Greek Goddesses - Tumblr Posts

Beat his [Zeus] ass, mf deserves it-

This is exactly the energy that we need. 💅✨

Athena and Hera being evil and cute together (they are consipiring against Troy and Aphrodite, of course)

I love when these two work together, even when they don’t always like each other in other mythology episodes…

I believe this was an old request…

Short Take: Sansa Stark is based on Persephone

I firstly started to read ASOIAF when I was around 14, and one the very first things that I remember about this series is how Sansa Stark can be either one of your favorite characters or one of the ones that you find the most annoying and insufferable. But as I grew up I started to realize that: "Hey, you know who she might be based on? Persephone!"

And here are my three main arguments in order to justify this theory.

Sansa's story is pretty much centered around her character development. She went from a stupid, innocent and naïve girl who dreamed about marrying a prince and living with him happily ever after to a mature, wise and cunning young lady. During the entire book series she's supposed to turn from a pawn into one of the main characters who play the game of thrones. Persephone's story, on the other hand, is sometimes used as a metaphor for the transition between girlhood and womanhood. Before being kidnapped, she was this innocent flower girl that was even refferred to as Kore. After being kidnapped, she's straight up refferred to as the Iron Queen or Dreadful Persephone. In other words, both of them had to change themselves and take initiative after a series of disturbing events that removed their innocence.

The pomegranate symbolism. There's a passage from A Storm of Sords where Petyr offers to Sansa a pomegranate. She refuses and chooses to eat a pear instead. I don't think that it's too hard to assume the fact that George R.R. Martin knew about the myth of the seasons and used the pomegranate symbolism on purpose in this scene. In some versions of the myth Persephone is either tricked to eat the pomegranate seeds or eats them without knowing the meaning of the fruit. Sansa, on the other hand, refuses the pomegranate, showing to the reader how she's no longer the stupid child who could be easily manipulated many people think she still is.

And finally, the seventh book -which still wasn't published- is titled A Dream of Spring. In this book we are supposed to see the moment when winter will finally end AND when Sansa would eventually come back home after so many years.

Did a quick search after seeing the Medusa Barbie. Apparently they made the Athena Barbie, Aphrodite Barbie and Artemis Barbie (which remained unreleased) as well.

I don't like to act like an angry missy right now but why do so many people have to ship Athena with someone?

I can somehow understand shipping her with a female character because:

Many people interpret being a virgin as not having sex with a man and consider that penetration = losing your virginity;

Athena is already believed to have two romantic (though not sexual) relationships with two different women, namely Chariclo and Myrmex.

However, people sometimes really manage to come with the worst pairs ever. Athena + Medusa = LOVE; that's why she helped Perseus to decapitate her and then attached her head to her Aegis. Athena + Arachne = LOVE; that's why she bellitled her so bad to the point where she wanted to kill herself out of shame, or just turned her into a spider directly. Athena + Artemis- You know what, this one is not so bad, actually. I won't criticize this one.

Anyway, but the worst ships ever are those which include her + a male deity.

Athena + Hephaestus; Hephaestus tried to rape her once.

Athena + Poseidon; Besides the fact that they two are already known for deeply hating each other, it is said that Poseidon was the one who suggested Hephaestus to force himself on Athena while he was drunk.

Athena + Zeus; No. Just no. We already have Zeus raping Rhea and Persephone in Orphic Greek Mythology, and trying to rape Aphrodite (in the versions where she is his daughter) as well. We don't need a disturbing SA scene involving them two.

Athena + Ares; It's pretty clear that they two have a common brother/sister rivarly. That's it. That's all.

Athena + Hermes; She's acting like the big sis towards him.

Athena + Apollo; Same as for Athena + Hermes.

Athena + Dionysus; In some myth versions she literally took care of him when he was a baby.

Athena + Hades; Surprised that there are people who actually ship them two, honestly.

The more I see these pairs the more I'm starting to believe that these people cannot understand the fact that there are women who can be happy without a man as well, or that if two people of the opposite gender are getting along it's not necessarily because there's something inherently romantic/sexual in their relationship. They're really acting as if there's something wrong with being asexual or just not interested at all. Furthermore, we already have a lot of goddesses who are not married and sexually active (Aphrodite post-divorce and Demeter are the first examples that come to my mind).

