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genericpuff · 27 days

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Seeing how there only 10 episodes left do you think Rachel will rush the ending?

The way I see she needs to somehow resign Apollo reign, reawaken the God's, have Persophone defeat Kronos, have Persophone create Elysian, stop the entered winner/killing of nymphs and humans, hell we don't even know what is Leto end goal and what is her whole role in this series other than manipulating Apollo to be king. We don't even know what exactly she did with Zeus (but knowing Rachel she made Leto the other woman despite the fact she was another respectable goddess)

Imo I think Rachel is officially done done with her series and know her viewers are fed up with her constant milking of the series. You can even see it in some of her work where you know she just gave up (unless it's her self insert scenes)

On a side note another thing I should point out is the anti climax of Leuce and Thetis. Besides the fact she made Leuce another other woman the way she made Leuce expression during Persophone home Invasion made it look like she wasn't going to back down. Only for her to make be forgotten 3/4 of the final arc and is never mention again. Persophone didnt even ask Hades how does he even know Leuce. So unless Rachel has plans for her again that was the last time we saw her making that whole plot unless.

While Thetis plot.........

I'll be honest she just got a slap on a wrist and Rachel just insert Achilles as a way to bait her audience/trying to make a cultural reference. Tbh I thought Thetis would have a bigger story like fast-forward she believes she gotten everything she wanted and is now Queen only for the Trojan war occur and she only lost her status bur her son. Thus making the scene a poetic justic/tragedy.

I'll finish this off since I don't want to run my mouth about this series so here's my 2 cent. Rachel is putting to many Greek mythologies in her series that a) she has forgotten about characters b) everyone is now expecting her to have this series be all wrapped up in a nice bow when it actually be worse c) and because she has so many subplots they are left unresolved or unsatisfied

Oh, Persephone created Elysium already. It was literally just this LMAO

Okay in all honesty I don't know if that was actually meant to be Elysium, but I remember seeing people comment on the S2 finale when she was bee-burping at Kronos that she was creating Elysium at the same time as fighting Kronos and I just... yeah okay? But they literally haven't even name-dropped it since the trial. This is what I mean when I criticize Rachel's writing for depending WAY too much on reader headcanon, because not only will she just roll with whatever her fans theorize, she'll do so without actually writing it into the comic so unless you're in the FB groups and Discord, you're probably not gonna pick up on every little decision Rachel made because she's making them with half a thought and a quarter of the effort needed to express it. It means people can say whatever and she'll just take credit for it like "yeah! that was Elysium! totally! you get it! okay moving on-"

As for the Leuce thing, Hades deadass met Leuce when Zeus offered her up as a bride, which Zeus explained to Persephone during the S2 finale arc-

-but again it suffers from a lot of the same issues of Rachel not expanding on her ideas and just resolving them with some other random plot convenience. Why would Leuce be so obsessed with getting with Hades that she'd make up fake text messages? Rachel just really didn't want Hades to be interacting with other women in the 10 years that Persephone was gone, so she had to make Leuce delusional for it to work ?? Why would she go so far as to tell Hades about the text messages if they weren't real the whole time?

-but then of course before Hades can respond to this, Persephone interrupts, meaning the plotline can be put on the backburner until Rachel comes up with a solution to it-

-and then we got to see Persephone 'resolve' the issue by harassing Leuce in her home, and it was only until after THEN that Rachel finally went "no it's fine that Persephone vandalized her home, the text messages weren't real!!! see??? Leuce is just a delusional nimwit! She deserves it!"

And yeah the Thetis and Achilles thing is yet another 'plotline' that Rachel only introduced to try and legitimize her comic as a Greek myth retelling. Just about every myth she tries to portray is done vaguely and without any thought for the world they're inhabiting, it's all just lip service.

At the end of the day, a lot of the writing in LO is 1.) trying to make up for the lack of plot development in the first two seasons (hence why we're now getting sudden lore dumping about how the seasons work) and 2.) trying to make up for its lack of Greek myth set pieces because Rachel has now been openly called out for being arrogant in her 'knowledge' of Greek myth and it has people analyzing just how little Greek there is in this Greek myth "retelling". It's especially apparent in the second season when the whole thing is just self-insert fantasies about Hades and Persephone living together until the plot finally has to get moving again. Every now and then Rachel remembers that this is supposed to be a retelling, so she'll throw in some random Greek myth reference like the Colchian dragon or Aphrodite marrying Hephaestus or Thetis and Achilles.

It's very evident that Rachel never learned how to write a longform story or planned to make LO as long as it is and the story has suffered all the more for it. And it sucks because that's not the story I got onboard with back in 2019-2020, but that's where we are. Ironically, as much as I criticize LO for not having enough Greek myth influence in it, I do think the story would have been far better off if it just stayed as a cheesy office romance fluff fic. It's clearly what Rachel wanted to write but either she or WT (or both) got ahead of themselves and took on more than what LO - and Rachel - were equipped to follow through on.

#ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus

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justmenoworries · 10 months

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Lore Olympus Episode 251 Spoilers

"Yet in spite of everything, [...] look at the man you've become."

You mean, a slave driver, an abusive dipshit and a horrible parent. Yeah, that's not the best argument, Persie.

I find it funny how LO often goes out of his way to have characters assure Hades that he's nothing like Kronos, but honestly? Hades is extremely similar to Kronos. Uncomfortably so.

They were both lonely and filled that void with women much younger than them, whom they were also in a position of power over, Kronos with Hera and Hades with Minthe and then Persephone.

Both like to play victim. Kronos loves to guilt-trip Hera for deceiving him and ignores that his actions would most certainly have doomed the world and Hera and the other Six Traitors had basically no choice but to fight back by any means necessary. Hades frequently whines to Persephone and others about how he feels oh-so-lonely and oh-so-isolated as King of the Underworld, ignoring that he himself is a huge reason for why other immortals percieve him as scary and unapproachable. He's constantly intimidating and bullying people with both his status and his money, see him threatening that one poor nymph with closing her business if she didn't give him private information about Persephone or him constantly antagonizing Demeter for no reason.

