#classical literature

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

— Maya Angelou

they were just two damaged people trying to heal each other.

always enjoy the little things in life, because one day you’ll look back and realize they were big things.

“I am made of memories.”

— Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles.

watching the sunset, going on late night drives, soft radio noise, looking at the stars, light warm breezes, and closing your eyes and being content with where you are at that moment.

“…not all stories have happy endings; but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth the read.”

— Cassia Leo,Black Box.

home is where the trees and mountains are.

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”

— Jane Austen, Emma.

if you’ve ever felt unwanted/unneeded in any kind of relationship, i want this to be your reminder that you deserve the absolute world and you should be treated right.

I noticed something about Frankenstein,Victor doesn’t decide to hunt down the creature until after his creation kills Clerval. Victor isn’t finally motivated to do something about the creature by the deaths of his family members, but by the death of his childhood friend.

Frankensteinis the kind of novel where neither the hero and villian come out as wholly good people in the end. I tend to sympathize with the creature the most because a lot of the problems he faces are a direct result of Victor creating him and then abandoning him. However, the one time I really dislike the creature is when he kills Victor’s little brother frames Justine. 

Of course, murdering a kid just to hurt Victor is pretty messed up on its’ own. But it’s the creature’s justification for framing Justine isn’t just a matter of him covering his tracks. He explicitly says he framed her because he thinks she is pretty and is angry because he assumes he can’t have her because of his scary appearance. Justine’s only crimes are being pretty and being loosely connected to the Frankentstein family.

Imagine being Justine dozing off while watching the energetic little boy you babysit plays only to wake up and find you’ve been accused of the boy’s murder. Meanwhile, your employer’s elder son seems to have information that might help you out of your predicament, but says nothing.

Imagine being Elizabeth and having your childhood sweetheart/adopted brother ghost you for 2 years after he drops out of college only to show up randomly, shaken and traumatized while refusing to give any information on what happened. Then, your maid is falsely condemned to death for the murder of your nephew. Meanwhile, the whole time your fiancé is acting strange and keeps putting off marrying you. Finally, when actually marries you the secret he kept kills you.

EDIT: This isn’t a pro ElizabethXVictor ship post. Elizabeth just has a really strange time throughout the novel.

An idea for novel: A retelling of Frankenstein from Safie’s perspective with historically accurate details of her home country and explains how she copes with her new life in France before the creature appears.

I don’t think we talk about Safie from Frankenstein enough. Imagine losing your father and escaping from being forced into a harem. Then, immigrating to your new French husband’s homeland while trying your best learn the language and culture only to have to move all over again because your blind father-in-law unwittingly let in a very strange stranger into the house.

What I thought Arthur Holmwood would be like: The picture of posh British self-restraint

What I read: Arthur would die for Lucy and he is not afraid to say it

What I thought Renfield would be like: the creepiest non-vampire character in Dracula

What I read: Renfield is the president of the Mina fan club

The very first thing Frankenstein’s creature does after becoming alive is going into his creator’s/father’s bedroom in the middle of night. Then, creepily standing over his sleeping parental figure until he wakes up startled, which is extremely on brand for little kids. 

part 5:

From Ovid’s Metamorphosis: (-translated by Anthony S. Kline)

“The bloodless spirits wept as he spoke, accompanying his words with the music. Tantalus did not reach for the ever-retreating water: Ixion’s wheel was stilled: the vultures did not pluck at Tityus’s liver: the Belides, the daughters of Danaüs, left their water jars: and you, Sisyphus, perched there, on your rock. Then they say, for the first time, the faces of the Furies were wet with tears, won over by his song: the king of the deep, and his royal bride, could not bear to refuse his prayer, and called for Eurydice. She was among the recent ghosts, and walked haltingly from her wound. The poet of Rhodope (Orpheus) received her, and, at the same time, accepted this condition, that he must not turn his eyes behind him, until he emerged from the vale of Avernus, or the gift would be null and void.”

