THE ODYSSEY

Well, this is the start of my next series – the Heroes!! I thought it’s time to do the Titans, or the Primordials, but these won the Instagram poll, so we’ll be doing them first

(I’d write a long design description but I’m soooo sleep deprived.. Just point out anything you catch from the looks of them, I’ll be replying :P)

¿Y si Agamemnon no era tan horrible como solemos imaginar? Una cosa que me llama muchísimo la atención es la cantidad de gente que llora su muerte

Siempre me ha parecido curioso que Agamemnon tenga en la cultura popular una reputación de ser prácticamente el peor ser humano de la mitología griega, pero cuando vuelves a los textos antiguos encuentras algo completamente distinto.

No quiero defender todas sus acciones. El sacrificio de Ifigenia, su relación con Clitemnestra, el trato hacia Aquiles, etc., no son justificables. Pero creo que hay un detalle que a veces olvidamos:

Agamemnon muere, y las personas que lo conocieron no reaccionan como si hubiera muerto un monstruo al que todos odiaban.

Aquiles habla de él con compasión. En la Odisea canto XI, Agamemnon aparece entre los muertos y Aquiles se dirige a él. Y recordemos que la relación entre Aquiles y Agamemnon era nefasta. Sin embargo, cuando se encuentran en el Hades, Aquiles no aprovecha para insultarlo ni para alegrarse de su desgracia. Lo trata como a un gran héroe y lamenta que haya tenido una muerte tan miserable. De hecho, Aquiles básicamente le dice que habría sido mucho mejor morir en Troya, rodeado de gloria, que regresar a casa para acabar asesinado.

En la Odisea, Agamemnon también es presentado como un hombre digno de compasión. Agamemnon considera que Odiseo tuvo una suerte inmensamente mejor: volvió a casa y encontró a Penélope fiel, mientras que él regresó a su hogar y fue asesinado por su propia esposa. Y la escena no está escrita como:

«“Bueno, se lo merecía.”»

Es todo lo contrario. Su muerte es presentada como una desgracia terrible.

En Esquilo, cuando Orestes regresa, va directamente a la tumba de Agamemnon. Se lamenta de no haber estado presente para llorarlo ni para llevar su cadáver. Y Electra también participa en los ritos funerarios de su padre. Esto puede parecer obvio porque son sus hijos, pero precisamente por eso es importante: Agamemnon sigue siendo presentado como alguien cuya muerte merece duelo y cuya memoria merece honores funerarios.

La lista de personas que lloran su muerte es bastante grande para alguien a quien todo el mundo considera "odioso":

Orestes y Electra, ambos hermanos lloran y piden justicia ante la tumba de Agamemnon, invocando su espíritu para que los ayude a castigar a los asesinos.

Néstor se lamenta por su muerte cuando se la cuenta a Telémaco.

Odiseo llora al encontrarse con el alma de Agamemnon en el Hades. Y también en el Hades Aquiles lamenta su muerte.

Menelao específicamente le comenta a Telémaco que no es feliz a pesar de tener muchas riquezas porque lamenta y llora la muerte de muchos aqueos y en especial la de su hermano. Y cuando le cuenta a Telémaco como se enteró de su muerte vuelve a llorar frente a él.

¿Realmente, como podemos seguir creyendo que Agamemnon era odioso? ¿Creéis que lamentarían de esa forma la muerte de alguien que realmente fuera un monstruo?

Gods take the form of people a lot in the Homeric epics, pretty clearly as a way to interact with mortals and the world in specific ways.

When they do so, are they themselves transforming into a disguise? Or are they “possessing” a real person in order to accomplish whatever it is they want? Maybe a mix of both? Something like Athena appearing as a generic shepherd in The Odyssey appears to fit the former, but I recall gods also taking the form of preexisting people pretty often in The Iliad, seemingly as a “possession”

I'm currently writing a Dnd campaign setting about Greek mythology and I just wrote a text about Pan. I would love some feedback on my interpretation.

Pan: The Primordial Madness

Sometimes, there are things that never get questioned. They were simply always there, and no one really thought to ask where they came from. Somewhere between the moment Gaia emerged from the primordial chaos and the creation of her husband Uranus, the being known as Pan came into existence. Was he created by Gaia intentionally? Was he a byproduct of another creation? Was he a subconscious thought that manifested itself into being? No one really knows.

He didn't start off as a true entity. At first, he was the silence in the primal forest, the wind between the leaves that sounded eerily like a whisper. He was the figure you caught in your periphery between the trees—the shadow you swore was standing there, but was ultimately just a trick of the light. Pan was everything and nothing.