They're both tyrants. Kronos is self-explanatory. Hades is downright proud of exploiting the shades who come to the Underworld. He literally brags about making them perform unpaid labor. Hades also seemingly doesn't give a rat's ass about his people. He threatens both his employees and regular citizens on a daily basis. The only person in the Underworld he shows a modicum of care towards is Hecate and that's only becaus she's a long-time friend of his. And also because she actively enables all the shit named above. If you wanna cheat you could say that extends to Persephone, since she's also officially a citizen of the Underworld, but let's be real here, that's only because he's in love with her. I sincerely doubt Hades would put up an embargo and show up at a trial as the lawyer if any other citizen of the Underworld was being unfairly persecuted by Zeus.

Both Kronos and Hades are horrible parents. Kronos ate all of his sons alive but one and the only reason he didn't eat Zeus was because Rhea was wise enough to hide him away. Hades emotionally abused and neglected Thanatos for all his life, didn't show concern when Thanatos was M.I.A and when confronted by Thanatos over being a shitty father, instead of apologizing or showing anything even resembling remorse, he instead made excuses about how Thanatos wasn't throwing himself into his arms eager to be fathered after his own mother gave him up into child labor. I've said it before but I'm genuinely afraid for Dionysus, Hades isn't father material and I'm positive he'll repeat the same neglectful bullshit he pulled with Thanatos.

"There were times in the last few years of my life where I felt truly hopeless."

Sure would've been nice if we could've seen those times instead of time-skipping right over them. Persephone keeps talking about how hard the years in the Mortal Realm were, but all evidence we've had of that were her hands going green. And even that's gone now.

"But then I thought about you and [...] your capacity for love despite all the cruelty you faced."

Excuse me, what????

Name one person in this goddamn Webtoon Hades was ever genuinely loving towards that wasn't someone he once fucked or wanted to fuck.

I see the child is only referred to as 'the interloper' now. I'm guessing RS doesn't want readers to think too hard about the fact that hxp have been doing fuck-all to save an endangered child for several episodes.

And we're officially going for the "Delusional Jealous Woman" route with Leuce it seems. RS' hatred for all women that aren't her self-insert is so palpable it hurts.

"I miss Minthe."

Me too, Thetis, me too.

I'm honestly scared of where this whole Kassandra/Apollo thing is going, I don't want any more Apollo woobifying.

#anti lore olympus #lore olympus spoilers #lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lo

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ash-and-starlight · 2 years

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rubbing my hands together and laughing deviously over you disliking tsoa too

it's an alright book but the way people talk about it, calling it better than the iliad itself and saying it's essential reading for anyone who's lgbtq+ or an ally as if there weren't a 100 things weird and wrong about how this book portrays the figures in it despite claiming to be "mythological realism" and also many gay men saying they felt uncomfortable with how the main relationship was portrayed is frankly insane and makes me want to commit unspeakable acts of violence. also the way every single female figure is villainized to they point they're not even themselves anymore? jail, jail to the author for 1000 years. i don't think i'd dislike this book all that much if it weren't for the fact that so many people treat it as the holy grail of contemporary literature when it barely qualifies as the author's patroclos replaced by her self insert oc with the same name x achilles fanfic.

RIGHT EXACTLY. I don’t even have more to add bc you explained my beef with that book perfectly word for word I just. Idk. Again it wasn’t horrible but it absolutely wasn’t that good and the fact that it’s considered an Authority on classic literature irks me to no end lmao I am still baffled by that portrayal of thetis?? the black & white moral anachronism?? forget achilles what about MY fatal fury at seeing Patroclus’ character shamelessly butchered like that GOD

#thank all of you besties for fueling the perpetual fire of my bitching 💕💕💕💕💕#u need to come off anon so I can kiss you #ash replies #ask

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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6 Anti LO Asks

1. i would actually get the idea people look down on the underworld gods bc like yeah theyre scary and unwelcomed, but like its undercut by rachel making them the most desirable and most powerful for?? reasons?? like she wants them to be underdogs while at the same time being the best at everything, which is her issue with persephone too, she also has to be powerless and humble but also the most unique and powerful. she wants us to root for them when they have no actual struggles.

2. i dont take reviews for anything, tbh. the "professional" reviews LO got were all by people who are also at the same printing house, so theyre literally paid to say something nice for marketing even if they dont like it (i work in publishing, we do this all the time), and amazon reviews arent regulated, so of course LO stans will flood it to fluff it up. thats what let's play fans have been doing too for years now too, despite it being wattpad markipiler fanfic.

3. I know comparing characters isn’t right but honestly LO has enough wrong going on I won’t feel bad. Persphone isn’t interesting on her own in LO. A lot of her character is having things happen to her except for flirting with Hades and killing mortals (and maybe running away as a reaction to Zeus). Persphone we are told she is smart, naive, powerful but powerless. Her character literally is whatever RS thinks fits the chapter the best. Persphone has no clear goals other than wanting Hades, what’s her major? What was the next step after college? Do the other gods go to college? Why doesn’t she know what sleeping to the top means but knows so much about flirting with a man who has a gf? What was she suppose to be doing if she never met hades?

Although the other female cast may not be likeable, they do actually do stuff that drives their own character

Minthe may have fallen into a shitty relationship with Hades, but she feels sick about the ring and treats Hades because he doesn’t listen to her. She leads Persphone to the wrong location cause she doesn’t like her. She fights hades (not a good thing but does something to the plot)

Daphne has Persphones background, grew up in the mortal realm. However she’s a lot more interesting. Demeter probably isn’t strict with Daphne, but Daphne is now and influencer with business deals and when forced to Dave Apollo bits and threatens him. And even before with Apollo wanted to find out her own opinions on the guy.

