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what-even-is-thiss · 1 year

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Hey do you have any literature recommendations for people who want to broaden their knowledge on the classics and Greek/Roman myths without taking university courses?

So like for people (such as myself) who have read Bullfinch's Myths of Greece and Rome and Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes but want to deepen their knowledge and maybe go to intermediate level type stuff. Or whatever the level above the mentioned literature is.

Well those two books are quite old and skip over quite a few things. Both are very important to our culture, historically, but I'd recommend reading through some more modern popular retellings like Stephen Fry's Mythos series if you're looking for pure entertainment and a dummy's guide to Greek myths.

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a useful reference book if you have difficulty keeping track of all these names and whatnot. It's just a reference book but you know. Having a reference book handy is quite useful. I personally prefer reference books when it comes to checking stuff when I'm doing mythology things anyways. They're generally more organized than the internet.

If you're looking for entertaining retellings of less popular myths, I'd actually recommend going to videos and podcasts for that. YouTubers like MonarchsFactory, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Jake Doubleyoo, and Mythology & Fiction Explained are all people who do a lot of research themselves on the myths they retell and I would recommend all of them to basically anybody. As far as podcasts go, Mythology & Fiction Explained has a podcast version and Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! is a very informative podcast that talks about sources for the myths and has interviews with experts on the subjects. It's also a podcast that is specifically Greco-Roman based.

As far as doing slightly more in-depth research, I cannot recommend theoi.com enough. I really can't. It has overviews of the most common myths, it has pages about god and hero cults, it cites it's sources and has an online library of translated texts. It's just really good. Go clicking around it for a while. It's a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

As far as primary sources for myths go, there's a few places you could start. The Iliad, perhaps. The most recent English translation is by Caroline Alexander but I personally prefer Stanley Lombardo's translation. The Odyssey is a more accessible read in my opinion if you're not used to reading epic poetry. Emily Wilson's translation is especially accessible, written in iambic pentameter and generally replicating Homer's simple conversational language.

The third traditional entrance into the epic cycle of the surviving literature is the Aeneid. The newest translation of that is by Shadi Bartsch, which is pretty good, but it reads more like prose than poetry. Would still highly recommend it though. Robert Fitzgerald's translation is also good.

If you wanna get fancy you can read the Post-Homerica which attempts to bridge the gap between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It's not often read but it's one of the latest pagan sources we have from people who still practiced ancient Greek religion.

If you want a collection of short stories from ancient times, Ovid's your guy. Metamorphosis is specifically Roman and specifically Ovid's fanfiction, but it's also a valid primary resource and Ovid generally views women as people. What a concept!

Though I think the absolute best overview from ancient times itself is The Library aka Biblioteca by pseudo-apollodorus. Doesn't matter what translation you get. The prose is simple to the point where it's difficult to screw it up. Not artistic at all. It is, quite simply, a guy from ancient times trying to write down the mythological history of the world as he knew it. It has a bunch of summaries of myths in it, and most modern printings also have a table of contents so you can essentially use it as a reference book or a cheat sheet. I love it.

The Homeric Hymns weren't actually written by Homer but that's what they're called anyways. They're a lovely bit of poetry because, well, they were originally hymns. They've got some of the earliest full tellings of the Hades and Persephone story and the birth of Hermes in them. They also provide an insight into how ancient people who were most devoted to these gods viewed them. Go read the Homeric Hymns. They're lovely. You can buy the Michael Crudden translation or you can read a public domain translation online. I don't care. Just read them.

If you're into tedious lists, the next place I'd recommend you go after you read all the fun stuff is Hesiod's Theogony. Hesiod, the red pill douchebag of the ancient world, decided he was gonna write down the genealogy of all the Greek gods. That means lists. I'm not exaggerating. Be prepared for a lot of lists. But this work also has the earliest and one of the most complete versions of the story of Pandora, the creation of humans, and the most popular version of the Greek creation myth. So, it's very useful. If you can take all the lists.

The Argonautica aka the voyage of the argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, is also here. That is also a thing you can read. About the golden fleece and whatnot. And Jason. You know Jason. We all hate Jason.

Greek theatre also provides a good overview of specific myths. The three theben plays, Medea, the Bacche, etc. We've only got thirty-something surviving plays in their entirety so like... look up the list. Find one that looks interesting. Read it. Find a performance of it online, maybe. They're good.

