#zeus apologist

[transbutchbluess]

classics students who say they hate Zeus but read "dark romance" retellings of Hades and Persephone… i want to scream (i just smiled and said ‘really ? Zeus is one of my favorite gods !’ and then ‘Hades and Persephone are so interesting though, I love the Homeric Hymn to Demeter’)

#if you romanticize Persephone’s kidnapping and rape why do you hate Zeus #just why #i really like Hades btw #but if they’re going to judge a god through the myths they should do it with all the gods #helpol #classics student #classics studyblr #zeus devotee #zeus apologist #zeus deity #hades and persephone

[tqsg]

ok but if a god told u he loved u u would be batshit too dont lie

#im a beryl grace apologist sorry ‼️‼️ #beryl grace #pjo hoo toa #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #zeus pjo #riordanverse

[thaliasthunder]

cant believe jason never actually considered gay ppl's existence until he met nico when his dad zeus is literally bisexual

#guess who just remembered ganymedes' myth #bro i think u just had to look up for a sec #bc zeus says hi #dis is not a ze*s apologist post tho he still a bitch #just pointing out jason's shitty gaydar #jason grace #zeus #percy jackson #nico di angelo #will solace #annabeth chase #piper mclean #leo valdez #hazel lavesque #frank zhang #rick riordan #riordanverse

[psyaurorak]

LO fandom stop being victim blamey challenge FAILED

#anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus criticism #I’m sorry I’m just so mad #Demeter literally gets coerced into sex #and taken advantage of #but she’s a bitch for believing Zeus or daring to stand against hades #or Artemis! #what do LO fans mean when they say she should’ve known about Persephone’s rape #WHAT DO THEY MEAN #I- goddamn #and there’s also victim blaming to Persephone too #the Apollo apologists need to STOP #I could keep going but I won’t

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

aaaaand here's the end of the threeshot! Enjoy!

#my fics #a stepmother's word #the trials of apollo #apollo #hera #zeus #hurt/comfort #guilt #author is a hera apologist #yep i can confirm it #i am both an apollo and hera apologist

[helpimstuckinafandom]

No you know what? Fuck Zeus

#literal worst #i'm talking about in the canon of the riordanverse #but also normal greek mythology #but this is about pjo zeus #fuck him #i remember people defending and beig so offended that apollo was like 'yeah he's highkey abusive' #like he's not wrong #have you MET that man #anyway i'd love to see the venn diagram of like... endeavor stans from bnha and zeus apologists #pjo #hoo #toa

[ares-apologist]

LO FastPass #195 Theories (Spoilers!!)

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LORE OLYMPUS #195!!

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So we know the underworld is in a dire situation because Cerberus has come to get Persephone to help... I feel like maybe Hecate/ Hermes (he is the messenger god) sent him to get her because Hades is out of control. 

The timing of it being after Zeus failed her (again) for arbitrary reasons leads me to believe Hades knows he failed her for no reason and flew into a rage, maybe becoming titan sized? It would make sense because the only time he’s ever lost control like that is when he found out about Apollo. 

Thats my theory anyway... the suspense is killing me I need the new episode now!!! 

#lore olympus #lore olympus spoilers #hades and persephone #hades #lo persephone #persephades #zeus sucks #lo zeus #lo hecate #ares apologist

[aryxchse]

godly bonding day / platonic! hera x poseidon & percy jackson x daughter of hera! reader.

a / n : people should give more about hera and her other siblings other than z*us fr. and call me crazy or whatever but i've always thought hera married the wrong brother 🤞🏻

warnings : hera apologist right here, poseidon and hera being sweet siblings, zeus cheating, maybe swearing

"alright mom, that's it," you said, holding both of your mother's hands. "we're having a selfcare day together."

hera sniffed, looking at you with teary eyes. zeus once again cheated on your mother, and the gossip spreads around olympus very quick. specially when your mother has little spies that follows zeus' every movement.

instead of taking revenge -simply because she was sick of it-, your mother called you to olympus for cheering her mood. and well, maybe you reminded her the revenge she took from zeus.