Hecate isn’t a main character but enjoys to be in the plot and leaves the plot as she pleases, she’s support but also seems like there more to her than shown. She likes chaos, gardening, and expanding her knowledge.

Aphrodite, drove the plot with the drugs and car thing, NOT A GOOD THING but actually did something. Was looking for her husband, testing her son may not be the best character but actually leaves marks on the story telling despite not showing up a lot.

Artemis, invites Persphone into her home, has always been this sliver footed hunter, was doing fine before persphone, but also has her own family issues

Demeter fought in a war, has her own morals and ethics when raising a daughter, may have messed up but again actually contributes to the plot

Hera pushes HXP together and apart, has her own interesting drama, seduced Kronos and paid for it gravely, DID have an affair with hades. Not good things but contributions.

Thetis manipulates people

Persphone just doesn’t do much herself in the comic. She didn’t want to go to the party, she didn’t want the job, a lot of the plot is having her having something happen to her. The drugging, the Apollo the offers, Meg offering her clothes even. She doesn’t drive the plot other than flirting with Hades even knowing about Minthe, killing those mortals, and turning Minthe into a plant, but none of those things are even framed as wrong. It’s like even when she does make a “mistake” it doesn’t “count”

4. DID HADES ACTUALLY REALLY HONESTLY SAY ZEUS' RAGE IS MISMANAGED!?!

5. Since we’re talking about self-inserts, hell, I have like 3 characters in my book that can be argued to be my self inserts. But the difference is that while I project onto them plenty, I still remember they are my CHARACTERS, not me. I give them flaws, I write them how I would any other, and I make them suffer consequences when needed. There’s a difference between that and whatever the hell RS is doing with Persephone

-----FP Spoilers-----

6. Not to beat a dead horse but even with Hades saying he misspoke in calling Persephone his wife - considering they arent dating and have only known each other for a short time period, it still sounds weird, right? Like in the newer chapters (I think) Hades and Persephone discuss going on a "first date" after the trial is over which would be fine - except A). It sounds as though even if Persephone gets a punishment (like lets say its a Prometheus treatment kinda thing) that they'll just go behind Zeus' back + authority to go on dates anyway, regardless of punishment or not, and B). Hades calling Persephone his wife indicates that despite not even being on a proper date or even knowing her all that well that he already thinks of her as such, which seems a bit presumptuous considering everything thats been happening.

Also ive seen claims far and between that months have passed if not a year since Persephone went on the run / the beginning of the comic - does anyone have a source for that? (The timeline makes everything confusing).

Also, I was told that the trial doesnt take place in the underworld - that it actually takes place in Olympus?? Anyone got a source? Pls and thanks.

From OP, not Anon: From the episodes currently on FP, the trial does take place on Olympus. The underworld is in a constant state of darkness and the place where the trial is being held shows it's visibly daytime. Also, it hasn't been months or a time skip. Some people were confused by Hades's wording because he said 'months'. Saying weeks would've been way better and less confusing.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

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alatismeni-theitsa · 3 years

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anti LO anon opinions

I am sorry for the delay. There were too many asks and too little time. 16 messages below the cut. Enjoy!

1) I like to mention that metis isn’t the mother Hera Demeter or Hestia rather she created them

2) Why is Metis being made into a fertility goddess? She's associated with wisdom and good counsel, she has no relation to fertility or agriculture. If RS wanted to be consistent with the fertility goddess=victory thing, then Hera fits that role just fine because she is literally a goddess of childbirth and motherhood!

3) The fertility plotline is already stupid by its own but also Metis who is the mother OF HERA DEMETER AND HESTIA( and not Athena because fuck it i guess) was already very stupid and but nowZeus ATE the mother of Hera and Hera still married him in the comic?????!?!?!?!

Just whyyyyyyyy

Why rachel

Whyyyyyyyyyyy!!!???

4) Let me get this straight... Zeus ate Metis to help him overthrow Kronos because she's a "fertility" goddess? How does a goddess of wisdom suddenly become a fertility goddess?? Also, for a comic that preaches "feminine power" all the time, there is absolutely no power for women when they are being consumed just for the sole purpose of defeating a tyrant.

5) One of many things that bugs me about lo leto is that not only she looks identical to hera(besides of eyes) she dress in same colors as her and same clothes style. In episode that leto was in they give hera more blue collors but that doesnt change that hera dont wear blue so often.

6) Apparently, Metis isn't their ( Hera, Demeter and Hestia) mother in LO. Which doesn't make any sense because if she isn't their mom, then where did they come from? Just because they were created doesn't mean that's not their parent.

By this logic, Demeter and Persephone aren't related in LO. This just seems like a poor way of avoiding incest.

(The evidence is that Rachel changed the sisters to friends in episode 119 and said that they weren't related herself (can't find this one tho)).

7) I remember seeing a instagram post criticizing LO for making Apollo rape Persephone someone in the comments said “Well zeus rape persephone in the original mythology so It only makes sense that Rachel made Apollo do it” ???Like???Sis What???

8) Probably unpopular opinion : I don't like when people criticizes Lore olympus by saying " It is bad because in the original myth * insert female figure in Greek mythology* is RAPED!!" because most of the time, even if exception exist but the great majority of the examples used in these arguments came from ROMAN version!!

So if someone want to criticize Lore olympus its should at least use exemples/argurments based from GREEK mythology not from the Roman version(which cames much later) and it is pretty easy to do that.

9) Off topic but the fact that Hecate in LO looks so generic in recent chapters (a nod to the recent anti LO anon submission posts and one person says Hecate looks badly drawn(, that there's actually an instagram art account who plays art of withe fanart or original content, and their OC Nadia looks more like LO Hecate than LO Hecate. Link

10) Hekate in those panels (where she is talking with Demeter in ep. 145) looks like LEGO figurine.