Let’s take a closer look at some of the secondary characters mentioned in Ovid’s passage. Tantalus (great-grandfather of Agamemnon) was a King who, after being admitted to dine with the gods, killed his own son (Pelops) to serve the gods to test their powers of perception. For this moral crime, he was cast into Hades where he endured the torment of everlasting hunger and thirst. When he bent to drink the waters at his feet- the water receded away, or when he reached for the fruit on the tree above- the wind blew the branches out of reach. Ixion was a corrupt mortal, who after killing his father in law and attempting to seduce Hera, was punished by Zeus to be strapped over a an ever spinning, solar flaming wheel. Tityus was a giant who attempted to rape Leto; the mother of Artemis and Apollo. After being slain by Apollo, the giant was punished in hades by being staked to the ground and having two vultures peck out his regenerating liver (similar to Zeus’ punishment for Prometheus with an eagle). The Belides (Daenaeds/water nymphs) were fifty daughters who were ordered by their father to murder their husbands on their wedding nights. In Tartarus they were cursed to carry water jars for eternity to fill an ever-emptying tub. Sisyphus was a trickster mortal who cheated death, and was cursed to roll a boulder uphill for eternity; another fruitless labor. The Furies (or Erinyes) were dark deities who punished mortals who spilled familial blood. The Furies were born from such an act, as when Uranus castrated his father, Cronos, they emerged from the blood. In the Greek tragedy; The Oresteia , they haunt Orestes for killing his mother, Clytemnestra.

As always, thanks for looking and reading!

“Chthonic Descent” by me, (image #4 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

part 4: The Roman poet Virgil, in his poem “Georgics”, gives a lush description of Orpheus descent into Hades;

“…entering the grove gloomy with black horror, he approached the Manes (dead spirits), and the tremendous king, and the hearts that know not how to relent at human prayers. But the thin shades being stirred up by his song from the lowest mansions of Erebus moved along, and the Ghosts deprived of light… mothers and husbands, and the departed bodies of magnanimous heroes, boys and unmarried girls, and youths laid on funeral pyres before the faces of their parents, whom the black mud and squalid reeds of Cocytus, and the lake hateful with stagnant water encloses around, and styx nine times interfused restrains.” (-translation from the Latin by John Martyn.)

The word Chthonic in my title is an adjective describing something belonging to the underworld. This would be an apt time to discuss the structure and details of the ancient Greek underworld; the realm of Hades. Our oldest literary source in Homer’s “Odyssey” (700 B.C.) portrays the realm as dark, gloomy, and frightening. A place where all souls go, and lacking skin and bone; have no physical form. The shades (spirits) wander mindless, and without memory.

In Virgil’s “Aeneid” (25 B.C.) we get a much more detailed account of the geography. Our hero Aeneas pays the boatman Charon to ferry him across the river styx, and after passing the three headed guard-hound Cerberus, they eventually come to a crossroad leading to two important realms; Tartarus (an invincible fortress guarded by one of the Furies, where sinners are punished) and Elysium (a sunny paradise where pure souls pursue leisure activities).

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Part3: But Orpheus is not satisfied to sit in solitary mourning. There was a great injustice in the death of his love Eurydice. If the beasts and rocks of the wild woods of Olympia bow before his song, what is to stop him for persuading the spirits of the underworld? Perhaps he can even persuade the King Hades to take pity on him and his lost love. With this determination, he receives directions to the dark gate from the forest nymphs and sets out. Many days later, standing before that gaping black maw, Orpheus shivers. He might never return to the land of the living. He steps forward. He has nothing left to lose.

In Greek literary sources we have varying references to the location of the entrance to underworld. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus must travel to Hades to perform a “Nekyia” ceremony to commune with the dead to receive prophecies. Circe gives Odysseus the vaguest of directions; “…once your ship has crossed flowing Ocean, drag it ashore at Persephone’s groves, on the level beach where tall poplars grow, willows shed their fruit, right beside deep swirling Oceanus. Then you must go to Hades’ murky home, where Periphlegethon and Cocytus, a stream which branches off the river Styx, flow into Acheron.” – translation by Ian Johnston.

