#I love greek myth retell :)

[pimsri]

I’ve been playing the Hades game lately

#everyone keep encouraging me to play it so i finally did! #I enjoy it i think #not my usual genre of game but it's a nice change! #I love greek myth retell :) #this one is nicely done and an interesting way to adapt it! #I love that for once #the main character is a very obscure god #i thought i was quite familiar with greek myth #yet I know very little about Zagreus except that his thing involve rebirth and stuff #hades #hades game #pimsridoodle

[heartofstanding]

I'm so bored of feminist retellings that are, "it's basically the same but now she kicks butt cuz she's a warrior!"

yes, women kicking butt is hot. but also "kicking butt" doesn't actually make a thing feminist.

#good job your feminist retelling could come straight out of the 90s #i always feel terribly alienated by these retelling #also the cliche of kickass woman being an archer #people have theorised it goes back to katniss/hunger games or merida/brave but i blame legolas and the lotr movies #the girls loving legolas phenomenon was massive - i know it was credited with a revival of interest in people learning archery #and i don't doubt it impacted on other media in a similar way - the girlies love leggy so the girlies will love a heroine who uses a bow #and i think it's cool and hot actually! but why is the shorthand for kickass woman always 'and she's the archer!' #or maybe i should blame artemis hmm #text posts #this post brought to you by reading the description of the new feminist retelling of the psyche and eros myth #good job! you've combined the soulless sanitised retelling of greek mythology #with the soulless dated trope of 'womens are only worthwhile as characters if they can kick butt while falling in lurveeeee with a man'

[hades-bat]

tbh I just want to hug Demeter and Apollo and tell them that I don't believe in the LO version of them <33

#greek mythology #greek gods #apollo #demeter #i love them #dionysus #hades #hermes #aphrodite #ares #artemis #athena #hephaestus #hera #hestia #poseidon #zeus #mt olympus #greek myth retellings

[the-daily-male]

Today's daily male is Orpheus from Hadestown!

for @basil-the-bulbasaur

#daily male #Orpheus #orpheus and eurydice #Hadestown #hadestown broadway #hadestown tour #greek myth retellings #chibueze ihuoma #men #masculinity #mod howl #hadestown is my favorite musical I love it so much #I'm using chibueze ihuoma for the picture cause he's both one of my favorite Orpheuses and the only one I've seen live #he's incredibly talented

[hecates-corner]

more Aphrodite and her mortal lover por favor? *hopeful eyes*

Of COURSE! Me encanta escribir esta historia.

How about a nice little POV switch, hm?

She is as lovely the poets paint her. As the bards sing her to be.

My lady is warm as sun-blessed honey, swift-running and golden as the very voice she beholds. Even in her mortal form, the very one that drew me in like a frail moth to a flickering flame, her eyes shine blue as the cresting sea: now light, and now dark. The bubbles of the tide are painted into the hue, white flecks that could very well be misplaced stars in the sky of broad daylight.

Her olive skin glints like bronze, the corn color of her hair flowing down it as a stream tumbles down gentle rocks of a cliff. Her hands, small and smooth, with lightly visible veins, twist and fly through the air as we dance with one another. The rosy dawn cannot hold a candle to the flush on her high cheeks, as plush and pink as the roses that grow where I would come to lay.

We run, through a field of rustling grain, wind whistling as it blows through each strand. The bright sky begins to rumble, a horde of swelling clouds growing dark, moving in towards us. We know of the drops, of the cold tears that will fall when those cotton clumps swarm our once-vast, shrinking skies.

She turns, enough to tilt her teasing form towards me, and extends a hand. It curls out, her graceful wrist like the neck of a sweet swan, bending just so to lay her paled palm flat. An invitation.

When I take it, she laughs, laughs, and it is of falling feathers, snow white and soft. It is the unfurling petals of a waking blossom, and the scent of apples in the breeze. She is perfect, though I did not think a word to exist.

My Aphrodite guides me, out bare feet leaping and landing upon soft earth, the soil that will soon be damp with water from the domain of my love's familiar, lord of cloud. Was he chasing us, pursuing us then? I could not say, for I thought of no one but her. Though I did not think so. We were small and unimportant to such a great gaze, especially then. To us, the world was not ours, nor were we owned. We simply were.