11) Now in lo besides of all this unneeded plot about persephones trail, apollo trying to overthrown zeus now Smythe thought that this romance comic didnt have enough action so now she add Kronos coming back and possible another war with him! This supposed to be romance comic not some action one, and this bigger plots fell so much unnecessary and like some 14yearold fanfiction that wich each chapter self insert marysue have more unreal things to do Thats why pilot lo was better it was just romance

12) Why couldn't zeus be the villain of LO? In the myth, everything is very explicitly his fault. He tells hades to kidnap persephone and he never tells demeter that he married off her daughter until she starts going on an agricultural strike and blights the earth. No more of this evil demeter/apollo/thetis/thanatos/hestia bullshit! I want the mother/daughter duo to beat zeus to the ground dammit!

13) The age gap in LO is weird because persephone's age isn't specified in the myth, her supposed youth is a product of modern interpretation due to her kore epithet and status as demeter's daughter. She could've went the route of young hades if she wanted a young protagonist, but we could've also had old persephone, which has worked multiple times.

14) Oh god, lore olympus is gonna become the new twilight/50 shades of grey.

15) one thing i don't understand about metis in LO - wasn't she an oceanid?? why is she brown w wings?

16) I personally don’t think RS has the majority of this planned, because if she did there wouldn’t be so much retconned stuff and these apparently major plot points wouldn’t be popped now, almost 150 episodes in! Like you said, they had to be built up and hinted at well before this to make sense. It’s either on the editor not helping her tighten up the story, or she, as she’s told us before, just writes it as it goes, and that seems far more likely. More so, let’s not forget the other plot lines that must be dealt with: Eros and Psyche, Semele and Dionysus, Leto now?, Persephone’s schooling (?), Minthe, Apollo, Thanatos, and Daphne (🙄), Hermes lying to hades, Zeus finding out about Hera/Hades, Persephone coming to justice, Thetis, Echo, Persephone even finding out about her powers (yes, almost 209 Eos in), HxP even getting together and married (+possible babies), and the ACTUAL myth with Demeter at a standoff! At current rate, it’ll need at least several more years to wrap up, unless most of those are dropped, in which case also proves she didn’t plan ahead, or else she wouldn’t have included them to begin with. How do you turn such a cut and dry story into such a convoluted mess. I’d be impressed if it wasn’t so aggravating.

#anti lo #answered #again i am sorry <3 #I check the messages right when you send them I just post them a bit later

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ufolvr · 3 years

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A list of my srmthfg ocs? Bc I'm a sucker for those

Parallax: my own self insert, doppelganger

Pandora: doppelganger.... 2

Paradox: fusion between Parallax and Pandora

Lullaby: albino lava squid pup

Neo: Mandarin from an alternate/twin timeline who didn't go Batshit on his team and who i chose to call Neo 2 avoid confusion

Thetis: big bone dragon from the same timeline as Neo

Chia: bone chimera

Prism: childish holographic AI

Chip: whatever those energy eating bugs were called? A little nymph of that species

Vari: this bitch but better

I have More canon characters who've been altered to the point of behaving like ocs (i.e, Valeena) but they don't really count KSNAKSNK

#📡 incoming transmission 📡#srmthfg #srmthfg oc #parallax #pandora #lullaby #prism #vari #neo #chip #chia #thetis #paradox #SO exited to work on this au bc its SO much and it explores a lot of emotions like pain and loss so. KKNDKDNDKN #many a moons au

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radioromantic-moved · 3 years

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the weird thing for me right now with‏‏‎ ‎fe3h‏‏‎ ‎is i don't really have anything i can pinpoint as Definitely Romantic feelings. i still can't figure out if i have a crush on bernie or if i just relate to her so hard she's catapulted her way to comfort character status in a few weeks flat. dorothea is 😳 but when i try to think of any sort of content where she interacts with my insert in a romantic way my brain just completely bluescreens. and edelgard is EXACTLY my type (self-isolating complex female antagonist with a tragic backstory who can and will kill you) but i can't immediately identify my feelings towards her as the same way i feel about helen and mera and thetis and glados, who all fit those tropes.

it's very funny that every time a video game literally gives me the option to romance a character on a silver platter i push it away and go "i don't like this :(" it happened with‏‏‎ ‎stardew‏‏‎ ‎valley‏‏‎ ‎when i got sad that abigail and haley didn't seem as happy living on the farm and it's happening here because honestly i really hate the power imbalance in the dynamic (even if you're close to the same age as your students they still start as your students and they continue to refer to you as their professor and defer to you after the school phase. and turning that romantic is :/)

#i've liked stuff without getting romantic attachments before #so it's not like this is New. it's just a surprise.#and also my attraction to helen didn't start until i was nearly done with‏‏‎ ‎tma‏‏‎ ‎so maybe i should just wait and see.#nyx epic gamer moments: fe3h

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aimee-maroux · 4 years

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Sexual Curse Tablets

The first time I ever heard about curse tablets was when I visited Bath and its namesake Roman bath. The curse tablets found there were written in Latin and addressed to local goddess Sulis, identified by the Romans with Minerva.

A curse tablet, called tabella defixionis or defixio in Latin and katadesmos in ancient Greek is a small tablet, often made of lead, stone or baked clay, asking a god, spirit or dead person for help. The tablet was then secretly buried or hidden in a significant place.

Curse tablets were a popular type of magic throughout the Greco-Roman world used by both, men and women. And of course people back then cared just as much about sex and love as they do today. The ones in Bath dealt with the return of stolen possessions, with the exception of one:

"Qui mihi Vilbiam involavit sic liquat comodo aqua. Ell[…] muta qui eam involavit si Velvinna, Exsupereus, Verianus, Severinus, Augustalis, Comitianus, Catus, Minianus, Germanilla, Iovina."