"selfcare day?" hera asked, tilting her head. the goddess and queen of heavens was so vulnerable in front of you. and it made you think like she was a normal mother, who was crying because of her husbands betrayal. "what is that?"

"i'll call percy and we'll take you to new places in the mortal world," you said, smiling at her. the goddess sat straight, considering the idea. "who knows? maybe he'll bring poseidon!"

hera smiled at the mention of her favorite brother. "oh i love poseidon! he's the dearest to me." you nodded at her comment, caressing her knuckles. "i know mom. today is your day, we can't let a man ruin your mood, not anymore."

hera wiped away her tears as she smiled. "oh my lovely daughter, you're so kind to me."

"of course mom," you smiled. "come on, let's go."

‎ 🦚

while you waited percy to call you to say the suprise were ready, you and hera visited multiple shops and places. hera appearently loved iced americano with chocolate chip cookies. and she loved the style old money, since she had to change her clothes to more comfortable ones.

now you guys headed to some old but vintage beach, were percy and poseidon were waiting.

hera took a sip from her third iced americano, smiling at the taste. "i sure want these in olympus," she said, stopping to take off her shoes. "their taste is amazing."

you did the same as you took a sip from your own coffee, taking the shoes inside of your bag. "i know right?" you said as the smell of the salt water started to fill your nose.

you both heard percy and poseidon talk pationetly about something, but they stopped and smiled the moment they saw you.

"hey baby," percy said, hugging your waist and kissing your cheek. you hugged him back with your free arm, smiling immediatly. "hi!"

"poseidon!" hera cheered next to you, running on the sand to hug her brother. poseidon laughed and picked hera up in his arms, turning around with her. "hera, my lovely sister!" he cheered back. "good to finally see you on the mortal world!"

"thanks to my daughter," hera answered, finally standing on her foot but still not letting poseidon go. "she helped me open my eyes."

you blowed a kiss to her as you stand next to percy, your arm still lazily hanged around his neck.

"well sister!" poseidon said, turning her around to walk around the beach. "let's have some dinner eh?"

‎ 🦚

who would've thought god of the sea made the best meal?

you all eated happily together, which was a weird sight. you and percy never thought your godly side of the family would bound this much. but well, maybe they needed a little courage.

you and percy insisted on washing the dishes, letting the divine siblings have their moment. they eventually agreed, leaving you both.

you washed the plates and handed them to percy to dry, while watching your parents laugh together from the window.

"i thought hera would never smile," percy grinned, drying some plate you gave him. you washed a fork, chuckling. "that's because she has the worst husband."

poseidon picked hera up and throw her on his shoulders, running around on the beach like two little kids. some thunders appeared but the siblings didn't cared, laughing like crazy. you and percy started laughing with them behind the window, getting happier each second.

"she really needed that." you said quietly, giving the last spoon to percy. you closed the water and percy finished drying up the spoon, putting back to it's place.

"believe me, he needed that too." percy said, stading behind you and hugging your waist. you gladly appreciated the love, hugging back his arms and resting your head against his cheek.

poseidon finally put down hera but the siblings hugged eachother, hera's laughter echoing through the beach. the lightning get really loud, but the siblings made a middle finger to the sky, clearly saying 'i don't give a fuck about you!' to their most annoying brother.

you smiled. "appearently gods need to have a bonding day too." percy nodded, kissing on top of your head.

"siblings are siblings everywhere after all." he whispered, and you chuckled.

#uh i didnt really like this but STAND HERA AND POSEIDON SIBLINGHOOD!!! #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus #percy jackson series #pjo hoo toa #percy jackson imagine #percy jackson headcanon #pjo show #pjo tv show #perseus jackson x you #percy x you

[mrs-jamesbbarnes]

Not to be a Poseidon apologist, but you guys remember that by not claiming him or being a part of his life, he probably saved Percy’s life right? It was pretty much understood that if Poseidon had claimed him before, Zeus or Hades or some other god would have killed Percy for existing. He only claimed him when a.) he realized it was the only way to keep him safe and b.) he realized he needed Percy’s help to prevent the gods starting a war

To clarify, Percy is completely justified in feeling abandoned and betrayed by his father. But as watchers/readers, we also have the benefit of seeing the the bigger picture.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Poseidon hate recently, which sucks because Poseidon wasn’t a great dad, but he was also thousands of years old and didn’t exactly have the best father figure himself. He also isn’t a normal human dude. His family has the power to start a world-ending war. Cut the guy a little break.

