#Heroines of Olympus: The Women of Greek Mythology

[percabeth4life]

An In Depth Analysis and Review of Heroines of Olympus: The Women of Greek Mythology By Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts

Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts Qualifications: Lecturer in Classics (Part-time) at King’s College London Research Associate (Contract) at Institute of Classical Studies, University of London Doctor of Philosophy-PhD, Classics: Thesis: Echoes of the Underworld: Manifestations of Death-related Gods in Early Greek Cult and Literature Master of Arts-MA, Classics, High Distinction: Thesis: The Initiation of Orestes in Aischylos’s Eumenides Bachelor of Arts with Honours- BA(Hons), Classics, First class Honours: Thesis: Colonisation as a Pretext for Ritual Purification [in Ancient Greece]

Obviously, Dr. Ellie Roberts is very qualified in her field, and well learned. But, I feel her piece Heroines of Olympus: The Women of Greek Mythology does not reflect this knowledge of hers.

From an overview standpoint, the book just doesn’t have the space to do what she’s aiming to do.

The book states it is

[providing] an indispensable contemporary perspective on these extraordinary women” (summary)

and yet each woman only has 4 pages dedicated to them. Of these 4 pages, 1 is an illustration (not always accurate to mythical descriptions re: Andromeda who is portrayed white when she is black and stated such in mythos).

The 1st page given in these individual sections are a blurb, commonly pulled from part of their mythos, but not an accurate one. Take the blurb on Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). The myth itself gives a very serious feel to this piece, showcasing Artemis as a Goddess seeking to have her requests granted by Zeus, but the blurb the book gives has a very childish feel.

Artemis in the mythos focuses on the benefits of her requests, and assures her father she does not want too much

“Father, I ask thee not for a quiver or for a mighty bow: for the Kyklopes will straightway fashion arrows and fashion me a well-bent bow” Callimachus, Hymn 3

but the Artemis of the book does no such reassurance

“I want a bow and straight-shooting arrows” pg 32

In addition, in the mythos Artemis treats her duty to women as the patron of childbirth seriously

“I will visit only when women vexed by t he sharp pang of childbirth call me to their aid—even in the hour when I was born the Moiari ordained that I should be their helper” Callimachus, Hymn 3

but in the book she acts displeased and sulks

“Suddenly, a gloomy look came over the child’s face as she said ‘And also because the Moirai […] decided that I should be the one who has to look after childbirth” pg 32

Most of the blurbs in the 1st page are not so clearly pulled directly from paraphrasing the myths, some are more akin to summaries, but brief and missing many details (Athena, Cassandra, Echo, etc). Others are more akin to imagining what the person(s) may have thought or felt in particular moments (Echidna and Scylla, Erinyes, Hermione, etc). None of these pieces hold exact quotes or explanations for the meanings of them.

These blurbs are clearly meant to give more feeling to them, but the feeling given is one very different from the myth they are coming from, and I feel it gives an inaccurate portrayal of the beings spoken of.

The 2nd page of the 4 given pages is an illustration, done predominately in orange and black each illustration is simple and done in a simple line art style. While it is more than understandable for these to not be perfectly accurate representations, seeing how a full page of the 4 given to each woman is dedicated to it, I would wish for these to properly support the figure shown. And yet, at the very least Andromeda is inaccurately portrayed.

She is from Ethiopia and stated in her myths to have “dusky” skin (Ovid, Heroides 15.3), particularly noted to be in contrast to that of Perseus and compared to pigeons being with those of different colored feathers. But the artwork shown of her makes her feel fair skinned, in direct contrast to Atlanta who is given a black predominate appearance and appears as a POC (showing it is a purposeful choice to portray her as such).

It should be noted that while all the women have four pages dedicated to them, this holds the exception of Echo, who only holds the blurb and the illustration. There are no additional pages for her.

The 3rd and 4th pages are dedicated to a brief overview of their lives. For every single woman they have solely 2 pages to showcase their whole lives, this is understandably impossible.

Some of the women don’t have much information in mythology and ergo can be summarized quickly. Others, such as the major Goddesses mentioned… well they have a lot more to them than are portrayed.

