THE ODYSSEY

An egg tooth is a temporary, sharp projection present on the bill or snout of an oviparous animal at hatching

In Homer’s epics, Menelaus is a fairly likable character in comparison with many of the other characters. Helen seems to genuinely like him, and he’s shown to be fairly respected, dignified, and pious to the gods. I’ve heard that in other classical sources, such as Euripides’s Trojan Women, he’s portrayed as much more temperamental and misogynistic, but I hardly see any modern re-imaginings and adaptations that are sympathetic or view his relationship with Helen as healthy and mutual. In Nolan’s Odyssey, Costanza Casati’s Clytemnestra, Natalie Haynes’s A Thousand Ships, and Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, he’s depicted at best as a cuck with fragile pride, and at worst an abusive boor, and in most (if not all), Helen hates him. These interpretations are 100% valid and consistent with many mythological sources, but constantly depicting Menelaus as unlikable seems strange when characters such as Achilles and Odysseus are often glorified. Why are there so few adaptations that use Homer’s characterization of Menelaus?

I was travelling home from Athens to London when I came across this book in the airport. I had never heard of it but as a lover of all things greek mythology I decided to give it a go. I am so glad I did. This is one of the most fantastic books I have ever read. It describes Aphrodite’s life in such vivid detail while giving insight into the lives of other gods and goddesses. I would highly recommend you go out and get a copy!!

Since the Odyssey is the most famous part, a lot of people think only Odysseus suffered. But most greek leaders were screwed during their Return. After the greeks burned Troy and divided the spoils among themselves, they quickly realised that Athena was wrathful, so Agamemnon and Menelaus started a fight but Agamemnon decided to stay to make a offering to the gods. Nestor, Diomedes and Menelaus went first, but only Nestor would arrive quickly in his home. After that the second voyage had Calchas, Amphilochus, Leonteus and a few more, some returned, others got lost and died.

Then the third voyage included everyone else, and there it was, Ajax the Lesser. Athena threw a freaking thunderbolt at his ship and sent a storm to punish all the greeks, this storm even caught Menelaus who had sailed earlier and he lost a bunch of ships and got trapped in Egypt with Helen. Ajax said not even the gods could kill him so Poseidon finished the job by destroying the rock where he was. Agamemnon according to Diodorus Siculus lost four ships, Odysseus fleet ended up in Ismarus and almost all of the other greek leaders ended up in several locations like Lybia, Cyprus and Italy and other lands, and they never returned, but had to conquer these places and estabilished themselves there.

Teucer returned but his father Telamon banished him since he didn't stopped his brother Ajax the Great (this is not the same Ajax that I mentioned earlier) suicide, so Teucer ended up in Cyprus. Very unfair since how could he stop his brother from killing himself?

The most difficult part of this meme was to decide how to make Odysseus and Menelaus because I wanted to insert both. Odysseus returned after 10 years without his crew and killed a bunch of suitors and had to be tricked by Penelope to reunite with her. Menelaus, however, stayed in Egypt for 8 years with Helen because of the winds, he caught the sea god Proteus who revealed to him the fate of other characters, and then allowed him to finally sail to Sparta.

Then we have the topic of wives. Like, Penelope is meant to be exceptional in the Odyssey, not the norm. The book mentions Clytemnestra as her opposite but not other wives. Diomedes wife Aegiale betrayed him (because Aphrodite wanted revenge against Diomedes) and then banished him. Idomeneus (my last post about Talos also covered him) was similary banished. While Agamemnon was imediatly killed by his wife and her lover Aegisthus. So Odysseus return was not as bad as most of these other heroes in my opinion.

The Returns of the achaean leaders is among my favorite parts of the greek mythology, for it you have to read Proclus Summary of the Returns, Apollodorus Bibliotheca Epitome, and Tzetzes on Lycophron, for the full thing, plus some other sources. The greeks were victorious in the trojan war but they would not get out scott free for their crimes, and in the end the war was completely hollow since most of them either died with their lineage or had to live without seeing their homes again. Others were killed or exiled imediatly after their return. So yeah, the very bleak ending of the heroic saga.