The best theory that I have right now is the Forbidden Fruit Effect. To resume it shorter, the Forbidden Fruit Effect is when someone either craves for something that they clearly cannot have, or can have but with serious consequences. The best example in this case are nuns and how they are presented in an extremely sexual/provocative manner in movies, video games, fanarts etc. Which not only that is disrespectful to religious people, but it's also completely disgusting. You're specifically choosing to sexualize a category of women who made a vow of chastity and clearly expressed their choice of never sleeping with a man.

Athena is one the Three Virgin Goddesses along with Artemis and Hestia in 99,99% of Greek Mythology, so why can't people just respect that and move on?

The fact that both Hestia's personality and role can be easily associated with the fact that she spent the most time in Cronus' stomach never fails to surprise me.

The fact that she was the first child of Rhea and the first one of her siblings swallowed be Cronus basically means that there was a time when she was completely lonely, and that she was also forced to maturize herself faster in order to take care of her brothers and sisters and be a good example. Which explains why she is the sanest, least problematic of her siblings, and why she's basically the peacemaker of the group.

Also, the fact that she is the goddess of home and that all she's doing is watching over her hearth means not only that she's used to, but also likes to spend her time in close and warm spaces. Which is impressive, considering the fact that many people in her place would most probably develop claustrophobia. I'm wondering if any of her siblings have that though. Hades doesn’t since he's always in the Underworld (which is also a dark realm), but Poseidon and Demeter probably have that, since one of them is the god of the sea and the other one the goddess of harvest. Still not sure about Hera.

Honestly I think that Hera is one of the most misunderstood greek gods. On one hand you have those people who completely villainize her and turn her into a complete monster, and on the other hand you have those people who try to excuse all of her actions and depict her as a saint.

Yes, Zeus's infidelities were hardly admirable, but that doesn’t mean that this is an excuse for punishing even the women who had absolutely no idea who were they dealing with and ended up being raped by him, nor his bastards since it wasn't their fault that they were fathered by Zeus.

Yes, Zeus didn't allow her to have just as much authority as him, Hera betrayed Zeus in many ways, and both of them proved themselves to be abusive towards each other. But at the end of the day Zeus doesn’t want to be married with any other woman and that's why he planned the whole wooden bride thing in order to make her turn back after she left him, whereas Hera never cheated on him, because she's the goddess of marriage and she has her own principles.

Yes, what Hera did to Hephaestus after she saw him for the first time (in the versions where she was the one who threw him from Mount Olympus) or the fact that she didn't care that much at the beginning about Ares after he went is missing is horrible, but she also had her own moments where she proved herself to be a caring mother, especially towards Hebe and Eileithyia.

Hera is a complex figure capable of showing both kindness and cruelty, instead of a 2D caricature. So instead of either romanticizing or demonizing her, perhaps it would be better to portray her in a more multilayered, realistic way.

No offense to Aphrodite's worshippers but if I would live in Ancient Greece by celibate ass would probably fear her the most.

Me: Opinions are free...

"Athena is a stupid pick-me girl."

Me: ...but not mandatory.

Rambling about Despoina, because I have a lot of questions about her and my brain is broken.

Despoina is probably one of the most obscure Goddesses from Greek Mythology. She's considered the Goddess of Arkadian Mysteries, yet at the same time people doubt wheter or not she's a stand-alone deity or just another epithet for another goddess (usually Persephone). To make things even more complicated now, her name isn't actually one. It's an epithet, and "her true name and function were revealed only to the intitiates". "Despoina" was also an epithet used for Demeter and Persephone as well.

Now, there have been made a lot of speculations and assumptions based on the few things that we know about her. The most common theory is that Despoina was in fact the Arcadian equivalent of Persephone, and that Mycenaean Poseidon later got divided into Poseidon and Hades. On short: many people believe that back in the Mycenaean Greece there were Two Goddesses worshipped together as the Two Queens, later refferred to as the Two Mistresses: Demeter and Despoina. It is very likely that both of them are two later versions of two pre-Greek Goddesses of Arcadia. At the same time we have Mycenaean Poseidon, who was not only the god of the sea, but had strong associations with the Underworld as well. He also seemed to be in close connection with the Two Queens and form some sort of a divine trio with them, since he was refferred to as the King. Later, Despoina slowly became Persephone, whereas some of the attributes that were initially associated with Poseidon were taken away from him and used in order to create another god, Hades, because ancient people considered that it's better to have two separate deities for these two different realms. Finally, we're reaching Classic Greek Mythology, where Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Hades is her husband, and Poseidon is the only one of the Big Three who didn't bang her.