"May he who carried off Vilbia from me become liquid as the water. May she who so obscenely devoured her become dumb, whether Velvinna, Exsupereus, Verianus, Severinus, Augustalis, Comitianus, Catus, Minianus, Germanilla (or) Jovina." Bath / Aquae Sulis, England, 43-410 CE

This curse tablet also deals with a theft, but it's the theft of a girl named Vilbia. Whether Vilbia was actually the writer's slave, or only his concubine, either would make sense here.

A Love Affair with Eterna

The only curse from Britain with a truly erotic context was found in Old Harlow, Essex:

"Mio M(ercurio) dono ti(bi)‌ negotium Et-‌ern(a)e et ipsam,‌ nec sit i(n)vidi(a) me(i)‌ Timotneo sangui(n)e suo."

"To the god Mercury, I entrust to you my affair with Eterna and her own self, and may Timotneus feel no jealousy of me at the risk of his life-blood." Old Harlow, England, found together with 3rd-4th century pottery

Mercury or Hermes is the god of thieves, magic and spells (among many other things) and as the guide of dead souls he moves freely between the world and the underworld. Hermes, Charon, Hekate, and Persephone were most often addressed to bring about a curse tablet's spell.

In comparison, this excerpt from a curse found inside a wax figurine in Upper Egypt, is far more dramatic:

"[...] Rouse yourselves, you daimones who lie here and seek out Euphêmia, to whom Dôrothea gave birth, for Thêon, to whom Proechia gave birth. Let her not be able to sleep for the entire night, but lead her until she comes to his feet, loving him with a frenzied love, with affection and with sexual intercourse. For I have bound her brain and hands and viscera and genitals and heart for the love of me, Thêon..." 5th century CE, Upper Egypt

The following, similar spell is also from Egypt. It was inscribed in Greek on a lead tablet that was rolled up around some strands of brownish red hair and inserted into the mouth of a mummy, to whom the spell was apparently addressed:

"Aye, lord demon, attract, inflame, destroy, burn, cause her to swoon from love as she is being burnt, inflamed. Goad the tortured soul, the heart of Karosa...until she leaps forth and comes to Apalos...out of passion and love, in this very hour, immediately, immediately; quickly, quickly...do not allow Karosa herself...to think of her [own] husband, her child, drink, food, but let her come melting for passion and love and intercourse, especially yearning for the intercourse of Apalos." Eshmunen, Egypt

Another spell of the same kind, but from a woman this time:

"Ad(iur)o … per magnum deum et per (An)terotas … et per eum, qui habet archep-torem (= accipitrem) supra caput et per septem stellas, ut, ex qua hora (h)oc somposuero (= composuero), non dormiat Sextilios, Dionysi(a)e ﬁlius, uratur furens, non dormiat neque sedeat neque loquatur, sed in mentem (h)abiat me Septimam, Amene (= Amoenae) ﬁlia(m); uratur furens amore et desiderio meo, anima et cor uratur Sextili, Dionysi(a)e ﬁlius (= ﬁlii), amore et desiderio meo. Septimes, Am(o)en(a)e ﬁli(a)e. Tu autem Abar Barbarie Eloee Sabaoth Pachnouphy Pythipemi, fac Sextilium, Dionysi(a)e ﬁlium, ne somnum contingat, set amore et desi derio meo uratur, (h)uius spiritus et cor comburatur, omnia membra totius corporis Sextili, Dionysi(a)e ﬁlius (ﬁlii). Si minus, descendo in adytus Osyris et dissolvam τὴν ταφήν et mittam ut a ﬂumine feratur; ego enim sum magnus decanus dei magni, dei AXRAMMACHALALA.E."

"I forswear you, the great god [i.e. Osiris], and Anterotes [Anteros, god of requited love] and the one with a hawk head [i.e. Horus, the Egyptian god of death], and the seven stars [i.e. planets], from the moment I put this tablet [into the grave], may Sextilius, son of Dionysia, not sleep, may he burn [with passion] in madness, may he not sleep, nor sit, nor speak, but bear in his mind me, Septima, daughter of Amoena; may he burn with love and longing for me, may the mind and heart of Sextilius, son of Dionysia, burn with love and longing for me, Septima, daughter of Amoena. And you, Abar, Barbarie, Eloe, Sabaoth, Pachnouphy, and Pythipemi, make Sextilius, son of Dionysia, unable to sleep, but burn with love and longing for me, may his spirit and heart, as well as all limbs of Sextilius’ body be consumed by love: if not, I will descend into the shrine [grave] of Osiris, open his grave and throw him [into the river], so that he is carried away by the current; because I am the great decan of the god, mighty god AXRAMMAXALALA.E." Sousse / Hadrumetum, Tunisia, 2nd century CE

Separation Curses

Many curses written for erotic motives aimed to drive a person desired away from their current lover, husband or wife and to direct their love towards the commissioner of the tablet:

"Of [Theti]ma and Dionysophon the ritual wedding and the marriage I bind by a written spell, and of all other wo[men], both widows and maidens, but of Thetima in particular, and I entrust to Makron and [the] daimones, and (only) when I should dig up again and unroll and read this, [?] that she might wed Dionysophon, but not before, for I wish him to take no other woman than me, and that [I] grow old with Dionysophon, and no one else. I [am] your supplicant: Have pity on Phila, dear daimones, for I am (a) dagina? of all my dear ones and I am abandoned. But guard [this] for my sake so that these things do not happen, and wretched Thetima perishes miserably. [...] but that I become happy and blessed." Pella, Macedonia, 375–350 BCE

"Makron" is most probably the name of the dead man in whose grave the tablet was deposited to deliver the message to the chthonic spirits of the underworld (the daimones).