She led me gently over a hollow log, dark and soft with impending rot, and we were there.

Together we tumbled backwards, as she tugged me into her embrace and we landed upon the spongey moss that cushioned our fall. I laughed, then, louder than before. Giggles that shook us both, holding fast and clutching one another gently, for we knew neither of us would escape.

Mortals fear gods will come to them in forms of doves, of oxen or bulls, in showers of light. Some fear gods will leave them the same ways. I did not feel weary of either. My dearest was many things, but I knew her, for how little we had been acquainted.

The skies rumbled again, vibrating deep within the earth. The sound of the rain began to approach earshot, incessant white noise of the showering pull. It smelled of rain.

A fig tree loomed over us, shielding the remaining sun and the imminent rain from our skins, and casting the gentle comfort of its matronly power over us.

I pressed my face into her neck, her soft locks like myrtles crushed beneath my cheek. She let me nuzzle my nose into the underside of her jaw, feeling out the sweet concavity of the bone. I kissed the space there, where tongue tissue connected with the muscle inside of her mouth.

She hummed, contentedly. "My dear," she spoke, so smoothly and with such ease that it would have brought tears to my eyes at the loveliness. "If we do not return to your home soon, we will be caught in the haze of the storm."

I chuckled. "You do not think I hope for such?"

She was quiet, but even I could feel the grin spread on her lips. She need not say a word, just the buzz of the laugh in her throat was enough for me.

The clouds consumed the sky, and drops dripped from their vastness, dropping down and rolling like sips of water down thirsty throats. The chilly tears landed sweetly upon us, one by one, dissonantly. I tipped my chin up to watch her blink a drop from her dark lashes.

"Do you truly look like this?" I asked.

She was curious. Not surprised, simply curious.

"The way you see me?" She closed her eyes, in place of where a head shake would be. "No."

"No?"

She laughed, a songbird's throaty call. "I appear differently to every mortal. But I know how they see me." Aphrodite cast me a knowing glance. "Blonde, and blue eyed? That is your peak of beauty?"

I flushed. "Like the ocean, and the sand over which it drapes."

She snorted. "Like the children of Zeus."

My hand flew up and swatted her shoulder gently, her body rocking harder with larger giggles. "Oh, please, my lady. Do not scorn me."

"I do not, love." My Aphrodite laughed. "I simply wonder what beauty is to you."

"You are beauty to me," I replied, much too quickly to have been untrue. "In whatever form you may take."

She paused, but there was no word to speak, no comment to mutter. She simply was, and so I was, too. Silence enveloped us, the comfortable and easy quiet that cupped us so gently.

At last, she spoke.

"I do have a true form." Aphrodite said.

I waited. "You do?"

"Yes." She spoke, simply.

Perhaps I could have said a million things: show me, or what shape does your hair hold? Or asked if she even had hair.

But I did not. I did not say any of those, or anything close.

"Good." I said, because it was the only thing I needed to say.

#love you rosewater #i smile when i see you in my notifs <3 #greek mythology #aphrodite x mortal woman #aphrodite #greek myth #mythology #author #aphrodisiac #should I make this an actual professional short story to publish?? #greek mythos #greek goddess #greek retelling #greek myth poetry #if you look carefully you will see I added easter eggs #of her sacred animals and things #in the story #aphrodite x female lover #aphrodite and her lover

[chaoticfvckingdisaster]

Not to Song of Achilles post but whatever you do don't imagine the end of tsoa before Achilles is given a grave, his spirit angrily screaming at his son for his choices, desperately trying to talk someone into adding Patroclus's name to the grave so he can rest, scared out of his mind that he's going to rest remembered for a war machine and he's never going to see Patroclus again and knowing that Patroclus would have to spend all of eternity between worlds and tearing himself up about it. Anyways don't think of that.

#as much as I LOVED soa I don't like talking about modern retellings abt old myths idk why #song of achilles #achilles #patroclus #achilles and patroclus #tsoa #greek mythos #chaotic's posts

[gncrezan]

you are objectively correct. foa is amazing. thank you for introducing me to this Masterpiece. it feels like a warm hug playing it.