For an eternity, Pan remained a mere flicker of existence: the raw essence of the woods and the untamed wilds. But as time passed and life began to spring forth, Pan shifted into something far more tangible. He became the suffocating realization of being utterly alone in the dark—the sudden, breathless helplessness before an indifferent wilderness. He became the very root of panic: the feeling that the trees are closing in, watching, breathing, while you have nowhere left to run.

Slowly, a physical form took shape. Not human, nor Olympian, nor Titan, nor beast—yet possessing a fraction of each. His shape and state of being vary wildly, but he is most often seen as a satyr, or at least something resembling one.

As humans became the most prevalent of all creations, Pan adapted to their reflection. He could appear kind, cheerful, and relaxed—like an old shepherd met by chance along a woodland path. Or he could be a figure with piercing eyes watching from the thicket, waiting for the exact moment you spot him. Are these all the same entity? Is there even one true Pan?

To the Olympians, he is just a loud, harmless satyr—a whimsical quirk of the brush. They are too blinded by their own squabbles to realize they are sleeping in a forest that belongs entirely to him. For now, he simply enjoys his days in the wild alongside the satyrs, the nymphs, and the occasional wanderer. But who knows when the primordial madness inevitably reawakens? Their golden thrones won't save them from the wild.

Given the subject matter of witchcraft and the curious place of Hecate in the Greek pantheon, her presence could have added an interesting element both to the witchcraft theme as well as the war between Titans and Olympians, yet she is not referenced even once if I recall.

Curiously, Hecate is alluded to in Song of Achilles when Patroclus is tormented by dreams of the boy he killed:

“Our goddess of the moon is gifted with magic, with power over the dead. She could banish the dreams, if she wished.”

Hecate is of course associated with the dark side of the moon, as well as witchcraft and necromancy. Yet she’s not mentioned by name.

Did anyone else notice this/have thoughts on her exclusion?

Kind of a weird one but I’m tinkering at a short story (or novel, idk, still in the developmental phase) about Tantalus and Sisyphus. An adaptation of those myths. Merging them a little bit...

I don‘t really want to call my MC Tantalus because I feel that gives a lot away right at the start, so I’ve been looking at alternatives. A couple websites say that Tantalus is occasionally referred to as Atys, but don’t have solid sources for that. When I Google Atys or Attis I get stories about another Greek myth figure, some dude who castrated himself at his own wedding or smt.

Anywayyyyyyys just wondering if Tantalus was ever called that and if so where, and if not, any other name suggestions?

Selene is one of the forgotten goddesses of Greek mythology. She has long been overshadowed by Artemis, but once you learn her story with Endymion, you’ll never forget her.

​I made a night-themed collection including hand-painted moon artworks, a custom playing card illustration, a candle acrylic painting, and a handwritten letter addressed to Selene, exploring her tragic love story.

​In her shoes, would you do the same? Would you freeze someone in an eternal sleep just to keep them? Do you see her choice as selfish, obsessive, or the ultimate act of devotion?

I've always seen people making this bold claim on the internet, especially when it comes to the discussion about Zagreus and Melinoe actually being the children of Zeus and Persephone rather than Hades and Persephone. They often claimed that Orphism and the Orphic version of the myths are not considered real Greek Mythology because of it being "weird, freaky, and disgusting" such that it was widely rejected and viewed as some sort of heresy by the ancient greeks, hence Orphism failed to be a valid source for teaching Greek Mythology. But is there actually any evidence for this being true? Do we have any proof that shows that was people's attitude towards the Orphic traditions back then, like a quote from a famous Greek poet or author that critizes the Orphic version and calls it weird or freaky, so it should be rejected?

Her clothes are a mountain🤪

I think I either made her torso and arms too small, her thighs too thick, or both.

Men was an Anatolian moon god, worshipped in many local cults across Anatolia. Pluto was another name for Hades, while Kore was his wife and queen of the Underworld.

[Ἀ]πελλῆς Ἀπελλήο[υς]

[Μ]ηνὶ Καμαρίτῃ καὶ

[Πλ]ούτωνι καὶ Κόρῃ εὐ-

[χὴ]ν ὅτι μοι ἐπήκουσαν

πάντα.

“Apelles, son of Apelleus, [dedicated] a votive offering to Men Kamarites, Pluto, and Kore, because they heard me in everything.”

Did my best to come up with a original idea for Atlas carrying the heavens as how it could possibly have been done by the classical pottery painters.

What do you think yay of nay?

What is this?
It has been a long time since I worked on it. I have been sharing a little bit before like almost a year ago. This is for this card game of mine.

Haven’t had time or focus due to renovation of my home. But since I broke my collarbone I need to do something else for a short while. I will most certainly pick it up and finish it once the house is done but for now I am just doodling around and wow, am I enjoying myself with this again. I hope you like it!

acryllics suck so much bum cheeks. I despise them, but I am kinda happy with the out come.