This theory is highly accepted because it seems the most plausible one (plus the fact that there aren't enough surviving sources from that time leaves an open door for whatever thoughts could cross people's minds), yet at the same time highly criticized for rightful reasons, such as the fact that there's a chance that Hades might've been an already existing deity in Mycenaean Mythology, but because there are no surviving written works about him from that time there's nothing certain. Another reason is because not everyone considered Despoina to be just an epithet or an older version of Persephone. And by "not everyone" I mean Pausanias:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 25. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :

"When Demeter was wandering in search of her daughter [Persephone], she was followed, it is said, by Poseidon, who lusted after her. So she turned, the story runs, into a mare, and grazed with the mares of Onkios (Oncius) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)]; realising that he was outwitted, Poseidon changed into a stallion and enjoyed Demeter. At first, they say, Demeter was angry at what had happened, but later on she laid aside her wrath and wished to bathe in the Ladon . . . Demeter, they say, had by Poseidon a daughter [Despoine (Despoena)], whose name they are not wont to divulge to the uninitiated, and a horse called Areion (Arion)."

According to him Despoina and Persephone aren’t the same goddess, but two different deities. On top of that, Despoina was conceived during the time when Demeter was searching for Persephone, being youger than her, and has a horse twin brother. Which is very weird, considering the fact that Pausanias wrote this about 800 years after Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and this is the only source that states that Despoina and Persephone are two different goddesses.

Here's another fragment:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

Despoine the Arkadians worship more than any other god, declaring that she is a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. Despoine (Mistress) is her surname among the many, just as they surname Demeter's daughter by Zeus Kore (Core, the Maid). But whereas the real name of Kore (the Maid) is Persephone, as Homer and Pamphos before him say in their poems, the real name of Despoine (the Mistress) I am afraid to write to the uninitiated.

Here he states that Despoina is her surname (just how Kore is a surname for Persephone). But while we do know that Kore is Persephone, Despoina's real name still remains a secret. What is really weird here is... why would they be afraid to say her real name in the first place? We know for a matter of fact that Ancient Greeks were usually scared of saying the real names of the Underworld deities. Hades for example is always refferred to by lots of epithets and euphemisms, because people believed that by saying or writing his real name they would arouse his wrath. In this case then Despoina could be a chtonic deity as well, yet her affiliations with the Underworld are unclear, if they really exist.

But then, if Despoina would be a chtonic goddess, and she isn't Persephone, then who else could she be?

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

"From Akakesion (Acacesium) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)] it is four stades to the sanctuary of Despoine (Despoena, the Mistress). First in this place is a temple of Artemis Hegemone (Leader) [probably Hekate (Hecate)], with a bronze image, holding torches, which I conjecture to be about six feet high. From this place there is an entrance into the sacred enclosure of Despoine.

[...]

Demeter carries a torch in her right hand; her other hand she has laid upon Despoine. Despoine has on her knees a staff and what is called the box, which she holds in her right hand. On both sides of the throne are images. By the side of Demeter stands Artemis [probably here identified with Hekate] wrapped in the skin of a deer, and carrying a quiver on her shoulders, while in one hand she holds a torch, in the other two serpents; by her side a bitch, of a breed suitable for hunting, is lying down.

Judging by these two experts, there is a small, vague chance that Despoina might be strongly identified with Hecate. Besides the fact that Despoina was one of Hecate's epithets as well, she was sometimes considered to be the daughter of Demeter. Hecate also plays a major role in Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and near the end of the myth she becomes Persephone's attendant and substitute queen. On top of that, Hecate shares some similarities with Poseidon, especially in Hesiod's Theogeny: ". . . and to those whose business is the in the gray discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch and easily she gives it away. . .”

Another possibility is that Despoina was supposed at one point to have a symbolic value above it all and/or to be a concept rather than a physical goddess, since "Despoina" literally means "Mistress", Persephone was refferred to as Kore ("Maiden") during her time with her mother, and while we don't know for sure what is "Demeter" supposed to mean, the "'-meter" part most probably means "mother". Which suggests that Persephone, Despoina and Demeter were probably supposed to be some sort of a Maiden/Mistress/Mother trio.