Some scholars believe Homer’s description of the location is based on the real-world temple of the “Nekromanteion” (oracle of the dead) in Ancient Epirus (Northwest Greece). This was a temple of necromancy dedicated to Hades and Persephone where devotees could commune with dead spirits, and was believed to be the entrance to Hades. The temple was located at the meeting point of three rivers; the Acheron (river of woe), Pyriphlegethon (river of fire), and Cocytus (river of lamentation).

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“The Death of Eurydice” (#2 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

part 2:

But the three Moirai (fates) weave and cut their strings of mortal’s destinies, and this love was not destined to last. Dancing barefoot upon the forest floor with the nymphs, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake and tragically died. Orpheus played such music of melancholy mourning as to make the trees bow and weep.

The Latin poet Virgil gives a lush description of lament from his poem, “Georgicks:”…“But the choir of sister Dryads filled the tops of the mountains with their cries: the rooks of Rhodope wept, and high Pangaea, and the martial land of Rhesus, and the Getae, and Hebrus, and Attic Orithyia. He assuaging his love-sick mind with his hollow lyre, lamented thee, sweet wife, thee on the solitary shore, thee when day approached, thee when it disappeared.” (-translated by John Martyn.)

We have multiple sources giving variations recounting Eurydice’s death. According to Ovid, she was walking along the riverside with her sister dryad nymphs, while Vergil has her escaping a rape attempt by another son of Apollo; a pastoral god named Aristaeus. But the authors agree that her death results from the bite of a poisonous viper.

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“A New Love” (part 1 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

On a crisp, spring day, deep in the forests of Olympus, a wood nymph by the name of Eurydice (yu-ri-di-see) catches a precious sound upon the wind. Stretching from her oak tree, she spies a musician upon a rock, playing his lyre to a group of wild animals. Even the very trees and rocks stand at attention to hear his sacred song. She knows this musician. It is Orpheus; known to be the greatest song poet to ever live. And as she listens, she falls entranced, betwitched; in love. Orpheus too, sees this quiet nymph approach, and is taken aback by her beauty. A great love is kindled and the two and are married in a joyous celebration shortly after.

Some say Orpheus was the son of a Thracian king, others, the demi-god son of Apollo, playing music upon his father’s gifted Lyre. His mother was the muse of epic poetry and song; Calliope.

As Euryidice is a “dryad” or tree nymph, I have placed her emerging from the giant oak. These powerful forest spirits originated within trees, and typically took the forms of beautiful young maidens.

Can you all think of other characters in world myths who use their musicianship skills and the power of song in their stories?

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Who was this mythical storyteller? A singing bard-poet, (aoidoi)-dramatically orating the epic tales for aristocratic banquets or bawdy taverns? A collective of poets-refining their work over generations? The unfortunate truth is, we just don’t know.

Homer is thought to have existed around 800-700 B.C. and is credited as the creator and poet of the epics; “The Iliad” (15,693 lines) and “The Odyssey” (12,109 lines). Homer existed during a time when Linear B had been lost, or the Greek “dark ages.” So the poets of this time sung their tales in song-like structures, passing the oral art form down form generation to generation. Therefore, its unlikely Homer made up these tales, but inherited and refined them from older tales that had been passed down in the oral tradition. To complicate things further, Between the epics, there are variations in narrative style, vocabulary, and geographic expertise, which lead many scholars speculate that The Iliad and Odyssey were written by different authors.

Unfortunately, there are no biographical details within the epics to give us insight into the author(s). However, In the Odyssey, there is a blind bard poet character, Demodocus, who recites his poetry to the royal court. Some have suggested that this character was created by Homer as a reflection of himself. This is a fun and tempting parallel to draw. Similar to how we might get the reflection of Shakespeare’s voice through Hamlet when the prince describes to his players the the philosophies of theatre acting. The portrayal of a blind poet also creates a nice symbolic parallel to the Norse God Odin, who, sacrificed an eye in exchange for divine wisdom. Indeed, the Greek bards saw themselves as divinely inspired by “the Muses”; the inspirational goddesses of the creative arts. Through Homer, the elegant oral form crafted these classics, and, incredibly, we can still hear the song like syntax and repetitions in the texts. 

