Five Seconds of Shameless Self-Promotion

I wrote a hymn to Apollon a while ago. Some of you have read it, but for those who haven’t, it is in the current issue of Eternal Haunted Summer. It’s called “Mississippi Apollo.”

There is also a really powerful short-short called “The Conception of Ares” by Laria. In fact, it is chillingly good. You should read it after you click on “Mississippi Apollo.”

Snippets from THE LIFE OF APOLLONIUS OF TYANA

The Life of Apollonius of Tyana begins with Pythagoras, mostly because Apollonius began in the tradition Pythagoras started. While many of you know that I didn’t enjoy reading the introduction of my biased translation of Philostratus’s Life, the narrative is working out well thus far. However, I would like to take a break from my reading to highlight some passages that I find particularly interesting.

Firstly, at the beginning of Book I, Philostratus explains some aspects of Pythagorean practice that many of us are familiar with:

They say that he [Pythagoras] declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood; nay, rather the honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise, these they say were the offerings made to the Gods by this man, who realized that they welcome such tribute more than they do the hecatombs and the knife laid upon the sacrificial basket.

Descriptions of sacrifice in ancient texts make me happy. I enjoy going over them in my head and imagining the motions of laying the honey-cakes on the sacrificial altar to be burned in fire. I love envisioning the smell of fresh frankincense resin, and I delight in imagining the sung poetry of ancient choruses.

Much later in the narrative, Apollonius and his disciple, Damis, are in Babylon. While walking into the palace, they have the following conversation:

“You asked me yesterday what was the name of the Pamphylian woman who is said to have been intimate with Sappho, and to have composed hymns which they sing in honor of Artemis of Perga, in the Aeolian and Pamphylian modes.”
“Yes, I did ask you,” said Damis, “but you did not tell me her name.”
“I did not tell you it, my good fellow, but I explained to you about the keys in which the hymns are written, and I told you about the names; and how the Aeolian strains were altered into the highest key of all, that which is peculiar to the Pamphylians. After that we turned to another subject, for you did not ask me again about the name of the lady. Well, she is called—this clever lady is—Damophyle, and she is said, like Sappho, to have had girlfriends and to have composed poems, some of which were love songs and other hymns. The particular hymn to Artemis was transposed by her, and the singing of it derives from Sapphic odes.”

To keep my self mentally sharp, I am currently reading something called Sapphistries by Leila J. Rupp, and I had just passed the section on women’s love in Ancient Greece. Initially, this passage caught my attention for the references to female same-sex love. However, as I started thinking about why I felt so responsive to the text, I realized something: I enjoy finding traces of named women in antiquity. We have so few texts from women—a consequence of the fragile papyrus medium and Christian selection of “acceptable” texts—that any mention of women composing hymns or love poetry is welcome to me. It proves that women did write and did engage in cultural discourse that impacted more than just the women’s quarters of a household.

Can't the Kyklopes Just Make More Lightning?

The first book of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Lightning Thief, has been made into a movie. Otherwise, this story would doubtless have fallen under my radar. There are so many stories written about the Gods that, if one were to stack them, they could form a magical stairway to either Mount Olympos. Fortunately for Rick Riordan (or unfortunately, as the case may be), the achievements of his series have earned the notice of a substantial number of bona fide Hellenic Polytheists, who have been talking about the book series constantly.

I read the entire first book this afternoon. Before I continue, I would first like to say that I found it immensely enjoyable—better than Harry Potter, at least from my trauma-stained memory of an attempt at the final book—and will probably continue reading the delightful storyline.

Of course, you know what comes next. That’s the thing, right? “It was good, but ...” and its variations are standard expressions in English. The Lightning Thief awakens fears in me that the greater public will consider those of us who worship the Gods as more deluded than previously, thinking that modern-day polytheists believe ourselves to be the divine progeny of the Gods. It could attract scores of teenagers to Hellenism—the sort who once flocked to the idea of Otherkin—and create a breed of Hellenic fluffbunny hitherto unknown to the world. Furthermore, how can we know that Rick Riordan actually knows what he’s talking about? What if he has a shoddy interpretation of the myths? Could he corrupt the public’s understanding of Hellenic Mythology more than Disney?