Is it just me or Amphitrite is way too little talked about for a queen? I've seen thousands of disccussions about Hera and Persephone, and almost none about her.

Her marriage with Poseidon is slightly similar with the one between Hades and Persephone (in the sense that both couples had a rough beginning but then slowly started to become peaceful). At the same time we know that Poseidon wasn't exactly a faithful husband. As a base of comparison even Zeus had less lovers than him, and at least Zeus was supposed to father the greatests gods and heroes to ever exists as the King of the Gods. Poseidon was horny. Yet unlike Hera and Persephone, I don't remember any myth where Amphitrite punishes one of Poseidon's mistresses (or bastards) and even welcomed Theseus with open arms.

That makes me believe that:

a) Amphitrite is aware of the fact that any woman her husband catches his eye upon has no other option but to sleep with him in order to avoid a worse fate, and that his bastards have absolutely no fault for being born.

b) She fears that Poseidon might punish her if she manifests her jealousy in any way.

c) She came to love him way too much to the point of forgiving all of his infidelities.

d) All of the above combined.

Nevertheless she's still pretty underrated.

@amphitriteswife

Different Portraits of Athena/Minerva

1. Minerva by Frans Floris I

2. Head of Minerva by Pietro della Vecchia

3. Athena by Hans von Aachen

4. Minerva in Military Clothes by Johann Heinrich Tischbein 

5. The Goddess Minerva by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

6. Athena by Feliks Michał Wygrzywalski

7. Pallas Athena by Rembrandt

Now try to rate each one of them.

The more I was looking at paintings depicting Aphrodite's birth, the more I had the impression that something's out of place...

...and then, I realized:

Same Energy:

I've seen many people commenting about the fact that depicting Athena as a blonde and/or depicting Aphrodite as a brunette is not a good idea because Athena is smart whereas Aphrodite is only beautiful.

I mean... do I even have to say something?

One thing that I find funny is how lots of artists depict the Greek Goddesses as skinny/thin, when the majority of them are described as having curvaceous figures.

Hera is "Zeus' buxom wife".

Aglaea is "Hephaestus' buxom wife".

Ariadne is "Dionysus' buxom wife".

Persephone is described by Homer as being "buxom" and "trim-ankled" (which basically means that she had shapely legs) before her kidnapping.

Aphrodite was thick too.

The main reason why Artemis punished Aura was because she commented on her appearance, claiming that her breasts look like the ones of a pregnant woman, and that she looks more like a virgin than her.

Athena would most likely have an athletic/slightly muscular figure rather than a fragile one.

So seeing most of them depicted as skinny when back in the Ancient Greece there were different Beauty Standards is quite hilarious.

Is it just me or does a younger Angelina Jolie radiate the exact same elegance and confidence I would expect Hera to have?

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What is your favorite fun greek god fact?

There are many of them, but the very first one that I could think about right now is that Iris has an evil sister named Arke who betrayed the gods during the Titanomachy and basically became a messenger for the Titans. After the war ended Zeus cut off her wings and imprisoned her in Tartarus.

THIS chibi fanart of Hemera and Nyx.

*Art by Arbetta*

In Greek Mythology Persephone had strong connections and friendships with a lot of women, from Athena and Artemis to the Oceanids, Nymphs and Horae. She deeply loved her mother and it's safe to assume that she and Hecate became close to each other after Homeric Hymns to Demeter. The only woman whom she punished was Minthe, who was a homewreker, and in some versions of the myth it is Demeter the one who turned her into a plant instead of her.

So seeing her no longer spending time with her old friends, constantly bellitling other women and seeing most of them as a threat on top of treating Hades as the centre of her universe in many retellings is far from her character in my honest opinion. I would rather see her befriending the mortal souls of Semele, Ariadne, Eurydice, Iphigenia etc. in the Underworld and comforting them than putting other women down for no reason at all.

Now, there are also individuals who bring up into discussion her rivarly with Aphrodite in the myth of Adonis, but if you think about it Aphrodite and Hera were also rivals for a while due to the Judgement of Paris, and yet when Hera asked Aphrodite for her girdle during the Trojan War she's all like: "Sure girl, take it!💅". For one reason or another people are aware of the fact that just because two gods had a dispute once that doesn’t mean that they couldn't have reconciled in time, but when it comes to goddesses they no longer get along and they deeply hate each other for the rest of their eternity.