#Solon the wise

[11queensupreme11]

by four main yanderes I mean: Hades, Beelzebub, Loki and Apollo

OHHHHH ok ok

poseidon: solon (greek for "wise" LMAO i just thought it'd be funny cuz i've seen those tiktoks of ppl realizing their parent named them after an ex, their first love, etc. in this case, since percy obviously won't name her kid 'anthonius', a name meaning 'wise/wisdom' is the closest)

hades: thalassus (greek for "the one of the sea", it's the name of a sea monster from rune scape lol 😭)

beelzebub: luke (LMAOOOOO YEAH IM SORRY. obviously, in arsenic blues i'm going with show!luke instead of book!luke, so percy would have a better but angstier bond with luke, not romantic ofc, but she really saw him as a friend. also, just imagine beel finding out percy named their kid after the guy who tried to kill her multiple times, became the host of KRONOS, and started a war that traumatized her 😂😂😂😂😂 she'd just be like "babe... it's complicated 🥺" beel: "HE RUINED YOUR LIFE?????")

apollo: makarios (greek for "blessed; happy; fortunate; privileged", the perfect name for a perpollo baby tbh)

loki: anthonius (what, it's norwegian too 😂), baldur LMAO JK, kyrr (old norse for "gentle; kind; peaceful", percy just wants her son to be NOTHING LIKE LOKI okay? you can't blame her 😭. also the name is pronounced like "shira")

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group F, Round 2, Poll 8:

Propaganda under the cut

Goncharov

He spends the entire film lying to and manipulating as many people as possible to achieve his ultimate goal (Katya is an obvious example; her having enough of that is a driving force behind their breaking relationship), and also including himself (insisting that he doesn't like Andrey when they're basically about to kiss anytime they're on screen). Also Gaslight Gatekeep Goncharov amiright

Medea Solon

She is an expert girl boss she was gonna marry the prince but he "fell in love" with someone else so she swore revenge. Also that someone else also swore revend against the prince because he is awfull.so now they are girl bossing together. Medea gaslights he most loyal servant/friend/lover a lot she views him only as a tool, but he sees her as his dream girl. She sometimes sleeps with him and in other ways leads him on, letting him think there is a chance when really there never was. she is just doing it to keep him loyal to her. She gatekeeps a lot of information from everyone that she is close to, partially because she thinks it's wise to keep important information secret but mostly I think she does it to stay in control of everything all the time always.

[darkmaga-retard]

Scott Ritter Sep 16, 2024

Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently declared an information war against the Russian media company RT.

He was assisted in this effort by James Rubin, the head of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center.

These two men, and the Biden administration, would do well to reflect on the words of John F. Kennedy, spoken in April 1961 at the height of the Cold War.

Speaking to an audience of American journalists, Kennedy declared that it is ���our obligation to inform and alert the American people--to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well--the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.”

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.

I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers--I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for as a wise man once said: ‘An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.’ We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment—the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution—not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply ‘give the public what it wants’—but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

This means greater coverage and analysis of international news—for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security—and we intend to do it.

[writingmochi]

an honest review of orange blood from musical and conceptual observation (not proofread)

opening remarks: wow... they really let go of manifesto saga all together, huh? ngl i think they're doing this to cater towards the dark moon audience (as per what sunghoon said in the vlog they did in lotte world towards solon, "are you more famous than me? you are me."

also, i'm gonna be truthful here: i haven't kept up with their lore stuff after border era finished (actually it's more of because i've been straying from kpop a lot now). i used to read webtoons but idk man i still think that hybe is really pushing their artists into making intellectual properties so they can license it to everyone (the successful ones are tiny tan and bts universe) but when you're here for the artistry in the music and audio visual aspect of the music, you kinda feel being left behind. so, relating to another hybe artist, i kind of like txt separating from their star seekers character but dark moon is technically enhypen's (and &team's) dna now.

concept-wise visually, i think it's good. we love a sanskrit representation with ksana and kalpa, but i think it'll be more interesting if they dig deeper into what it means cosmological, mythological, etc and relate it towards dark moon, sooha/selen, the werewolves of sunshine city and more.

also, it's an interesting choice on hybe's behalf to make a comeback between &team and enhypen around the same time, especially since they are brothers-with-rivalries group (yes, i just coin that teehee)

i can go on on a tangent about how belift doesn't know where enhypen's is going long-term wise but... eh, that's for another time...

let's start!

1.mortal: intro track as always! i love the more lo-fi instrumental of it (it can be a good bgm to reflect on mortality akfbauewiue4g) i also love that every member participates here, either by monologuing or singing. it's like a poem in a short film (it could actually be in the concept trailer, cmiiw) and i think it's gonna be a good visual spectacle on concerts (which given the state of kpop now. they will do tours even for EPs, too criminal actually)

also WHY THE FUCK IS THIS LONGER THAN THE TITLE TRACK FFS (unless this is not a monologue, but dialogues between differing perspective, i agree that it should be that long) oh gosh...

