orpheus sings of the moon

✦ hellenic polytheist | 19 ✦ 𓏢 orpheus irl except i'm a lesbian 𓏢 ✦ i post art once in a blue moon ✦

[lunarphoria]

⊷⊱𓏢✹Welcome to the Orpheum✹𓏢⊱⊷

This is just gonna be a little introduction since i started to be a little more active on here and i want to try to keep my account as clear & organized as possible! I'll probably edit this a lot as I go :3

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- ☽ my name is Phoebe , i also go by Orpheia :3

- ☽ my pronouns are she✹her✹hers

- ☽ i'm an ace bambi lesbian ⚢

- ☽ i'm from europe , specifically germany ( so please excuse any minor spelling mistakes :') )

- ☽ i'm a hellenic polytheist and always trying to learn more about it , specifically from a historical / reconstructive perspective

( as a hellenic polytheist, I worship quite a few gods of the hellenic pantheon and I don't like using terms like devotee or matron ect ect , but I do want to make clear that I have a special interest in the goddesses Artemis & Selene , i feel like that's definitely worth mentioning <33 )

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-𓏢✶๋࣭ ⭑ about my account :

- ☽ i consider my little blog mostly an art account where I'll post my art ( mostly for the theoi as offerings or generally surrounding mythological narratives ) and try to connect with others ! ( Little heads up , some of my art will include artistic, non sexual nudity, but I'll always give a warning in case someone is uncomfortable with it ^^)

- ☽ i do struggle with communication quite a bit and getting dms is a little intimidating to me but i promise i'll try my absolute best !

- ☽ i'd really appreciate the use of tone indicators , as I often have trouble deciphering the authenticity of statements and how serious they are meant to be taken , due to me being autistic. Please be patient with me <3

- ☽ i also have an account on instagram , which is also @ lunarphoria :3 i tend to be more active on Instagram anyway so feel free to say hi there :3

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-𓏢✶๋࣭ ⭑ my interests :

- ☽ paintings , sculptures & art history

- ☽ books & poetry

- ☽ greco-roman mythology & classical religion

( this probably isn't news to anyone but I have a Hyperfixation on Orpheus & Eurydike, they're really really dear to me and I also take interest in Orphism , though I do not really consider it part of my personal beliefs )

- ☽ nature & wildlife

- ☽ musical theater ( Hadestown my absolute beloved )

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-𓏢✶๋࣭ ⭑ DNI :

- ☽ this should go without saying, but my blog is no place for hatred or bigotry of any kind. This includes Homophobia & Transphobia , Racism , Misogyny & all of the usual DNI criteria. !! Helpol is for everyone !!

- ☽ please also refrain from overly sexual behavior, jokes ect . It makes me extremely uncomfortable , same with depictions & descriptions of extreme violence in any way .

- ☽ this is a religious blog !! I don't want nor tolerate any disrespectful behavior towards any gods , no matter if they're from the pantheon I worship or not . Please be kind and respectful towards my & other's beliefs .

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i'd say that's about it for now ! thank you so much for reading my little introduction post ! i'm really excited to learn & connect more with the theoi , befriend new people & take you with me on my journey ♡ khaire !

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( ivy divider by @/thecutestgrotto ♡ )

[temperamentalgreen]

🌱🌾Demeter, 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊🌾🌱

"As the Basket comes, greet it, ye women, saying “Demeter, greatly hail! Lady of much bounty, of many measures of corn.” As the Basket comes, from the ground shall ye behold it, ye uninitiated, and gaze not from the roof or from aloft, child nor wife nor maid hath shed her hair, neither then nor when we spit from parched mouths fasting. Hesperus from the clouds marks the time of its coming: Hesperus, who alone persuaded Demeter to drink, what time she pursued the unknown tracks of her stolen daughter.

Lady, how were thy feet able to carry thee unto the West, unto the black men and where the golden apples are? Thou didst not drink nor didst thou eat during that time nor didst thou wash. Thrice didst thou cross Achelous with his silver eddies, and as often didst thou pass over each of the ever-flowing rivers, and thrice didst thou seat thee on the ground beside the fountain Callichorus, parched and without drinking, and didst not eat nor wash.

