All Greek main gods except Hades are kinda problematic
Which is the greatest problem I have with the Hercules movie. Although Movie Hades is indeed wonderful
His most redeeming quality was that he did his job, even though just about everyone bullied him for it. I generally don't agree, Aphrodite's boy toy is by no means good, but by Greek main Gods standard, he would be decent. If we overlooked the whole "Aphrodite is married to Hephaistos" problem.
Hades had his problems *cough* Persephone *cough* but yeah, for the most part, and definitely when compared to the other Olympians, he was mostly just a chill dude wanting to just do his job and be left alone
In that very myth the blame is specifically shifted to Zeus as commanding it to happen. It's pretty much an arranged marriage. And by all accounts Hades and Persephone are the most healthy relationship in the mythos by far.
Yeah, it went more or less like this:
Zeus commands Hades to kidnap persephone so they can wed, Hades does it in a chariot, Demeter gets really sad and refuses to let stuff grow while Persephone is gone, causing an eternal winter, other gods catch wind of this, including Hades, who then lets Persephone go up while promising her his kingdom as his wife, and to be the best husband he can to her while she's down in the underworld with him (in some versions of the myth, he gives her some pomegranate seeds or smth which forces her to come back iirc), and then Persephone goes back to Demeter, spring happens, and a cycle starts of Persephone going back and forth between ruling the underworld with Hades and going to visit mum so she doesn't kill everything out of loneliness.
The two bad things Hades does in this myth (one of which isn't present in the myth half the time, and the other isn't even his idea) are so tame they could be seen as neutral compared with the stuff the other gods do. And Hades and Persephone are the only couple in the greek myths that have no issues pop up, like, ever.
Hades and Persephone have no problems because the amount of myths about Hades is close to none (and when he appears it's usually not for long like in Orpheus and Eurydice). This is mostly because the ancient greeks feared Hades just like how some people fear death.
Honestly, If you go further, Mycanean Greek doesn't have a Hades, many theories go that is a split up part of old Poseidon, God of the sea and Underworld.
Which would explain his absence in the later myths, as they had no existing myths about him and people feared Death, so they wouldn't create new myths for him.
Persephone has one of her epitaph from back then, "Dread Persephone". Sounds very much not "Fertility Goddes"
Yeah. Essentially, Demeter is the fertility bit in the myth. Persephone likely was the Underworld queen before the darkage after the fall of Crete and the Myceneans. Hades almost fits as a "Whelp, we couldn't have our Death Goddess single and lonely. Let's giver her a husband."
She had been related to the God of Death in Myceneans as well, Being Poseidons daughter and married to "Wanax" which could have been another name for Poseidon, similiar to how her name was Despoina.
Iirc people say that's made up but that story is where she gives up her seat for Dionysus to avoid a civil war? Don't know the reason but she doesn't have any desire for power and just wants to take care of the hearth and chill
Didn't Hades abduct Persephone from a field and bring her to the underworld to be his wife, which resulted in her mom (Demeter) stopping the crops from growing and making a famine?
In that very myth the blame is specifically shifted to Zeus as commanding it to happen. It's pretty much an arranged marriage. And by all accounts Hades and Persephone are the most healthy relationship in the mythos by far.
that wouldn't be a problem if:
-they discus, many of Zeus kids have to deal with hera wrath because they aren't an open coupple.
-if hera wasn't the god of mariages and family
There's no single version of most myths. "Greek Mythology" is a weird amalgam of like a dozen or more different traditions/cults/religions/folklores that got popular to treat as a single monolith.
While this is true, this was only added to the mythology several years later, and the guy who wrote that origin really hated the current emperors. The earliest recordings of Greek mythology we have suggest that Medusa was originally just a gorgon who had nothing to do with Poseidon or Athena.
And if I remember right, Medusa got pregnant from Poseidon but her child didn't get born until Perseus chopped her head off and Pegasus jumped out the neck stump.
Yeah and the fact that Hercules was Hera's child, and that she adored him.... (when in fact she tricked him into murdering his own family, thus the "12 Labors")
Actually, Zeus loved his children. He tried to save them from Hera's wrath. He just wasn't a great husband.
I.e Heracles...Hera made him kill his own wife and children...Zeus loved him
Or even Athena (although she came from his forehead)
I think the Minotaur is an exception though or was that not Zeus's kid? Or maybe Zeus did love him too, idk I forgot. It's been too long
I think one of the most ridiculous descriptions for Zeus was in Animal Crossing New Horizons where Celeste describes him as 'the God with boundary issues.'