As Dr. Roberts has written a thorough article on the Peplos and it’s purpose in the worship of Athena (Weaving for Athena: The Arrhephoroi, Panathenaia, and Mundane Acts of Religious Devotion) I will be using Athena’s article for this analysis (as she is clearly fairly informed on Athena and ergo should be able to put proper information here).  

Athena’s piece covers her birth in the blurb at the top of the 3rd page, and then quickly covered the realms she ruled over (though only the most predominate of them). It spoke then of her nature (calm and inclined to peace when possible) and her skills (a great fighter), along with what she had done for humanity (teaching men military tactics and mathematics, and teaching women to spin yarn, weave cloth, and to cook). It then covers her being a perpetual maiden, by choice, and here is where it drifts.

The stories are supposed to cover the women, to showcase their achievements and glory, and yet her piece turns to focusing on the child Erichthonius, the result of Hephaestus attempting to seduce her (and failing). The next half page (of 2 pages) covers the child resulting of this, and those that she entrusted the child too and the result of this. This is a gross waste of space that could be covering her mythos, victories, worship, or history.

After that is the myth of Arachne, though lacking in the context and calling Athena jealous of Arachne, when in actuality the Arachne myth covers how Arachne disrespected Athena several times, despite Athena attempting to give her a pass and a path to forgiveness.

Finally, it ends covering her olive tree in Athens, which is a neat closing. (pg. 42-43)

Overall, this piece just does not cover Athena as a whole. It is very very brief, covering one myth in more detail than the rest (and not one focusing on Athena herself) and then portrays Athena badly for actions that were done to one showing great hubris despite being given mercy. The portrayal does not properly showcase the Goddess Athena, and is akin to a quick wiki article, with all the innacuracies that come with it.

This style is repeated with other articles in the book, Artemis notable in how the myth of Callisto is treated as a great cruelty of Athena, rather than a complex tragedy (and the myth has many versions, none of which have Artemis knowing that Callisto unwillingly or through trickery gave up her virginity to Zeus).

And even on top of that, some of the claims in the summary pages are from obscure mythos, with little actually supporting it. Such as the claim that Amphitrite cursed Scylla to be what she is. This only has the support of a single Scholia of the Aeneid, with about 6 other sources claiming Scylla was born a monster, and another 2 claiming she was transformed by Circe.

Another issue of these pieces is that despite the purpose being to highlight the women’s accomplishments, many of them cover the men around the women just as much if not more so. In normal mythological pieces this is rather expected, as the myths are written in a fairly sexist time period and ergo the men have more victory (though this varies depending on the myth). But in a book supposed to highlight the women of the myths? It is a shame and undermines the purpose of the book.

Overall, I was disappointed by the book and wish that it was longer with more information, and in particular proper sourcing. It does not give women the spotlight expected, and has a habit of demonizing the Goddesses mentioned without consideration of the intent of the actions or the time period they were written in. On top of that, there is a lack of recognition of difference in terminology meaning, such as the term rape, which meant to have a sexual relation without permission of the Father in that time period. The woman’s consent mattered little to the definition, but she treats it as the modern term through her writing.

#life reviews #book review #Heroines of Olympus #Heroines of Olympus: The Women of Greek Mythology #Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts #Dr. Ellie Roberts #greek mythology #hellenic chat #greek mythos

[dr-lokidottir]

— Beautiful words in greek language🌾

Roman Widow or Dîs Manibus is an oil on canvas painting executed in 1874 by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It is in the collection of the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.

ελπίδα (el-pee-da) / hope

Elpida comes from the ancient Greek word ἐλπίς (elpis) – the personification and spirit of hope in Greek mythology, often depicted as a young woman carrying flowers or a cornucopia. Today, Elpida is a popular name for women

φιλοξενία (fil-o-ksen-i-a) / hospitality

Meaning ‘friend to the stranger”, filoksenia – in a broader sense – refers to hospitality and a welcoming and ‘what’s mine is yours’ attitude. A term with a long history, Homer’s Iliad and the Bible both refer to filoksenia. In ancient Greek culture, great emphasis was placed on hospitality, and showing generosity to those who are far from home was held as a high virtue.