Nay, nay, let us not speak of that which brought the tear to Deo! Better to tell how she gave cities pleasing ordinances; better to tell how she was the first to cut straw and holy sheaves of corn-ears and put in oxen to tread them, what time Triptolemus was taught the good craft ---

O Demeter, never may that man be my friend who is hateful to thee, nor ever may he share party-wall with me; ill neighbours I abhor

Sing, ye maidens, and ye mothers, say with them: “Demeter, greatly hail! Lady of much bounty, of many measures of corn.” And as the four white-haired horses convey the Basket, so unto us will the great goddess of wide dominion come bringing white spring and white harvest and winter and autumn, and keep us to another year. And as unsandalled and with hair unbound we walk the city, so shall we have foot and head unharmed for ever. And as the van-bearers bear vans full of gold, so may we get gold unstinted. As far as the prytaneia let the uninitiated follow, but the initiated even unto the very shrine of the goddess, as many as are under sixty years. But those that are heavy and she that stretches her hand to Eileithyia and she that is in pain, sufficient it is that they go so far as their knees are able. And to them Deo shall give all things to overflowing, even as if they came unto her temple.

Hail, goddess, and save this people in harmony and in prosperity, and in the fields bring us all pleasant things! Feed our kine, bring us flocks, bring us the corn-ear, bring us harvest! And bring peace, that he who sows may also reap. Be gracious, O thrice-prayed for, great Queen of goddesses!"

---- Callimachus, Hymn 6 to Demeter 🌾

[sarafangirlart]

I was out with my mom the other day and the moon was orange and pretty and she said that the moon looked bashful with those clouds covering her and lowkey, the clouds did look like a veil.

[via-appia]

Young Hermes resting from the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, 1st century AD

[temperamentalgreen]

🍐🐄 Hera Pais, the cow eyed bride🪵🏛

 "I sing of golden-throned Hera whom Rhea bare. Queen of the immortals is she, surpassing all in beauty: she is the sister and the wife of loud-thundering Zeus, -- the glorious one whom all the blessed throughout high Olympus reverence and honour even as Zeus who delights in thunder." -Homeric Hymn to Hera

"The presence of a cuckoo seated on the sceptre [of Hera] 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 [in order to seduce her]." - Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 17. 4

I’m currently reading "The Transformation of Hera: A Study of Ritual, Hero, and the Goddess in the Iliad" by Joan V. O’Brien. She argues, sometimes speculatively, about the early cult origins of Hera, but I still find it very interesting.

The book suggests that Hera’s early rites in Samos might have portrayed her as arriving annually on a horse drawn chariot at a confluence of waters, where her bathing and binding to a cultic tree were believed to renew all life, presenting her as a goddess of the seasons.

There also seems to be an argument that she had a connection to the Potnia Theron, based on the large animals associated with her and the artifacts found at her temples, such as lions, griffins, and sphinxes. Her association with domestic animals like cows and horses could suggest that she was seen as a tamer of beasts, and her yoking of the bull may be parallel marriage and the "taming and yoking" of the bride.

I find this especially interesting because it aligns with my view of Hera as a goddess who makes things perfect.

In some traditions, it seems that she was worshipped in different life stages with epithets such as Hera Pais (the young maiden before marriage) Hera Teleia (the married woman)

Hera Chēra (the widow or separated woman) I drew her here as Hera Pais, a young maiden, the Kore of Samos, dressed in red and yellow thought to be the colours of bridal wear in antiquity. I would like to draw her again soon, I really enjoyed drawing her but I have to work on drawing animals, the cuckoo looks too much like a pigeon lol

[midnightsvnrise]

🪽Dearest Friend of Mankind 🪽

art by me :]

[lunarphoria]

THAT'S SO GORGEOUS WOW !!! he loves it I'm sure !!