(**i drew this map and wrote this text for my upcoming book on greek hero myths. If you see any problems please let me know! Xoxo)

Certainly the ancient Greek myths were influenced and inspired by even older cultures like Egypt and Babylon (see Zeus parallels with Babylonian “Anu”) through “diffusion” (cultural spreading). But there were three powerful civilizations in ancient Greece which fostered a unique cultural and mythic heritage, spanning almost 3000 years.

MINOA: (3000 B.C.-1100 B.C.) In the Bronze age, on the southern island of Crete, rose a great civilization with a population of over 10,000 at the city of Knossos. The name derives from King Minos, of the Theseus and Minotaur myth. The Minoans were known for far-reaching Mediterranean sea trade, and wrote in a language called “Linear A,” which has never been deciphered.

MYCENAE: (1700 B.C.- 1100 B.C.) Another sea faring Bronze age civilization in which the Homeric characters hail from. With the Minoan civilization in decline around 1450 B.C., the Myceneans took over the islands and adopted much of the Minoan culture, developing a new writing system, “linear B,” which became the earliest Greek language. Whether due to invading foreigners or natural disasters, the decline of Mycenae was followed hundreds of years of decline; the “dark ages.”
“Archaic” period (700-480 B.C.) Populations increased, and progressive concepts appeared, such as the creation and organization of the “Polis” or city-state.

ATHENS (480 B.C.- 323 B.C.) the word “Greece” was a later term created by the Romans. The ancient Athenian Greeks called their country “Hellas” and the people were “Hellenes.” the “Classical age” of Athens was a period of revolutionary development in philosophy; (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,) theatre drama (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), refining concepts of democracy, among many other innovations in sculpture, architecture, and medicine.

“Athena’s Aegis,” by me, (#10 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

PART 10: With justice served and his mother saved, Perseus returned his Adamantine blade to Hermes, and the helmet of invisibility and winged sandals to the nymphs, and of Medusa’s head he offered it to grey-eyed Athena who placed the head upon her “Aegis” (armored breastplate) as a sacred weapon. Later in life, Perseus returns to his original homeland, fulfilling the original prophecy by accidently killing his grandfather with an accidental discus throw. Perseus and andromeda go on to found the great kingdom of Mycenae.

The original Aegis armor was described as a goat hide with golden tassels wrapped over a shield used by Zeus in the war against the Titans. In an alternative account, in the Olympians war against the titans, Athena strips a giant monster, Pallas, of his skin and wears the skin as armor. In ancient Greek vase paintings we can see a metal corselet worn by Athena upon her torso, with Medusas head positioned abreast. In Homer’s Iliad, Apollo borrows the Aegis, and joining in the war, provokes terror upon the battlefield with it, as it was said to produce “…a sound as from myriad roaring dragons.” (Iliad, 4.17)

combing through the references about the Aegis was a bit tricky. Does anyone have anything to add about this sacred piece of armor? Did i miss anything?

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Part 9: Upon returning to Seriphos, Perseus finds his mother fearing for her life in the temple from the lecherous King Pholydectes, who had assumed our hero dead. Perseus rushes into the throne room, turns his head away, and unleashes the full power of Medusa’s gaze upon the king and his soldiers, freezing them to cold stone before they could attack or even flee.

This is an amazing climactic scene, and is appropriately dramatic. It brings to mind the fairytale trope, where a character must conquer and remove an evil step-parent who has usurped and corrupted the natural parentage. We also have the fascinating symbolic motif of defeating a monster, then absorbing and using the monster’s powers against other adversaries. So, the monster’s abilities, initially a deadly danger, have now become an advantageous tool in the hero’s repertoire.