Why not? Just because we organise our families differently nowadays doesn’t mean it wasn’t possible any other way and polygamy isn’t considered acceptable today but some people made it work.
Meanwhile in Actual Greek Mythology.
Zeus: Whelp I’m horny again, time to go ruin someone’s life. Now should I rape her as a bull or a hawk? You know what I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
Do you want to get raped by a swan? - Because posts like this are how you get raped by a swan.
I mean maybe what's it to you
Damn those fantasies of yours run wild
You will be my squire on this quest of yore
Or a bull. He does the bull too.
Didn't he do the goat, too? Or was that just an SNL skit?
The goat was Loki... Specifically consensually getting his balls pulled by one.
And golden rain that one time
🤣😂🤣😂
It’s not rape if I like it.
In all fairness, many of the gods weren’t really monogamous, they be fucking people left and right.
All Greek main gods except Hades are kinda problematic Which is the greatest problem I have with the Hercules movie. Although Movie Hades is indeed wonderful
ares was actually pretty cool too. the percy jackson series gave him a horrible reputation.
Ares? Really? Why do you say so? He was a brutal warrior in general I don't think he had any redeeming quality in the myths
His most redeeming quality was that he did his job, even though just about everyone bullied him for it. I generally don't agree, Aphrodite's boy toy is by no means good, but by Greek main Gods standard, he would be decent. If we overlooked the whole "Aphrodite is married to Hephaistos" problem.
Well, compared to Zeus most certainly he would be decent at least.
You know you are an absolute shithead when the personification of the brutality of War looks decent next to you.
ares was also known as the protector of women. he was one of the rare gods that thought physically and sexually abusing women was bad.
Hades had his problems *cough* Persephone *cough* but yeah, for the most part, and definitely when compared to the other Olympians, he was mostly just a chill dude wanting to just do his job and be left alone
In that very myth the blame is specifically shifted to Zeus as commanding it to happen. It's pretty much an arranged marriage. And by all accounts Hades and Persephone are the most healthy relationship in the mythos by far.
Did Hades like steal her away in a chariot though? Correct me if I’m wrong, it’s been quite a few minutes since I’ve actually read the myth
Yeah, it went more or less like this: Zeus commands Hades to kidnap persephone so they can wed, Hades does it in a chariot, Demeter gets really sad and refuses to let stuff grow while Persephone is gone, causing an eternal winter, other gods catch wind of this, including Hades, who then lets Persephone go up while promising her his kingdom as his wife, and to be the best husband he can to her while she's down in the underworld with him (in some versions of the myth, he gives her some pomegranate seeds or smth which forces her to come back iirc), and then Persephone goes back to Demeter, spring happens, and a cycle starts of Persephone going back and forth between ruling the underworld with Hades and going to visit mum so she doesn't kill everything out of loneliness. The two bad things Hades does in this myth (one of which isn't present in the myth half the time, and the other isn't even his idea) are so tame they could be seen as neutral compared with the stuff the other gods do. And Hades and Persephone are the only couple in the greek myths that have no issues pop up, like, ever.
Hades and Persephone have no problems because the amount of myths about Hades is close to none (and when he appears it's usually not for long like in Orpheus and Eurydice). This is mostly because the ancient greeks feared Hades just like how some people fear death.
Honestly, If you go further, Mycanean Greek doesn't have a Hades, many theories go that is a split up part of old Poseidon, God of the sea and Underworld. Which would explain his absence in the later myths, as they had no existing myths about him and people feared Death, so they wouldn't create new myths for him. Persephone has one of her epitaph from back then, "Dread Persephone". Sounds very much not "Fertility Goddes"
Yeah. Essentially, Demeter is the fertility bit in the myth. Persephone likely was the Underworld queen before the darkage after the fall of Crete and the Myceneans. Hades almost fits as a "Whelp, we couldn't have our Death Goddess single and lonely. Let's giver her a husband."
She had been related to the God of Death in Myceneans as well, Being Poseidons daughter and married to "Wanax" which could have been another name for Poseidon, similiar to how her name was Despoina.
Likely true, still the case though.
the problem with Hades and Persephone was Demeter. One would call her the mother-in-law from hell she wouldn't let go of her daughter.
This is true. Although I will confess Demeter is among the mythological figures I’ve studied the least
Hestia was chill tho, everyone loved her
Didn't she get replaced by Mister "drunken Chaos" Dionysos as one of the 12 great ones?
Iirc people say that's made up but that story is where she gives up her seat for Dionysus to avoid a civil war? Don't know the reason but she doesn't have any desire for power and just wants to take care of the hearth and chill
We cancelling the Greek gods now 😤
Honestly, didn't Greeks already do that when going to Christianity?
