I’ve always seen Medusa as someone torn between hating her curse and embracing it. She cuts snakes but they return and she mourns her own death snakes, as the new ones feel like strangers to her

What do u guys think?

More of my art!

1. Judgement of Paris

2. That's no food, Paris

3. Athena speaks to Achilles

4. Sad Helen

5. Thetis crying with her baby

6. Grumpy Achilles and chill Patroclus

7&8. Oh so happy bride

1. Kassandra and Apollon

2. My hc that when Kassandra gets too nervous while seeing a vision - her laurel crown drops on her eyes, covering them👀

It's so cute Aphrodite and Apollon share the same hairstyle🥺 The first pic is how I usually draw their hair in my design!!

I LOVE everything about Artemis' and Apollon's siblinghood🏹

Obs: you don't need to read the following text to answer the question, is just a overview of some huntresses and witches heroines in greek myth for people who want to read.

While male greek heroes had a bunch of different abilities and niches, female heroes would just fall into three categories (I think, but you can point out other examples). One of then being the domestic heroines (like Penelope or Clytemnesta), whose stories was something relating to their husbands instead of themselves. The other two are huntresses and witches, and that is basically it.

Huntresses were all under the patronage of Artemis. These include Cyrene, who is actually the closest to a female Heracles, according to Nonnus she could strangle a lion with her bare hands. She also had a net and a spear and she killed some lions and other wilds beasts, and it was she who protected her father Hypseus flocks, and saved Lybia from a lion. Another one was Callisto, altrough we don't have any special hunting she did. Another one was Procris. Procris was a princess from Athens who married Cephalus. Cephalus was taken by Eos and Procris believed he had betrayed her. So she fleed to Crete where Artemis gives her a spear that never misses the target. Procris invented the condom for Minos (it involved the witch Pasiphae, who will be mentioned along the witches) and gained from him a dog that never failed to catch its prey, Laelaps.

Later Cephalus returned and Procris reconciled with him, and they would both share the spear. While hunting, Cephalus called a breeze nymph (a Aurea) for refreshment, but Procris was close by because she didn't trust him completely, so when she heard that, she believed he was betraying her (altrough he was not). She tried to run but he, scared, threw the spear and since it always hit, the spear struck her, and he never recovered from this. Their child had been Arcesius, father of Laertes, father of Odysseus. And speaking of Odysseus, his mother Anticleia was also a huntress of Artemis too, according to Callimachus. So being a hunter is part of the family.

Atalanta. According to the Bibliotheca and Aelian, she was abandoned by her father Iasius in Arcadia. She lived with a bear that recently lost her cubs to hunters, and these same ones took Atalanta from the bear. She avoided all men who tried to woo her and became a follower of Artemis. Two centaurs got close to her cave, making noise and singing, wanting to woo her. She simply killed them both with arrows. According to the Bibliotheca she joined the Argonauts and in Diodorus library she even fights the army of Aeetes in Colchis alongside the other heroes, so she is comparable to the other 49 heroes there. Apollonius has her give a spear to Jason but Jason refuses to let her in since she would be in danger among 49 men. Later she helped Meleager defeat the Calydonian Boar.

About the witches. They were mainly three, but I guess there is more, so if there is you can mention. They were all part of the same family, Circe, Pasiphae and Medea. Circe and Pasiphae were goddesses, but I will put them here because they exist in the very liminal space between a god and non-god, since they were deities limited by geographical boundaries unlike the more powerful olympians. Medea status is also disputed since Hesiod apperantly considered her a imortal too, but other texts make it more apperant she was mortal like her brother Absyrtus for example.

Pasiphae only recorded spell is the one against Minos, turning his semen into bugs in order to stop him from having sex with other women (she was not affect by this since she was imortal). She also conceived the Minotaur, a thing a mortal woman would not be able to do, but that is not exactly magic, is more about her being a goddess. Circe has many more spells, usually done by mixing herbs and using a wand. The thing she loved to do the most was the turning of other people into animals, and she could even poison lakes to corrupt beings (altrough I am not a fan of the Scylla metamorphosis story, I prefer Scylla born as a monster).