On the flip side, this situation reminds me of an example where a character thought they had a magic tool, but it turned out to be a deadly weapon. When Hercules saw the centaur Nessus attempting to rape his wife Deinara, Hercules shot him with an arrow tipped with the poison of the hydra. While Nessus lay dying, the centaur tricked Deianeira, telling her his magic blood was a love potion. Later in life, when her trust was waning, she spread the blood on a robe and gifted it to her husband, who was burned a live by the hydras poison in the blood.

Can you think of any other examples in Greek myth of heroes using defeated foes weapons as tools, or vice versa?

Coming next…Athena receives the head of Medusa for her Aegis! :D

“Cetus and Andromeda” (#8 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

part8: Having successfully acquired his prize, Perseus flies over the sea for home. But along a foreign coast, he hears cries. A young woman, Andromeda, chained to a rock as a sacrifice, with a vicious sea beast approaching. (Andromeda’s mother, Queen Cassiopia, had bragged that her daughter’s beauty was greater than even the sea nymph Nereids. The nymphs were outraged as such hubris, and Poseidon sent a flood and sea creature to ravage the kingdom. Ammon the oracle prophesied the kingdom would be spared if Andromeda were offered as sacrifice). When young Perseus laid eyes upon the helpless girl, he fell in love, and vowed to fight the Sea serpent. Upon defeating the beast, Andromeda marries Perseus and they fly away together.

Perseus and Andromeda later go on to have many children and are the founder of the Mycenae kingdom, from which the Greek kings Agamemnon and Menelaus from the Iliad hail. Upon her death, Andromeda was placed in the sky as a constellation in honor by Athena.

There are other fascinating examples of the god’s punishing mortals for their hubris. The king Salmoneus was struck down by Zeus for comparing himself to the king of gods. Tantalus, attempting to trick the gods by serving them the meat of his own son, was condemned to everlasting punishment in the underworld, “tantalized” by hunger and thirst with fruit and water always moving out of reach. The Roman poet Ovid writes of Arachne, who boasted of her weaving being better than Athena, and was turned into a spider by the goddess, cursed to weave forever.

Can you think of other examples where the gods punished mortals for their prideful transgressions?

Coming next…Perseus returns to find some drama at home with his mother and king Polydectes!!!

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“The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysoar” (#7 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

Part7 : But Perseus was not turned to stone by Medusas gaze, for he used his bronze shield as a mirror. Before Medusa could rise and attack, Athena guided Perseus sword-hand, decapitating the monster. From the bloody neck stump of Medusa, from Poseidon’s seed, two bizarre children were born; Pegasus the winged horse, and a son, Chrysaor. Not far off, the Gorgon sisters awoke in fury. There was little time. Perseus secured Medusa’s head into his Kibis, and fled into the night upon his winged sandals, while the screeching gorgon sisters sought the killer in vain.

Here we have another example of a strange, “higher birth” in Greek mythology. It brings to mind Athena’s birth, fully formed and armored, from Zeus’ cracked forehead.
        Pegasus is an important figure in Greek mythology. In some versions of the Perseus myth Pegasus is ridden away, while in others, Perseus flees the gorgon upon his winged sandals.  Pegasus appears in another hero myth, being tamed and ridden by the hero Bellerophon to kill the fire breathing beast; Chimera. Later, Bellerophon attempted to ride Pegasus to Olympus, but Zues caused him to fall. Pegasus continued on to Olympus, joining the King of gods as his thunderbolt bearer, and receiving a constellation in the horses honor.

Pegasus’ brother Chrysaor means “golden-blade.” Some variations tell of him as a giant, while others say he was a winged boar. Chrysoar went on to lay with an oceanid nymph to father a three bodied, four-winged Giant named Geryone. During Hercules quest to perform 12 tasks, his 10th task is to collect the cattle of Geryone. But… that’s a tale for another time.

Coming next…a certain sea serpent and princess in peril!

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