Didn't Hades abduct Persephone from a field and bring her to the underworld to be his wife, which resulted in her mom (Demeter) stopping the crops from growing and making a famine?
In that very myth the blame is specifically shifted to Zeus as commanding it to happen. It's pretty much an arranged marriage. And by all accounts Hades and Persephone are the most healthy relationship in the mythos by far.
I mean, how can you be forever loyal if you are immortal
Be hades.
Well hades is the only one who didn't let his horny urges control him unlike the other gods of the pantheon
Be Artemis
Artemis is wasting her entire life for one thing, hunting
I mean, fair point.
that wouldn't be a problem if: -they discus, many of Zeus kids have to deal with hera wrath because they aren't an open coupple. -if hera wasn't the god of mariages and family
Didnt he fuck a woman which later became Medusa because of it?
That one was Poseidon I believe. And Athena blessed/cursed her so she wouldn't get raped again
You are correct
Athena cursed her out of anger, it wasn’t so she wouldn’t get raped again, poseidon would have fucked medusa no problem, but athena was pissed.
There are just as many interpretations as the Gods have epitaphs. Remember, Greek Gods are also only human
It's why mythical non-main gods can be killed or hurt in some stories and they appear in another set later just fine
There's no single version of most myths. "Greek Mythology" is a weird amalgam of like a dozen or more different traditions/cults/religions/folklores that got popular to treat as a single monolith.
This is exactly why I don’t get Athena being adopted as a new age religion/feminist icon
While this is true, this was only added to the mythology several years later, and the guy who wrote that origin really hated the current emperors. The earliest recordings of Greek mythology we have suggest that Medusa was originally just a gorgon who had nothing to do with Poseidon or Athena.
Turning people into snake stone ladies in exile seems like the natural progression of "but what were you wearing?"
And if I remember right, Medusa got pregnant from Poseidon but her child didn't get born until Perseus chopped her head off and Pegasus jumped out the neck stump.
Yeah and the fact that Hercules was Hera's child, and that she adored him.... (when in fact she tricked him into murdering his own family, thus the "12 Labors")
Real.
At least everyone had the correct appearance.
Actually, Zeus loved his children. He tried to save them from Hera's wrath. He just wasn't a great husband. I.e Heracles...Hera made him kill his own wife and children...Zeus loved him Or even Athena (although she came from his forehead) I think the Minotaur is an exception though or was that not Zeus's kid? Or maybe Zeus did love him too, idk I forgot. It's been too long
Minotaur was kid of queen of Crete and sacred bull.. Her husband was Zeus' son
They left hints in those eyes that man be smashin across species
So Hades wasn’t a condescending prick. Now that I think of it looking back, Zeus was a douche bag. 😂
Ironicly, our bad guy Hades was the only god that was faithfull to his wife, Persefona
Well he was, but in other ways...
Also zeus be the Nice guy and hades an asshole
No, it's Hera loving Heracles
Most Greek gods are pieces of shit I just happen to hate Zeus the most.
And Hades as a devil. He is one of the most Just gods of any pantheon I know. He does not care if you worship him. Everybody gets what they deserve.
Lol
What's even funnier... Hercules is the Roman name whereas Heracles is the Greek. lol.
I was going to agree. But then I remembered all the unrealistic crap in the Disney Star Wars movies.
And Hera as not psycho evil. Really, the whole pantheon as getting along
How about when hera curses him to murder his family and he sells himself into slavery to attone?
I can imagine him with a clear " WTF is that name? Hercules?WTF?!"
This is the 100 millionth time i've seen this post. I KNOW. I know. I got it. I get the concept.
*Laughs in knowledge*
It's hard to be loving to every one of your 390 families
I think one of the most ridiculous descriptions for Zeus was in Animal Crossing New Horizons where Celeste describes him as 'the God with boundary issues.'
Why not? Just because we organise our families differently nowadays doesn’t mean it wasn’t possible any other way and polygamy isn’t considered acceptable today but some people made it work.
Meanwhile in Actual Greek Mythology. Zeus: Whelp I’m horny again, time to go ruin someone’s life. Now should I rape her as a bull or a hawk? You know what I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
Right? Zeus was such a sexual deviant he could have been a presidential candidate!
Theres a Show on Prime about greek mythologie and 95% of the Episodes start with Zeus was in love and fucked someone
I would argue that The Lion King is worse, ever wonder that Nala is Simbas sister or half-sister? All those female lionesses under Mufasa etc...
True. He was a narsasisistic rapist. Take the beard off, and throw on some bleach blonde hair, and who do you have?