2.sweet venom: AINT THIS JAKE'S ERA?! my boy!!! also WE GET A FREAKING BRIDGE ISTG YOU DON'T KNOW HOW UNEXPECTED THAT IS AS SOMEONE WHO MISSES ENHYPEN'S BRIDGES (given-taken my love). from the post i made before this, i mentioned hybe is doing something interesting and the answer is... we're returning to 2020 hybe again with their retro-sounding title tracks like chasing the feeling, god of music, and this. also, i watched the mv first before hearing the audio and i love the stop-motion mv like for real (definitely matches the music)

i definitely can see and hear the michael jackson influence for this comeback and the choreo, funk is his genre after all. but the funk is making it easy-listening that it doesn't overwhelm those who aren't funk and disco listeners. the orchestral bytes in the bridges make it nostalgic towards songs in the 90s. it definitely is trying to cater towards gen z's affection towards nostalgia (which hits me too with the mj influence, riki probably likes this comeback so much :D)

highlights? oh the three oldest hyungs get it. jake has never been the center of a comeback (it's always heeseung or jungwon) and i love that he can hold himself up, for my fellow jaeyun lover be prepared to see him in thumbnails now~ heeseung and jay's vocals? chef's kiss! get those falsettos, kings! and their runs in the verses is just so good ughh

also, another tangent of me of the vocal mixing incoming. i think it's better but niki's voice sounds unrecognizable in the audio. maybe it's because his voice hasn't stop evolving or what not but yeah, if i didn't watch the mv first, i wouldn't recognize niki's voice. also the last chorus can be given two more bars cause it just unsatisfyingly ends? and i can understand why sunghoon doesn't have that much lines here because (and don't cancel me on this) it doesn't suit his timbre much because his voice is more on the baritone range than the others who are tenor and this song is in a high key. if maybe they can lower the key like a full step than it can match his voice more...

3.still monster: emo-ballad enha? is that you? the start does sound a bit more bossa-nova ish before the drums kick in. i love how muted the instrumental is so that we can hear the vocals more. it definitely has the analog phone filter to it, kinda of reminds me of haru haru by big bang but mellower. i think i know that synth keyboard sound font is because it sounds so vintage and i like how it harmonizes with the guitar. i can definitely play bass to the song *cue me trying to make the bass tab in my free time after this*. i can hear sunghoon again yay! also we love the ad-libs at the last chorus. get it, heeseung! and this song is very heeseung actually lol

4.blind: wow... synth? at the start i think this is gonna be like cyberpunk by ateez but then it goes into a more rnb route. i almost thought also jersey club percussion, okay drum fills in the pre-chorus. and BAM... synthwave! this is more like take me home by ateez. i think this could even be an ateez song, but it's not as abrasive as the ones ateez makes. that post-chorus part though when the bass kicks in, the fuck was that? and why can't we got more of that D:?

but i actually like how slow it's taking, like they're trying to take the vibes in first, ya know? i think it is because this is their first venture to synthwave from a more rnb/hip-hop-based set of songs. they tried it with tamed-dashed but this is a mature, slower version of it. also, heeseung with the ad-libs istg!!! heeseung stop it, don't tug my heart string like that. that bounce between sunghoon and niki, we like that!

5.orange flower (you complete me): *cue onf's complete* you complete... ME~~~~ when i see the tracklist, that's the kind of song i predict with this title. and, a signature of enhypen in this album, we have a more mellow version of the style they're going with this song. they're also catering this towards gen z as this is like the type of songs that's gonna be placed in a "indie rock end credits" type of music. it's pretty predictable with a name like orange flower for it to be a feel-good song. i actually like this more than tfw cause the instrumental is more optimistic.

i also like the verses more than the chorus (kinda a bit anti-climatic for me) but it still gives of a music that you play while riding bicycles with your friends around sunset (wish i could do that again but growing up is pain ehheheheeh)

6.sweet venom (english ver): since this is just sweet venom but in a different language, i'm gonna focus more on vocal performance and lyrics.

i like how gritty they sound, like the textures in their voice i can hear it better. the way the pronounce the words is clear enough to be deciphered. i love the pre-chorus in korean version better but i know that they're trying to make the lyrics make sense in the language. idk why but heeseung sounds better here like my man wtf is on with you istg

7.sweet venom (ft. bella poarch): first: i don't have beef with bella poarch cause i don't really care about her. she's just another influencer trying to survive the internet and life honestly. i think it's also another situation how engenes are jealous because enhypen's with a girl because they're delulu that enha can only be with them through sooha lmao (read: enhypen now performing bite me with female partners) because they dig into controversies that don't really involve them (international engenes, especially westerners). i just think that what western engenes are doing with the situation is reacting the same way that korean engene react to them during bite me era. it's part of stan culture and to break it, it's gonna be hard.

second: since this is technically sweet venom eng ver with bella poarch, i'll be focusing on vocal performance and lyrics (if they decide to change it)

even from the mixing, you can hear the difference from the vocals. bella's voice is much more airy with more reverb than enha's. i also think that it makes the song more richer, especially with the harmonics, some are a bit unnecessary. but from me, this changes sweet venom's color from a full orange color towards a peachy one with bella's feminine influence.

closing remarks: i definitely didn't expect to like this album as much.

coming from unliking three enha title tracks in a row, even i can't believe that i like the sound of this album. the sound is more cohesive; a mellow rnb touch in every track as they combine with other genres (sweet venom with funk, still monster with emo-ballad, blind with synthwave, and orange flower with indie rock) yet they still try to push the boundaries of genres they wanna try.

