The Girliest Boss U Know

She/her, xe/xer/xem, 22 Myth poaster / my Discord shares a ton of ancient Greco-Roman sources and translations very conveniently; scholia, fragments, numerous translations of plays, poems, bookclubs, collective dramatic readings, etc https://discord.gg/GDaUjmErh

[sarafangirlart]

Hera and Iris

“The statue of Hera is seated on a throne; it is huge, made of gold and ivory, and is a work of Polycleitus. She is wearing a crown with Graces and Seasons worked upon it, and in one hand she carries a pomegranate and in the other a sceptre. About the pomegranate I must say nothing, for its story is somewhat of a holy mystery. The presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre they explain by the story that when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet. This tale and similar legends about the gods I relate without believing them, but I relate them nevertheless.”

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 17. 4

“So she (Iris) spake and seated her beside the golden throne, even as a hunting hound of Artemis which, when it hath ceased from the swift chase, sitteth by her feet, and its ears are erect, ever ready to receive the call of the goddess. Like thereto the daughter of Thaumas sat beside her throne. And she never forgetteth her seat, not even when sleep lays upon her his forgetful wing, but here by the edge of the great throne with head a little bent aslant she sleeps. Never does she unloose her girdle or her swift hunting-boots lest her mistress give her some sudden command.”

Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 216 ff

[fostydosty]

Absolutely beautiful, I love when people model Hera after the Argive Heraion it’s one of my favorite things. Her connection to pomegranates and their power is so important to me. Oh also the cuckoo is in active flight on the staff !!! I adore that !! That’s such good attention to detail! I’ve seen a lot of drawings of the potential statue where the bird is at rest, but we’ve seen from some vases that Hera’s cuckoo on her staff was flying just like this!! Also-

Very fair to exclude it since it’s not relevant to the scene in the image, but I would be remiss not to show people just how sapphic Iris’ dialogue is right before she sits down beside Hera:

“Honored Hera, most preeminent among the goddesses, I am yours, all things are yours, and you sit as the legitimate queen of Olympus, while no other woman rivals your ferocity. And you, Queen, will know the reason for your anger.

Leto is untying her cincture on an island. All the others loathed her and did not receive her. But Asteria called her by name as she was passing by, Asteria, vile refuse of the sea. You yourself also know her.

But dear Mistress, avenge your servants who walk the earth at your command, for it is within your power.” Thus she spoke and sat beside the golden throne, like Artemis’ bitch…

Like okay goddess of the rainbow 💅 I see you. Bet two of her nails are cut short just in case.

I also just love how fiercely defensive of Hera she is in other sources, too, like the Madness of Heracles:

Chorus:

Lord Apollo! Lord, save us from this terror!

The chorus rushes about as if to flee or hide until Iris addresses them

Iris:

Come, come old gentlemen! Don’t be afraid! This here is Lyssa, daughter of Night and I am Iris, messenger of the gods. We have not come to harm this city but are marshalling against one single house, one single man, that man who has been called the son of Zeus and Alcmene. Until Herakles had finished all his bitter labours, neither Fate nor Zeus himself would allow us or Hera to cause him any harm. However, he has now completed all those chores that Eurystheus has ordered him to do and so Hera wants to stain him with the guilt of blood spilling, the blood of his very own children. And I am with her on that! […]

Lyssa:

My birth is noble. The very blood of Night and Ouranos and it is they who have granted me these honours, honours which I don’t enjoy and nor do I enjoy visiting the homes of mortal friends. So I wish to give Hera some advice before she makes a grave error and to you, too, Iris, if you will accept it. You are sending me to the house of a man who is held in high regard among both, mortals as well as gods. […] I advise you not to plot evil against him.

Iris:

Neither Hera nor I need your advice!

Lyssa:

I am trying to make you see the right way, not the wrong way.

Iris:

Zeus’ wife did not sent you here to talk wisdom.

She just sounds like “you DARE defy the word of my Mistress??? Your QUEEN??? Learn your place, daemon.”

(Shameless plug: for modern/2015 translations of the Callimachus hymns, and stuff like scholia and scholarly PDFs, I have them catalogued on my server uvu. I try to find as many links to as many translations (especially new ones) as possible for accessibility purposes! Our bookclub is reading the epigrams of Anyte right now and will be convening to discuss her poetry later this week !)

[echo-loves-flowerboy]

The type of shit @fostydosty makes me put up with in dms

also obligatory server link i recently snatched a translation from her iphigenia translation collection :3

[fostydosty]

Hello, please forgive me for the bother, but the discord link in your bio is expired, would it be okay to ask for a new one?

Ofc! Thank you for letting me know, not a bother at all. It is now updated <3

Here is the renewed link also, for convenience

[dazzlep0p]

So I watched "Go for it, Nakamura!". Needless to say I was entertained

[akyukuu]

Oh Hirose, you charmer XD

[kebriones]

Phanes design i had to get out of my brain or i was gonna lose it. based on that one 2nd century relief and my own dionysus design to an extent.