Of course, those curses also targeted same-sex lovers:

"I turn away Euboles from Aineas, from his face, from his eyes, from his mouth, from his breasts, from his soul, from his belly, from his penis, from his anus, from his entire body. I turn away Euboles from Aineas." Nemea, Greece, 4th century BCE

Everlasting Sex

Cursing rivals with impotence and sexual misery and to attract a lover were also common motives. The culmination of the process was often envisaged as everlasting sex:

"I bind you, Theodotis, daughter of Eus, by the tail of the snake, the mouth of the crocodile, the horns of the ram, the poison of the asp, the hairs of the cat, and the penis of the god so that you may never be able to sleep with any other man, nor be screwed, nor be taken anally, nor fellate, nor find pleasure with any other man but me, Ammonion, son of Hermitaris. For I alone am LAMPSOURE’ OTHIKALAK’ AIPHNOSABAO’ STESEON’ UELLAPHONTA’ SANKIST’ CHPHURIS’ ON. Make us of this binding spell, employed by Isis, so that Theodotis, daughter of Eus, may no longer try anything with any other man but me alone, Ammonion, and may be subservient, obedient, eager, flying through the air seeking after Ammonion, son of Hermitaris and bring her thigh close to his, her genitals close to his, in unending intercourse for all the time of her life. And here are the figures:" [Features some images of a god holding a staff, with a snake at his feet, a crocodile to the upper right of the snake, a cat at the extreme right, two figures (perhaps a ram and the woman) above the crocodile, and other magical signs and letters and obscure drawings.] Egypt, 2nd-3rd century CE

I bind Theodora to remain unmarried to Charias, and I bind Charias to forget Theodora,and I bind Charias to forget . . . Theodora and sex with Theodora. And just as this corpse lies useless, so may all the words and deeds of Theodora be useless with regard to Charias and to the other people. I bind Theodora before Hermes of the underworld and before the unmarried and before Tethys. I bind everything, both her words and deeds toward Charias and toward other people, and her sex with Charias. 4th century BCE

The person performing the spell, presumably a woman who wants Charias for herself, wishes that Theodora be as incapable of having a sexual relation with Charias as the corpse into whose grave the tablet has been deposited. Graves and tombs were considered a gateway by means of which the curse would reach the dead or underworld deities charged with its execution.

Calling on Aphrodite

A curse intended to affect a person's sexuality oftentimes called upon those chthonic gods alongside a sexual deity—Aphrodite and Eros were quite common, as was the goddess Isis from the Egyptian pantheon.

An example of a sexual curse comes from a man named Pausanias (no, not the ancient historian) who wanted to bind a woman called Sime:

"Pausanias binds Sime, daughter of Amphitritus (may no one but Pausanias undo this spell) until she does for Pausanias everything Pausanias wants. May she not be able to get hold of a sacrificial victim of Athena, nor may Aphrodite look kindly upon her, before Sime embraces Pausanias." Akanthos, Macedonia, 4th or 3rd century BCE

The Penis Curse Tablet

This curse tablet from Cyprus’s old city kingdom of Amathus went straight to the point:

“May your penis hurt when you make love.” Amathus, Cyprus, 7th century CE

Pierre Aubert, head of Athens Archaeological School in Greece said the tablet showed a man standing holding something in his right hand that looks like an hour glass. Perhaps most surprising is the young age of this tablet: The inscription dates back to the 7th century CE when Christianity was already well established on Cyprus. While many of the old pagan beliefs had disappeared or been suppressed by this period, it is clear that people’s love of — and need for — sex-curses had not gone anywhere.

Today, we may not write our curses on lead tablets anymore, and fewer people will ask Hermes or Hekate for help. But the secret wishes to separate a desired partner from their spouse, attract a lover or rain impotence and disaster on a romantic rival are as alive as they were 3000 years ago.

Author's Note: If dates or places are missing beneath the curses, I was unable to track this information down. Despite this shortcoming, I hope to have given an enjoyable overview of the colourful curse tablets of ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome.

Sources

Curse Tablet Entry on Wikipedia

Getting even in Roman Britain: The Curse Tablets from Bath (Aquae Sulis) by Carly Silver

Ancient Roman Curse Tablets Invoke Goddess Sulis Minerva to Kill and Maim

Curse Tablets from Roman Britain - Introduction: cicrus and court, sex and stealing

Curse Tablets from Roman Britain - Images of curse tablets

Roman Inscriptions of Britain - RIB 154 Curse

Roman Britain Britannia IV 1973

Supplemental Material - Georgetown University

Pella Curse Tablet

For All Time: An Examination of Romantic Love Through Curse Tablets by Alicia Deadrick

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered - Erotic Magic in the Greco-Roman World by Radcliffe G. Edmonds

Archaeology Magazine: When Spells Worked Magic by Christopher A. Farone

Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks by Esther Eidinow

Latin Curse Texts: Mediterranean Tradition and Local Diversity by Daniela Urbanová

Atlas Obscura presents six sites with a sexual history

Mentalfloss: 7 Ancient Roman Curses You Can Work into Modern Life

Further Reading:

Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John Gager

Ancient Greek Love Magic by Christopher A. Faraone

Roman Religion by Valerie M. Warrior

Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks by Esther Eidinow

#Curse Tablets #Magic #Curse #witchcraft #ancient magic #ancient Greece #ancient Egypt #ancient Rome #history #love magic #sex magick #chthonic #spells #magic spells #binding spell

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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8 Anti LO Asks

1. wait wait wait... in her webcomic based off of ancient greek mythology, culture, and religion, one of rachel smythe's main sources is... an epic poem thought to have been written centuries after what we think of as "ancient greece"? by a man who didn't even live in greece? like drawing inspiration from maybe ~unconventional~ sources is fine but i really feel like we have to have some kind of hierarchy when it comes to our classic texts lmao, especially when you act like you know better about greek myth than everyone else asdfkjaslfdsaklfjlsaf

2. i would love to see what BS rachel would make up with hel or anubis. hel would of course be paired off with baldr despite him being happily married and her very much not needing a spouse, also its weirdly anti thor for some reason, while anubis would idk, does he even have a wife? who cares, she'd probably just pick whichever goddess she can sexualize/ self insert on (hathor perhaps?) and make seth and nephthys abusive parents bc angst and have hathor r*ped by ra for "character development" 😑

3.love how rachel clearly frames the maidens group as an oppressive force when thats the happiest we've ever seen persephone in the entire comic.