the highlight of the overall album is definitely heeseung. he kills it with his vocal performance and i love how versatile he is as he pushes some fancy things in one song and dim it in another, creating a more diverse set of texture for each song. jay is close second because this album just shows how much of a powerhouse he is (i think his music diversification with listening to rock songs helps him with that).

when it comes to the whole comeback, imo, it doesn't really match that well from both audio and visual. it's like they have two different visions cause the theme doesn't matches with between the art and music direction. it's like if belift just said "the main theme of this album is orange." okay so what do you mean orange? like visually, the concept photo is very orange-like and the music does sound orange to me, but what is the connection here? it also definitely shows with how enha can't explained what orange blood means in one interview they did. because i don't understand what they're trying to say with the phrase orange blood. is it orange because it's like fire? is it orange because it is derived from red blood? if it's like fire, then why did we get a funk song?

also, what saddens me is the track listing like only 5 new songs + one is more like monologue. even i can see it as a scam if you actually are trying to use your money to buy an album + they have 3 versions of this album with randomized photocard. please treat your money carefully!

final ranking:

7.sweet venom (english ver.)

6.mortal

5.sweet venom (ft. bella poarch)

4.still monster

3.orange flower (you complete me)

2.sweet venom

1.blind

small conclusion: DON'T INTERACT WITH VENOM AND POISON, FOLKS. ITS DANGEROUS FOR A REASON: YOU CAN DIE!!11!!! THERE AREN'T ANY SWEET VENOM UNLESS IT IS SUGAR (N EVEN THAT CAN CAUSE YOU DIABETES)

also, here's my predictions for the next entry of the blood series:

following the colors of the rainbow, it's gonna be yellow/golden blood. it's gonna make the blood series have seven albums from the colors of the rainbow (red = jungwon, orange = jake, yellow = ???)

following the next phrase related to blood (and because of selen from the lore), it's gonna be blue blood: a term used to refer to noble birth, royalty, etc here's me hoping they do a more dpr ian miito sound for a regal comeback

[loola-a]

if you're still taking oc ask, 13 for all IS (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

… oughh… i love … talking about the IS languages……

ft. my IS genderbend that changed almost nothing... xx

13. what languages do they speak? how fluently?

FL=fodlan language.. im lazy

aurora: aurora can speak albinean and is also fluent in FL. she can read, speak and write it perfectly! since albinea began trying to improve relations with fodlan, their national language started being taught in schools.

freya: also albinean and [insert fodlan language] but is definitely not as fluent. she was taught it in school but didn't pay as much attention as aurora HAHA speaking and reading are probably her strong suits, though she does have a much more noticeable accent than ro.

cassandra: agarthan and FL! i imagine agarthan being similar to greek considering a lot of the ones we meet are named after the seven sages of greece (cleobulus, thales, solon etc.) as a child, her mother also teaches her FL. she's good and reading, speaking and writing, but struggles with understanding certain figures of speech. Things like 'kick the bucket', 'getting cold feet' or having 'skeletons in your closet' go completely over her head!

florence: speaks only FL, but is able to understand many older forms of FL as well! This wasn't taught to her, but she picked it up due to how many old books she reads hehe

kristoff: dagdan and FL (kind of...) i imagined dagdan being vaguely eastern european, i used a few different slavish countries (mostly poland) for an idea of the language, names and fashion there!

kristoff is.. ok. ish. at FL. he was probably taught it in school until age 12, which is when the dagda/brigid war took place and it was taken of the curriculum. he's never been one to pay much attention at school, so his reading, writing and speaking skills aren't great HAHA to quote myself in the fe scuffle discord: he very often forgets words and phrases and will just give up and speak dagdan at you, hoping his very expressive hand movements will convey what he’s trying to say LOL

aiyla: speaks both duscan and FL. when she fled to the Alliance, she barely spoke any of the language and got assigned a tutor while she stayed at an orphanage. she's a very fast learner though, and was able to pick it up super quick! however, she's also very vocal about how much she dislikes speaking FL and how annoying and needlessly complicated the language is.

benjamin: since my morphis lore connects them to the agarthans, i see morphis' language being also reminiscent of greek! even though ben hasn't been back since he was a child, he remembers a surprising amount!

apart from a few keywords and phrases, ben knew almost no FL when he arrived in fodlan with his parents. after their disappearance, he was taught by other children he met on the streets, so he knows enough to get by, but his writing skills are still pretty weak haha

romeo: almyra seems to have been inspired (at least fashion-wise) by turkey or persia! so i imagine almyran being similar to some kind of turkic language?

rome is the least fluent of the gang .. FL is not taught in almyra, so neither his parents or his uncle would have been able to teach him. by the time he meets ben, he would have maybe known a few words. romeo would have then been taught FL by benjamin, but since he was also not professionally taught, romeo doesn't have a very strong grasp on the language. his reading and writing skills are very weak, and he's not super confident in his speaking either.

[hoonclub]

dont rlly understand why they push solon-sooha (alleged) love line in the mvs/concept trailer bc if we do it dark moon wise it should be heli-sooha so this is so out of pocket to me 😭

like the letter at the end sooha (but i assume this would actually be selene bc she tricked him) wrote to sunghoon (solon) + ppl theorizing sunghoon did trust sooha (hence why he was the only one dry while the others are in the ocean (“bringing our comrades back to life during the next full moon at the black sea” > sooha bringing the rest to shore) + him standing a bit far from the others as they watch the house burn) but he didnt know that it was selene not sooha. also sooha’s outfit when she was locked in the house is the same one from the dark blood concept trailer with sunghoon is it not ???

i wonder if these are events before dark blood, the rest of enha just became distrustful of sooha (the real sooha !) and sunghoon is the only one who knows which ones which and decided to save her? anyway. thoughts?

