#theoi.com

[aristoteliancomplacency]

Hello tumblr classicists. I may have started a document of known problems (inaccuracies, missing information, various idiosyncrasies) with Theoi.com.

Feel free to lmk about any that you’ve come across. (Or if you know about one that already exists so I don’t have to do this… <_<;)

[deathlessathanasia]

People often seem to forget this but while the Theoi Project is a very useful resource, it definitely doesn't include all existing myths and myth variants. A lot is missing. Just because you can't find a particular detail on there, that's not proof it doesn't exist at all.

[androphonos-theoi]

maybe i can form my thoughts better later but i have to get this out now; the myths ARE relevant in helpol, you don't have to be a mythic literalist or anything and in fact people indeed can and do take it too far, HOWEVER -

they detail the aspects of the universe, what place the gods, daimones, and important mortals have. the stories tell important lessons, such as don't succumb to hubris and impossible pride. even the basic ones detail why the gods have that place in the universe. like after the titanomachy how zeus got the sky, poseidon got the ocean, and hades got the underworld.

then there's also different cosmogonies like orphism where the idea is venerating figures who have gone down to and come back from the underworld, like orpheus himself. its myths are also different

and that's not even getting into the thing i always say about aphrodite's parentage, because she's a daughter of ouranos by hesiod but by zeus and dione by homer (and in fact goes to complain to her mother after diomedes stabs her in the iliad) (dione is a titaness)

so i guess my whole point here is. myths ARE important. we cannot just fully ignore them. i am not saying you have to believe in them or even believe they literally happened (we don't know), but they DO have a place within hellenic polytheism.

[secretlyabirdsworld]

Poor Helen ☹️

[egrisian-medea]

Why is it than when I look up Alectryon's name on Theoi, Ares' Love Myths page appears, but nothing about him?

As far as I know, things were left unconstructed for some reason in Theoi during the 2000's...

(Hera's Summary page, for example).

So... where they like... editing Ares' page and adding Alectryon's info when they suddenly gave up on the site or something, so it’s still in the code of the page or something, but will not appear because it wasn’t published.

[clasassist]

Okay I remember reading that the theoi.com website was going to have a new owner? I hadn't given much attention but now I believe it's true and I'm not happy because I've been seeing some real bs on the site recently. Like for example

Apparently Thor is a Greek god now

There is a version where Orion actually does attempt to rape one of the hunters, and Artemis kills him for that on her own will. Apollo tricking Artemis is a complete different version and his reason was because Artemis had decided to marry Orion.

And some of the Articles are really silly. Like take for example this

Literally the first thing anyone will learn about Persephone is that she's the daughter of Demeter and Zeus.

Under unbelievable facts about Apollo: that Artemis was his twin. Tell me why is that unbelievable???? (Also again that inaccuracy with the Orion myth)

They are presenting biased opinions

Under this article, Odysseus, Heracles and Zeus are stated. Like whaaat?? On what basis do you say that these three are the most important - two of whom were just mortals?? (Or a minor god in case of Heracles) Zeus is fine because he is the king of gods but the other two on the list are not that important tbh.

And then this. Asclepius was the god of medicine, not healing. Moreover, he was given godly status in Roman mythology, as Greek myths have him being turned into a constellation. I mean, okay, I can get over with it if they stated that he was one of the gods of healing. But no. The entire article is kind of a passive aggressive erasure of Apollo, who is the actually, fully the god of healing. Also no mentions of Hygeia, Panacaea, Aceso.

I think the reason I'm disappointed is because theoi.com is supposed to be a collection of myths presented in a neutral tone. In the original articles, you can see mentions of various versions existing for a particular myth, and an honest, unbiased presentation. These recent articles just state just one version, which is sometimes even inaccurate. I see no difference between this and random wordpress articles or mythology books written by people like Robert Graves. Is this how it's gonna be from now? I really hope they will at least leave the older articles unchanged.

[thinksandthings]

greek gods of death

Atropos - Ἄτροπος, meaning not turning, inflexible, unchangeable; one of the three Fates

Charon - Χᾰ́ρων, derived from the Ancient Greek  χαροπός, referring to bright, cheerful eyes; the ferryman to the underworld

Erebus - Ἔρεβος possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁régʷos, meaning darkness, twilight; the nothingness before the universe existed

Hades - ᾍδης, possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *n̥weyd-, meaning that which is not seen. ironically, he is also known as Aidoenus, which evolved without the negative prefix from the Greek verb εἴδομαιto (eídomai), which is be seen, to appear; the king of the underworld 

Hecate - Ἑκᾰ́τη, unclear origins, possibly the Ancient Greek for will, as in, she who does that which is her will; goddess of the night, witchcraft and necromancy, among others

Hermes - Ἑρμῆς , unclear origins, possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *ser-, meaning to bind together; a psychopomp, god of thieves, language, and travel

Hypnos - Ὕπνος, from the Ancient Greek ῠ̔́πνος, meaning both sleep and death; the god of sleep, twin brother to Thanatos

Keres - Κῆρες, literally death spirits; the goddesses of violent death

Lampades - Λαμπάδες; nymphs of the underworld, torch bearers. known in Latin as the nymphae Avernales, or infernal nymphs

Macaria - Μακαρία, literally meaning blessing; the goddess of blessed death 

Persephone - Περσεφόνη, likely from a combination of the following Proto-Indo-European terms: *pers-o- (grain, seed) *gʷʰn̥-t- (to destroy, related to Ancient Greek φόνος, which is murder or slaughter) and the feminine suffix *-ih₂; wife of Hades, goddess of spring and the underworld 

Styx - Στύξ, related to the Ancient Greek στυγνός, meaning hated, gloomy, hostile; one of the rivers of the underworld, also the goddess of hatred

Tartarus - Τάρταρος, the netherworld and the god of the deepest depths of the underworld 

Thanatos - Θάνατος, from the Ancient Greek literally meaning death or corpse, related to the verb θνῄσκω, meaning I die; the god of death, spirit of personified death. twin brother to Hypnos

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Do you think theoi(.)com is a good online source for Greek mythology tales? Do you think they are accurate? I found it recently and it's well built, but I'm not sure if it's reliable.

I think it’s a fairly good site! It has lots of sources and lots of details concentrated. Depends on the research you want to do, though. Like, if you want to write a paper on the Greek Underworld, for example, you may also want to look at some papers or pieces of ebooks on the internet. In that case, again always check if your source is valid - not everything published is accurate.