[kajittybittykat]

Based on the nakahiro fic: Go for it! Octomura by @pirozhkiparty

(second panel has spoilers, but if you haven't already read this fic and love gfin you are doing a disservice to yourself )

sketched these the millisecond i got done with the new chapter, absolutely obsessed. so, okuto scolding his own tentacles for getting handsy (tentacle-y?) and ALSO the scene where hirose finds him on the beach BECAUSE IN MY HEAD IT WAS SO DRAMATIC AND CINEMATIC SO I DID QUICK SCREEN CAPs of my mind lol

[beet1031]

Template by @justcakethanks

comic by me ^_^ i wanted to contribute my own idea to the trend lol

[fostydosty]

I wonder when Ganymede’s story was first reimagined as being a tragedy, as opposed to one of celebration and honor.

[ear-a-corn]

We have always existed, and we always will.

[franzoarts]

According to Greek mythological tradition, Hera conceived Hephaestus in solitude as an act of rebellion to compete with Zeus after the birth of Athena. Seeing that the boy was not the "perfect" counterpart he expected, he threw him from the top of Olympus.

I wanted to capture this episode not as an act of cold evil, but as the breaking point of a mind immersed in pain. For me, Hera's reaction to seeing her child reflects the symptoms of severe postpartum stress combined with deep depression, where the disconnection from the environment and panic completely take over the mother before assimilating the reality of her actions.

[antflights]

Hera and little Hebe sketch

[soundbuster]

Dear Greek Mythology Fandom,

I have an inquiry.

As a community, do we... shit on Theseus more than we should?

Don't get me wrong. He's still the guy who got his son Hippolytus killed, abducted Helen who was a minor at the time, tried doing the same to Persephone, and of course there's him abandoning Ariadne.

That's not—nor should—disappear, but it feels like we've ignored everything else about him, such as:

his Six Labours, including defeating bandits like Periphetes the Club-Bearer and Sinis the Pine-Bender, who preyed on travelers.

killing the Minotaur and ending the tribute of Athenian youths to Minos.

unifying Attica into a single, centralized city-state under Athenian rule.

willingly giving up absolute power and transferring much of the governance to the people, planting the early seeds of democracy.

While it's not wrong to criticize Theseus, or see this list as Athenian propaganda, it has become a bit redundant to have his worse moments be his whole identity.

We can acknowledge Odysseus as both brilliant and deceitful, Achilles as magnificent and terrifying, yet with Theseus, we almost always circle back to his failures.

Like come on, those two don't have clean hands either.

Greek heroes have always been complex beings; extraordinary people capable of tremendous good and bad.

Theseus can be a founder, monster-slayer, and celebrated hero king while also being a man whose catastrophic personal decisions ultimately cost him nearly everything.

Those two facts can still coexist.

Comments and ask is open for thoughts.

[I don't want to get into the sources of if Theseus willingly abandoned Ariadne or a god forced him or Dionysus had Artemis kill her (that's a can of worms for later), but this fandom really likes having Theseus be a monster for the sole purpose of Dionysus x Ariadne. It feels like that sometimes. No shade ofc, as it would be hypocritical to do so when I am a Dionysus x Ariadne fan myself.]

[soundbuster]

According to some sources, Clytemnestra had an daughter with Aegisthus named Helen, and it opens a lot of doors on how she felt about her own sister Helen.

In the time of the Trojan War, there were many celebrated Helens: the daughter of Aegistheus and Clytemnestra that Orestes killed... - Photius, Bibliotheca 190.30

One would think that she'd be resentful since Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to sail to Troy, so we got several options:

She never blamed Helen. Her hatred was laser-focused on her husband, so she was named Helen out of affection.

She did resent Helen, but eventually forgave her. Ten years is a long time, during which she understood that Helen was caught in forces beyond either of them, and saw the true villain: Agamemnon.

My favorite option: it's done politically.

Even with Menelaus still out of the picture, Sparta could take issue with an allied kingdom having a coup within the royal family, especially when the murder king was their own king's brother. Not too mention that Clytemnestra's position was already shaky in Mycenae, with many being unhappy with the sudden changes. So naming Helen, well, Helen, could have been a symbolic olive branch. She's honoring her own sister and Sparta's queen, especially since she came from Sparta with her father Tyndareus being the former king, and perhaps to ease tensions between their kingdoms before it gets worse.

Thoughts?

[fostydosty]

Secret 4th option: Iphigenia was Helen’s daughter which Clytemnestra had raised as her own to allow her sister the chance to marry Menelaus “as a virgin.” When Iphigenia died, Clytemnestra lost the last piece of her sister she still had, so she named the Aegistheid Helen such to commiserate her sister.