[randomnameless]

Something I found out re-reading the script and typing about FE Tellius in general :

In the final chapter of FE10's Part 3, when Pelleas is dead, Almedha explains a bit of backgroud information to Miccy and the DB peeps - the convo flows differently if Pelleas is alive or was killed earlier on, but for this post, I'll use the convo she has when Pelleas died, aka when Almedha is at her lowest point ever :

Tauroneo: “I remember the horror of that disease. King Ashnard took the throne after the plague killed most of the royal family, including his father. The tragedy is still fresh in my mind.” Almedha: “That was no disease. It was the curse of a blood pact.” Tauroneo: “What?!” Almedha: “It was all plotted by my husband in a bid to claim the throne of Daein. He used the curse… to steal the lives of his family and citizens…”

tfw no dakimakura for Ashnard :(

Almedha: “Ashnard, he… always worried about the future of a world without equals. He was born an outstanding man, wise beyond his age, yet could never become king. So to shape his ideal world, he decided to resort to underhanded schemes. That’s right… he tricked his father into signing a blood pact with a traveling wise man.”

Note that Almedha still calls him an outstanding man, "wise beyond his age" after dropping earlier how he fucking killed his family and several randoms to gain the throne - it's just some "underhanded scheme" uwu.

-> bar showing Almedha has interesting feelings regarding Ashnard even after everything that happened to her, her son and her brother, she knew Ashnard was the kind of dude who would kill his family and his randoms to get the throne, and yet still remained by his side. That mutual attraction must have been hella strong!

Anyways, we have a follow up about who or what the "traveling wise man" did :

Tauroneo: “Who was he!? That wise man…?” Almedha: “I do not know the details… To cure my illness, that man gathered at Daein the most bizarre people on the continent… Izuka was one of those people. He said he was a scholar studying the properties of wildlife… but, in truth he was nothing more than a madman hell bent on developing biological weapons… Oh ho ho ho.”

What illness is Almedha refering to ? The "cannot transform in a laguz anymore" illness?

So, timeline wise we have :

Ashnard and Almedha meet, they develop a "strong mutual attraction", Ashnard meets Lekain and tricks his dad to sign a blood pact with Lekain so the royal family dies and he gets his ticket for the throne (random peons dying is just some unfortunate casualty!), Soren is born, Almedha becomes "ill".

Lekain gathers randoms at Daein, including fucking Izuka, to officially search for a "cure" to her illness or "study the properties of wildlife" - but actually starts to work on his Feral Ones project...

Soren has no stats, so Ashnard "reject" him and later casts Almedha away, but not before using Soren, as a bait, to lure Rajaion and ultimately turn him - and a red dragon platoon - in a Feral One.

The Tellius recollection book says she had a mental and emotional shock after losing her powers AND after witnessing Rajaion becoming Ashnard's mount.

So is Almedha going all "lol." actually representing how broken she is? At this point, her son was killed, she's still sure Rajaion died because of her and connected 2+2 = 4 : while Solon pretended to look for a cure to heal her, he was actually refining the Feral One drug to use on her older brother.

Despite everything, she doesn't seem to have a particular resentment at Ashnard, nor call him names. Almedha might lash out at random people (Miccy, Tauroneo), but imo, she sees herself as the biggest reason why the tragedy (the loss of her son, her brother, etc etc) happened - and I can't really shake away the feeling that it is fueled by her sudden loss of power.

Tl;Dr : Almedha, per that book, "descended into madness" when she lost her powers due to mating with a Beorc (and witnessing Rajaion turned into a Feral One).

Peak anti-racism duology : Laguz can die twice when they procreate with a Beorc, first they become "crippled", and second, they lose their mind. Very Progressive (tm) writing.

[azelfandquilava]

Okay, I'm gonna need your headcanons on Cornelia and what she thinks of the rest of TWSITD (as well as FE4 Hilda)

Okie I'ma be real with you and admit that the stuff I know about Hilda is only based off her lines in FEH and things my FE4-loving fren told me about.

Cleobulus on the other hand I got plenty to say, so here goes:

Most important one outta the way first: Cleobulus is a woman. Whether you wanna HC her as a trans woman on top of that is up to ya'll.

She dislikes Thales. Like, a lot. She views him as a total relic of the past, believing that HER way forward will lead to a stronger future for Agartha.

Odesse is Cleobulus' right-hand man and experiment buddy, essenitally he's version of Myson. Her and Odesse' experiments on Hapi eventually led to him gaining that ability to summon monsters that we see in the Lysithea, Hapi and Edie paralogue and the last map of Verdeant Winds.

One of her previous experiments was unleashing the plague in the Kingdom that Cornelia helped to cure. Cleobulus didn't take kindly to that as one can imagine.

Speaking of Cornelia, Cleo really hates her. To the point of pettiness (ever wondered why Cleo doesn't ditch the disguise in either game? Spite's a hell of a thing).