That was before reading the book. Now, some things have changed. The book has made me feel easier in some ways, but in other ways it is far worse than I imagined. Let’s start with the bad.

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“Upstate New York,” the Weather, and Other Geographic Concerns

Google Analytics doesn’t lie (at least, not as much as it could). Some of you who read this blog are from other countries, or possibly from other areas of the United States. I feel it is my duty to enlighten you about some falsehoods perpetuated by NYC residents.

You are told about this “Upstate New York” in many books and television shows. Frequently, as in a recent reality show about a farm, someone in the family actually works in NYC proper. While some people in the Hudson River Valley, which stretches from Albany from NYC, may disagree, this needs to be said: If you can board a train or drive to NYC without overnighting (unless, of course, you dislike sleeping), YOU ARE NOT IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. I don’t know who wrote this Wikipedia entry, but I tend to agree:

Particularly within Upstate New York, the definition of the word "upstate" is often much further north. For instance, many communities clearly beyond the New York City commuter orbit are part of New York City's media market, which includes Dutchess, Ulster and Sullivan counties, and thus do not get local television (via cable) from Albany or Binghamton TV stations. Many upstate residents note that the state capital of Albany, being mostly dominated by New York City-area politicians, has more in common with downstate than upstate, and imply that everything in between, including the Hudson Valley region and occasionally the Catskill Mountains, can be considered downstate; for example, Buffalo News columnist Donn Esmonde (in defending Caroline Kennedy's abortive Senate run) criticized Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's upstate credentials by saying "In the end... [w]e get a [so-called] 'upstate' senator whose Hudson Valley base is equidistant from New York City and Albany, the state’s power centers."[1] [source]

Therefore, most times you hear of someone being in Upstate NY, they are really lying, especially if they don’t capitalize the “upstate” of Upstate New York.

If Percy Jackson were really in Upstate New York, “massive snow storms” all across New York after Christmas would not signify any super special plot developments. I live in the Finger Lakes, in the real Upstate NY. In the winter, it’s a snow globe. In the summer, unless you live in the lowlands by the lakes, it is blissfully cool. It is the one thing that keeps me smiling as my skin cracks and bleeds from the frigid air.

Percy Jackson also mentions a hurricane. If you have looked at the geography of New York, there is only one section of the state that’s even remotely near a coast. I wonder which part of the state that is.

The Eumenides

Score one for Mr. Riordan. You called the Eumenides the “Kindly Ones” everywhere. Of course, you also demoted them to monsters.

As someone who is currently researching the cultus paid to the Eumenides, many aspects of their portrayal are not accurate to the myths or the cult. The Erinyes specialize in tormenting people who have murdered parents or siblings. Think Orestes. According to Theoi.com,

The Erinyes [are] three netherworld goddesses who [avenge] crimes against the natural order. They [are] particularly concerned with homicide, unfilial conduct, crimes against the gods, and perjury. A victim seeking justice [can] call down the curse of the Erinys upon the criminal. The most powerful of these was the curse of the parent upon the child--for the Erinyes were born of just such a crime, being sprung from the blood of Ouranos, when he was castrated by his son Kronos.

The wrath of the Erinyes [manifests] itself in a number of ways. The most severe of these [is] the tormenting madness inflicted upon a patricide or matricide. Murderers might suffer illness or disease; and a nation harbouring such a criminal, could suffer dearth, and with it hunger and disease. The wrath of the Erinyes [can] only be placated with the rite ritual purification and the completion of some task assigned for atonement. [source]

In the book, the Erinyes spend most of their time chasing Percy and friends around on behalf of Hades. I am not sure that they would be open to it unless they had nothing better to do. (Unfortunately, there are always matricides and patricides to deal with.) There is, of course, one thing that the Erinyes could have a problem with in The Lightning Thief, done once by Zeus and again by Poseidon. However, the purifications for breaking an oath of the Styx (which Riordan probably forgot to avoid narrative complications) are dire enough that, again, the Erinyes wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I am holding myself back to avoid spoilers.

Does He Really Mean to Imply Hades Sired Hitler?!

Yes. WTF indeed.