υγεία (ee-yee-a) / health

Ygeia is connected to Hygieia or Hygeia, the goddess of good health, cleanliness and sanitation; the term ‘hygiene’ is derived from it. Before it became a colloquial greeting, the Modern Greek phrase ‘Geia sou or Geia sas’ – which means ‘your health’ – was used to wish someone well.

ψυχή (psee-hee) / soul

Psyhi, from which the English word ‘psyche’ is derived, comes from the ancient Greek verb ψῡ́χω (psyho, to blow) and means ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’. It is connected to Psyche, the heroine of the myth Cupid and Psyche (second century), in which the two lovers must overcome a series of obstacles standing in the way of their union. The story has often been interpreted as an allegory for the soul redeeming itself through love.

ίριδα (ee-ree-da) / iris

The Modern Greek word irida comes from Iris, the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. According to legend, she had beautiful wings and a coat of many colours, which would create rainbows as she travelled, carrying messages from the gods of Mount Olympus to Earth. Her name later gave the meaning to the word ‘rainbow’ in ancient Greek, from which the English term ‘iridescent’ derives.

αιώνια (e-o-nia) / eternity

This word comes from the ancient Greek term aion, meaning ‘epoch’, and gave the English language ‘aeon’, an indefinite but long period of time or describes a major division of geologic time. In astronomy and less formal contexts, an aeon refers to a time span of one billion years.

χαλαρά (ha-la-ra) / chilled, laid-back

In short, halara means ‘Take it easy’. Often associated with the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki – known for its chilled atmosphere, relative to Athens – halara is nothing short of a lifestyle, meaning ‘relaxed’ and ‘laid-back’.

#hellenic worship #hellenic polytheistic #hellenism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenic deities #hellenic gods #hellenic devotees #hellenic reconstructionism #greek titans #greek polytheism #greek paganism #greek tumblr #greek life

[mermaidsirennikita]

in honor of femslash february do you have any super horny gay book recs for mE?

Of COURSE!!!!! I hope you don't mind me posting this in honor of Femslash! February!!!!

I shall recommend:

Queen Takes Rose by Katee Robert. A modern Sleeping Beauty retelling! With BDSM and sex club antics! Maleficent and Aurora fall in love! I believe this is available in audio form and uhhhhhhh Kate Robert is typically............ Very explicit. The entire world of this series is a bunch of Disney retellings in which the villains and the villains fall in love, and everyone is bi and everyone is kinky.

If you don't mind a bit of mff throupledom, The Sea Witch, also by Katee Robert, is an Ariel/Ursula/Eric romance. Her throuples are always FULLY involved, so it's not this thing where all of the attention is on the guy. The women are together.

Additionally, from what I remember Jasmine and Megara fuck in Desperate Measures (which is a Jafar/Jasmine book) and Aurora and Belle fuck in The Beast (which is a Gaston/Beast/Belle book).

I don't think it'll be out in time for Femslash February (Goodreads says it's due March 1, womp womp) but she also has a novella coming out in her Dark Olympus series, which is a modern Greek mythology verse. It's called Stone Heart, and it's gonna be Calypso/Medusa.

One thing I think you'll also kinda appreciate about Katee Robert is that she's discussed at length the fact that she gets constant requests to write m/m (sole m/m; again, the men are always together in her mmf throuple books) from people suggesting that w/w is gross. And she's like "fuck you, I'll just write more w/w then".

I would also recommend The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, which is a looooooovely and romaaaantic and hooot f/f historical romance. A widow is left with this French astronomy text after her husband dies, and who is to translate it but a hot lady academic???

Waite also wrote The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, which is another f/f historical romance about a bitchy widow and a lady beekeper who is there to fix her bee problem, and maybe other problems as well. I think there's a third book published in this series (called Feminine Pursuits) but I don't know as much about it.

Erica Ridley's latest historical romance is The Perks of Loving A Wallflower, which is about a gender-nonconforming grifter named Thomasina or Tommy for short romances a bluestocking she's been pining for. There's a priceless manuscript involved, and a lot of like "oh I thought you were a man, you aren't, THANK GOD".