Ability-wise I envision her as a Trickster, combining Dark Magic and Swordplay. (Maaaybe she steals Thales' sword "Ridill"? :3)

Cleobulus has a soft spot for Kronya and enjoys doting on her.

She is mostly indifferent to Solon, but probably doesn't like him that much cuz of his loyalty to Thales. Likewise she views Myson as nothing more than Thales' lapdog.

[aboutanancientenquiry]

The figure of ἐπιστάµενος (a person with knowledge) and the relationship between poetry and history in Herodotus

"To begin with a striking internal parallel, Herodotus introduces the Athenian lawmaker and poet Solon into his narrative as one of several Greek wise men or sages, σοφισταί (29.1), who visited the court of the Lydian king Croesus in Sardis. Before Solon has demonstrated his disregard for the king’s wealth, Croesus too makes much of the wisdom (σοφίη) that Solon has gained through his travels. However, when Solon proclaims his fellow Athenian Tellos and the Argive brothers Cleobis and Biton to be more prosperous than his fabulously wealthy host, Croesus demands to know the basis for Solon’s rankings, to which the Athenian replies (1.32.1):

ὁ δὲ εἶπε· Ὦ Κροῖσε, ἐπιστάµενόν µε τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐπειρωτᾷς ἀνθρωπηίων πρηγµάτων πέρι.

‘Croesus’, Solon replied, ‘you are asking me about human affairs, as one who knows how utterly resentful and disruptive [sc. of human prosperity] the deity is.’

Solon’s self-description as ἐπιστάµενος45 is underscored by the emphatic placement of the participle immediately after his direct address of the king. As I have argued elsewhere,46 the explication of this gnomic generalisation by the Herodotean Solon incorporates several references to surviving pieces of the historical Solon’s poetry, beginning with his statement that he sets the limit of a human’s life at 79 years (32.2 W2, cf. 27).

If we look beyond Herodotus, external parallels confirm the use of ἐπιστάµενος to describe the skill and wisdom of the archaic singer/poet. At Odyssey 11.367-8, Alcinous praises the arrangement (µορφή) and good sense (φρένες ἐσθλαί) that characterise Odysseus’ tale of his travails while traveling from Troy: ‘You have told your story in expert fashion, like a singer’ (µῦθον δ’ ὡς ὅτ’ ἀοιδὸς ἐπισταµένως κατέλεξας).47 Solon’s longest surviving poem (13 W2) contains a generic description of a poet as ‘instructed in the gifts of the Olympian Muses, expert in the full measure of lovely skill/wisdom’ (ἱµερτῆς σοφίης µέτρον ἐπιστάµενος, 52). The parallel with the most striking Herodotean resonance, however, occurs in four lines from the Theognidean corpus, describing the poet’s responsibility to his audience (769-72):

χρὴ Μουσῶν θεράποντα καὶ ἄγγελον, εἴ τι περισσόν εἰδείη, σοφίης µὴ φθονερὸν τελέθειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ µὲν µῶσθαι, τὰ δὲ δεικνύεν, ἄλλα δὲ ποιεῖν· τί σφιν χρήσηται µοῦνος ἐπιστάµενος;

The attendant and messenger of the Muses, if he should know Something extraordinary, must not be grudging of his wisdom, But must seek out knowledge, display it, and compose it. What good will it do him if he alone is knowledgeable?

The recurrent emphasis on the poet’s special knowledge/wisdom/expertise culminates in the pointedly deferred participle, ἐπιστάµενος. Robert Fowler calls special attention to the penultimate line, with its triple admonition to ‘seek out, display, and compose knowledge’.48 Fowler suggests that these activities comprise precisely what Herodotus means by that much-discussed phrase in the first clause of his opening sentence, ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις. In Fowler’s own words, ‘[Herodotus] sought knowledge and, good Greek that he was, shared it publicly’.

In fact Fowler’s formulation fails to do justice to the specificity of this text, since by its criteria what Herodotus proves himself to be in sharing the results of his inquiries is not merely a good Greek, but more precisely a good Greek poet. In other words, at the end of his prologue—an unmistakably prominent juncture in his narrative—Herodotus not only invokes the precedent of the Odyssey but also, and more broadly, promises the kind of generalising insight into the nature of the human condition traditionally professed by poets. It is as if Herodotus anticipated Aristotle’s criticism in the Poetics (1451a–b) that history—and indeed, explicitly Herodotean history—is less philosophical than poetry because it tends to focus on specific past events rather than universal human truths.49 On the contrary: from the outset Herodotus frames his account of historical particulars as a manifestation of the sobering universal truth that human prosperity is fleeting. In other words, Herodotus brings to historical narrative a poet’s eye for an issue of fundamental importance, mankind’s place in the universe at large.50 This is also reflected in the tendency of prominent advisor figures in the Histories to utter gnomic generalities when offering counsel in the face of specific crises, as they warn their powerful interlocutors about divine resentment of human prosperity and mortal liability to misfortune (Solon to Croesus, 1.32); or the cycle of human affairs that prevents anyone from enjoying continual success (Croesus to Cyrus, 1.207.2); or the deity that cuts down whatever is outstanding and allows no one but himself to ‘think big’ (Artabanus to Xerxes, 7.10ε)."