[treasure-of-the-ancients]

Garnet intaglio with Apollo playing a Kithara

from Christies

[7pleiades7]

Spring's Awakening (The Snow Maidens) (1913) by Henrietta Rae (British, 1859 – 1928), oil on canvas, 106.7 cm (42 in) x 198.1 cm (77.9 in), Glasgow Museums Resource Centre

[ganymedesrocks]

Will Hicok Low (1853 – 1932) - 'And So he Rested on Lonely Grounds', Goache on paper, 1885, Art Institute of Chicago, detail.

[pinamalodi]

My Zeus

[temperamentalgreen]

🪞🐐 Laughter-Loving Aphrodite 🦪🕊

"Of Cytherea, born in Cyprus, I will sing. She gives kindly gifts to men: smiles are ever on her lovely face, and lovely is the brightness that plays over it. Hail, goddess, queen of well-built Salamis and sea-girt Cyprus; grant me a cheerful song. And now I will remember you and another song also." -Homeric Hymn 10 to Aphrodite

"Heavenly, smiling Aphrodite, praised in many hymns, sea-born, revered goddess of generation, you like the nightlong revel and you couple lovers at night, O scheming mother of Necessity. Everything comes from you; you have yoked the world, and you control all three realms. You give birth to all, to everything in heaven, upon the fruitful earth and in the depths of the sea, O venerable companion of Bacchos. You delight in festivities, O bridelike mother of the Erotes, O Persuasion whose joy is in the bed of love, secretive, giver of grace, visible and invisible, lovely-tressed daughter of a noble father, bridal feast companion of the gods, sceptered she-wolf, beloved and man-loving giver of birth and of life, with your maddening love-charms you yoke mortals and the many races of beasts to unbridled passion. Come, O goddess born in Cyprus, whether you are on Olympos, O queen, exulting in the beauty of your face, or you wander in Syria, country of fine frankincense, or, yet, driving your golden chariot in the plain,you lord it over Egypt’s fertile river bed. Come, whether you ride your swan-drawn chariot over the sea’s billows, joying in the creatures of the deep as they dance in circles, or you delight in the company of the dark-faced nymphs on land,(as, light-footed, they frisk over the sandy beaches). Come, lady, even if you are in Cyprus that cherishes you, where fair maidens and chaste nymphs throughout the year sing of you, O blessed one, and of immortal, pure Adonis. Come, O beautiful and comely goddess; I summon you with holy words and pious soul." - Orphic Hymn to Aphrodite 

I was heavily inspired by @ombrokharis beautiful drawings of Kypris. She's still unfinished, but I wanted to post her before the file corrupts. Im planning on switching to a new drawing program soon, which will relieve the worry about that happening again. I would've loved to add more ornamentation and trinkets

[flyboyelm]

Hermes illustrations continue. Here he is resting

[cinematropes]

Peitho goddess of persuasion and seduction, an attendant of Aphrodite and Hermes' wife (featuring them flirting)

Design very much inspired by @ephemeral-roses

The scales on her hands are based on @sarafangirlart design of her , since she is an oceanid:)

[remainsoflilies]

"Les Signes du Zodiaque," Le Filet Brodé (No. 5), c. 1900

[memories-of-ancients]

Garnet intaglio depicting Hermaphroditos, Ptolemaic Egypt, 2nd century BC

from The Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

[hildegardavon]

Nymph

Seated Nymph, Roman 2nd century AD, Pentelic marble, 101 cm

La Galleria degli Uffizi

[theoxenia]

me when i have to watch people say things about the rape of persephone and they don't know or care at all about the eleusinian mysteries and only every engage with the homeric hymn to demeter as a literal linear story about literal basically human characters and never as a deeply religiously important myth

[theoxenia]

me when people swap "persephone went with hades by choice because she loves him and demeter is an evil bitch" for "persephone was kidnapped and zeus and hades are evil rapists" and "the story is an allegory for the seasons" for "the story is an allegory for arranged marriages" and STILL never fucking mention the eleusinian mysteries or that this is a deeply religious myth connected to one of the most important cults in the ancient world famous for its unspeakable unknowable undefined mysterious truths, and not just the spiritual storytelling equivalent of a fucking paint by numbers