• hihi24522@lemm.ee
    3·
    1 day ago

    The myths surrounding Prometheus are my favorite

    • He was willing to risk eternal torment just to share knowledge and/or further science, saying “fuck you” to Zeus
    • Somehow the ancient Greeks knew that your liver is one of the few organs that can regenerate… somehow…
    • His name possibly means “forethought” and he’s basically Athena and Hephaestus combined, literally the deity of technology and champion of mankind. What isn’t to love?
    • He is saved from his eternal torment by Zeus’s own half human son Heracles, so it’s kind of like humanity repaid the favor and also said “fuck you” to god

    The least favorite is Medusa because Athena literally punishes the victim of a rapist.

    Technically I think the version of the story with rape was only described in Roman myths. However, even in the Greek ones she’s somehow the only mortal gorgon and is pregnant with Poseidon. So It seems very possible the origins of that Roman story were in Greek myths we don’t have written records of.

    She was portrayed sympathetically in some of the Greek stories, which aids the idea that the version in which she is a victim predates the Roman writings. In a few of the Greek myths she is still portrayed as a maiden rather than inhuman monster, oh yeah and in those versions Perseus beheads while she’s sleeping, cause I guess killing sleeping women makes you a hero?

  • sem
    11·
    2 days ago

    Favorite: Orpheus busts Eurypedes out of Hades

    Least favorite: Cronus eats all his babbies until one escape, grows up, kills him, and forces him to regurgitate all those other babbies.

    • Andy@slrpnk.net
      2·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, good choices.

      Have you watched Kaos, btw? I’m on the last episode. It’s a shame that they didn’t renew it for a second season, but it’s great. I can’t wait to see what happens to Orpheus and Riddy.

  • Stovetop@lemmy.world
    8·
    2 days ago

    Like: I guess I have to give it to Icarus and Daedalus. There’s something so sympathetically tragic about a kid who was just so excited to be free flying too close to the sun.

    Dislike: Zeus disguises self and commits adultery, take your pick.

    Honorable mention to Hades and Persephone; when I first heard this myth as a kid, Hades was painted in a villainous light where he kidnapped Persephone and then tricked her into eating the pomegranate seeds so she could never leave. But I prefer the reframing of the myth I see more often these days, where Persephone actually loved the unfairly maligned Hades and chose to elope with him.