From the article of Charles C. Chiasson "Herodotus' Prologue and the Greek Poetic Tradition", Histos 6 (2012), 114-143

[deathlessathanasia]

“Gods are less visible than we assume: men cannot readily identify them, because they operate in disguise or unseen. And Zeus is different again: not once in the poem does he walk the human earth. He never travels anywhere, except to Mt Ida in Iliad 14. His major interventions are to weigh a person’s doom in the scales – this is psychostasia, ‘soul-weighing’. By some unexplained process this is simultaneously the will of Zeus, and failure at the scales precipitates the doom of the unfortunate Sarpedon or Hector. I do not believe that this is something separate, determined by an impersonal force which constrains Zeus, ‘fate’ – Greeks had no such concept in those days. Rather, his judgment, however human and reluctant in its presentation, is always a matter of weighing and of determining the right time. Achilles is in no doubt that mortals should look to Zeus for the source of their fortunes and happiness. There are two pithoi (massive storage jars) on Zeus’s threshold which colourfully embody the world of possible evils and possible successes. He draws from these jars and gives man one of two things – a mixture, or all bad. Such, says Achilles, is human life, that we suffer on the earth and that they up there live without care. This is a window on the harshness of life as it appears to us at blacker times and in blacker moods, and there is a strong feeling of revelation in these lines as the Iliad takes stock of itself and raises the question of closure. Like many portraits of how the gods work and what they do, this is not part of a systematic theology – we are offered a piece in a possible jigsaw, a snapshot from the world as it seems  at some moments. We do not conclude from such passages that ‘the Greeks believed’ that your destiny was assigned to you at birth by Zeus, king of the gods. It is simply one way of viewing it.

Poets, particularly in the Archaic period, are fond of gloomy presentations of the gulf between man and gods, something which has led some scholars to talk of an ‘archaic world view’. Homer would  in fact have been entirely comfortable with these postures. Achilles’ pots are the basis of Mimnermos’ comments (c. 630 BC): . . . there is no  man to whom Zeus does not give many ills. Mimnermos, fr. 2.15f. West This clear sense that Zeus’s influence over events is pervasive and thoroughgoing is underlined a generation later by Alcaeus in a papyrus scrap (fr. 39 Lobel-Page), where he appears to be saying that it is not possible for mortal men to escape what is determined and that it was a wise man who said that ‘contrary to the fate laid down by Zeus [the moira of Zeus] not even a hair’ could be moved. A special word for Zeus is telos – end, target, completion, fulfilment. This is already embedded in Homer, Iliad 1.5, where Zeus’s plan was accomplished (eteleieto). Solon (c. 600 BC) complains that men do not think long enough about acts of violence ‘but Zeus oversees the telos of everything’ (fr. 13.17 West). And Semonides of Amorgos (c. 650 BC), rarely a cheerful writer, hammers home the message: Boy, it is Zeus the deep-thundering who holds the telos of all things that exist and disposes them as he will. Men do not have mind, but day by day they live the lives cattle do, knowing nothing of how the god will bring each thing to fulfilment [ekteleutesei]. Semonides of Amorgos, fr. 1.1–5 West Zeus of line 1 has become a rather vaguer ‘the god’ in line 5. It is worth remembering when you read Greek literature that Zeus is not always named: he is ‘the god’ par excellence.”

 - Ken Dowden, Zeus

[regaliasonata]

Dino Fury Season 1 Review

Alrighty I've finished season 1, what an oddly fun ride.

-Score wise I think I'm still going to keep it at an 8.5/10, things fluctuated to my liking though some areas were alright. Overall I enjoyed what was given to us.

-character wise each ranger has an aspect I enjoy, has a well rounded dynamic to really keep things afloat for me. The antagonist side had some liveliness that I liked as well, when's Santaura waking up I want to see her badly.

-favorite ranger wise I still think Javi and Ollie are up there but at this point everyone's gotten my attention. Aiyon was a pretty nice addition to the team, dude's so silly. One thing I did notice is how they are treating Ollie writing wise, I love the guy but can we please where his ego comes from. Pets not let him be rude(still think there's some self esteem issues going on.)

-finale was fun, the moment for Amelia when she was fighting Void Knight and the Green MM was one of my favorites.

-One aesthetic I appreciate is the effects for some of the special attacks, like with the battle armor and their signature slashes(The team up in the finale was so pretty like...🟡🟢🔵⚫️ and then Amelia making a fucking sword out of all of them🗡✨️)

-as for background characters everyone is well rounded, Jane and J-Borg are still alright, Pop-Pop is the best father and Solon with Lani are just top tier.

-megazords are still top notch in my opinion, I love all of the zords. The flexibility and Lego themed aspects are still nice to me.

-my hope for season 2 are still a wip, I just want some nice Ollie moments. Like writers please just give my guy something substantial, or at least do it for Cosmic Fury, and show of his megazord formation more. Not that hard to do.

Anyways that's all for now, so enjoy this beautiful Zayto gift and the megazord effects^^

[stoicbreviary]

Sayings of Solon

Solon (c. 630-560 BC) was the great lawgiver of early Athens, and many of his reforms, though not always initially successful, were the foundation for later Athenian democratic institutions. 

While attuned to the practicalities of politics and economics, Solon also understood how the welfare of any community is fundamentally moral, and so he always asked not only if it happened to be expedient, but also if it was right. 