4. WHY DO ARTEMIS AND HESTIA LOOK LIKE LITERAL CHILDREN IN THAT MAIDEN PANEL???

5. I don’t think it’s fair to say Rachel slut-shames Minthe and Thetis. If anything, she uses their toxic friendship (wherein they refer to each other using misogynist slurs) to show how damaging slut-shaking is to female friendship, even when done jokingly. Also, their sexual relationships with the men in their lives are portrayed to be immoral because they don’t respect the fact that these men are married rather than because they’re sluts.

6. to the anon asking: its comic canon that persephone stopped aging at /19/. so no, she won't stop aging at 35, because rachel wont even let her age being a teenager. she's going to look like that forever.

7. Athena looking like a Royal,,,, I need that. I need that in my life. PLEASE!! WHY DID RS TAKE HER AWAY?!!!

8. About aging in Lo- every god stop aging around some age, and persephone as was said in one chapter stopped aged early this year amd hera said to her " Forever 19 lucky you". So even though most gods dont stop ageing at their teenage years persephone must be looking as young and "sexy" as long so even though shes aging she will never be memtally or physically older.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus critical

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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6 Anti LO Asks

1. wasnt there a myth where ares dates demeter? (sometims erinyes instead) and they have a CHILD together? i know RS doesn't really research so it wont come up, but ... how awkward would that family reunion be? "hello, barely-legal version of the teenage girl i tried to mack on, i knocked up your mother"?

2. (Bit of a rant so be warned) I wish that RS had characterized everyone better, I mean I still can’t get over how Apollo was characterized (I got into LO before I fully delved into mythology and once I read on how Apollo really was I didn’t know how to feel about the story). It would’ve been so amazing if she portrayed them differently than they were in the myths in a way that made sense, like Aphrodite given a fully developed personality outside of being a bitch with a pretty face (she was a very loving mother in the myths and very much loved Ares, who adored her as well). And let’s be honest, persephone being a “cinnamon roll that can secretly kill you” trope is kind of getting boring, RS could have had some more fun with her character by portraying her much differently. Another trope that’s getting old is Demeter being an overprotective, controlling mess of a mother towards persephone which sucks once you really think about it (I mean the poor woman lost her daughter in an instant and didn’t know what was going on until she had to go to Helios to find out, she deserves a better portrayal than what RS gave her). Heck my favorite portrayal of Demeter that feels accurate to how she is mother-wise in the myths is from Mythic the Musical (“Mother’s Do What Mother’s Have to Do”). Also don’t get me started on how dirty she did Thetis (I love her design but my god was she done wrong personality and even role wise). I remember when I first started reading this and read through the majority of the comic and I genuinely loved it, not thinking about how weird it was until I read through this blog and it kind of just hit me. Hades is a creep in LO and he could’ve just not been written that way, she didn’t have to write Persephone as a literal 19 year old (even 119 is young for gods but at least that would’ve been a more comfortable number) the baby shower gift thing was gross once I thought about it again. If I had to put my main frustrations with this series I would put these as the main problems: Gods/Goddesses being done dirty in terms of personality and role in the story, Hades being a high key creep, I heard that Chiron is being portrayed as female which defeats one of the purposes of his character (he’s a genuinely kind man which is rare to find in Greek Mythology, he’s awesome), not utilizing other Greek mythological figures to help move the story along or even help persephone (for example, Ganymede who’s story starts off very much like hers or even other figures who were SA by gods), and Persephone not only being a self insert but a major Mary Sue which is a massive yikes when it comes to a serious storyline. Oh and her “erasing” the incest factor of Greek Mythology is hysterical because even with how she changes it up, Hades and Persephone are STILL technically related because Demeter is Hera’s sister, who is married to Zeus (Hades’ brother) still making Hades her uncle by marriage smh. Demeter considers Persephone her daughter so that doesn’t erase the incest completely. At least Percy Jackson made it clear that it was a thing, and they handled it very easily: they’re divine beings that don’t have blood and they’re not mortals, despite that Percy and the other demigods express obvious disgust at the topic. Done and done. At the end of the day I’m still not sure how I feel about LO and maybe I’ll continue reading it for the hell of it or just give it up since from what I’ve heard, the story has gone off the rails

3. i like how just off that timeline, we're supposed to feel like "aw look both hades and persephone had traumatic childhoods and important life changes at 19!" instead of being like yooooo this seven year beat the shit out of his dad and took him out? why would i care about hades' teen angst and then late 20s man pain whi lusts after a 9 year old when a goddamn second grader can kick ass? also yeah depending on this timeline theyre all pedos and zeus is actually a vicim 🤷🏼‍♀️

4. Okay, I could be misremembering things but, didn't Hera have a file on Persephone (which listed her under the TGOEM program) that she made for "possible suitors" purposes? And she included Hermes and Ares and Hades?

Again, I could be misremembering this but doesnt the TGOEM require the goddesses to, not be in relationships? Romantic or otherwise? And if thats the case, then why the f*ck was Hera making a "compatibility chart" of possible husbands for Persephone?