IS IT NOT JUST!!!!!! foa just sticks out to me as being a comforting game, just because it feels so loving towards its 'outcast' cast, who are all so incredible!!!! the kindness they show towards the pc, and how eventually the pc slowly joins their chosen family !!!! it's got a very lovely slowburn element to it too, and the ending feels earned, but still open to what's next !!!!!!!!!!!! i need foa 2 fr and i'm so glad that i got you to play it omg <3 :)

#really do love the pacing of foa and its obvious that the pc doesnt Know this cast (maybe hermes depending on playthrough?) but there's like #a sense of belonging and earning their trust that rly pays off. ESPECIALLY ALEKTO !!!!! that line that i think kokytos says during the part #'And I think you fit here. Like something that was missing from the landscape has grown into it after all.' #not to mention that foa is the trans autism greek mythology game so that by itself had me playing it and loving it #a canon autistic leading man (hades is arguably this even if the ROs get equally options. this is a hades/persephone retelling..) #and nd cast members. and fun designs. and interesting characterisation that differs from the typical greek myth retellings #it all makes for a very vivid and beautiful game. achingly kind. PLAY FIELDS OF ASPHODEL #foa #answered #the-goothe-monster #i need to draw for that last chapter and i also want to maybe organise a foa big bang . in like jan? #but i'm not sure on the logistics bc i have not done events like this. LOL.

[noperopesaredope]

Persephone Retelling Idea

So I was watching a video essay on Lore Olympus and its flaws, and there was a part where the video creator talked about how, in Persephone retellings, Demeter is always villainized whilst Hades is glorified. I thought about this for a bit, and realized two things:

1) The most likely reason we want Persephone and Hades’ relationship to be mutually loving is because we hate the idea of a girl being kidnapped and forced into an unwanted marriage for the rest of eternity whilst her loving mother watches on helplessly. That’s why we make up versions where Persephone isn’t suffering: because it’s horrifying otherwise.

2) It would be so much more interesting to see a retelling of the myth that portrays Demeter and Persephone’s relationship as healthy and loving, then exploring their shared grief over being forcibly separated from each other 6 months a year. That would be fascinating to me, and focus on the love and loss between a mother and daughter. It could be bittersweet and beautiful.

That’s when I ended up writing this comment (then putting it in a Google Doc for later):

I have an idea for a Persephone Myth retelling that I think would be pretty fun without really villainizing anyone (besides maybe Zeus because I hate him? But he's like, not even really in it, so there's that). It mainly focuses on Persephone and Demeter, and is slightly based on my relationship with my mom as I've started getting ready for college (particularly as an autistic young adult who needs supports to function). It also later takes the idea of the Dread Queen Persephone as she girlbosses her way into a true goddess. 

Basically, Persephone is a young adult goddess (still hundreds of years old) who has a great relationship with her mother, but is still trying to figure herself out, and slightly wants to leave the nest. She isn't quite sure how to be independent in the big wide world, and she's a bit nervous. So for now, she likes to spend her time talking with her nymph friends about life and stuff. 

Meanwhile, in the underworld, Thanatos is...busy...with a situation, so Hades is forced to temporarily take over the role of death, a job he is very reluctant to do. Why doesn't some other underworld person take care of it? Because shut up. So, Hades takes the list of people he needs to take down (to the undERWORLD THAT IS!!! *Airhorn noises*) and just kinda comes out of the earth, snatches people out of their bodies, and dips, taking them along with him. Unfortunately, one of the Fates "misspelled" a name, so instead of taking Persebhone (or maybe Kora, because Persephone’s name might be Kore for the first half), he accidently ends up taking Persephone, not realizing who she is since he really needs to get out more often. 

So Persephone finds herself in the underworld after Hades abruptly dropped her off there and went to his palace. She goes to the trial place where souls are typically tried, and the judges are surprised when they realize that she is an immortal god. They assume she got lost or something trying to visit Hades, so they send her over to his palace. She sits in the waiting room for a bit, where they are serving out underworld pomegranates as refreshments. Persephone doesn't know about the rules of the underworld, so she eats one. Dun dun dun. Then she has a meeting with Hades, who is confused until she starts explaining that she really isn't supposed to be here and why. He understandably panics at this, aware that Demeter will definitely kill him. 

