be ghosts so I couldn’t invite any of my human friends, hence-oh thanks,” Danny was interrupted by one of Pandora’s servants brought over a plate with some grapes, apples and slices of meat on top of bread slices, cheese slices and a little of ghost wine which could be considered ambrosia in it’s own right. “As I was saying, I can bring 3 ghost friends, and you’re the third one I want to invite.”

“Oh, I would love to come with you to the party Danny, when will it be? I want to clear my schedule as much as possible for the day to come.”

“Oh, it’s in a week, also it’s a costume party as well.”

“Oh really? Well, I guess I won’t be able to go as myself then,” a soft laugh left her mouth as she grabbed some of the food available and gave it a munch.

“Yeah, that would be cheating.” Another laugh left Danny’s mouth, this time more calm and honest than before when he laughed at his own hyperbolized mystery, “the theme is ‘historical figures of the Infinite Realms’, so in theory you could go as yourself, but again, that would be cheating.”

“Yes, I can certainly see how that would be considered as such, but there won’t be need for such worries, little one, I’ve certainly met my fair share of important ghosts through my long afterlife, I can think of many of them to go as.”

“That’s great then, you won’t have any problem doing that then. I’ll come when it’s time to go to the party in the Specter Speeder, though I’m not sure if you’ll be able to fit in anyways, unless you happen to have some minor shapeshifting powers?”

“Oh yes I have some of that, I can shrink myself if you need me to. I’d be a horrible guest if I couldn’t do anything about that.” And to proof her point, Pandora shrunk herself, armor and clothes included, until she was about two heads taller than Danny, “would this be enough to fit inside your vehicle?”

“Oh yeah, you can fit perfectly fine now. Though something tells me you can still make yourself smaller.”

“Of course I can, but I still have some pride in me, I can’t have me be smaller than you, now can I?”

“Well, I can’t say anything against that, I also have my own pride as well.” A smirk was present now in the faces of both ghosts, but finally Danny had to lift up and leave the place soon enough. “I have to leave now, I still have to complete my costume after all.”

“I’ll see you next week then little Phantom.”

“See ya next week Pandora.” And waving her, the halfa left the grounds of the Acropolis of Athens and got into the Specter Speeder, no finally going back home to begin working on his own costume of Clockwork for the party.

[emmyblogging]

Assassins Creed - jumping into the time machine

Well, I probably should not call it a time machine but we‘ll come to that a bit later.

Of course I played games from time to time, but they were very limited to franchises such as The Sims and Animal Crossing. I have been a history, specifically classics or mediterranian history, for a while now and it is honestly remarkable how I just now discovered Assassins Creed Odyssey in all it‘s glory, and with that took a step into the whole Assassins Creed franchise for myself.

In the past I‘ve heard multiple people talk about the possibility to discover ancient Greece in this open world RPG, but once I went on eBay, bought a used but in good condition copy and started the game on my PS4 I should have known that my freetime was done for. In the best way possible. 

The Assassins Creed franchise, from what I‘ve played and seen in the newer games so far, has a modern day and historical protagonist. For the modern day protagonist, Layla Hassan, it is possible to get into a machine, called „The Animus“ and relive the historical protagonists life with a bit of their DNA. And just Layla, the player gets to experience history in the, for our technological advances most accessible and interactive way possible. 

Assassins Creed Odyssey takes place during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The former of which I got to visit a week ago. The protagonist, as I played, is Kassandra, a spartan woman, banished from her home and family. She is a mercenary and grew up on Korfu, doing the dirty work for Markos, a local man, that seems to step from one trouble to the next. This setting is very quickly left behind as Kassandra starts an Odyssey, that would change her entire life. She travels through all of ancient Greece in the search of her family and with the goal to destroy a cult, whose goal is power over the entire greek world and beyond. This, of course, is a fictional story, but does not at all make the game less impressive to me. 

In this game you can discover the entirety of Greece, with replicas of historical sites, today left in ruins. Nowhere else I believe you can visit the Acropolis of Athens with all it‘s temples intact. Not only Athens, also Corinth, Mykonos, Crete, Olympia, say whatever you want. The world seemed surprisingly alive to me. The storylines are funny, beautiful, tragic and just incredibly entertaining. The NPCs lead their lives in the cities, doing daily things, selling things on the market, praying, dancing, singing, enjoying the sun. you can visit temples, markets, fishing villages, salt lakes, mountains, tombs or mycenean ruins. Of course it is not entirely historically accurate in it‘s gameplay for entertainment reasons but I was still stunned way too often over being able to see and visit these places in a way that can replicate it‘s former glory and being able to, through Kassandra, participate, interact with it. 