Solon stood against the scheming of Pisistratus, going so far as to rush into the assembly fully armed to warn against the dangers of autocracy: 

Men of Athens, I am wiser than some of you and more courageous than others: wiser than those who fail to understand the plot of Pisistratus, more courageous than those who, though they see through it, keep silence through fear. 

Many thought him insane, and so he was to die in exile. Like any insightful man, he saw the bigger picture: 

A little while, and the event will show To all the world if I be mad or no. 

We still have some of his other wise utterances: 

He used to say that those who had influence with tyrants were like the pebbles employed in calculations; for, as each of the pebbles represented now a large and now a small number, so the tyrants would treat each one of those about them at one time as great and famous, at another as of no account. 

Speech is the mirror of action. 

Do not counsel what is most pleasant, but what is best. 

An unlucky rich man is more capable of satisfying his desires and of riding out disaster when it strikes, but a lucky man is better off than him . . . He is the one who deserves to be described as happy. But until he is dead, you had better refrain from calling him happy, and just call him fortunate. 

No fool can be silent at a feast. 

If through your vices you afflicted are, Lay not the blame of your distress on God; You made your rulers mighty, gave them guards, So now you groan 'neath slavery's heavy rod.

Consider your honor, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath. 

Do not be rash to make friends and, when once they are made, do not drop them. 

In giving advice seek to help, not to please, your friend. 

Wealth I desire to have; but wrongfully to get it, I do not wish.Justice, even if slow, is sure.

Watch well each separate citizen, Lest having in his heart of hearts A secret spear, one still may come Saluting you with cheerful face, And utter with a double tongue The feigned good wishes of his wary mind. 

Rule, after you have first learned to submit to rule. 

I grow old ever learning many things.

For often evil men are rich, and good men poor; But we will not exchange with them Our virtue for their wealth since one abides always, While riches change their owners every day. 

Nothing too much. 

As the Deity has given us Greeks all other blessings in moderation, so our moderation gives us a kind of wisdom which is timid, in all likelihood, and fit for common people, not one which is kingly and splendid. This wisdom, such as it is, observing that human life is ever subject to all sorts of vicissitudes, forbids us to be puffed up by the good things we have, or to admire a man's felicity while there is still time for it to change. 

Be led by reason. Shun evil company. Honor the gods. Reverence parents. 

Having been asked what city was best to live in: "That city in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers." 

Men keep their agreements when it is an advantage to both parties not to break them; and I shall so frame my laws that it will be evident to the Athenians that it will be for their interest to observe them.

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group F, Round 1, Poll 9:

Propaganda under the cut

Medea Solon

She is an expert girl boss she was gonna marry the prince but he "fell in love" with someone else so she swore revenge. Also that someone else also swore revend against the prince because he is awfull.so now they are girl bossing together. Medea gaslights he most loyal servant/friend/lover a lot she views him only as a tool, but he sees her as his dream girl. She sometimes sleeps with him and in other ways leads him on, letting him think there is a chance when really there never was. she is just doing it to keep him loyal to her. She gatekeeps a lot of information from everyone that she is close to, partially because she thinks it's wise to keep important information secret but mostly I think she does it to stay in control of everything all the time always.

Jaxon Hall

Gaslight: keeps lying to his protegée (who's also the main character) about everything from his past to his plans to the point where even we as the readers can’t be sure what he's up to at any given time, also makes said protegée question the trustworthiness of her loved ones to keep her emotionally dependent on him Gatekeep: his claim to fame is the authorship of a pamphlet that divides the in-universe supernatural community, so-called voyants (already oppressed by the government), into orders by the "purity" of their auras, which has led to widespread discrimination against the "lower orders" who are seen as less worthy as well as the imprisonment of a whole group of people in a slum. He's fine with that as long as it means he gets to be on top of this new hierarchy, bonus points if it also keeps the members of the "lower orders" from holding positions of authority in the voyant underworld. Girlboss: had to fight for himself from an early age as he was orphaned when he was four, then lived as an urchin on the streets of London, a city where he could have been killed just for existing as a voyant. Was then picked up by a group of criminals who exploited him and had him begging on the streets for ten years while he was also slowly being driven to insanity by his own supernatural gift. Given even the hint of an opportunity, he left that life behind and fought tooth and claw to never return to it: he went from illiterate teenager who didn't understand his own gift to famous author and expert on all things voyant in around six years with only the help of his own ruthless intelligence, and then continued to rise to power first as a leader in the criminal underworld and then as an important member of the government (yeah, the one trying to kill all voyants) after catching the interest of the person behind said government (all while financing his life in luxury with a human trafficking ring he's built behind the backs of both his allies in the underworld and his sponsors in the government). He does all of that acting like he should have a secret lair in a volcanoe somewhere and with enough charisma to make him, if not a particularly good person, definitely one of the most interesting characters you've ever encountered.

[darkmaga-retard]

International Man: Recently, the Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said: “The time has come for policy to adjust.”

It marked the official end of one of the steepest rate hike cycles in US history. The Fed will soon go back to easy money policies.

What do you make of this?

Doug Casey: Any discussion of what the Fed should or should not do, ought to be prefaced by a statement about how the Fed should never have been created, should not exist, and should be abolished. But that’s just in an ideal world. It’s not going to happen in the real world until the rotten system created by central banking collapses.