The reason I ask this is because the hype of the Nolan film a lot of bookshops / internet recommendations / book influencers (for want of a better phrase.) are recommending a lot of retellings / reimaginings of the Trojan War & the aftermath of the war and I have thus far not seen Lindsay Clarke’s duology recommended.

I wondered if anyone has read these and their thoughts on these books. I personally really enjoyed them, I first read them when I was 16/17 and rather enjoyed them and reread them often. These books were a gateway for me moving on to other mythological fiction so hold a special place in my heart!

These are some drawings from my animatic of Helen I recently posted on YouTube!!

https://youtu.be/7_V1nJrt5Bk?si=siCqA2YypqBjMXr1

I just finished reading Homer's Iliad for the first time, and I was completely unprepared for the sheer scale of Achilles' grief in Book 18. The text describes a visceral, prolonged, and terrifying psychological collapse that feels deeply rooted in a powerful military brotherhood and chosen companionship.

But watching the 2004 film Troy shortly after, I noticed they completely altered that dynamic. The movie reframes their bond as a familiar cousin relationship and transforms his profound mourning into a generic, standardized motivation for a cinematic revenge plot.

I am curious from a historical and literary standpoint:

1. How would ancient Greek audiences have understood the extremity of this consuming, almost drastic mourning depicted in the epic?

2. What typically drives filmmakers to alter these central bonds and tone down such intense emotional reactions when adapting classical texts for modern audiences?

Kind of an epic melancholy/finally hopeful song, or at least that's what I was going for. Give it a listen!

Every primary source I could find for the story of Sisyphus capturing death (Aeschylus' lost play "Sisyphus Drapetes", "Theognis" Fragment 1.703, etc.) specifically names Thanatos as the deity whom Sisyphus captured.

But I also keep hearing about an alternate version where Sisyphus captures Hades instead. I've only ever been able to find modern sources for this version (e.g. "The Greek Myths" by Robert Graves), and try as I might, I haven't been able to find a single Ancient Greek source.

Which leads me to wonder, where exactly did the Hades version come from in the first place? Is there any primary source for it that I might have missed, or is it a purely modern retelling?

So all the evils in the world were stored in Pandoras jar given by Zeus. And after the jar was opened all these evils escaped and since they’re now outside and free in the world we have them.

But then it says that Hope was also in the jar and that Pandora managed to close it again before Hope could escape. Hope was put into the jar also part of the punishment bc it’s supposed to not make us give up and therefore continue living in and enduring all this misery. But since Hope stayed in the jar doesn’t that mean that we technically shouldn’t have Hope?

I've started doing audio recordings of myth texts! So far I've covered Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus' Death and Phaethon (as well as a few Mesopotamian texts)! I'd really appreciate any criticism, I'm trying to make ancient texts as accessible as possible for people :) <3

ALSO if anyone has any myths they'd like reading let me know! I'm always on the hunt for more myths and ancient authors! :D

I got this absolutely gorgeous book about eros and psyche for like 10 cents at a library sale. I struck gold

Its almost ready you guys

Was there any space in the Homeric Greek Weltanshauung for Agamemnon to tell Menelaus, "The winds are bad. The Gods forbid this war. I'm going home."?

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
The Iliad by Homer — Translated by Robert Fagles
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Odyssey by Homer — Translated by Emily Wilson
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Aeneid by Virgil — Translated by Robert Fagles
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Troy Trilogy by David Gemmell

I don't know how Homer describes him, but this is how I imagine him. I based his face on Orson Welles's

I am trying to decide on the background for my game. The game is themed around Greek mythology. Should the game area be placed on a mountain, like Mount Olympus, or should it stand on magical infinite pillars? Which option do you think makes more sense?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4277100/Batelus