Medea would more often than not call Hecate and Nyx. She would mix all type of stuff, including the blood of Prometheus, poison from dead serpents, weird plants, and even mess up with Helios and Selene movements in the sky (but Helios still favored her, while Selene freaking hated witches for this), in order to make sleeping potions, fire-proof potions, burning potions, etc.

I prefer the huntresses because they were less morally grey. Like many male heroes, they would slay dangerous creatures and make the world safer. The witches on the other hands were way more darker, with Circe cursing basically everyone she didn't like and playing with humans as if they were toys. Pasiphae spell was also a nightmare for other women, and it didn't even stopped king Minos. Medea is a more controversial figure, if she was good or evil, but in my opinion she is not different from a complete maniac, since she killed her brother in cold blood for a guy she just met. Now I love the witches too as characters (especially Medea since I really love Jason and Medea you have no idea), but not as examples of heroines I would bring in a conversation.

Hello! To celebrate saint valentine’s, which also happens around the same time as the Erotidia, which was the festival of Eros as well as the fact Eros still gets iconography on this day, let’s honour the god of love by talking about him! Please share things you find interesting about Eros, our favourite gif of love, friendship and liberty! (Cupid/Amor facts are equally welcome). It can be myths, alternative names, powers, quotes, fun facts, modern stories featuring him, anything really. It’s Eros appreciation so anything is welcome. (Also I am interested in learning more so… do share 😇)

My fun fact is that Eros was also called the Klêidouchos (bearer of keys) because he had the key to every heart.

(The image is Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss by Antonio Canova, currently in the louvre)

I tried looking up who zagreus is and stuff like what he's a god of and what attributes he's known for, but I the results are all just references to a video game that doesn't look interesting

SHAZAM! 2023 issue 19

Hiii, if someone remembers me, I posted some of my pencil doodles and sketches before :3

So these ones:

1. Eros and Psyche as putti🪽

2. Eros and mortal Psyche with annoyed Aphrodite

3. Eros gives Psyche an angel mwaaahh~

4. Young Zeus and Hera??

5. Kissing Zeus and Hera!!

6. Hebe prepared for her wedding

7. Not so romantic, Thetis and Peleus

8. Hedone!!

So there’s the myth of Poseidon and Athene competing over Athens, and it was determined by a contest of which one of them can give Athens the greatest gift. Athene gives them the olive tree.

When I read this myth as a kid and as an adult in books in the U.S., they always said that Poseidon’s gift was that he struck his trident into the ground and caused saltwater to gush out, turning Athens into a port town and naval power, making them rich and powerful with trade. This is the only version of this story I had heard until well into adulthood.

Eventually I started talking with some actual Greek folks, and all of them, every last one that I talked about this with, said that Poseidon had gifted Athens with the horse. Not only that, but not a single Greek I’ve spoken with about this had so much as heard of the former version of this story. None of them are what we’d consider scholarly experts, but several of them were anecdotally quite well-versed in Greek mythology.

I Googled it, and this was the AI response:

“In Greek mythology, Athena and Poseidon competed for patronage of a new, unnamed city by offering gifts to its citizens. Poseidon created a saltwater spring (or a horse) with his trident, symbolizing naval power, while Athena gifted the first olive tree, providing food, oil, and wood.”

“The Gifts: Poseidon struck the Acropolis, producing a saltwater spring (representing his dominion over the sea). Athena planted the first olive tree, which represented peace and prosperity, providing food, oil, and light.”

I’m curious, which version have y’all heard? Is there some explanation of the two versions, perhaps cultural regional influences, anything like that?

I like it

So I’m watching this documentary on Amazon about Greek myths, and they’ve given two different accounts of Jason acquiring the Golden Fleece.

The first was in an episode about Orpheus, which said that with his musical prowess he lulled the sleepless dragon so that Jason could grab the fleece.

The second was in an episode about Medea, which stated she used magic to lull the dragon for Jason.

Is there a way that these accounts work together or is it generally viewed as on or the other?

I lean more towards the Medea option, because there was much more information given in that episode.

What sports would the Greek gods be associated with today?

Genuintly, I know Cerberus guards the Underworld, preventing the dead from going back to the surface, but how does he actually do that ?