Pausanias 2.22.6-7 (describing local tradition in Argos):

Near the Lords is a sanctuary of Eilethyia, dedicated by Helen when, Theseus having gone away with Peirithous to Thesprotia, Aphidna had been captured by the Dioscuri and Helen was being brought to Lacedaemon. For it is said that she was with child, was delivered In Argos, and founded there the sanctuary of Eilethyia, giving the daughter she bore to Clytaemnestra, who was already wedded to Agamemnon, while she herself subsequently married Menelaus.

And on this matter the poets Euphorion of Chalcis [3rd century BC] and Alexander of Pleuron [presumably 2nd-3rd century BC], and even before them, Stesichorus of Himera [7th century BC], agree with the Argives in asserting that Iphigenia was the daughter of Theseus.

Antoninus Liberalis (late 2nd century AD):

Theseus and Helen, daughter of Zeus, had a daughter, Iphigenia. Helen's sister Clytaemestra brought her up saying to Agamemnon that she had given birth to her. For Helen had told her brothers who had questioned her that she was still a virgin when she left Theseus. When the army of the Achaeans was held up at Aulis for lack of winds, the seers foretold that it would be possible to sail only if they sacrificed Iphigenia to Artemis. At the insistence of the Achaeans, Agamemnon handed her over to be put to the knife and she was dragged to the altar. But the leaders could not bear to look on and, to a man, they turned their eyes elsewhere. [Iphigenia was saved by Artemis in this one]

I really really like the sisterly dynamic this gives them + makes Clytemnestra’s feelings on the matter WAY more complicated and interesting imo. Like not only does Clytemnestra push away her remaining children after the death of another, but Electra might’ve known that Iphigenia was never “really” her sister, and resented the attention her mother showed a bastard over her own daughter.

Also Clytemnestra lying to Agamemnon for the entirety of Iphigenia’s life could’ve made her begin to keep more secrets from him and to have subconsciously resented him before he even made the fatal error.

[roberttingle]

annoying when shows set in the medieval period have the women with thier hair just long and unstyled and out . girl go put on your wimple girl 🤦‍♀️

[elvensilk]

like there are so many fun medieval hair and headgear options, it's so boring just seeing loose beachy waves meant to appeal to 21st century beauty standards

put that hot prince in a gay little hood with an ostrich feather or so help me god

[antflights]

Tried to make an actual design for Hera

[nardialrose]

Something interesting about the Odyssey in pop culture contrast to the Homeric text itself is that Odysseus’ voyage is entrenched in the osmosis. The fantastical episodes like the cyclop, sirens, Circe, and katabasis are what people think of the Odyssey. In reality, they are only told through Odysseus recountment in 4 books. Meanwhile the rest is about Odysseus reuniting with his family and reclaiming his home from the suitors.

[fostydosty]

This is what I appreciate about The Return in concept if nothing else. It actually focuses on the point of the Odyssey. Odysseus’ storytelling did not matter to him much outside of being a way to continuously emphasize the Odyssey’s theme of xenia and nostoi.

People also love removing the importance of xenia and the divine approval of Zeus from the narrative.

Even though the contrast between:

inhospitable hosts (Polyphemus, Circe, Laestrygonians, Calypso, the suitors towards elderly Odysseus)

unjustly-wronged hosts (Menelaus, Hephaestus, Agamemnon, Helios, house of Odysseus, possibly Dionysus by Ariadne and Theseus)

disrespectful guests (Paris, Ares, Aegisthus, Odysseus’ crew, the suitors, Menelaus in his seal fursuit)

respectful hosts (Aeolus, Menelaus and Helen, Nestor, Alcinous and Nausicaa, Eumaeus and Eurycleia, the Egyptians)

respectful guests (Odysseus and his crew [sometimes], Telemachus, Telemachus again, Odysseus, Amphinomus, Helen/Odysseus’ fictional self(?))

Is center to the entire story. It’s not a story about “defying the gods.” Literally the opposite, it’s a story of what kinds of barbaric monsters there are in the world that would subvert the hospitality laws of Zeus.

There are a lot of things that emphasize this, but the main two I think of are

Polyphemus saying he despised Zeus and his laws, contrasting him against the law-abiding Phaeacians who spurned the lands of the Cyclopes.

Zeus’ crack of approving thunder in book 22, telling Odysseus that he had the divine approval of the god and would thus be victorious in restoring the natural order by destroying the suitors.

Holding it in his right hand, he tested the string.

It sang out, resonating like a swallow’s song,

beneath his touch. Grief overwhelmed the suitors.

The skin on all of them changed colour. And then Zeus

gave out an ominous sign, a peal of thunder.

Lord Odysseus, who had endured so much, rejoiced—

crooked-minded Cronos’ son had sent an omen.