World Myths, Greek and Otherwise

[Harbone]

With the admin handing down an Okay flag on this topic, I thought I'd open up a little discussion about Greek and Roman Mythology. Certainly, centaurs, cyclopses, nymphs and heroes born of mighty gods romp through some pretty good fantasy novels. The Greek myths, in particular, have enjoyed several influential resurgences, like the renaissance and the romantic period.

So, whether your notions are Hellenistic, Neoclassical, Pre-Raphaelite or just plain Plebian, what's your favorite myth?

Better yet, what Greek Myths have you noticed showing up in your favorite fantasy tales?

(We will also accept variants like the Orphic Mysteries, the Cult of Mithras, Postmodern Manifestations and, of course, Pure Hermetic Nonsense.)

Me, I like the idea of the hypoteneuse being your ticket to immortality.
It makes trigonometry blasphemously more interesting!  

[NightIntent]

I'll admit that I like myths, but I'm not well-versed on Greek myths, gods, or creatures. I looked up quite a few Lithuanian myths and gods a few months ago, though. Some of those are quite interesting. There's even one that explains why the cuckoo abandons her eggs in other birds' nests. And there's a god and goddess of bees, and a god of cherries. n.n  

[Harbone]

Don't know that much about Lithuanian myths, to be honest with you. Or Polish, for that matter. But my friend from high school married a girl from that area of the world. I should ask if she heard any stories growing up near Gdansk.

Is there a Lithuanian firebird (Zhar Ptitza, I think it's called in Russia) legend, I wonder?  

[NightIntent]

I didn't see any mythological animals. Mostly only deities and things like that. Come to think of it, I should look those up. n.n"  

[Merlinssister]

I love myths and legends of any type especially Celtic. I think my favourite myths would have to be about Finn MacCool and the salmon of knowledge which is quite funny and a Slavic kind of goddess called Baba Iagga who lives in a house with chicken legs  

[NightIntent]

Yes, Baba Yaga the evil witch. And you can't get into her house because it turns its back to you so the front door faces the trees. Well, until you ask it nicely. I forget the exact phrase. Enchantment has a nice twist on that myth, near the end. Her "house" is actually a plane that she took back in time with her. n.n  

[Harbone]

Oh yeah! Good ol' Baba Yaga. She has iron teeth and flies in a mortar and pestel. Scary stuff.

Incidentally, "Baba" is an affectionate term for "grandmother" in Russian. It refers to the babushka, or little head-kerchief that you sometimes see older women wearing in that part of the world. I dunno what Yaga means, but another way of referring to Baba Yaga would be "Granny Yags."

I remember a Baba Yaga story where she had a fence made out of bones and skulls and it could stretch or contract to catch people. I think she's also in one about these critters reffered to as "Geese as Big as Swans." That one has a river of milk and jello in it, I swear! (Well, milk and gelatin, really.)

You know, I don't know if Baba Yaga really counts as a syncretic diety or not. She's certainly the Witches' Witch, but she doesn't really even seem to couple up with the Crone aspect of Hecate/Artemis/Selene. Granny Yags is really her own very vibrant, very powerful entity. She's really got more in common with the Empusa, the Calleach and the Wendigo.  

[black not3]

if you poeple like myths and legends sooooo much then join the myths and legends guild like me!  

[Dewin]

I've heard and read many myths an legends, Norse, Greek, Roman and a couple of others. Beowulf is a good one and so are one in the Mabinogi, Welsh tales set around the time of King Arthur. Only problem in the Mabinogi is the lists of names that appear in some stories. They run up entire family trees!! gonk  

[Harbone]

First off: Yeah, th e Mabinogion is pretty nifty.

Did you know that the mother of Oscar Wilde (the guy who wrote Portrait of Dorian Grey and lots of really nice fairy tales) produced one of the first English collections (it was originally Welsh, right?)

Anyway, I thought that was neat. But I just lost my job, so I'm a little testy today. You may not want to read this next bit.

black not3

if you poeple like myths and legends sooooo much then join the myths and legends guild like me!