#poseidon #percy jackson #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #pjo #also WHY did they not cast Logan Lerman as Poseidon #seen a lot of posts about that too

[zipadeea]

I am not a Zeus apologist absolutely fucking not, but....I found it very interesting the way Zeus' face softened and he backed off after Poseidon mentioned Thalia. I know we (Percy included) make fun of Zeus for turning his daughter into a tree as she lay dying, but maybe he always knew there was a chance she could be saved. Maybe Zeus always knew Thalia could come back. Maybe Zeus loves Thalia just as much as Poseidon loves Percy.

#percy jackson #pjo #spoilers #pjo spoilers #thalia grace #zeus #poseidon #greek gods #greek mythology #and then there's jason #lol #oh jason grace

[mythsandheather]

My version of Ganymede/Aquarius. I really hope he never shows up in LO cuz RS is lowkey homophobic and she’ll do him dirty.

He likes wine, dropping back into the mortal realm to show his human family the constellation named after him, playing with baby Dio and pressing people’s buttons.

He has several pet roosters from Zeus. They are attack trained. If he’s not bothering Zeus or following Hebe around, he’ll be with the nymphs. Mans is a nymph apologist. Might draw more with him yet.

#my content #my art #lore olympus criticism #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus #lo criticism #lo critical #ganymede #Zeus #Dionysus #it’s pride month so

[thewitchfarhan]

Why are you reblogging from evilios? Do you know that they’re a zeus apologist, right? 💀💀💀

I'm going to preface this by saying this is going to be a *MONSTER* of a post, so be warned - it's gonna be long.

TLDR: “But when it comes to the spiritual people I follow and reblog from on Tumblr - I have the following rule for myself:

If I like it, I interact with it, if I don’t - I won’t. If the blog isn’t upsetting to me or triggering me then I’ll follow, if it is - I won’t. If someone isn’t harming anyone by their spirituality then I’ll respect it, but if they are - fuck 'em.”

Hi anon - thank you for your inquiry. This is actually something I have been pondering for a bit and I feel ready to express my feelings around this issue.

To start - I am *very* new to the Hellenic Pagan community. While I have been a practicing Witch and Pagan for about 10 years - Hellenic Paganism is not a practice I have worked with/within prior to 2023.

Additionally - I make a point to not pass judgment on a spiritual belief or path before researching it from a third-party point of view, and examining the historical documentation available (as opposed to just taking into account UPG).

With that being said - my feelings toward Zeus as a deity/spiritual entity are negative (as you can see below from a previous post I made).

A good portion of the myths about Zeus that I am familiar with have heavy themes that center around male entitlement, assault, r*pe, and misogyny. All of which are not only morally reprehensible - but also somewhat triggering for me as someone who grew up Catholic.

I have seen individuals say that you have to take into account the “historical context” in which myth and religious texts are written. I have seen individuals say things along the line of “These myths were written by misogynistic men so they projected their own values and beliefs onto Zeus, that’s now who Zeus really is!”

[I'm going to use the anon above as an example because their thoughts and sentiments are ones I see often from Zeus Devotees / Zeus Worshipers]

I’m not in the business of trying to tell others what to believe - not because I think all beliefs are valid - but because I know it’s pointless.

However, if you are going to use Greek Myths as the source material for your religious practice - then it would be more logical to compare these myths - not to Paradise Lost - but to the Bible.

So, if Greek Myths (the basis of Hellenic Paganism) are symbolic and not to be taken literally - then prey tell where are you getting your canonical information from? Which religious texts *are* to be taken literally?

The bottom line, and answer to this quandary, is this:

All religion is invented. All religion is made up. All religion was created by humanity.

Cows and Crows don’t have religion. They do not build altars or shrines. They do follow religious codes. They do not worship or name divinity.

