Just got back from the cinema, I saw The Odyssey.

Don't worry: no spoilers, although I do mention a few names. If you don't know the story, that won't spoil anything. If you do know the story, you already know those names 😄

I liked it, it wasn't the usual over-the-top Hollywood action movie, it was the real story that I remembered from school, long ago: the most fantastic monsters, gods and heroes, but also a lot of personal drama and existential questions. Not unlike the bible, as I said to @Erik van Zijst earlier this week...

Exactly as I remember, the continuous internal struggles of the protagonist. A Greek tragedy, so to speak 😇

There's nothing superficial in Greek mythology and drama, it's layer upon layer upon layer: everything is connected.

Historical details

As stated, I remembered most of it, especially a few minor but emotional details. Only makes sense that Nolan used those too, they're the cherries on the cake.

All the names of important people were familiar: Clytaemnestra, Penelope, Agamenmon and his brother Menelaos, Telemachus and Helena.

Bit unexpected that Helena was played by a black actress: that would seem unlikely, given that she was from Troy, which is in the North-West of Turkey. Add to that that Homer describes her as light-skinned, which makes sense if you realize she was a princess and probably didn't get as much sun as most others.

Back in school

I remember our Greek teacher explaining us why that white colour was important: just like in later cultures it meant that someone didn't need to be out in the sun all day to work, it was a sign of wealth and power, it was a skin colour that was desired and opened doors that remained closed for most. See the parallel with present day society..? 😇

Greek teacher, as in: the man who taught us Greek. He was Dutch, just like the rest of us 😏

But having a black Helena is Nolan's choice, I'm fine with it. It's not the only historically unlikely/incorrect detail. But it is one that will undoubtedly spark racist posts online, that's how it is these days. @Noortje Van Leeuwen already mentioned something in that direction earlier. O tempora, o mores...

I'm not on what some people still call "social" media, so I'm blissfully ignorant of the bile that must be flowing there now. Glad we rarely see that on the Fediverse 🙏

Memories mixed up

I remembered most of the story lines and plot, I could even spoil a small but intense event near the end of the film for my mum, almost at the beginning 😏

But I confused Jason and Odysseus here and there, because in my memory the Cyclops appeared in The Golden Fleece... Wasn't sure about Skylla and Charibdis, but those were in the Odyssey as well 🤔

So I'll have to (partially re-)read both the Iliad and Odyssey, and the Golden Fleece, even if only to jog my memory 😄

adds three more books to the to-read list

Only this time I'll read a Dutch translation, my Greek has become a bit rusty over the past few decades 😄

It was difficult enough to translate and understand it when I was in school, when I had all my books at hand and a teacher who could help, and who loved to go into historical, mythological, cultural, archaeological and linguistic (yes, really 😏) details. I loved it.

I'm so glad that I took Greek and Latin, it has taught me so much more than "just" two languages. So-called "dead languages" even. Greek and Latin are all over our modern languages, every European language, science, medical terms...

Pretty much every "difficult" or "complex" word in pretty much any language is Latin, Greek or a combination of both. If you know and recognize those ancient words in it, you usually have a pretty good idea of what this word must mean in this language today. I think @Yoïn van Spijk can confirm this 😉

Do read what he posts about languages and the connections between them if you're into languages, you won't be disappointed.

Anyway, that's why I have always frowned when they are called "dead" languages: they're still everywhere to this day 😄

#Odyssey #Homer #GreekMythology #Iliad #GoldenFleece #MemoryLane #Latin #Greek #Dutch #language #cinema #rant

Daedalus, according to Greek Mythology is the founder of carpentry, father of Icarus, and a renowned craftsman and inventor, among other things.

After attempting to murder his nephew in a bout of jealousy by trying to throw him down from The Acropolis, he fled Athens and found refuge in Crete.
The King of Crete, King Minos, welcomed him, hoping to employ his extraordinary craftsman skills.

In other news, Poseidon, god of the sea, was keen for some good, old fashioned animal sacrifice. He gifted a bull to King Minos to sacrifice, but the King thought he’d keep this awesome specimen, and instead sacrificed a less impressive bull from his own stock. Poseidon lost his shit, as Greek gods often did, and put a curse on the Kings wife, Pasiphaë, that would cause her to lust for the Bull he had gifted her husband.

So Daedalus turns up and the queen asks him to build a cow suit.
And he does.
So she does.
And then Pasiphaë gives birth to the Minotaur, half man, half bull.

King Minos loses his shit this time, as the Kings of Ancient Greece often did, and ordered Daedalus to build the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur. Then, Daedalus, and his son Icarus were themselves imprisoned in a tower, as they would not be allowed to leave with knowledge of the queens escapades and the Labyrinth.

It was here, in the prison tower, that Daedalus would build the wings for Icarus and himself, and conceived plans to escape the tower and fly away from Crete, across the sea, to freedom.

Icarus looked over his wings, as his father, Daedalus, tightened the leather straps that held them on.

They had been planning this moment for months. They’ve been collecting the feathers, treating their candle wax, building the wings and keeping them concealed from the guards. Daedalus, now double-checking the straps of his own wings, indicated to Icarus to ascend the final flight of stairs to the tower roof, and followed behind him, carefully making sure their wings don’t catch on anything.

The sun was high. Icarus squinted as they came onto the roof. The ocean sparkled as the breeze rippled the water. Icarus could hear the waves faintly beneath the sounds of the guards enjoying their lunch below. They’ll be distracted, unlikely to look up from their food.

