Greek myths

[tigriswolf]

Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus was the greatest musician in the world; when he played the lyre(ancient Greece's version of the guitar) and sang, trees would pull out their roots and follow him, dancing.  

Orpheus was engaged to Eurydice, the love of his life.  They got married and at the reception(which was outside in a field), she fell into a nest of venomous snakes and died.

Orpheus was desolate and determined to enter the Underworld and get her back.  He found the entrance and played for Charon, the Boatman, so that Charon ferried him across the River Styx.  He played for Cerberus, the three-headed guarddog of the Underworld.  FInally, he played for Hades and Persephone, god and goddess of the dead.  Orpheus played so well that Hades, the cold King of the Underworld, broke down and wept.

Because Orpheus had moved them so, Hades offered him a boon; Orpheus requested that his wife be given back to him.

Raising the dead in ancient Greece was a big deal, and not allowed.  One time, after the mortal son of Apollo had managed it, Zeus struck him down on the spot.

But Persephone convinced Hades to do so.  So Hades told Orpheus to walk back to the surface without looking back once, and Eurydice would follow him.  But if he looked back, to make sure, she would stay in the Underworld.

Orpheus  went back the way he'd come, but he couldn't hear Eurydice's footstep behind him, or her breath.  One step away from the sunshine, Orpheus figured he was close enough and looked back: there was his wife, looking beautiful--then she vanished.

Orpheus wandered the world alone until he died.

Hades and Persephone

Hades was the god of the dead, lonely and cold.  Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest and the domesticated side of nature.

One day, Hades saw Persephone picking flowers and fell in lust; he kidnapped her, dragging her back to the Underworld.  She wanted nothing to do with him, and sat in the corner, not eating or drinking, not talking.

On the surface, Demeter realized her daughter was missing and learned of her whereabouts.  She refused to do her duties until Persephone came back.  The earth began to die.

Zeus agreed to talk to Hades, who said that if Persephone hadn't eaten a single thing, he'd give her up without a fight.  But, she'd taken one bite of a pomengranat fruit.  Zeus decreed that she must spend half the year in the Underworld and half with Demeter on Earth.

(No one asked Persephone what she wanted, of course.)

So.  Those're the myths.  Yes, I'm about a thousand words into the Orpheus and Eurydice retelling.  Wincest?  Happy ending?  Haven't decided yet.

Comments

[vichan.livejournal.com]

ZOMG. I am SO excited about this - I'm a mythology freak (I have three copies of Bulfinch's Mythology and two copies of Hamilton's Mythology), and Eurydice and Orpheus is still one of my favorites.

And then Persephone and Hades was one of the first mythological stories I ever read. And we're coming up on the time of year where Persephone's coming out onto the Earth again... XD

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

I've loved Greek mythology from an early age, and this is one the classics. Can't wait for your retelling!

[tigriswolf]

*glee*

[tigriswolf]

Me, too! I love Greek mythology. So far this semester, I've only been told one story I hadn't heard before, and that was an Asian tale.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

For what's it's worth, I've read ENOUGH unhappy SPN versions of that particular myth. A happy one would be a nice change. :(

And there's no point to it if there's no wincest! *gasps*

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Oh, which one?

[tigriswolf]

Really? Where're all the myth retellings?

[tigriswolf]

The earliest version of Adonis, I think.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I don't remember all of what I've read (combination bad memory and just reading a WHOLE LOTTA porn), but here's some that are very good:

For the Orpheus/Eurydice myth:
http://wanttobeatree.livejournal.com/453499.html
angsty


And for the Hades/Persephone myth, sort of:
http://vaingirlfic.livejournal.com/32303.html?style=mine


I know I've read several others, but either didn't save them or don't have them marked in such a way as to jog the ole memory. *shuffles feet*

There's a number of "deal" or "deal-breaking" fics in there. Getting them in order is a constant work in progress, so if I find any more along these themes I'll pass them to you.

[emeriin.livejournal.com]

I'm usually an angst fiend but I do kind of want a sweet/happy ending for this fic you're doing. Let's face it, in this fandom there's so much angst that if you don't get a happy every once in a while, you would have to remove all sharp objects from your house.

[tigriswolf]

This is true.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

If you want to see Battlestar Galactica, it's been recently brought to my attention by OC_Pixie that it's incredibly easy to get caught up. Literally *every* episode is available at www.surfthechannel.com !

All you need to know about the ones that the site's labelled "Season 0" (meaning that they're not properly part of a season) is that the 2003 Miniseries comes before Season 1, the movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor is set between the Season 2 episodes The Captain's Hand and Downloaded, and the 10 The Resistance webisodes come between the end of Season 2 (Lay Down Your Burdens) and the beginning of Season 3 (Occupation). The Miniseries is the best thing to watch first, as it kicks off the series.

The first episode of Season 4, He That Believeth In Me, premiered last Friday, and it was awesome! The preview for Six of One promises even more awesomeness!

And this is actually not completely off-topic with an entry about Greek mythology.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that finally got through, I've been having trouble with livejournal. I had to retype that comment from memory.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for the information.

[tigriswolf]

I generally copy long comments, just in case.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do sometimes. I did that with the second version, which didn't successfully go through several times. But with the first it was unexpected.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

That was hyper-polite.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

P.S. The Miniseries has been put up twice. The second has better quality.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Do you know the titles of the four remaining S3 episodes?

[tigriswolf]

Nope.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Ghostfacers, Long-Distance Caller, Time Is On My Side, and No Quarter. Ghostfacers has a reality show format.

I hope you check out BSG on surfthechannel.com between Supernatural eps, but I obviously don't mean to badger. I recommend it cause it's really, really good.