We can trace a before and after period for every religion's existence. There is not one religion that has existed from the dawn of time (and if anyone claims such they’re lying because humanity evolved from other species who definitely did not have any concept of ‘religion’).

So, with that being said, if you aren’t part of an organized religion/coven/cult - then you have two options.

1. Interpret all holy and traditional texts as literal and abide by their ever moral, rule, and decision within your personal practice.

Or

2. Acknowledge that you are picking and choosing what you believe to fit your own moral and personal narrative. Admit that you are making up your own personal gnosis and acknowledge that any judgment of your personal practice is also a judgment of your person. Admit that if you aren’t taking source material literally (which is a totally fine thing to do) you are inventing your own religious gnosis.

Want to worship Zeus and ignore all myths that portray him as a r*pist? Go ahead! I have no issue with you. Just don't try to somehow make those myths "valid" or "just symbolic" - just admit what you're doing and move on.

Because if you’re going to go around saying “Oh this historical information is valid but the other one isn’t and shouldn’t be judged from a modern lens!” then congratulations! I’m going to view your practice through the same lens as those who praise the Christian God as an all-loving entity and ignore the fact that (according to the story of Noah’s Ark in the Bible) he murdered every single adult and child on planet Earth, aside from a chosen few.

At the end of the day - do what you want. I don’t have any authority to stop you and I’m not gonna fight with you. But if you want my personal opinion on Zeus worship it is this:

Zeus, for me, is categorically defined by his actions. While there are many stories of SA and Abuse in Greek Mythology, Zeus as King of the Gods takes the cake. Not only because of the sheer number of stories that center around him committing acts of SA - but also because as the King of the Gods, he should be held to a higher standard.

Since I am not part of an organized religion/coven/cult - I get to choose how I interact with spirituality, and for me, that includes judging it through a modern lens.

I chose to not ignore the myths that portray Zeus in a negative light because I think the sheer number of those myths defines Zeus' character and what he represented in ancient times.

But when it comes to the spiritual people I follow and reblog from on Tumblr - I have the following rule for myself:

If I like it, I interact with it, if I don’t - I won’t. If the blog isn’t upsetting to me or triggering me then I’ll follow, if it is - I won’t. If someone isn’t harming anyone by their spirituality then I’ll respect it, but if they are - fuck 'em.

Feel free to send any follow-up questions, I could talk about this shit for days.

#paganblr #witchblr #witchcraft #pagan #paganism #hellenic #hellenic paganism #helpol #zeus #zeus worship #hellenic polytheism #TW SA #TW Assault

[whatifwekilledgodandwebothgirls]

Little updates on my journey finishing alcibiades 1

Alcibiades cannonically cannot cook

Alcibiades is portrayed as an abseloute dumass to the point that i question is at least some of it is him giving some aditude back to socrates . Most of the stuff he says i can see being ironic little " yes socrates" ment to piss him off because there is no way any person in the world espesialky alcibiades that woukd be ok being that humiliated. Alternatively, he is just so in love he puts up with it

Alcibiades brother mentioned!!!

Pericles mentioned!!! My baby girl !!! Also confirmation that this was written before pericles died , which again i could have learned by checking the dates but waiting till he was mentioned proved to be more fun

No aspasia mentions :(

Socrates says βαβαι a lot , which is very very cute and a lot of my teachers say it constantly when they are frustrated. Βαβαι supremacy. Its such a fun thing to say. Its like i think the ancient greek version of damn

I had made a post previously pointing out alcibiades constant use of εγωγε and now that ive read a bit more philosophy i can say that its not an alcibiades thing its a Plato thing. Its crazy because no one ive asked about this has made it into a big deal but Plato CONSTANTLY makes people use εγωγε instead of εγω when they mean the same thing but εγωγε is a bit cuntier . I asked my teacher why this happens or if there is any reason its used so heavily in philosophy and she told me no, there is not , its just the authors choice , but idk still

Socrates saying he is at a dead end ( angry , frustrated, whatever ) with alcibiades, and with his love for alcibiades just casually.