Meanwhile, Demeter is having a panic attack, because she doesn't know where her daughter is. The other gods are trying to comfort her, but nothing is working, and in this arc of the story, during the parts where we see what's happening in the overworld, we will explore themes of mental health, depression, and what it is like to have a missing child. The other gods will also be having a sort of mystery thing where they try to find the missing goddess. 

Meanwhile AGAIN, Hades is trying to figure out how to contact the other gods to sort things out, but the exit to the underworld is blocked or something (basically, no one can leave rn), and he can't communicate with the other gods. They are kinda trapped rn. So he tries his best to keep Persephone calm and comfortable because NOTHING IS WRONG AT ALL- (he does break the truth to her once he realizes it really will be a few months until he can contact the others, but at first he will pretend that things are mostly fine) 

Persephone herself is feeling very overwhelmed in this crazy new place, and is more than a little stressed out. But as time goes by, Persephone finds that she really likes it in the underworld, and can find some type of beauty in it. She also discovers new parts of herself with each person she meets. But this first arc mainly explores her trying to find a place in the world without that type of support that Demeter gave her, and wondering how her growing desire to stay in the underworld will affect her relationship with her mother. 

Eventually, we get a beautiful reunion between the two, but tragically discover that Persephone eating the pomegranate seeds have permanently tied her to the underworld. So then they need to figure things out about how to live independently from each other as Persephone starts living in the underworld officially and growing into a potentially badass Dread Queen of the Underworld, Demeter tries to cope with Empty Nest Syndrome (I actually love the idea of exploring a character in her changing situation), and Hades tries to get used to living with another person and also secretly attempts to handle his new guilt complex over accidentally trapping Persephone in the Underworld.

I have a lot more ideas, but that's the basic premise.

Hades and Persephone's dynamic will be so much fun. It isn't quite romantic so much as it is besties or something (I'm gonna make them slightly close in age, since Demeter is the 2nd oldest out of the siblings, and Hades is the 4th. Zeus was also pretty young when he freed his siblings. So Hades would be a bit young around the time Persephone is born. Not super young, but young enough to seem more like an older brother or something). They are so socially awkward that they end up becoming basically friends. Since Persephone basically lives here now, Hades wants to at least make her feel comfortable and welcome, so he hangs out with her sometimes, and eventually even invites her to start helping him out with underworld stuff. They just work together well and get along pretty great in all honesty.

Persephone and Demeter's relationship would be the main focus of the story, as well as Persephone's coming-of-age. Demeter, as I mentioned above, is a mother who is dealing with grief from her child going missing, and later deals with the pieces of trauma that come with that (which she will refuse to acknowledge at first), then dealing with Empty Nest Syndrome as she has a bit of a personal crisis over that, possibly even a bit of a mid life crisis. Then she needs to deal with the realization of how happy Persephone is as she becomes an independent adult. I love the idea of working with this woman as she goes through this nonsense. She’s dealing with a lot. I love this version of her that I have in my head.

Persephone is also conflicted and unsure of herself as she begins to develop mild independence anxiety during the first arc, and her own little identity crisis during the arc after she and Demeter (temporarily) reunite.

Basically, young adult leaves for college for the first time as she and her mom both have mental breakdowns, while the young adult's cool new roommate and accidental kidnapper tries to learn social skills in the background. It's fun (and low-key funny in certain ways).

That's my idea. Yeah.

Hopefully healthier than Lore Olympus.

--------

So, I may or may not make a small webcomic using this idea. The art style will likely be simple because not only is said art style still in the works with no fully fleshed out, overcomplicated character designs, but I want it to be relatively easy to work on and write with ease. May make this, may not. Hopefully it could be fun though, since I love Greek Mythology, and I find retellings of it to be fascinating and fun. Tell me what ya’ll think of this concept, and if it sounds interesting.

#lore olympus salt #sorry dudes #i love the art style #it's just really unhealthy #persephone #persephone retelling #hades #demeter #greek gods #greek myth retellings #greek mythology #ancient greece #mythology #retelling #greek myths #myth retelling #anti lore olympus #story concept #story idea #please don't steal #just adding that just in case #coming of age #coming of age story #persephone and hades #demeter and persephone #persephone and demeter #mother daughter relationship #they love each other so much #leaving home #the underworld

[flowerprose]

HADES

the unseen one, receiver of the dead & king of the underworld

from namesake, a hades and persephone myth retelling in which hades is a skeleton, stripped of his godhood and powers, and persephone is a young flower maiden in search of her missing mother.