Hey! That's a great way to scare people off. The last thing I want to do is talk about neat stuff with snooty people.

I'll bet your myths and legends guild charges an arm and a leg for entry, too, doesn't it?

So there. Nyah. twisted  

[Pwale]

Merlinssister

I love myths and legends of any type especially Celtic. I think my favourite myths would have to be about Finn MacCool and the salmon of knowledge which is quite funny and a Slavic kind of goddess called Baba Iagga who lives in a house with chicken legs

Who *doesn't* love Finn? HE KEEPS ALL HIS POWER IN HIS THUMB!!!! It's just so cute, well, actually...that might be the other guy, but I have heard it both ways.
And it isn't Babby lagga, as far as I've ever seen. She's Babba Yagga. She's kinda evil, but kinda not. I love those people. When I was little, I'd stick three-pronged sticks into the bottom of my house so that it would have chicken legs like Babba Yagga's.

I have an interesting relationship with Greek and Roman myths. Especially Perseus. I *hate* Perseus. He should die. Slowly and painfully.
And Juppiter is evil and rotten and mean too, I mean, he sentanced his own *mother* to eternal suffering, torment and banishment for *helping* him. He has some serious anger issues.
I actually just dislike almost all the Olympians, excepting Artemis. I much prefer the Titans and Gaia and Uranus. The Titans may have been savage, but they *certainly* weren't anywhere *near* as conniving as the Olympians.
My opinion is not very widely accepted, not is my niche anyway, but two years of Latin can do this to a person.  

[Harbone]

I'm not a big fan of Perseus, either. He's remarkably cruel. But, then again, so are Jason and Achilles and Hector. Agamemnon isn't so bad and I've always had a soft spot for Theseus, chosing to interpret his own bad acts (like the incident with Ariadne. I like to think he just sorta forgot, the same way he just sorta forgot to put up the sails of victory when returning home from the labyrinth.) Then again, maybe he was a big a jerk as the rest of 'em.

Is there anything particularly nasty you'd like to expose about Perseus, Greenwitch? His treatment of the Graiae, perhaps?  

[Merlinssister]

Zeus was completely horrible and womanising. I don't know how Hera ever put up with him seeing as he seems to have had about 5 million children with various women and he's the head of the gods. Tells you something about what the Ancient Greeks thought was acceptable. The stories where he turns into a bull and a swan are probably the most horrible because at least most of the other women knew what they were getting themselves into.
With Finn how the hell can he sing while he's got his thumb in his mouth?!? xd
I can't remember how it's spelt in the book I've got but my memory's a bit fuzzy so just ignore my speling of names.
I always liked Athena but she was capable of being mean and jealous.  

[Pwale]

Harbone

I'm not a big fan of Perseus, either. He's remarkably cruel. But, then again, so are Jason and Achilles and Hector. Agamemnon isn't so bad and I've always had a soft spot for Theseus, chosing to interpret his own bad acts (like the incident with Ariadne. I like to think he just sorta forgot, the same way he just sorta forgot to put up the sails of victory when returning home from the labyrinth.) Then again, maybe he was a big a jerk as the rest of 'em.

Is there anything particularly nasty you'd like to expose about Perseus, Greenwitch? His treatment of the Graiae, perhaps?

Oh yes, his treatment of the Graeae was wretched, but I most specifically hated his murder of Medusa. Medusa, who had been turned from a human to a Gorgon because Poseidon had seduced her, and then she had *left* human society to go to the mountains where she *wouldn't* hurt anyone. It always made me angry how he was such an idiot that he went off to prove his manliness by murdering an innocent woman.
By the way, just a little bit of Latin knowledge, 'manliness' is a feminine form.  

[Harbone]

Lady Greenwitch

By the way, just a little bit of Latin knowledge, 'manliness' is a feminine form.

Really? Ha!

By the way, speaking of feminine forms, does anybody know if Rhiannon, the Welsh whatever goddess, had red hair? I can't seem to confirm or deny it, but I've known a lot of young ladies named Rhiannon who were born with red hair.