I have played the main story once now and have luckily gotten the happy ending, but have read that due to the decisions you can make there are nine different possible endings to the main story, some of which are incredibly tragic and heartbreaking. These are only the possibilities for the main story. There are amounts and amounts of side stories and extra content to which you can get multiple scenarios and endings again too. Decisions that you make in the game have a lasting effect on the NPCs. One for example is a little girl, that asks Kassandra to bring her gems for her friends. Once Kassandra brought her the gems it is revealed, that her so-called friends are a group of clay figures, she built, because her real family is dead and the people in town think she is strange. As Kassandra you can either make the decision to encourage her or tell her those clay figures aren‘t real friends, to which the girl will be very sad. If you choose the former and return to the island once it rained, the clay figurines will have been destroyed by the rain and the girl is crying all alone. If you choose the latter she will be mad at Kassandra, but once you return you can see her playing with kids from the town, who praise her for her skill in forming clay. Another story that left a lasting impression, was one where I had to reload it entirely due to first getting an awful ending I did not want at all. It is a questline on Mykonos called „Trouble in Paradise“. In this quest Kassandra is called to help some rebels against the Athenians, whose leaders are Kyra and Thaletas. It is possible to have a romantic relationship with either of them. In my game Kassandra got together with Kyra. There seem to be quite many possible endings for this depending on wether Kassandra gets into a romantic relationship, with who, and almost anything you choose for Kassandra to say. I do not want to spoil anything for this questline, but know, that some or most of the endings are extremely tragic. 

While I was still quite in the middle of the story I got the chance to visit real and modern Athens myself and take a trip to the Acropolis as well as the National Archaeological Museum, which displayed a few artefacts, which you can find in use in the game AC: Odyssey. Among them some statues, altars, artworks and…my personal highlight…A HERM. 

I have written an entry about herms before and in Odyssey there is sadly only one herm, what‘s design has been used at every. single. crossroad. in. the. game. But this herm, in all it‘s glory but with the phallus missing, is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. 

This entry is messy enough as it is but another aspect that got me incredibly excited about Assassins Creed: Odyssey is that you can often interact with historical figures from the time period such as: Perikles, Sokrates, Aristophanes…and…another familiar name from my entry on herms: Alkibiades. (The man, the myth, the legend, wildest guy you’ll ever meet) You also get a cool opening scene with Leonidas of Sparta fighting the Persians. Of course there are many more and also a playable storyline with mythological aspects and enemies such as the cyclops, the minotaur…

To summarize: I simply love this game. Of course it is not entirely accurate as it is still there for entertainment and…surprise to be a game. But to me and many other history nerds it is the closest thing we‘ll get to interact with ancient Greece and form fictional relationships with the idea of people that lived over 2000 years before us and to experience „first hand“ that they are not so different from us despite the time seperating us, which to me is what is the main goal of working with history. Another aspect I love is that there are many possibilities for players to really decide how they want to play their chosen character, Kassandra or Alexios, as someone serious, aloof, brutal, gentle, cold or which I did not expect and was incredibly positively surprised the amount of possible queer love stories for them, so you can really play them however you want to play them. 

[homomenhommes]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

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

Peisistratus rides into Athens with Athene

605 BC – On this date the Athenian benevolent tyrant Peisistratus was born (d.527 BC). Peisistratos was the son of a philosopher and teacher called Hippocrates, and was named for the Peisistratos in the Odyssey. He lowered taxes and increased Athens' economy.

According to Plutarch he was the eromenos (Greek for "young lover") of the Athenian lawgiver Solon. He assisted Solon in his endeavors, and fought bravely in the battle of Salamis.

When Solon left Athens, Peisistratos became leader of the party of the Highlands (poor, rural people) in 565 BC. Peisistratos used a clever scheme, calling for bodyguards after he pretended to be attacked. Those bodyguards were composed of the people of the Highlands who had entered Athens. In 561 BC he seized the Acropolis with this group of bodyguards, becoming ruler. His rule did not last - he was driven out by Lycurgis, Megacles and others from the party of the Coast within the year. He returned 10 years later (in legend, with Athene at his side), regained power and reigned for 23 years until his death in 527 BC.