As it is, we’re stuck with a bunch of bureaucrats toying with the most important price in society, the price of money—interest rates. And, of course, everybody watches the Fed, trying to guess and second-guess what they’re going to do.

The way I see it? They need easy money just to finance the $2 trillion Federal deficit. It’s no longer a question of wise solons twisting this knob or pressing that pedal to optimize the economy as if it were a machine. At this point, they’re desperately trying to keep the machine from blowing up. In fact, even the commonly used machine analogy is wrong. The economy is more like a rainforest; trying to control it like a 19th-century factory is a big mistake.

[theogmissg]

The Seven Sages or Seven Wise Men was the title given to seven philosophers, statesmen, and law-givers of the 7th–6th centuries BC who were renowned for their wisdom.

Mosaic of the Seven Sages, Baalbeck, Lebanon, century A.D., National Museum of Beirut, Lebanon. Calliope at the center, and clockwise from top: Socrates, Chilon, Pittacus, Periander, Cleobulus (damaged section), Bias, Thales, and Solon.

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Asclepius / アスクレピオス, Caduceus Staff / カドゥケウスの杖, Thyrsus / テュルソスの杖, Circe Staff / キルケの杖

Asclepius (JP: アスクレピオス; rōmaji: asukurepiosu) is an Agarthan-made staff wielded by Cleobulus under the guise of Faerghus's court mage Cornelia. In Greek mythology, Asclepius was the son of the sun and healing god Apollo and the mortal princess Coronis. From his father and the wise centaur Chiron, Asclepius learned of medicinal practices. From the snakes—symbols of healing in Greek culture—he learned a way to revive the dead. Depending on the legend, this was either directly from a snake whispering in his ear, or indirectly from a watching a snake revive another than Asclepius accidentally killed. With serpentine knowledge, Asclepius took up a staff bearing a snake and began resurrecting the dead. Neither Zeus nor the god of the underworld Hades were pleased with this, fearing him disrupting the cycle of life and spreading this skill to mortals. Zeus struck the physician with his thunderbolt, and he would become immortalized in the stars. The Rod of Asclepius, matching the description of his staff, is considered an icon of healing and medicine. Asclepius was deified, worshipped as a reliever of sickness. To this day, many professional medical services use the Rod of Asclepius as their symbol.

The myth behind Asclepius and the history of his staff ties well to the character of both Cornelia and Cleobulus. The former was a well-educated mage that managed to cure a terrible plague that had fallen of Faerghus. The political power that she received as a result made her a target for those who slither in the dark. Then for Cleobulus and the Agarthans, their scientific approach was shunned by the Goddess for giving them the ability to do what they shouldn't. Also, the staff in Fire Emblem just looks like an actual Asclepius.

The Caduceus Staff (JP: カドゥケウスの杖; rōmaji: kadukeusu no tsue) is a sacred weapon tied to the Crest of Cethleann. In Greek myth, Caduceus is the staff of Hermes and the messengers of the gods. The staff features a pair of wings and two snakes coiling around the shaft, just as it appears in Fire Emblem. There are a few tales regarding how Hermes received his staff. One simply says that he placed his wand between two dueling snakes; this brought peace and balance to the serpents. Another states that it was given to him by Apollo in exchange for a harp that Hermes crafted using a tortoise shell. Due to the similarity in appearance, many modern health organizations, starting with the U.S. Army Medical Corps, have erroneously used the Caduceus symbol in place of the Rod of Asclepius. This mistake is generally frowned upon, as Hermes and his staff are not tied to healing but to merchants, thieves, and commerce.

Thyrsus (JP: テュルソスの杖; rōmaji: tyurusosu no tsue) is a Hero's Relic tied to the Crest of Gloucester. In the cult of Dionysus, Thyrsus or Thyrsos is a symbol of prosperity and the hedonistic lifestyle the god endorses. It is a wand of fennel, topped with a pine cone. It would be regularly carried by the thiasus, the maenads, and in the myths, the satyrs. Though it was more of a ceremonial symbol, often paired with a chalice of wine, there were stories of the staff having a true spearpoint hidden beneath the pine cone used to drive others to insanity.

All of the above listed staves were actually not original to Three Houses. Rather, they all begun as Carnages used by the character Kiria in Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. Of the three, only Thyrsus featured a drastic design change.

The Circe Staff (JP: キルケの杖; rōmaji: kiruke no tsue) is another Agarthan-made staff, used by the dark bishop Solon. Best known for her appearance in the Odyssey, Circe was a sorceress and daughter of the sun god Helios that resided on the isle of Aeaea. She was skilled in the art of medicine and potion brewing. For this, men would seek her to make love potions; if she fell for the man and he refused her advances, she would use her potions to punish both man and woman, often by turning them into animals. When Odysseus and his men breached the shore of Aeaea, they are offered a bountiful meal, laced with a magic potion that will turn a consumer into a pig. It is only by the advice of the god Hermes and the warnings of Eurylochus that the hero is able to avoid the curse and free his men from their spell.

The connection to the staff and the character of Solon is readily apparent. Just as Circe abuses those she dislikes, changing their forms through the use of her magic, Solon and the Agarthans happily experiment with humanity, whom they consider "beasts." They use their magic and technology to drive humans mad, or even turn them into demonic beasts.

This was a segment from a larger document reviewing the name of most every weapon and item in Three Houses and Three Hopes. Click Here to read it in full.