This might be a controversial opinion but...
Over the last year, I, at the grand age of 17, have had to write my first dissertation. One thing it's made me realise is that mainstream classics media like EPIC and Percy Jackson have actually meant that fewer people have read the classical texts.
I personally have no issue with Percy Jackson; it's accessible, and sometimes it's okay to tone down accuracy to make it digestible. Also, changing elements to make the plot better (EPIC does this too)- no issue with it; it's a book. It's meant to be enjoyed.
What I do have an issue with is people who use Percy Jackson as a sole source and then use that as the basis of what is 'the real' version. I see this a lot in the comment section of whispers on Pinterest, especially with Medusa.
For those not in the know, there are at least two versions of Medusa. There are probably others, but I haven't read them and these two are the important ones.
Hesiod's Theogony - Medusa is a gorgon and is born like that, along with her two sisters
Ovid's Metamorphoses - Medusa is raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena and is turned into a monster (this version does vary on whether it was consensual/Rape and if Athena was being a feminist by turning Medusa, and also the reason why she was turned)
Rick uses Ovid's version (but removes the assault), which I'm guessing is to make the gods seem more favourable and to make it easier once the Roman gods got involved. One thing I've observed which is that some people who have only read Percy Jackson use this as their only source and as a result you get a lot of people claiming that the Ovid version is the correct version.
Neither version is right or wrong. It's easy to forget that the texts we call classics were once an ancient religion, and we can't exactly ask the people who wrote this down because they died years ago. The myths we know were largely told orally and have changed over the years. As similar as they might be Greek and Roman mythology is not the same thing and they need to be veiwed as too seperate entitiies.
I don't personally agree with the way Rick handled the Greek vs Roman pantheon, but this isn't about him; it's about the fandom, and ultimately he can do whatever tf he likes; it's his book. I just think there's a lot of mythology bashing where people will claim that if you don't agree with the Roman version, then you are wrong.
Rick really hasn't done anything wrong here, and I am not blaming him. He can't cover every interpretation in every book, and he doesn't sugarcoat (at least in Greek gods and Greek heroes). But people choose to ignore the more problematic aspects of the gods, which is fine; casually, I ignore problematic aspects of my favourite characters as well. But then fails when people try to apply it to a critical theory or from a wider mythological context. Apollo's a great example of this because he was a serial rapist and too many people choose to ignore that. You can't give ancient gods modern morals. That's not how it works, but you can't criticise Zeus for being a rapist and then choose to ignore it when it's Apollo. If you're going to ignore it in one, you've got to do it with the other. Ultimately, people consider the gods as characters rather than as gods. I'm not a worshipper of a Hellenistic religion, so I'm not going to say this is problematic because it's not my space and I can't speak for an entire religion either (if anyone is Hellenistic Pagan or otherwise and wants to weigh in, please do)
It's the same with Achilles and Patroclus. I, for one, am a big shipper of Achilles and Patroclus, but in the Iliad (or at least the translation I read), they are far from a couple. They are also both kind of dicks, and this is skated over (this is probably because of 'The Song of Achilles ', which is fine; it's not accurate, but that's okay. It doesn't need to be), but again, you get a lot of bashing from people who don't agree with that as an interpretation. Once again, whether Achilles and Patroclus are an item is not wrong or right, because there are different versions of the story.
Basically, in summary, what I'm trying to say is stop claiming one mythological interpretation is the correct one because that doesn't exist. You can still keep reading wtf you like; I don't care, just be mindful and think about it before you jump on social media saying things like 'Persephone wandered into the underworld on her own and Hades is 100% innocent and has never done anything wrong in his life'
(The idea that Persephone wandered into the underworld on her own is from a book from the 1960s. As for Hades doing anything wrong in his life, he's better than most deities if you really want to look at their morals, but he did absolutely do stuff wrong by modern standards. Including cheating on his wife (See Minthe). The timeline with this myth is whack, and you have to get into some gnarly cult-related stuff, and the Homeric hymn to Demeter is partially destroyed. I don't have time to go through it.
Also, please fact-check what you see on the internet because that's how we do things like invent a new goddess, which did happen btw.
Anyway, if you want some classical related texts that I thought were alright then here you go...
(These are not all accurate to the mythology, but as mentioned, that's okay. Some of them just have themes and classical charecters like Macbeth)
Mythos by Stephan Fry
Heroes by stephan fry
Troy by stephan fry
Oddesey by stephan fry
the world's wife by carol anne duffy
Dante's Inferno
macbeth
the golden ass
keats poetry (lamia, ode to a grecian urn, ode to pandora etc)
the Theogony
metamorphoses
Illiad
Oddyssey
Aeniad
Antigone
homeric hyms (demeter etc)
not a book but OSP's stuff which goes into all the ancient cult stuff with hades and persephone
gender swapped greek myths
a song for ella gray
bad girls of ancient greece
there are others but I can't remember the names, I might make a part 2. There is a classical text where Achillies and Patrocleus are a couple but I can't remember the name.