If you want to dive into the mythology as a religion that was practiced, Greek Religion by Walter Burkurt and Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson are pretty good books on the topic and often used as textbooks in college courses.

If you wanna get meta and get a feel for what the general public today thinks about Greek myths and what the average person that's sort of knowledgeable about Greek myths knows, the books you already mentioned are good. That's what people usually read. In addition to those, most people's intro to Greek myths generally involves The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, or The Percy Jackson series.

I've been flipping through the big stacks of mythology books I keep on my table trying to remember if I've forgotten anything but I don't think I have so, yeah. Hope this helps. There's no correct starting point here. Once you get started there's a nearly endless void of complications and scholarship you can fall down that you'll never reach the bottom of. This post is basically just a guide to the tip of the iceberg.

#mythology #greek mythology #roman mythology #reference #roman said a thing #classical mythology #classics #classics reference #mythology for beginners #mythology reference #greco-roman

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musesandmonsters · 2 months

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Be the Muse to his Author.

#billford #bill cipher #stanford pines #ford pines #‘My Muse’#the muses #greek mythology #mythology reference

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unsightlythinker · 2 months

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My cat: *meows*

Me: “Yes! YES! Sing, O Muse-“

#cat #cats #cats of tumblr #silly cats #kitty cat #pet owners #pet owner problems #pet shenanigans #classics student problems #meow #greek mythology #mythology reference #my cats

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strawlessandbraless · 4 months

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Something about how Dean never had any faith in god because he put it all in Cas

#I’m sorry #i don’t know why i’m like this #innuendo #but also like very serious #never capitalize the g in god when referring to Chuck #supernatural #spn #dean winchester #destiel #mythology #castiel #deancas #misha collins #jensen ackles #spn crack #chuck shurley

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notacluedo · 1 year

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Long hair won out in the end rip all the short haired Menelaus truthers

Art used as reference from littleulvar on twitter: https://twitter.com/littleulvar https://twitter.com/littleulvar/status/1210636583713591296

#His hair is looking ORANGE #Homer like his hair is auburn :/ it’s auburn if u reduce the saturation smh #He turned out weirdly viking esque?? I think it’s the braided hair ??#Majestic if I do say so myself #Menelaus #greek mythology art #my art #the Iliad #trojan war #Greek myth #a #Also an ATTEMPT was made at Bronze Age armour #I don’t know if my reference was reliable #fuck it we ball

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itseghost · 8 months

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kiss from an angel of death

i really hope 2 finish this painting one day but i just have not been able to get around to it even though i do like how its turning out haha

(yes, i know than's costume should be flipped so what i drew on the right is on the left, i plan on flipping the composition and fixing stuff from there, bc i dont want the wing pauldron covering their faces teehee)

#hades #hades game #thanzag #thanatos #zagreus #hades fanart #digital painting #greek mythology #my art #artists on tumblr #itseart #i reaaaally want to finish it #i planned this as a print initially too haha #wanted to try painting something more classical looking #but i think i just need better reference for the lighting #wil probably. look at leyendecker tbh #plus they are so special 2 me

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 9 months

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A-Qing, the little fox.

#better drawn mdzs #mdzs #a-qing #I needed to draw her happy one last time #i also really wanted to try my hand at drawing Hanfu. Clothing is still hard for me but I learned a lot!#the process was 1) get idea from the fox hairpin extra 2) thumbnail 3) look up references 4) accept that this is nearly an impossible task #5) do it anyways. For A-Qing #It has also been a while since the last better drawn mdzs. I've been getting better! B*)#I chickened out of having this be a ‘draw this in your style’ prompt….Perhaps in the future!#I want to improve a little more first I think. Psychically beaming my beloved mutuals to re-kick off DTIYS in my stead #I adore how A-Qing is associated with foxes! She is cleaver and quick to adapt! A trickster in many regards!#There is absolutely more to analyze here but I'm not well versed about Chinese mythology

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seireiteihellbutterfly · 2 months

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Sunflower Valentine

artwork by @eu--lalia

Higurma Masterlist

Imagine leaving Higuruma a bouquet of sunflowers on his desk on Valentine's day.

He'll quickly deduce that whoever left them was making a play on his name and his career as a lawyer. So it's someone he knows.

Although he'd prefer roses if someone was leaving him flowers, he's flattered nonetheless that there's a person believing he's bouquet worthy.

The little card that came with them says 'To balance out your gloominess'.