Socrates and alcibiades agreeing that someones heritage matters when comparing nations , saying that the spartans their enemies are worthy opponents because all their kinds are decendants of Hercules and of zeus . Now this is intresting because of two things first because i didnt know these myths existed , thats so fun every tribe had a difrent little demigod they all came from ? Also because socrates then goes on to say that no man that has ever sat on the throne of sparta has had anything other than hercules blood in him . I wonder if alcibiades though of that , many many years later , when he said that the only reason he had sex with and impregnated the queen of sparta was so his sons could sit on the throne . Abseloutely unhinged " i am greater than god himself " behaviour we see on alcibiades all the time , i wouldnt put it past him to be motivated to seduce their queen and have all that backlass for it just so he could fuck uo the years and years of tradition and prove himself more cunning that , and dethrone litteral descendants of gods

Socrates being a spartan apologist . Good for him

Socrates practically saying " no one cares what you do on your free time . I mean unless they are in love with you. Then they care a lot " he is destroying that twink

Alcibiades saying that socrates is wiser than anyone and socrates imidietly replying that they should learn together and examine the facts together . Despite being a bitch he tried to include Alcibiades and never brags about his intelligence.

#alcibiades #ancient greece

[yamayuandadu]

How exactly did Hercules become connected to Vajrapani to being the protector of Buddha? And what’s his relationship of the Nio in Japan?

Katsumi Tanabe notes here that despite the widespread acceptance of the view Heracles influenced the early iconography of Vajrapani in Gandhara, there’s actually no consensus on how this phenomenon originally developed. Full explanation under the cut.

For context: Greek iconographic types were commonly adopted in Central Asia - typically for Iranian deities (who especially in the east were closer to deities in the strict sense than to the Zoroastrian notion of yazatas). However, the logic of these associations was not necessarily as simple as interpretatio graeca resulting in adoption of iconography. Nothing illustrates this point better than the fact Bactrians regarded Oxus as the king of the gods, but adopted the iconography of Marsyas for him, probably because it was a relatively widespread Greek image of a river god as opposed to some deeper analogy between their respective characters. There are also cases where iconography differs from what interpretatio would suggest - Tishtrya was seemingly associated with Apollo, but iconographically took after Artemis instead on Kushan coinage. Therefore, each case needs to be approached separately.

A particularly remarkable example of Heracles-like Vajrapani (British Museum; reproduced here for educational purposes only)

I don’t think there’s any need to undermine the transmission of iconography itself: it’s not hard to find representations of Vajrapani from Gandhara which basically look like Heracles holding a vajra (and sometimes a sword or a fly whisk) instead of a mace. However, it's worth pointing out he's actually not depicted entirely consistently in Gandharan art. In addition to the numerous Heracles-like examples, there are also cases where he resembles Silenus or another satyr; Zeus (a fairly natural match given his typical thunderbolt attribute and Varjapani’s… well, varja); Hermes; Dionysus; Alexander the Great; or an ordinary Kushan in period-appropriate clothing. Interestingly despite Varjapani being considered a yaksha, no images of him actually resemble the conventional depictions of yakshas from further south, which at the time typically drew from Indian royal iconography. Interestingly it seems only two other Buddhist figures were patterned on Greek ones in Gandharan art, Panchika (for unknown reasons depicted in the form of Hermes) and Hariti (who borrowed Tyche’s cornucopia though this was not a consistent attribute).

Ladislav Stančo in his monograph Greek gods in the East: Hellenistic Iconographic Schemes in Central Asia present a rather bold theory: the adoption of Heracles-like iconography for Varjapani was less a case of syncretism and more the result of artists familiar with Hellenistic standards being hired by Buddhists and repurposing standard forms their were familiar with already. They would often be operating only on vague descriptions of Buddhist figures they heard from the commissioners. With time these would become a standard in their own right. 

However, there are other theories too - I’ll simply summarize here what Karl Galinsky wrote in his article Herakles Vajrapani, the Companion of Buddha from the recent Herakles Inside and Outside the Church: From the first Apologists to the end of the Quattrocento.

Obviously, the fact both figures are characterized by their strength is a commonly cited factor. Another possibility is that Varjapani might have absorbed Heracles’ iconography after Kushan kings started promoting Buddhism because of a shared association with royalty. Yet another option is that Varjapani was a traveling companion of the Buddha which made him a good match for globetrotting Heracles. Finally, the fact they could both fulfill many distinct roles could be an argument in favor of identification in its own right (Galinsky seems to support this proposal himself).

