The God Pan

Because today is the Spring equinox and because Easter is coming (both being related), I thought I would share a picture that I associate with either. I took it from a book we have at my parents' home, a book on Greek mythology. I always associate Greek myths with Easter and spring. Might be my Pagan side. Anyway, you can see here the god Pan, surrounded by nymphs. He is not my favourite Greek god, but Pan is associated with fertility and spring, so he is just perfect for today.

Aquila on Greek Mythology

 Every month, Wolfie receives Aquila Magazine. That's one of the reasons why why I say he recceives the best mail.And this was no exception this month: the theme for the May issue is Greek myths. With a very cool (if a bit cartoony) picture of the Minotaur on its front cover. I love Greek mythology, I always have, I gathered or was gifted many books about it over the years. Now I hope to enjoy it with my son and make him discover it.

Labyrinth (the beer)

I try as much as I can to drink products from Rebellion Beer, as it is one of the closest mocrobreweries I have from home and because they brew some really nice ales. And I didn't want to end January without trying their beer of the month. It's called Labyrinth and it is inspired by Greek mythology, like every beer of the month in 2025. I guess I will have to buy one every month. Anyway, Labyrinth is the kind of dark, flaboursome ale I enjoy and has a cool Minotaur on its label.

Medusa in a Zoom meeting

You may know that I love all things regarding Greek mythology and that Medusais by far my favourite Greek monster. So when I saw this meme, it really made me laugh. I thought I could share it today to brighten up your Monday. Although, I must say, from a pure geeky point of you, I don't think this is accurate at all: Medusa's reflection is harmless, in fact this is how Perseus kills her, using the back of his shield as a mirror to find her and chop her head off. But anyway, what do you think about it? Worth the risk?

Greek Mythology for Easter

 Looking for something to read this Easter? How about some Greek myths? I don't know why, but I often associate Easter with Greek mythology. Maybe because of the true Pagan origins of the celebration and its imagery, maybe because I find Springtime celebrations more fitting a Meditterranean setting. Be that as it may, I have started this book from Roger Lancelyn Green. I bought it for Wolfie, but truly it is for me. And it has a great Medusa on its cover. I know all the stories, but I don't care: it's just fun to rediscover them on a new perspective.

Medusa the Gorgon

This image was taken from Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths. We had many of them growing up. For some reasons, I associate Greek mythology with Easter. Maybe because I find it a more Mediterranean holiday? Be that as it may, I thought I shared this picture on the blog today. Medusa is by far my favourite monster that was created by the Ancient Greek's imagination and this is one of the best rendition of Medusa, so all the more reason to share it. She is absolutely terrifying.

Bloodfeud of Altheus

 My brother PJ made a great purchase recently. We've always been fascinated by Greek Mythology, so we were happily surprised to find when we were children a gamebook freely based on the myth of Theseus, titled Bloodfeud of Altheus. The first of a trilogy called Cretan Chronicles. In this version,Theseus got killed by the Minotaur and you play his brother Altheus, who goes on a revenge quest. From memory, if the rules were often iffy and difficult to apply (but we never really played the rules in a gamebook), the story was great fun, allowing the reader to live many Ancient Greek stories. The writing was also pretty good and trying for a pseudo epic feel. Anyway, that is how I remember it. Sadly, ina foolish moment I gave the book away in exchange of another one. But thankfully, PJ corrected this. We never played the other two entries of the Chronicles, apparently they are much weaker. We should still try to get our hands on them, of course.

Athéna, Minerve et un calembours atroces

Je suis depuis longtemps un grand amateur de mythologie grecque, ça date de mon enfance. Quand je dis mythologie grecque, je suis puriste: j'utilise par exemple le nom des divinités grecques et non pas romaines. J'ai d'ailleurs souvent exprimé mon irritation sur ce blogue à propos de cette agaçante confusion: les dieux grecs et romains se ressemblent parfois, mais ils ne sont pas interchangeables. Enfin bref, j'ai récemment vu sur les réseaux sociaux quelqu'un utiliser Minerve pour parler d'Athéna, ce qui m'a fait réagir. J'ai écrit donc sur une certaine plateforme un truc du genre: "Donner à des dieux grecs leurs noms romains, franchement, ça m'innerve." Calembour atroce que j'ai commis assez souvent, y compris ici en 2015. Quelqu'un m'a répondu: "Il ne faudrait pas se fâcher pour ça, ça n'en vaut pas l'Athènes." ce qui est tout aussi épouvantable, et mérite donc d'être homologué ici pour la postérité. Si vous en trouvez un meilleur, ou enfin un pire, veuillez le commettre dans les commentaires.

The Fates: Greek Mythology's Most Powerful Deities

One of my favourite YouTube channels, Storied, which was formerly Monstrum, has come up with a new series, Fate&Fabled, about, well... Fables and myths. They started with a bang, with a great, comprehensive summary of the Greek's Moirai, aka the Fates. Maybe the mos mysterious figures of Greek Mythology. I'm inviting you to watch it now. It's about ten minutes, so it won't take much of your time. And it's worth every second of it.

Neptune? No, Poseidon!

 Here's a bit of old news which I wanted to comment on, but forgot about. It's not very old, it's from the 8th of July, but I still think it needs to be adressed. I say this because the news sort of slightly irritated me. So anyway, the BBC reported that the face of Neptune appeared in the waves during a storm in Newhaven. My initial reaction was: "Neptune? Surely this is Poseidon!" Those darn Brits conquered by the Romans and since then having no idea what the true god of the ocean is! I blame them and Caligula of course (I hope some of my readers know the historical reference here). Anyway, if this was indeed a good showing up, it was Poseidon.