Cat Sebastian wrote A Little Light Mischief, another f/f historical romance about a scheming lady's maid who's trying to do right and not fuck around anymore, but oh no, there's this hot prim and proper lady tempting her off the righteous path!!!

How To Find A Princess by Alyssa Cole is an Anastasia retelling except!!! Dimitri and Anastasia are both women!!!! Basically, one heroine is the lost heir to a fictional African nation, and the other one is the investigator sent to retrieve~ her. But what else shall she retrieve? Is it? In fact? Her pussy?

Also I just found out that there's a resource called The Lesbrary, so that should help. Happy Femslash February!!!

#loisfreakinglane #romance novel blogging

[snakeofcookie]

Book Recs!

Look these up for summaries ‘cause I don’t feel like doing them!

In Other Lands - whimsical fantasy, gay

Carry On - school fantasy, gay, might want to read Fangirl first

Fangirl - realistic fiction, cute, relatable

Kat, Incorrigible - historical fantasy, young girl, sweet

Sorcery and Cecilia - historical fantasy, young girls, sweet

Akata Witch - fantasy, sweet, friendship

And this is Laura - family, friends, loner

Dragonsong - dragons, young girl, music

Temeraire - dragons, historical, so cute

Frankie! - griffin, girl, family

Tamora Pierce, everything by her, start with First Test I guess? - young women, classical fantasy, swords and dragons and magic and, friends, family

Etiquette and Espionage - spies, historical, supernatural

Dealing with Dragons - dragons, awesome princess

The Flame of Olympus - pegausus, greek mythology, adventure

Wings - fairies, coming of age

Heroine Complex - superheros, badass women, some ick be warned

More will come, but this is it for now, feel free to add on!

@lullabyofmyworld

#what does this tell you about the kind of stuff I read #book recommendations

[hereticaloracles]

Asteroid Files: Ariadne

Helios on Ariadne– Failure- Its a dirty word in our society. We are told to desire first place, and anything else is losing. Yet failure, loss and settling make us who we are- In tragedy we are revealed, not in success. This asteroid heroine knows that feeling well, and she has a lot to teach us….

The Astronomy– 43 Ariadne is a fairly large and bright main-belt asteroid. It is the second-largest member of the Flora asteroid family. It was discovered on April 15, 1857, and named after the ancient Greek heroine Ariadne (HEROINE, PEOPLE. Do you know how rare it is to have actual ancient Greek Heroines?) Ariadne is very elongate (almost twice as long as its smallest dimension) and probably bi-lobed or at least very angular. It is a retrograde rotator, although its pole points almost parallel to the ecliptic towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (-15°, 253°) with a 10° uncertainty. This gives an axial tilt of about 105°. Ariadne has an orbital period of 1195 days, or 3.27 years.

The Myth– Ariadne in Greek mythology was the daughter of Minos (the King of Crete and a son of Zeus) and Pasiphaë (Minos’ queen and a daughter of Helios [*coughs awkwardly*]) She is mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. Her father put her in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made as part of reparations (either to Poseidon or to Athena, depending on the version of the myth); later, she helped Theseus overcome the Minotaur and save the potential sacrificial victims. In other stories, she became the bride of the god Dionysus, with the question of her being mortal or a goddess varying in those accounts.

According to an Athenian version of the legend, Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there. The Athenians asked for terms and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens to the Minotaur every seven or nine years. One year, the sacrificial party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus, who volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love at first sight and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of thread so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

She eloped with Theseus after he achieved his goal, but according to Homer “he had no joy of her, for ere that, Artemis slew her in seagirt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus”. Homer does not expand on the nature of Dionysus’s accusation, but the Oxford Classical Dictionary speculates that she was already married to Dionysus when she ran away with Theseus.

In Hesiod and most other accounts, Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, and Dionysus rediscovered and wedded her. In a few versions of the myth, Dionysus appeared to Theseus as they sailed away from Crete, saying that he had chosen Ariadne as his wife and demanding that Theseus leave her on Naxos for him; this has the effect of absolving the Athenian culture-hero of desertion. The vase-painters of Athens often showed Athena leading Theseus from the sleeping Ariadne to his ship. With Dionysus, she was the mother of Oenopion, the personification of wine, Staphylus (related to grapes), Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Enyeus, Ceramus, Maron, Euanthes, Latramys and Tauropolis. Her wedding diadem was set in the heavens as the constellation Corona Borealis.