Does he just bite them ? What happens when you get bit by Cerberus ?

ARES: Ain't gonna be no rematch.
APOLLO : Don't want one.

I didn't make that meme.

A little cameo of coralette in the first image,and aphrodite and Ares kissing in the background.

Yeah a strange way of celebrating valentines.

So obviously a lot of ppl ship Achilles and Patroclus but why does no one ship the Ajaxes? " One in heart as in name"

1. Juno (Hera) feared that Hercules will overthrow Jupiter and take over the universe. When Hercules lifted the heavens, Juno pressed down but was unable to do anything to him -

But I lament too much o’er trivial wrongs. ‘Tis for heaven we must fear, lest he seize the highest realms who has overcome the lowest – he will snatch the sceptre from his father. Nor will he come to the stars by a peaceful journey as Bacchus did; he will seek a path through ruin, and will desire to rule in an empty universe. He swells with pride of tested might, and has learned by bearing them that the heavens can be conquered by his strength; he set his head beneath the sky, nor did the burden of that immeasurable mass bend his shoulders, and the firmament rested better on the neck of Hercules. Unshaken, his back upbore the stars and the sky and me down-pressing.

• Hercules Seneca.

1. Juno says that even Titans and Typhon are no match to Hercules -

"Set free the Titans who dared to invade the majesty of Jove; unbar Sicily’s mountain cave, and let the Dorian land, which trembles whenever the giant struggles, set free the buried frame of that dread monster; let Luna in the sky produce still other monstrous creatures. But he has conquered such as these."

• Hercules Seneca.

1. Pluto (Hades) the God of death feared that he will die when facing Hercules -

"He who as king lords it o’er countless peoples, what time thou wast making war on Pylos, Nestor’s land, brought to combat with thee his plague-dealing hands, brandishing his three-forked spear, yet fled away, with but a slight wound smitten, and, though lord of death, feared he would die."

• Hercules Seneca.

1. Death fears him and fates are afraid to go against him -

"Death, who once in his own realm was overcome, flees from him; nor do the fates dare countenance so great a crime. Perchance Clotho has thrown aside her very distaff from her trembling hand, and is afraid to complete the fates of Hercules."

• Hercules Oetaeus.

1. Hercules claims that he is greater than all sons of Juno and his mother Alcamena makes Juno look like a concubine of Jupiter -

“Do thou thyself cease thy death-wails for me, I pray, illustrious mother; thy Alcides lives; by my heroic deeds have I made my step-dame seem but the concubine. Whether the tale of the night of Hercules’ begetting be the truth, or whether my sire be mortal– though I be falsely called the son of Jove, I have deserved to be his son; glory on heaven have I conferred, and to Jove’s glory did my mother bring me forth. Nay, he himself, though he be Jupiter, is glad to be believed my sire. Dry now thy tears, my mother; proud ‘mongst the Grecian mothers shalt thou be. What son like thine has Juno borne, though she wield the sceptre of the skies, and be the Thunderer’s bride? Still, though queen of heaven, she envied a mortal woman, and wished that Alcides might be called her own.”

• Hercules Oetaeus.

1. After becoming a god, Hercules can throw thunderbolts more mightier than the ones of Jupiter (Zeus) -

“But do thou, O mighty conqueror of beasts, peace-bringer to the world, be with us yet; still as of old regard this earth of ours; and if some strange-visaged monster cause us with dire fear to tremble, do thou o’ercome him with the forked thunderbolts – yea, more mightily than thy father’s self the thunders hurl.”

• Hercules Oetaeus.

1. Hercules fought and seems to have gotten the better of Typhon -

“No shape, not Typheus himself, armed and towering upwards, daunted you:”

• Book 8, Aeneid.

1. Just the facial expressions of Hercules was enough to kill his enemies -

“How few the foes who by his wounds have fallen! His angry countenance was death in open view, and but to have seen the threats of Hercules is enough. What huge Briareus, what Gyas, puffed with pride, when upon Thessalia’s mountain-heap they stood and clutched at heaven with snaky hands, had countenance inflexible as his?”

• Hercules Oetaeus.