He'll chuckle to himself 'Gloomy? I'm not gloomy. Broody perhaps.'

The rest of his day is spent trying to figure out who sent them, and he'll have a goofy grin on his face whenever he glances at them. He'll try his best to draw attention to them every time someone comes in the room, like he's not so discreetly saying 'someone sent me a Valentine's bouquet!'

"Pretty bouquet." You comment as you walk in to hand him a report.

"Oh, noticed them did you? Looks like I'm popular around here," he'll drawl, trying not to look too pleased with himself.

"Or it could mean someone doesn't want to look at you again."

His smugness fades. "What do you mean?"

"Oh cmon, you know the old Greek tale? Apollo turned his lover Clytie into a sunflower so that he'd never have to look at her face again after she betrayed him to a sea nymph."

His cheer immediately drops and you feel bad for him. "But I doubt that. Very few people know that fact. I'm sure whoever sent them intends to see your face again. Perhaps the next day morning."

"Next day morning?" he sounds confused.

You nod your head. "Yeah. Sunflowers need to be plucked in the early morning otherwise they wilt. So maybe whoever sent them was hoping they'd see your face the next morning after you've... Wilted."

You give him a playful smirk and walk out.

"Wilted...? What...?"

It takes a few seconds before the cogs in his brain start work.

"Hold on now y/n!"

He scrambles out of the office behind you.

Sunflower divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

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wolfythewitch · 1 year

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sketchin

#art #sketch #hector of troy #the iliad #help i cant find proper armor reference i dont think im usign the right keywords #greek mythology #also i dont think the shield is tall enough to do this on but we're going to Ignore that

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yannisdesk · 10 months

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Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera during the Judgement of Paris.

#shinee #greek mythology reference #lol #lee taemin #choi minho #key #kim kibum #judgement of paris

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ivi-ivisek · 3 months

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FNAF DCA The tree and the frog AU

Sun and Moon are one of the oldest maybe even the oldest spirits of nature, meaning that they are also the most powerful among their kind. Sun and Moon were not brothers but very good friends who share forest and shore, bonded for as long as they've existed, helping one another to take care and protect their lands and everything that lives in there. They remember times when humans foraged and hunted in their domains with spears and arrows

But time's changed. humans slowly deviated from old wasy and start loosing the conection with nature. But that was fine maybe there was a rulebreaker or two but it was fine. They dealt with rulebreakers accordingly and they were more than happy to guide those who wnated to follow the old ways.

Sun and Moon raised many generations, taught them all necessities to survive and be one with nature. They used to be highly respected by humans. But it was getting worse and worse. Humans become greedy, selfish, arrogant, thinking that they can do and take whatever they want.

Moon become more aggresive and less generous and forgiving. For him all humans were the same - corrupted, too much to be helped. He thought that it would be better if all humans were gone. So what if he just wipe them off... Sun and Moon argued a lot about this. Sun agreed that rulebreakers have to be punished but what Moon was doing wasn't about punishing anymore, it was just hatred towards humans. One day they had very serious quarrel over what Moon did so they stopped talking to each other.

The old-time friendship is now broken, will it ever heal? Maybe with a little help things may get better. Only time will tell....

Hejkal/Leshy Sun

The guardian and ruler of the forest

Commands all flora and fauna of his forest

Shapeshifter - can change into any local forest flora or fauna and change his size to be either as small as a blade of grass or as tall as a tree

Vodník/Vodyanoy Moon

The guardian and ruler of the waters

Commands all flora and fauna of his waters

Shapeshifter - Can change into any local aquatic or semiaquatic creature

#fnaf dca au #the tree and the frog au #dca the tree and the frog au #fnaf moon #fnaf sun #leshy sun #hejkal sun #vodník moon #vodyanoy moon #slavic folklore #slavic mythology #digital art #my art #character reference

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lesbianshepard · 3 months

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there's a lot to say about the modern depictions of medusa and all, but one of my biggest pet peeves is that it also portrays perseus as some sort of macho glory seeking ass who kills women for clout. like, he was protecting his mom. his mom was being forced into an abusive marriage and he took on a seemingly impossible task to save her.

#m #i saw someone on twitter refer to him as an example of toxic masculinity #and i was like WHAT #of all the figures in greek mythology?????#like im not gonna say you cant use a cool monster lady like medusa as a symbol of female empowerment #she's cool as hell you can reimagine stuff idc #this is just a minor thing

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bottombaron · 8 months

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