Ancient Greece - Blog Posts

hellenic polytheism and ethnic greeks

it has to be said and i dont really care about your feelings soooo

as a greek, some of you hellenic polytheists vex me SO MUCH. i'm NOT here to tell you that only ethnic greeks can worship the gods so do NOT get it twisted but, i AM here to say that some of you are getting too confident with talking absolute smack about the deities of my ancestors and portraying them in ways that are inaccurate to align with the political agendas of today and make you feel better about whatever religious trauma the catholic church gave you. respectfully, history doesn't care about you.

i'm sorry but what the actual FUCK are some of you on??? why am i logging onto tumblr and seeing drawings of Athena and Aphrodite kissing with comments about how everyone ships them?? are you okay?? aren't you aware of how disrespectful that is?

these are not some book characters. these are not just two actors from a film. these are DEITIES. they are not jokes. they demand your respect.

again, i'm not saying you can't worship them. they are gods, after all, and they get their power from people believing in them. but they come along with a culture and history and superstitions and traditional recipes and clothes and a language and literature and music and ideas. these gods originated in GREECE, so i dont know why everybody is discounting the opinions of modern day greeks and having the audacity to call us gatekeepers as if this isnt literally OUR history and the people before US. btw, the greeks had an empire so there are a few other countries where the gods were honoured in antiquity (select areas of italy, south albania, parts of turkey, parts of egypt, north macedonia as well as others) so i do acknowledge our shared heritage in those cases.

but, the vast majority of hellenic polytheists online are literally american teenagers. and no offence but most of you have no idea what you're talking about lmfaoo. i know it's not coming from a place of malice but it honestly angers me when i see these hugely powerful beings being portrayed as cartoon characters.

i also think that some of you have the idea that ancient greece was perfect and accepting of everything and that the stories that literal HOMER wrote are inaccurate. the one that gets on my nerves the most is the whole Hades and Persephone story. no, she did NOT go willingly. sorry that this doesn't fit into your idealised version of things, and you can interpret the stories however you want to but do not debate the literature with me and do not dismiss these details online. women were NOT respected in ancient greece. they did not have the right to vote, own land or inherit. ancient greece was not the gay utopia everyone seems to think it was. sexual violence was commonplace. so was slavery. and paedophilia. people look at these times with rose tinted glasses, forgetting to actually read and learn about the reality.

so don't tell me what Zeus and Hera stand for or against. and dont drag politics into it. because if you use the concrete evidence the ancients THEMSELVES created, it doesn't really help your arguments. it all contradicts itself anyway if we're being real here.

and dont debate terms with me. greek is my mother tongue. i dont need people to 'educate me' by what the differences between hellenic, hellenism, hellenismos and hellenes means. i dont think ive ever actually seen a post thats 100% correct on that front lol

and for the last time, i want to reiterate that im NOT saying you can't worship them because i know how people like to twist things and call me a gatekeeper. but. be respectful. and remember these are the gods of a nation.

Notes: Plato's The Apology - The Trials of Socrates: Six Classic Texts - C.D.C. Reeve

Hi, everyone! My chronic pain has gotten the best of me this past fall/winter, so I haven’t been reading much, but hopefully with the new year, my pain will give me a break and I’ll be able to do more of these posts! These are my notes for Plato’s The Apology, which includes me posting quotes and then writing some notes right after, which happens right after the page number. It’s some…

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If I got a cent for every devastatingly tragic love story (any kind of love) I'm obsessed with where the two are so painfully sweet yet so incredibly doomed by the narrative at the same time and one of them dies leaving the other alone and utterly destroyed by their grief bc they've lost their only reason for living (bonus point if the soul of the died one literally haunts the other, whose only wish is to join them) I'd be filthy rich and it's not even funny. im crying. it's not damn funny at all actually don't even talk to me im going to curl up in my small little corner sobbing. bye

The Echos of Life

Wherever there are humans,

There is death and destruction.

Wherever there are humans,

There is hate and oppression.

Wherever there are humans,

There is art and music.

Wherever there are humans,

There is love and care.

A mother holding her stillborn child,

Be it in a hospital bed, a mud hut or a cave.

A father helplessly watching his son march to the same war he once fought.

A symphony of hope,

Rising above a ruined city.

The feeling of despair and fear is the same.

Two lovers tangled up in love and devotion.

Looking into the eyes of your love

Promising them love through it all.

Wherever there are humans

Love finds it way

Whether through despair or joy

Is not for us to choose.

You are not the first person to feel this,

And you won’t be the last.

So take solace in your ancestors,

Know that your lineage is long and proud.

Others before you have made it through,

And so will you.

Sometimes I think I know Alexander better than myself.

I still can't believe he died a day after my birthday (Or maybe three) 😱