Role: Protagonist and POV character

Character Snippet: below the cut

ask to be added or removed from the tag list!

The God of the Dead bears no crown in the land of the living. Shadows drape around him, like a dusk-veiled cape, like gossamer cloth, like lampblack flesh. Below, his eyes taunted between sunken gold and expiring embers. But here, the darkness where his pupils reside swallow all traces of light. His light-eater gaze punishes almost as severely as the stone-withering look of the serpent woman he calls friend.

The warmth of Hell deserts him when he steps into Gaian land. Grass and plantlife recoil from his steps, poisoned by the very menace of his being. Hades neither admires nor instigates such death; it follows him, clings to him, the way the dead have marked him with their stench and know he will lead them home.

But the Gaian earth—this is a realm he seldom visits. Even when he claimed his wife, he gutted the Earth, let the tendrils of the Underworld drag her into his arms. His helmet grants him invisibility, but what can cloak him from the stench of humanity? The way humans and life have swallowed this world?

Suffocating. In the depths below, at least he can catch a breath.

Something is wrong here, of course, beyond his unsheltered presence. He lifts his arms, bones bonded by magic or by will, he does not know. He bears no flesh, no armour, nothing that would even entice a hound to gnaw. Rot clings to him, festering and rancid, like his king-body melted and all that remains is this sticky mess of what mankind calls a body.

A curse of sorts, he presumes. Demeter. Mother of his wife, sister of himself. Wretched, life-bearing creature with a penchant for punishment, much like the other she-devils who throned the mountaintop of the world. If anyone wished unrelenting harm on him, he would cast blame to she. Mother, her only solace. Mother she can be again, but not to his bride.

He walks in death, leaving a trail of flower limbs and grassless earth behind him. Each step a desecration to Demeter, to Gaia, to every wretched bringer of birth and life. All but one—his other half.

Hades reaches out with his skeletal hand, concentrating on the slivering shape of his servant and curling the air around his arm. The air manifests into a serpent, summoned by his will and word.

“Massssster,” it hisses softly. The black beast bows its head demurely, but as it unravels around him, its shape monstrous and engorging, it leans over him, like a sickly tower about to topple forward.

“Find my bride,” Hades commands. “Bring her to me or call me to her—but do not leave her side.”

“Persssssssephoneeee,” the snake whispers. Hades nods, and it vanishes into black smoke, the sliver of its body undisturbed by the molten trail Hades left behind him.

What would the Gods do when their kin starved? When their only whisper of might and glory belonged to him? And yet his body rotted into the very bones he commanded. How could the very world be plunging into his domain, yet here he stood, too weak to rule the Underworld bestowed to him.

#namesake:writing #hades x persephone #greek mythology #character intro #writeblr #myth retelling #my moodboards #ahhhhh so many of my favourite photos i saved for him ended up going towards other moodboards but! #i really do love how this turned out #i love hades so much #he has a very... sardonic personality #i hope i do him justice!!! #my writing #namesake:character intro

[literateish]

ariadne by jennifer saint

i just finished reading this book and i absolutely adored it. it's possibly one of my favourite books.

'ariadne' tells the greek myth of the princess of crete. ariadne knows all too well that the gods punish women for the crimes of men and is desperate to escape that fate, however when she falls for theseus, the prince of athens, she's left with the choice of saving him from death by the minotaur and therefore betraying her family, or leaving her lover to die.

this book tells the all too familiar tale of women facing unjust punishments for the actions of men, reassessing the prominence of women in greek mythology. the way jennifer saint retells this greek myth is absolutely beautiful and i fell in love with every sentence, whilst my hatred for the greek gods and men in these myths grew.

i felt like the book had a fairly slow start, however by third of the way through i was hooked and couldn't put it down, even though i already knew how the myth tragically ends. it was beautiful, heartbreaking, and i loved every single moment.

#i love this book so so much #if anyone has any greek myth retellings book recs pls lmk #han reads books #ariadne #jennifer saint #book review #booklr

[mommy-medusa]

Athena’s Wings

So, in Medusa’s Child, Athena has wings now! And I think they’re neat, so I’m gonna talk about them!