Daedalus turns his son to face him. Suddenly a guitar riff is playing. Icarus is concerned that the guards have discovered their scheme. Fear fills his eyes. Daedalus holds him firm, nodding slightly to the beat of the riff.

His father breaks into song, and Icarus realises he’s in a musical.

[Listen to this song, a song about the advice Daedalus gives his son, Icarus, before continuing with the thread.]

Daedalus
~ #Dgar

ffm.to/dgardaedalus

#DgarMusic #Indie #Rock #Music #GreekMythology

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.
#Blog #Books #ChristopherNolan #film #GreekMythology #homer #Movie #MovieTrailers #movies #Mythology #News #OpinionPeice #Review #TVAndMovieReviews #TheOdyssey #Writing

I have a small thought about Prometheus.

Now. Because what is writing, without context (?) I wanted to give a bit of background. Like with many figures in ancient religious lore, there are two sides. The God of the Old Testament has two distinct personalities and follows these with two name preferences. Then there is Prometheus who has two distinct background stories. At least two which survive. I often try to balance, harmonise and synthesise them to make a cohesion. Rather unlike the ancient Romans and Greeks who were content to the truth and say, “some say this, others say that, believe of it what you will.”

I digress.

Prometheus, we know, was a Titan. His name related to looking forward. His brother, Epimetheus, related to looking back. The two Titans pose basic cognitive functions, prediction and recollection. Most Greek Gods work like this, having tutelary functions, initiatory functions, and social functions. Many layers wrapped up into entities, both tool and being. One might make the argument that Nordic Gods and Roman Gods had similar verves, Celtic and Baltic too – but each family has different surviving lore available. Greeks were blessed with much more to work with, post hoc Christianismus.

So. Prometheus, ‘friend’ of man, a Luciferian archetype before Lucifer. This is one of the common parlance. Maybe it’s deserved, and maybe not so. Either way, I roll with it. Prometheus advocates for humans. In some stories he teaches bestial man to walk upright and worship the Gods. Interesting. In other stories he simply contents himself to “steal” fire from the Gods, hidden in the fennel stalk, and deliver sentience. Both have similar functions, to Prometheus we are owed our active intelligence.

There is a lesser known tale I heard recanted the other day which adds context to the rudimentary mentions I make above. In which Zeus is said to have thrown a great banquet in Olympus in which *all* were called to attend. Not merely the Gods Zeus favoured highly enough to join his Olympian council or to stand in the shadow of Olympus. All. Among the guests were Prometheus and, one presumes, Man. (Man is capitalised for a reason I shall outline later.)

A sacrifice is had to open the feast, as you might glean, mankind sacrificed a portion of every meal to the Gods. Food, and communion, were major staples of religion. As above, so below. So what the Gods eat, must therefore be of sacrifice. Sacrifice being, ‘to make holy.’ Now the question arises as to who shall receive the great portion of the sacrifice. And Prometheus lobbies that mankind should have a great share. The Gods baulk at this, but not so that anyone is expunged. The Gods receive the tribute. Prometheus’ argument is overturned.

Now. This seems a small thing, but at least to me, it explains much. Let’s roll back the stone. In the War of the Heavens, when Zeus conquered the rebellious titans and condemned them, there was something left of them outside Tartarus. Since in the devine cosmogony nothing is wasted, the Titanic spark becomes the driving force of man. Mankind is made of the leavings of the Titans, in a somewhat more dignified way than the Dvergar of Nordland being made up of Ymir’s maggots.

We now that Primal Man was different. He went through Ages. Golden, Silver, Bronze, and so on down to modern man. It was said that Primal Man was indistinguishable from Gods, being so close to the Titanic Spark. I could say much more, as there is more to say about HYPERBORIA, and suchlike – but in the interest of brevity I’ll leave the beautiful word of “more” to my slightest of commenting audience. Digression. But he degraded. And with each degradation a new malady entered him. So, bearing this in mind. It seems less strange that Man should be mentioned with Gods in this tale. Man being much closer then to the source.

Furthermore. It dawns on me that, in a way, Prometheus’ actions make more sense in light of these things. Man was a different animal then, more divine. But for Prometheus, Man was not just an animal. He was kin. Prometheus in a way was closer to Man in the divine order than even Zeus, for Prometheus was a Titan, and Man was made from the spark of his vanquished kin. Perhaps duty impelled Prometheus to take Man on as a pet project.

I’d like to add a notation. In many Gnostic circles, there is a (to most of us living) strange idea. That Anthropos, Man, is greater than the Archons and even the Demiurge. There is little (good) explanation for why this is. Mostly, I thought, it was the leftover hope trapped in Pandora’s Jar. However. In light of this possible rabbithole, I can see it. If Man, Anthropos, descends directly from Titans he is at least on par with the Olympians in the chronic scale of Greek hierarchy. Typically, quality comes in descent. Ymir was staggeringly powerful, then came the Jotnar, then came the Vanir and Æsir, and then Man. So it was with the Greeks, commonly interpreted. But if Man is in part Titan, than he is technically created by Zeus, but his essential force is uncreated, a natural consequence of the Titans’ emergence from Ouranous, Father Sky and Lord of the Universe directly. Which would indicate that our immaterial essence is tied directly to the cosmic order by very few removed degrees.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off to plant river birches and go visit my Greeklings. Good day.

Ad Deam Abundantiam, in excelcis pascamus Magna Matrem Pingues Terrae ut pacem cognoscamus!