Ariadne remained faithful to Dionysus but was later killed by Perseus at Argos. In other myths she hanged herself from a tree, like Erigone and the hanging Artemis, a Mesopotamian theme. Some scholars have posited, due to her thread-spinning and winding associations, that she was a weaving goddess, like Arachne, supporting this theory with the mytheme of the Hanged Nymph. Dionysus descended into Hades and brought her and his mother Semele back. They then joined the gods in Olympus.

Karl Kerenyi and Robert Graves theorize that Ariadne (whose name they derive from Άδνον, a Cretan-Greek form for arihagne, “utterly pure”) was a Great Goddess of Crete, “the first divine personage of Greek mythology to be immediately recognized in Crete”, once archaeology had begun. Kerenyi observes that her name is merely an epithet and claims that she was originally the “Mistress of the Labyrinth”, both a winding dance-ground and in the Greek view a prison with the dreaded Minotaur at its centre. An ancient cult of Aphrodite-Ariadne was observed at Amathus, Cyprus. According to the myth that was current at Amathus, the second most important Cypriote cult centre of Aphrodite, Theseus’s ship was swept off course and the pregnant and suffering Ariadne put ashore in the storm. Theseus, attempting to secure the ship, was inadvertently swept out to sea, thus being absolved of abandonment. The Cypriote women cared for Ariadne, who died in childbirth and was memorialized in a shrine. Theseus, overcome with grief upon his return, left money for sacrifices to Ariadne and ordered two cult images, one of silver and one of bronze, set up. At the observation in her honor on the second day of the month Gorpiaeus, one of the young men lay on the ground vicariously experiencing the throes of labour. The sacred grove in which the shrine was located was called the grove of Aphrodite Ariadne. The primitive aspect of the cult at Amathus in this account would appear to be much older than the Athenian-sanctioned shrine of Aphrodite, who has assumed Ariadne (hagne, “sacred”) as an epithet at Amathus. Why She Matters– Okay so I really, really like Ariadne. She’s always been a badass to me. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she’s brave AF, but acts out of love to do the right thing; She’s basically Hermoine Granger, the capable character who the brave boy heroes would be utterly lost without- She’s great. Unfortunately, no matter how you unpack her, her story never ends happily. Whether its abandoned by Theseus or gutted by Perseus or trapped in her family’s machinations, Ariadne seems doomed no matter what (which is the final test of whether she truly is a hero or not- no greek hero ever has a happy ending until they die). So what the hell does she mean astrologically?

Well, one theme that really sticks out is a lesson its taking me a long time to learn, and for this we turn to the only Virgo I respect, the Queen herself:

This seems to be what Ariadne is trying to tell us. You can want something with all your heart, you can give it your all and give your absolute best… and it still doesn’t happen; Sometimes things just fail. Now, given her connection to Aphrodite, this rings especially true for relationships. Its impossible to ignore how much Ariadne was mistreated by the men in her life: First her father who made her take care of the Minotaur and the dank labyrinth, then Theseus who is just a colossal dick, and Perseus who is a douche. Dionysus is good, but he can’t completely protect her in the end, but he makes up for it by ensuring her final happy ending (and for his mother, who definitely deserved better than she got!) but man did she have it rough. I don’t want to lump her in with Dejanira for the abuse asteroids but man, its hard to not draw the comparison. She definitely rings true for the themes of settling, “second place” and consolation prize, with others not being able to see the worth you have to offer (or in some cases, you can’t see it!). Truly she is a complex asteroid with a lot to say!

To find out where she shows up in your chart, go to astro.com, put in your birth details and in the extended options, at the top of the next page, there will be a menu of additional objects. To the right of that is a blank space where you can enter the number 43, for Ariadne. Once you have it entered, generate the chart! Where does Ariadne affect your life? Let us know in the comments below!

Asteroid Files: Ariadne was originally published on Heretical Oracles

#43 Ariadne #asteroid ariadne in astrology #asteroid astrology #astrology #tarot #fuckstrology #bruja #brujeria