Athena was born with a pair of sterling owl wings, and throughout her life, she gains more through accomplishments she achieves as a goddess. Before the book starts, she has twenty pairs, each representing something she did (aside from the first ones). She gets a few more throughout the story for various things, but she has twenty at the start. The way she got them are as followed:

Being born

Killing Pallas (this is damaging to her psyche as much as you think it is)

Becoming the patron of Athens

Making the first olive tree

Domesticating horses

Inventing the plow

Inventing the rake

Inventing the bridle

Inventing the yoke

Inventing the chariot

Designing the first ship

Beating Arachne in the weaving contest

Turning Arachne into a spider

Blinding Tiresias

And then 15-20 are just for various goddess shenanigans like fighting in wars and aiding some mortals.

Unfortunately, Athena loathes her wings.

For one, she sees them as a sign of hubris. That she’s flaunting her victories. And that doesn’t really sit right with her, as she feels no need to show off.

For two, they are a teensy tiny itty bitty bit excruciatingly painful.

Her wings are meant to be out and free, but instead, she keeps them hidden inside her back. This causes an extreme strain on her entire body, and she says that she can constantly feel them “writhing” beneath her skin, “yearning for an escape.”

And even when she does have them out, she still isn’t free from discomfort. Due to the amount of wings she has (remember, there’s forty of them), there isn’t much space available for all of them to be out at once. She isn’t a very big goddess, after all, and even if she was, the back only has so much skin. As a result, the wings grow over each other, fighting for room, and her flesh gets ripped to shreds. It’s a pretty (read as: extremely) bloody sight.

Her wings are also embedded with several grey eyeballs (think of biblically accurate angels). In my book, this is we’re she gets the epithet Grey-Eyed Athena (because she herself has grey-blue eyes). She CAN see out of all of these eyes, but she chooses not to, as it gives her a headache.

Her primary wings are thirty feet long, and all the rest span from fifteen to twenty-five feet. They all get smaller when they’re folded on her back and only grow to their full size when extended. This keeps her from falling over backward from the weight of them.

The only wings she doesn’t hate are the little wings she has on her head, which aren’t painful or straining or annoying.

And now, beneath the cut, for your viewing pleasure, the actual scene where her wings first appear! Enjoy!

“I didn’t know you had wings.”

The topic was meant to distract Athena from her distress, but it seemed to do the exact opposite, as Athena visibly grimaced at Medusa’s words. Her wings, sprawled limp at her sides, flinched and drew in closer to her back, as though ashamed of themselves.

“Yes,” Athena said softly. “These are my original pair. The ones I had when I was born.”

“Oh? You have more than one?”

“I have many.”

She sounded so tired when she said that. So spiteful toward her own form.

Medusa dipped the moss into the salt water, then gently dabbed at the burn on the left one. Athena jerked away, a ripple of pain causing the entire wing to shudder. When it did, Medusa swore she caught a glimpse of some strange movement from beneath the plumage.

With curious claws, Medusa began pushing back some of the silver feathers. At this, Athena let out a hissing breath and said, “I would not do that if I were you…”

She made no effort to stop Medusa, however, and, too driven by her intrigue, Medusa continued, brushing through feathers until she saw it.

An eye.

A grey eye.

The eyeball revolved around to stare directly at her, and Medusa found herself pulling away instinctively with a small gasp of fright.

Athena sighed heavily. “My apologies.”

“You have…an eye in your wing,” Medusa said as if Athena didn’t already know this.

“Indeed.” Athena raised both wings, and all her feathers stood on end, revealing the array of bright grey eyes underneath. Medusa’s own wings suddenly felt very itchy.

Athena lowered her wings, and her plumage smoothed out. She looked bitter. “Not very inviting, hm?”

“Can you see out of them?” Medusa asked. “The eyes?”

“Technically, yes,” Athena answered. “But I try not to. It is headache-inducing, seeing so many things at once.” Then, sourly, she added, “I don’t like having them out. They’re nuisances. I would cut them off if they didn’t grow back like the heads of a Hydra.”

“You say that like you know that will happen.”

Athena gave her a look.

“Oh.”

There was a small snort from Athena.

Medusa extended a hand and gently stroked one of the wings. It fluttered under her claws.

“Well, I think they’re beautiful,” she said. And then, before Athena could counter her with some self-loathing comment, she went on, “You said you have more?”

