General Discussion

norse mythology and egyptain mythology are probably my top favourites.
i love them both alot, so i dont really have any favourite stories, but ra, bas, basset, odin, jörmungandr, and níðhöggr are my favourite characters.
also can i mention that yggdrasil is the coolest :3

@dustfawn the journey of Ra has always had a top spot for me. Can you imagine all those snakes?!

@ambivalence
dont even mention it
snakes are cool, but i was horrified at all the snakes

@dustfawn and then the entire thing being a snake? Dear lord...

@ambivalence
[internally screams]

@dustfawn at least it's not spiders

call me basic buuuuuut. i absolutely adore the myth of orpheus and eurydice from greek mythology. i was super hyperfixated on mythology when i was about 8-9, especially greek, so i amassed a lot of myths, but this one stuck with me and i'm not sure why. i'm a sucker for romance, tragedy, and romance and tragedy combined, soo i always felt kind of drawn towards this myth, even when i was a kid, when i was really intrigued and a little bit saddened by it.
i revisited it a bit ago while having a look at d'aulaires' book of greek myths, and i felt even more emotional about it for some reason
pretty sure it's a fairly well-known tale, but i'd like to sort of tell it to the best of my ability anyway, some of the details vary from telling to telling:

Orpheus, a very talented musician, is known to charm all beasts and man with a mere strumming of his lyre. He marries Eurydice, a nymph. During their wedding, Eurydice is chased by a satyr. To avoid the satyr, Eurydice flees and steps on a viper. She receives a fatal bite on her ankle, and dies almost immediately. Distraught, Orpheus plays mournful songs on his lyre, so moving that even the gods are compelled to weep. So beside himself with grief, Orpheus travels to the underworld. He begins to sing and play his lyre, and so beautiful and tragic is his song of loss and pain that Cerberus lays down its three heads and whimpers. As Orpheus travels through the realm, his playing gives pause to the faceless nameless souls on the Styx, who waver for one moment with a sigh of longing as he passes by, music halting even the proceedings of Tartarus. For a moment the torture of wretched souls is relinquished, Tantalus finally able to quench his thirst with the well water beneath him and sate his appetite with the grapes above, Ixion's wheel stopping its spinning and granting the sinner rest. Orpheus's mournful tale and singing are enough to make Persephone sob and Hades shed a single tear. Out of pity, they tell him that as he leaves the underworld, Eurydice will be behind him, and they shall be reunited on the surface. However, they warn Orpheus not to look behind him at Eurydice before he reaches the mortal realm, or she shall be lost to him and returned to the Elysian Fields.
And so Orpheus, overjoyed, sets off away, spurred forward by the whispers behind him. As he nears the end, he suddenly grows anxious. What if Eurydice is not really behind him at all? He hasn't heard her in a while...
Overcome by the fear that his love had been left behind, Orpheus looked behind him.
The final words he heard from his beloved were a whispered "goodbye" before Eurydice's soul sank back into the depths of Hades.
Orpheus never overcame his grief. He took to the woods, weeping song that drove wild beasts and the trees themselves to mournful tears. He could never love again, never feel happy again without Eurydice, his beautiful Eurydice, forever gone, Eurydice.
One day a group of Maenads, women and followers of Dionysus, meet him in the woods. Drunken, they are unaffected by his lyre, and they try to drag him away to partake in their merriment. Orpheus refuses. In a fury, the women fall upon him, ripping him to shreds. They throw Orpheus's head into the river, where still as it drifts away sings sadly of his love.
It is said, at least, that in death Orpheus and Eurydice are together once more.

idk why but this made me go bruh. i didnt tell it very well, but something about it, despite the lack of descriptive writing present in modern day tearjerkers, i find it really moving??? idk. i hold this one pretty close to my heart.

@somnambulist they made musicals about it for a reason [emoji=coatl sad size=2]

So, as you may know, many Greek deities have epithets, which are basically bonus names that describe a part of their character/worship. For instance, Hermes is often given the epithet Argeiphontes, translated to slayer of Argus, a reference to his killing of the hundred eyed giant, Argus. This story tells how Athena came to bear the name Pallas.

After emerging from the forehead of her father, Zeus, Athena was sent to the northern coast of Africa to be raised and trained by the sea god Triton. Her training consisted mostly of sparring and battlefield tactics, but she did develop a close relationship with his daughter, Pallas.

As their training progressed, it became clear that Pallas and Athena were by far the most talented of all Triton's students. Day in and day out the would spar and train together. As the din of their fights rose and their swords clashed, one could hardly tell them apart. When eventually one girl would best the other, there was no resentment or animosity. Instead it only seemed to draw them closer, those long days under the hot Lybian sun.

Soon the day of an athletics festival drew near. There would be games, music, and of course plenty of feasting. But the highlight of the event was a mock battle between the best of the best. The night before the festival, Athena and Pallas were selected for the fight. The girls could barely contain their excitement that night, as they anticipated the fight. Neither seemed to have the upper hand, and both friends knew that it would be the hardest match they had fought.

The sun blazed high in the sky as the girls circled one another. Armed with only spears and, this was to be a round of agility and dexterity. The goal was to disarm your opponent, not to kill them. Besides, what reason would Pallas have to kill Athena, or Athena slay Pallas? After the first few lunges, Athena gained a slight advantage. She had managed to knock Pallas off balance, and as a result her friend was only able to hang on to her spear, not attempt any attacks. The gathered crowed cheered and roared, for it seemed that the goddess would be able to disarm her opponent momentarily. Bringing back her arm, Athena raised herself up for a blow to shatter Pallas' spear. But, the fates had spun a different thread. Pallas lunged forward, and knocked Athena prone. In a flash, the roles were reversed. Pallas stood over her friend, and faced out to the crowd

Among the hoard was the king of the gods himself, Zeus. Coming to take part in the festival, he was watching his daughter's match. However, upon seeing his daughter lying vulnerable in the dirt, Zeus feared for her. He feared for her health, yes, but more importantly for her pride. It would not do, he reasoned, for her to join the Olympians after loosing to a no name. He pulled out aegis, his shield. Once polished to a mirrored finish, it was given to a hero, who slayed the medusa with it. Now the gorgon's head graced the shield, the monster's face was as terrible as that day . Pallas' eyes were drawn to it and she froze in awe and terror..

To Athena, this looked like a moment's hesitation. Acting on instinct, she drive her spear at Pallas' chest. Expecting her friend to dodge, she thought nothing of it. After all, hadn't they practiced this hundreds of times? But, Pallas did not move. She did not dodge, did not duck, did not jump. The spear buried itself in her chest and only then did she move, collapsing to the ground.

Athena gathered her friend in her arms. She felt her eyes brimming with tears and her mind clouding with regret as the red stain on Pallas' shirt grew. Both knew that a hit there was fatal. And so Athena wept and clutched her friend, a victor.

Later Athena washed the blood from her trembling body. Later a funeral was held. Later Athena ascended to the ranks of the Olympians. But she never forgot the missing friend by her side, and took her name to honor the life she had cut short.

@GrecianUrn I'm not crying I'm just sweating from my eYES