Was it because she noticed that Persephone and Hades had a thing for each other? Even though she was potentially still having an affair with Hades at the time And knowing he was having an off and on again relationship with Minthe?

Also isnt Persephone in college on the TGOEM scholarship? So wouldn't Hera want to like, talk to Athena + Hestia about that? And be like "Hey so I know Kore is in your program, but.... I want her to marry Hades" And I know Hera is technically Queen of the gods but wouldn't she still check with them?

Also, I had a seperate thought. So I know Hades says something like "I thought we agreed not to (see each other) back in the 80's" - now it feels like because Hera is/was having an off-and-on againa affair with her brother in law that her putting Hades and Persephone together and setting them up as a couple is an excuse for her to cover up her affair.

(Like if Zeus ever got wind of Hera's affair with Hades and he was upset she could just try to side sweep it by being like "oh, no thats not what was happening. I was really checking to see if Hades is a good match for Persephone and he is!" So she doesnt get in trouble for having an affair).

5. okay, legitimate question: if artemis having a ton of uber-devoted female followers is enough to make her a lesbian ... why is ares not gay? because like ... not only were soldiers/male athletes famously homosexual, a lot of them basically ritually gave themselves to ares. it's heavily implied that this means that they considered themselves spiritually his eromenos'. the whole practice's bad implics aside ... ares should be SUPER gay? oiled up gym-rats wrestling nude levels of gay.

6. Okay so normally I don't care and or don't want to know, but - in this case I am a bit curious - is Persephone just RS's self insert character / Mary sue? Because if she is then that means that all the other male characters simping over Persephone (Hades, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, etc) gets a lot more concerning.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus critical

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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it makes NO sense for thetis to be zeus's secretary. where the hell is ganymede in all this? does anyone know if she's ever spoken about ganymede, or just the hamfisted rape-victim-turned-sex-temptress she turned thetis into? is king peleus's rape of thetis going to be a 'punishment' thats 'justified' because she stole hera's man? it feels like smythe is just saying 'i will brutalize a thousand women so my self-insert can stay uwu pure!'. she has to be faking being this cruel of a person.

She probably removed it because it doesn't fit her homewrecker narrative 🙄

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus critical

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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6 Anti LO Ask

1. I really despise Rachel for trying this ~chosen one~ narrative choice because Greek myth especially is great in showing how it’s a group effort? A few examples 👇🏽

.To create the Minotaur, Poseidon needs help from Aphrodite and/or Eros

.During the trojan war, the gods need to team up and need help from other gods to get their ways (Aphrodite and Thetis rely on Hephaestus, Hera relies on Zeus, Hypnos, and Poseidon, Hermes had to constantly come to everyone’s aid, etc)

. Apollo constantly relies on Artemis to help him in most of their myths

. Even in the HxP myth, it’s not just hades’ actions, it’s Zeus, it’s Helios, it’s even gaia!

The fact Rachel seems to boils down the Olympians beating the Kronos via Hera’s actions only and is just now going to repeat it in Persephone, is just a really terrible reading on mythology. It is not designed to be a “chosen one/sole hero” story, and frankly Rachel just doesn’t have the talent to make any of this work. She’s trying to write a coming of age story, a slice of life comedy, a trauma ridden drama fic, a glamours sev filled romance, a self insert fantasy, AND a chosen one epic all at once? Why? Who wants this?

2. I myself like some dark fcked up story, but only when the summary (author) told us that yes, this is messed up story for entertainment. That way readers have no illusions of it being positive thing. Also, that way readers, who might not like it, can avoid it. Readers are disgusted with incest or pseudo-incest in Lo because RS said she's taking incest away from Greek myth. But it turns out she didn't. Same for Persephone agency, feminism, r*pe, and more. RS says something, but doesn't show it.

3. What I also don’t get is Persephone doesn’t need to be the solely most powerful person in the pantheon because that’s not how pantheons work? There are kings and stuff but it’s still a community of deities with their own strengths and purposes interacting with one another. Its the original cast ensemble. It’s not like abrahamic religions where the sole “hero” is Jesus with a cast of supporting characters, Greek myth is all about them working together. Heracles is their greatest hero in the traditional sense and he still relied on Athena and Apollo for their help, is RS seriously that bad at reading the actual material to think Persephone is somehow the op hero of it all? That’s not how mythology works. Even superhero comics like the Avengers don’t do that. It’s a team!

More so, the fact she sees herself AS Persephone is really bad, because she’s basically telling us she sees herself as the most powerful, perfect person who is always right and good and if you’re against her you’re evil and with this new OP development she’ll somehow save the world? Or something? Is she basically saying her making this weird 50 shades rip off over her teenage self insert is saving the world and it’s her sacrifice to make it? It all seems incredibly egotistical over entertaining.

4. The anon who said that young Hera and Persephone now are extremely similar in the mary sue concept is 100% right. Which makes Hades going after Persephone even more creepy. Let’s be honest, here in LO Persephone is not his true love, it’s second best. Hades still has feelings for Hera but knowing they can’t be together or whatever has him going after Persephone. Not only does Persephone resemble his mother, but now she is young Hera pink version. How does anyone reading this comic now realise that this is the most disgusting portrayal of a romance?

5. LO works WAY better as an ariadne/dionysos plot than hades/persephone. an outsider (mortal turned goddess) with a shitty predator ex(?) (theseus who in some translations literally threw her overboard), having to prove herself to the other gods who might have a power she cant control yet cause its new (as prosperpina/libera, the goddess of wine and bounty). like. SERIOULY.

6. I’m all for subverting the villain Hades trope but LO’s attempt is really piss poor. Also something I noticed about stories that try to subvert the villain Hades is that there’s a lot of H/P involved, it’s not inherently a bad thing but I wish there were more stories that doesn’t always revolve around H/P.

#anti lo #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #lo critical

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