“Many more,” Athena nodded. “I am ‘awarded’ with new wings with every accomplishment I achieve as a goddess. They’re a sort of prize, if you will. But if you ask me, they’re just feathery forms of hubris. I have no reason to flaunt my deeds. And yet, the universe seems to want me to.”

“So that is why they call you Grey-Eyed Athena,” Medusa hummed.

That actually got a laugh out of Athena. “Indeed,” she said. “I used to—” Another light laugh. A finger scratched at one of her head-wings sheepishly. “I used to appear before mortals, when they would summon me, with my wings spread out, many eyes aglow and wide open. All mystical and majestic. It got a real kick out of worshippers.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“It lost its appeal after a while. It stopped making me happy, I suppose. It was all just an act. The strain certainly didn’t help, either.”

“Strain?”

Athena heaved a great sigh, and one of her wings twitched. “Having my wings out at all is a constant struggle. These,” she gestured vaguely, “are alright, as they are my original pair, but the others… They’re painful. Terribly so. The more I have out at once, the more friction they create on my body, and it feels as though my skin is being scraped off, piece by piece. My back is usually torn apart by the time only five pairs have emerged.”

Wincing lightly, Medusa couldn’t help but ask, “How many do you have?”

Athena blinked, slightly dazed, then looked up at the dark sky as though she were trying to remember. After a moment, she answered, “Twenty pairs, I believe.”

Now Medusa grimaced fully. Forty wings. Her own two wings were annoying enough at times, but forty? A sympathetic twinge of pain went through her back.

“Wow,” Medusa breathed out.

Athena gave a humorless, bitter laugh. “Indeed.”

“And you said they hurt you?” Medusa pressed.

Athena’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Yes,” she said. “They do. They are not meant to be concealed in a prison of flesh. They are meant to be out and free. But I don’t care. I loathe these mutations. And so, they wrath against me. Even as we speak now, I can feel them writhing beneath my skin, yearning for an escape. The feathers itch so vehemently against my muscles, pressing mercilessly on my bones. It’s a pain.” She lifted her head to Medusa, and her eyes looked so exhausted. “For me, it’s always like this.”

Medusa frowned. “It must get tiring, all that—”

“It does. It does get tiring,” Athena whispered. “But I don’t have any choice. I never did, and I never will.”

Medusa reached down to squeeze one of Athena’s hands tightly. “I’m so sorry, Athena.”

“Don’t be,” Athena said. “You have nothing to apologize for, trust me on that.”

For some time, the two of them sat in silence, Athena staring at the ground with a hollow expression and Medusa tending to her burn.

And then, “Sometimes I get some bad cramps in my wings.”

Athena laughed. One of her head-wings swept around her face to muffle the sound, but Medusa heard it clearly. It was like a chiming bell in a great, black void.

#this poor girl just can’t catch a break #she’s more tortured than the literal main character of the book lmao #anyway! i love this new idea for her so much #I think it’s fun! #medusa’s child #greek myth #greek mythology #greek gods #greek myth retellings #athena #gods and goddesses #ancient greek mythology #medusa #ancient greek #my writing #book snippets #book lore

[greekmythcomix]

Excited for #Krapopolis. Looks hilarious and silly and has some of my favourite actors/voices.

But

But

The fan pass is in the form of ‘KRAP CHICKENS’, Greek myth chickens…

And I’m just

👀

reminding everyone I first drew mine in 2021 😂

Anyway, can’t wait for this show!

#probably just a coincidence ha #everyone loves chickens #I guess #Greek myth chickens #greek myth Comix #krapopolis #greek mythology #greek myth #greek myth retellings #classical reception

[navree]

this whole cait corran thing is just really proving my point about why i gatekeep greek mythology from basically everyone outside the isles, i don't trust any of it at this point and the retellings are all bad anyway

#personal #the only greek mythology retelling i will ever promote ever is a) something my friend is doing cuz i love my friend #and b) the gods of hunger series by rm virtue solely because he was also targeted by cait corran #even tho he's literally just an indie author and wasn't at all a threat to her she was just being a vile racist #so go support him and buy/read his stuff even tho i still despise greek myth retellings with all of my soul

[hades-bat]

Blood of Zeus Hermes appreciation post because I said so

#greek mythology #greek gods #hermes #apollo #dionysus #aphrodite #ares #artemis #athena #demeter #hephaestus #hera #hestia #zeus #poseidon #hades #greek myth retellings #please look at him #he's literally so pretty #i love his face #i love him #i want to marry him #blood of zeus #greek myth memes #mt olympus #greek mythology memes #greek pantheon

[fromedennn]

Sprawling farther than the eyes see, green lush

Fields and sun’s azure skies. Golden discs, two,

Slice through clouds before they curve back around—

falling star from heavens, crashes to Earth.