Zeus, God of Strangers

Zeus is the God of Hospitality. That the cabin for Hermes’s kids would take on all of the ones who don’t know who their parents are is absurd, especially since there are too many of them.

Athene’s Daughter

This is an iffy thing. I don’t exactly have a problem, except Athene is supposed to be one of the three eternally virginal goddesses. She has a daughter in this book.

Of course, Annabeth’s father could have just ejaculated on Athene’s thigh.

Heroism 2.0

Now we turn to the good thing about this book that prove it’s not just a feel-good text designed for younger readers. This is what started warming me to the text and the characters: in Camp Half-Blood, regardless of the silly name used for heroes, people actually do proper acts of piety for the Gods. They offer sips of drink, and everyone has to give part of their meal to the Gods via communal fire. People sing hymns to the Gods around the campfires. It is really lovely.

Heroism isn’t just about the ability to fight well or be clever. Heroism is about virtue. Virtue is not only about courage and wisdom, but about piety. The bad guys are impious.

If The Lightning Thief will attract some young minds to an awareness of the Gods, at least they have a proper model for virtue. Everything comes right out of Solon or the Delphic Maxims. Perhaps someone can trick them into picking up Plato’s Symposium or the fragments of Empedocles ...

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I also liked some miscellany that didn’t deserve classification. At one point in the story, Percy Jackson comments that “anybody might be a monster or god,” which is something that was very important to how ancient Hellenic Polytheists viewed the world around them. Some modern polytheists also see the Gods around them. This idea has important implications for traditional Hellenic values such as hospitality.

Hopefully, the movie will reflect the good things about this story.

I don’t recall having reviewed any fiction books on KALLISTI before, so I will draw up a new rating guide.

Story - 5/5
Mythological Plausibility - 3/5
Writing - 4.5/5

Overall Impression - 4/5

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a quotation from lines 1003-1009ish of The Lightning Thief. It’s in the chapter entitled I PLAY PINOCHLE WITH A HORSE. Enjoy.

And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not—and believe me, plenty of people weren’t very fond of Rome, either—America is now the heart of the flame.

Some thoughts on the introduction to THE LIFE OF APOLLONIUS OF TYANA

In the early part of the 1900s, the same year that the Titanic found its watery grave, a man named F.C. Conybeare decided to translate Philostratus’s The Life of Apollonius of Tyana. I found this book quite recently, deciding that I needed some clarification about Apollonius’s life. (Most modern editions are too expensive for my budget, and Kindle editions are teh cheapz—cheap enough for a bibliophile to justify buying a Kindle.) After reading the introduction and part of the first section, I would like to provide a warning to others who may want to read this book that caution is advised, as the writer, F.C. Conybeare, is a rather ostentatious Christian.

F.C. Conybeare slaps the Christianity on the table hard, and the Christian bias in his introduction screams like a demon-possessed baby on a sugar high. Oh? You want an example? How about this:

Towards the end of the third century when the struggle between Christianity and decadent Paganism had reached its last and bitterest stage, it occurred to some of the enemies of the new religion [Christianity] to set up Apollonius, to whom temples and shrines had been erected in various parts of Asia Minor, as a rival to the founder of Christianity. The many miracles which were recorded of Apollonius, and in particular his eminent power over evil spirits or demons, made  him a formidable rival in the minds of Pagans to Jesus Christ. (Lines 105-11)*

The translator’s pride forces him to assume that any polytheistic development following the birth of Jesus Christ was made as a conscious reaction to Christianity. His point of view is that of the insecure teenager who views everyone else’s behavior as a reaction to his or her own—every glance, every whispered word. The modern eye views antiquity differently from people living back then; we can point to the parallelisms between polytheistic and monotheistic figures. Kindle books are searchable, and I can’t find one location where Philostratus mentions Jesus, the Nazarene, Christ, the Galileans, or Christianity. There is some discussion of the Jewish people, but I am not sure of the context.