In the past arguments have been made that Heracles’ iconography survived in Central Asia through Vajrapani as late as in the sixth and seventh centuries (source; note the article still follows the vintage theory Vajrapani was in part a Buddhist adoption of Zoroastrian fravashi, which I haven’t seen validated in anything recent), based on a mural showing a figure wearing a lion skin from the Kizil Caves. There is a recent article which tries to salvage this point, but the author admits this is all highly speculative. In any case, by the time Varjapani reached China his attire started to change, and he came to be shown either with a bare chest or in armor, but no longer nearly naked like Heracles. He also commonly has the exaggerated facial features you’d expect from yakshas and other similar beings, as seen for example on a mural from the Mogao Caves:

(wikimedia commons)

Vajrapani appears in later Buddhist tradition in an assortment of tales which typically portray him subduing demons or unruly deities on behalf of the Buddha. None of them really show much Greek influence, though -  I don’t really think Heracles is known for fighting Maheshvara, and in turn Vajrapani never got to free Prometheus or complete any of the twelve labors (though we know the myths themselves were known in Central Asia); iconography and mythology could be transmitted independently of each other.

A Japanese depiction of Varhapani - note the third eye (Art Institute Chicago; reproduced here for educational purposes only) In Japan, Varjapani (Kongōshu, 金剛手; Shukongōshin, 執金剛神; Kongō-rikishi, 金剛力士  etc.) only appeared after a long process of transformations in Mahayana tradition, and his depictions generally reflect Chinese artistic conventions. The Niō, literally “benevolent kings”, are a double manifestation of him and similarly reflect a Chinese model. I don’t think there’s any real reason to claim there’s all that much Heracles in them. JAANUS notes that multiple identities could be assigned to them, though none particularly consistently. There’s a case to be made that the fact they are most commonly statues guarding temple gates is basically the core of their character judging from the proliferation of legends which revolve around this (for a Chinese example see here, Japanese ones are mentioned briefly in the linked JAANUS entries). They also only became widespread in the Kamakura period, centuries after even the boldest theories suggest the survival of some memory of Heracles in Buddhist sources. To put it differently: both Heracles and Nio are undeniably parts of Varjapani's history, but they are not necessarily a part of each other's history just because of that.

#buddhist miscellanea

[psyaurorak]

What will it take for LO fans to hate Persephone?

The bitch kidnapped a baby and they’re all justifying it with Zeus hatred

At this point the kidnap apologists are getting an instant block from me.

#anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus criticism #let me know if i missed tags #lore olympus critical #antiloreolympus #anti lo #fastpass

[thesungod]

the last episode was quite alright.

the fight against ares was surprisingly okay to me. loved the way they showed how the gods’ real form works.

olympus slays❤️❤️ the scene on olympus was great❤️❤️ and they spoke in greek❤️❤️ tho whyyy did the writers keep the scene of percy only getting the word “father” while listening to Zeus and Poseidon and not use it to reveal kronos as a villain…

luke’s reveal was underwheling. and once again percy knew fucking everything from the start. like i get it he’s smart can he be surprised once😭 all though in this specific case i might be wrong because i don’t remember how he really finds out in the books. gotta go reread that part

lance reddick ate as zeus

why tf didn’t poseidon call sally a queen

no comment over gabe and sally because they completely changed that storyline from the start so whatever

i’ve been noticing in general that the dialogues are just… worse than what they were in the books. not terrible but not amazing really. they are disneyfied. i don’t know how else to say it.

my mom is a luke apologist just as i had predicted and she wants to read the books

percy and annabeth are so babies <3 the disneyland scene is adorable.

i don’t know if i like that annabeth heard luke’s confession or not… i liked that she was in super denial in the books. she could still be in later seasons but idk

kronos design is so good… but hades was supposed to be something similar for me😭😭 literally his father’s son yk

loved that they teased the great prophecy with kronos saying percy’s survival is essential to his plan.

blue pancakes❤️