A painful slash upon the neck, blood drips—

A mourning lover cries.

Where is morning? The sun won’t rise.

What purple o’er his head, a flower blooms

In his stead. Failed healing, he takes last breaths.

There is no cure for Fate dictated death.

#hyacinthus #apollo #i’m taking a poetry intensive creative writing class this quarter #this was for my study on meter #i switched from trochaic pentameter to iambic pentameter to signify the change in tone #and the trimeter and tetrameter lines stand out to me a lot #she’s errrr rhythmically ambiguous tho. like half the words are stressed literally only bc i say so #let me know what you think!! #hyacinthus and apollo #classics #greek mythology #mythology #poetry #original work #love #greek myth retellings #mine #meter #my poetry

[hadescrow333]

Hmmm imma do the 12 Titans because why not. Each day one titan and then go to the 6 children of Kronos and then the 12 Olympians

And yeeess I know the olympians have some of the children of Kronos in it but I know what I’m doing shush.

So

The first out of the twelve titans.

The eldest titan was Oceanus. One of his titles are god of fresh water, he was actually the dude who controlled the huge backward flowing fresh water river that circled the whole earth (at the time the earth was thought to be flat)

That River was called the River Oceanus (yes yes how disappointing it doesn’t have a funky difficult spelling name shame shame)

This river was the source of ALLLL of earth’s fresh water, and all the streams and rivers drew their water from it. Well, most actually drew from its water using the clouds and subterranean aquifers. BUT some rivers, such as Styx, flow directly from it.

Actually cool fact the river was a symbolism of the eternal flow of time. Why you might ask? Well it’s because it was believed that the sun, moon, and stars allll rose from its waters, and set into it as well. Cool right? Well I think it’s cool.

I love Greek mythology and the weird facts it poses, yes I’m a Greek mythology nerd AND I DONT FEEL ANY EMBARRASSMENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY IS COOL plus if your reading this that means your also a Greek mythology nerd yaaay insert high five. I DIGRESS

Anyways so yes I’m going to tell a little more about this river because I think it’s cool and I know it’s getting a tad off topic but oh well it’s my post I do what I want

So the beyond the river lay a dark and Misty shore, which was the farthest edge from the cosmos. This was also the place where the sky dome rested its edges upon the flat earth.

Oh aaand from below this was the pit Tartarus, which rose up to meet up withe the earth and the sky.

The sky dome and the pit of Tartarus actually created a large egg shaped sphere, which enclosed all of the cosmos. It was divided into two halves, the above half being the gods and men. The bottom half (the one under the flat earth) was Tartarus. Haides (the underworld) was located on the outer rim of of the earth, beyond the setting sun. But on some versions shares the bottom half of the dome withe Tartarus. It’s all agreed though that Tartarus is under the underworld, and its entrance pit is in the underworld, therefore it’s usually seen as part of the underworld.

So back to Oceanus. He, along withe his wife (sister-wife) Tethys, and his three thousand daughters the Okeanides (Holy Hell that’s a lot of kids 😬), reside and are native gods of the river. Though the Helio (the sun) and Eos (the dawn) and Selene (the moon) also reside there withe their own little palaces on islands in the river.

Hmm what else…

So he was the eldest titan child of Ouranos and Gaia.

And he was actually one of the gentlest and peaceful gods/titans. He’s usually depicted as a large half man half serpent withe bull horns (he might seem terrifying, but you should have a healthy fear of even the most peaceful gods, they could easily smite you withe not even a glance)

That’s all folks! Have a nice 24 hours and tomorrow shall be the next titan.

#greek gods #greek mythology #myths #greek myth retellings #oceanus #very interesting #well in my opinion at least I love Greek mythology