He continues by pointing out that Apollonius’s tour throughout the sacred temenoi “prepared the ground for Christianity” because he pointed out the flaw of blood sacrifice in the everyday cults. (Apparently, this would have made people susceptible to believing Christians?) According to Conybeare, the “neo-Pythagorean propaganda did much to discredit ancient paganism, and Apollonius and its other missionaries were all unwittingly working for that ideal of bloodless sacrifice which, after the destruction of the Jewish temple, by an inexorable logic imposed itself on the Christian church” (lines 125-32). I think that Conybeare’s pompous attitude and unquestionable religious fervor is difficult to stomach. It diminishes his credibility as a scholar, and I am very happy that this man is no longer in a position to comment on any text.

The translation itself uses nice language so far, even if the English is a century old. Academic English doesn’t change much across generations, I find—except, of course, the length of phrases and number of dependent clauses that are allowed before we think the writer is a long-winded ass. As far as bias goes, I think we all can tell where Conybeare is coming from. This can go in one of two ways: either Conybeare will accentuate the “decadent Paganism” of Apollonius using word nuances, or he will use vocabulary to make the reader agree that Apollonius’s greatness is simply a reaction to Christianity—perhaps both.

This is the first paragraph of Conybeare’s text:

The votaries of Pythagoras of Samos have this story to tell of him, that he was not an Ionian at all, but that, once on a time in Troy, he had been Euphorbus, and that he had come to life after death, but had died as the songs of Homer relate. And they say that he declined to wear apparel made from dead animal products and, to guard his purity, abstained from all flesh diet, and from the offering of animals in sacrifice. For that he would not stain the altars with blood; nay, rather the honey-cake and frankincense and the hymn of praise, these they say were the offerings made to the Gods by this man, who realized that they welcome such tribute more than they do the hecatombs and the knife laid upon the sacrificial basket. (Book I, Paragraph 1)

As you see, it doesn’t look that bad. Perhaps translators with obvious biases against polytheism are easier to handle than some modern texts—the ones where the deeply religious writers keep Christian religion out of their commentaries but still use it to create their translations. In all cases, research into the writer perhaps should be done to determine whether they are unbiased or not.

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* Due to having this book in Kindle edition, you must be lenient with me. Kindle measures books by static line numbers that may or may not correspond to the actual number of lines the viewer sees, as one can change the text size. I think this is kind of cool, but it’s a shame that E-Readers can’t pinpoint the text copy’s equivalent page.

Blog Updates for the New (Gregorian) Year

Congratulations.

We are roughly halfway through the Athenian year, and at the beginning of a new year (2010) in the Gregorian Calendar. In this midpoint of the 1st year of the 697th Olympiad (the 2785th year after the Olympic games were restarted), I would like to point out the blog goals created last year at roughly the same time. You can view them here or in the sidebar to the left. A selection is reprinted below for the convenience of those using feed readers:

KALLISTI was created to serve modern Hellenists’ needs (especially those in the English-speaking world) by providing anecdotes of personal practice, communicating about various theological/moral/philosophical beliefs of both the author and others, linking to valuable and/or interesting media sources, and sharing resources about Hellenic Polytheisms with the general community, from the perspective of a young woman who worships the Theoi.

From the first post on Hellenic Polytheism, KALLISTI has existed since April 2008. When it started, there was very little content available on the blogosphere from the perspective of someone in Hellenic religion. Now, we have a lot of great content written by everyone from strict adherents of reconstructionist methodologies to revivalists—proof of the rich and vibrant diversity within the modern community of Hellenistai. Our combined voices are raising awareness of the modern manifestation of traditional Hellenic religion in the English-speaking community.

I have some great content planned for 2009.

Firstly, we have several great movies that deal with the history of Greek religion or Greek mythology: Agora, The Lightning Thief, and a remake of Clash of the Titans. I plan to review all of them as close to their opening dates as possible. In addition, I have plans to do a live blog of my reactions to the physical book The Lightning Thief to figure out whether my fears about this movie are justified or not. It looks like Harry Potter with Greek Gods meets teen superhero action adventure, so hopefully the writing isn’t as bad as J.K. Rowling’s.

With my new tech gadget (a Kindle), I have been using ebook conversion software to locate and download a lot of translated material from Many Books, the Internet Archive, and the Gutenberg Project. Look forward to a lot of commentaries. I will continue to investigate Greek and Roman women writers for information and pray that someone uncovers a giant library of codices on everything I want to read.

Here’s to great blog conversations and to increased camaraderie in the coming year!