Cerberus (myths and etymology)

I hope this does not come off as geeky, but I am a big fan of Greek mythology. I found this meme recently on the internet and I thought it was so good that I had to share it, even though I am not sure about its accuracy. Anyway, it is about Cerberus, the hound of Hades (I need to blog about the Greek God of Death one day, by the way) and the watchdog of his kingdom. Anyway, whether it's true or not, mythology is certainly not boring.

RIP Helen McCrory

I learned some very sad truly shocking news this weekend: English actress Helen McCrory died at 52 from cancer. Any death due to cancer is tragic, but at such a still young age and to such a talented actress, it is even more so. You may remember that I went to see the National Theatre's production of Medea, by Euripides, back in 2014. McCrory played the title role and she was absolutely mesmerising in it. This was one ofthe best play I've ever seen and she did one of the best stage performance I ever seen. I had promise myself to check more of her work on stage. Sadly, this did not happen. I feellike an idiot just typing this. But I hope to see more of her production and enjoy her legacy. I encourage you to do the same and especially, if you can, to watch her as Medea. Helen McCrory was a great actress and a true thespian.

"Not you, Medea"

It is a shame that I missed it for Mother's Day, but wanted to share it here. You may remember that back in 2014 I went to see the National Theatre's production of Medea, by Euripides. One of my best theatre experience. And on Mother's Day, their Facebook page released this picture. I thought it was hilarious. It is a rather dark joke if you know the myth, but I really laughed a lot.

Heracles against the Hydra

This picture was taken from Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths, one of the many books my brothers and I had about Greek mythology when we were kids. It represents Heracles (you recognise him easily because of the lion's hide he wears) fighting the Hydra of Lerna. I wanted to share it here, just because it is a darn good image, both very detailed and dramatic. One last note about the Greek hero: I always call him by his Greek name Heracles and not Hercules, which is the Roman equivalent. Mainly because I prefer to be as accurate as possible giving names (even though I call Ulysses by his Roman name and not Odysseus), but also because the original hero is far cooler than the watered down versions Hollywood has given us.

Un mystérieux satyre

Lors de nos promenades, dans le sentier secret peu connu, nous sommes tombés sur cette sculpture, dont la présence dans m'a beaucoup étonné. Pour ceux qui comme moi sont amateurs de mythologique grecque, vous reconnaîtrez facilement que le visage sur la statue est celle d'un satyre. Ou d'un faune, si vous préférez le nom que leur donnaient les Romains. Je préfère toujours utiliser les termes grecs, alors donc, c'est un satyre. Dans un bois, c'est le bon endroit pour trouver un satyre, mais je me demande quand même ce qu'il fait là, enfin ce que la statue fait dans cet endroit, qui l'a sculptée, qui l'a placée là et pourquoi, surtout que c'est un sentier très peu connu.

Hypnos

This picture comes from the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is a Roman sculpture based on a Greek original representing Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. The caption said that: "his wings allowed him to move swiftly over land and sea, and to fan the foreheads of the weary until they fell asleep. His son was Morpheus, the personification of dreams." So Hypnos was pretty much the most useful Greek god, especially for insomniacs like me.

Theseus against the Minotaur

As you may know, I am a big fan of Greek mythology. I love everything about it. One of the books we received when we were young (I cannot remember if it was a gift to one of my bros or to everyone) was Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths. It was beautifully illustrated by Giovanni Caselli. My father recently scanned a few images and sent them to me. I decided to share this one with you today, showing the fight between Theseus and the Minotaur. This is one of the scariest, most menacing rendition of the Minotaur I have ever seen. This time of year I often revisit Greek mythology and this picture and others make me want to get my hands on some books on the subject.

Jason et les Argonautes

Ces temps-ci de l'année, je suis d'humeur à lire et à me replonger de toutes les manières possibles dans la mythologie grecque. À ma demande, mon père m'a envoyé des scans d'images de l'un de nos livres sur le sujet. L'artiste est Giovanni Caselli, l'un de mes préférés. Je partage ce soir cette fresque magnifique de Jason sur l'Argos. On croirait y être. Avec Jason à la proue et Héraclès juste derrière (je refuse de l'appeler Hercule).

La mythologie grecque en bédé

Ce fut l'un des rendez-vous manqué de mes dernières vacances: mon père a acheté cette bédé, La naissance des dieux, premier d'une série de bandes dessinées sur la mythologie grecque, La sagesse des mythes. Autant dire sur mes premiers amours mythiques. Je ne sais pas s'il en acheté d'autres, mais j'ai bêtement négligé de le lire lorsque j'étais à Chicout. Je m'en veux un peu et je compte corriger ça aux prochaines vacances, ou me le procurer d'ici là.

Aphrodite, Artemis or a nymph?

I took this picture in Derbyshire, at Chatsworth House. It is one of the many sculptures they had there of Greek or Roman influences. They had lots of mythological figures, which I can generally identify easily, as I am a Greek mythology buff. This one is a bit challenging. She could be Aphrodite, as she is often depicted nude. Or she could also be Artemis, as she is being spied by Actaeon. But they already had an Artemis. I am wondering if she could merely be a nymph of some sort. They tend to be depicted at their bath or as they are drying up. What do you think?