During his reign, many temples were built and he encouraged poets and artists by welcoming them into his court. According to a story first mentioned by the Latin author Cicero, Peisistratus ordered the writing down of the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, which had previously been transmitted orally.

1930 – The Oscar-winning Spanish-born Cuban cinematographer Néstor Almendros, was born on this date (d.1992). Born in Barcelona, Spain, Almendros moved to Cuba at age 18 to join his exiled anti-Franco father. In Havana, he founded a cinema club and wrote film reviews. Then he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in New York. After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, he returned and made several documentaries for the Castro regime. But after two of his shorts (Gente En La Playa and La Tumba Francesa) were banned, he moved to Paris. There he became the favorite of Éric Rohmer and François Truffaut. In 1978, he started his Hollywood career, and won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the film Days of Heaven. Four years later he was nominated again by the Academy for his work on Sophie's Choice.

In his later years, Almendros co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Mauvaise Conduite (about the persecution of Gay people) and Nobody Listened (about the arrest, imprisonment, and torture of former comrades of Fidel Castro). He shot several prestigious advertisements for Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein.

In 1992, Néstor Almendros died of AIDS in New York at age 61. Human Rights Watch International has named an award after him, given every year at the HRWI film festival.

1951 – P. Craig Russell is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay.

Philip Craig Russell was born in Wellsville, Ohio. He entered the comics industry in 1972 as an assistant to Dan Adkins. Russell first became well known with his 11-issue Amazing Adventures run and subsequent graphic novel featuring Killraven, hero of a future version of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, collaborating with writer Don McGregor. Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that, "McGregor's finest artistic collaborator on the series was P. Craig Russell, whose sensitive, elaborate artwork, evocative of Art Nouveau illustration, gave the landscape of Killraven's America a nostalgic, pastoral feel, and the Martian architecture the look of futuristic castles." At DC Comics, Russell inked Batman stories in Batman Family and Detective Comics over the pencils of Michael Golden and Jim Starlin respectively.

Withdrawing for a while from mainstream comics, Russell produced several experimental strips, many of which were later published in his Night Music series and Epic Illustrated.

In 1984, Russell began Night Music, an ongoing anthology series for Eclipse Comics featuring some of his most heralded literary and operatic adaptations. Russell has previously used the same title for a black and white collection of the earliest of these works, published by Eclipse Comics. Included in this series was "The King's Ankus," adapted from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Russell had previously inked several Jungle Book adaptations drawn by Gil Kane, published in Marvel Fanfare #8-11 (May-Nov. 1983). The series included "Pelleas & Melisande," adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's play of the same name which had been turned into an opera by Claude Debussy, and "Salome" adapted from Oscar Wilde's play of the same name which was the basis for Richard Strauss's opera. Opera would continue to resurface in Russell's work, including a four-part adaptation of The Magic Flute, taken from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera.

Hysén speaks at Stockholm Pride

1959 – Glenn Hysén, born in Gothenburg, Sweden, is a football manager and former player who played for leading Dutch, Italian and English clubs and won 68 caps for Sweden. He is also a reality television star, coach, and football commentator.

Hysén is the father of Tobias Hysén of IFK Göteborg, Alexander Hysén of GIF Sundsvall, and Anton Hysén of Utsiktens BK.

At Frankfurt Airport in 2001, Hysén attacked a man who had groped him while in the public restroom. In 2007, Hysén spoke at Stockholm Pride, the largest gay pride festival in the Nordic region. Many people from the gay community were surprised due to the earlier incident. At the Stockholm Pride, he delivered a speech denouncing sports homophobia and laid to rest his 2001 airport incident.

He stated that,

"I know that many LGBT people have been the victims of assaults and hate crimes. I can therefore understand if some people have been upset by the airport incident, so I want to be clear: I think that it is completely unacceptable that anybody should be subjected to assaults, insults or hate crimes due to their sexual orientation or gender identity ...The incident had been blown out of proportion in the media...In order to finally flush the Frankfurt Airport punch down the toilet: it is not the case that I beat up a gay person. I categorically deny that ...I'm not proud that I took a swing at him, but I am proud that I have integrity and that I reacted."

In the same speech he asked "How easy would it be for a sixteen-year-old boy who plays football to come out as gay to his team mates?" In March 2011, his youngest son, Anton Hysén, a professional footballer himself, came out of the closet to the media.

1966 – on this date the Belgian ice-skater and singer Geert Blanchard was born. He was the first gay Belgian sports-man who came out publicly.