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joeys-babe · 4 months

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Joey B Imagines: Holly Jolly Christmas

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Summary: Christmas Eve and Christmas morning fun with Joe. The last days of your week in Cincinnati with your boyfriend before you go back to Athens.

(Part one to - Part 2)

Warnings: Fluff, mentions of sex.

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine universe: Everlasting Love

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December 24, 2023

The love and warmth flowing through the house were off the charts tonight.

It was Joe and I’s first Christmas Eve that we would spend together.

Last year, we had only been dating for five days when Christmas rolled around.

My parents weren't exactly fond of me spending the night, two hours away, with my twenty-six-year-old boyfriend as a nineteen-year-old either. Especially, since I'd be missing Christmas with them.

I still don't know how I convinced them to let me have Christmas with Joe this year, but I won't question it.

Tomorrow morning after exchanging gifts with Joe, he'd be driving me back to Athens.

Though I was glad it wouldn't be two months till the next time I saw him, I'd prefer not to even go a week without seeing Joe, but you can't always get what you want.

I'll savor the time with him as much as I can though, and I know Joe’s doing the same.

The sun had just gone down, and Joe had just put some wood into the living room fireplace.

Now, the Christmas Eve festivities begin.

Joe said he had a cookie craving, but after dating the man for a year I knew he was not a baker.

“Can I help?” - Joe

He had just walked into the kitchen from the living room, to find me opening the box of cookies he requested.

“Joe, honey, you sure?” - you laughed

“What does that mean?” - Joe

“You aren't exactly a baker, baby.” - you

Joe made his way behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, laying his chin on my shoulder.

“You’re always telling me to try new things. I can start right now.” - Joe

“Why do you want to? I thought you'd avoid helping me like the plague.” - you

His arms squeezed me tighter as he explained himself.

“I just wanna be with you right now, as much as I can, to savor our time together while you're with me.” - Joe

“You’re willing to bake just to spend time with me?” - you giggled

“Baby, I'm willing to fuckin’ skydive.” - Joe

I put the box back on the counter and turned around in Joe’s arms. Looking up into those eyes, I felt my chest tighten up.

Like it was so overwhelmed with love it hurt.

“I love you, Joe.” - you

“I love you too, y/n.” - Joe grinned

He craned his neck to kiss me, so I raised to my tiptoes to meet his perfect lips.

After a minute of kisses, I pulled away to start baking.

I was making classic sugar cookies but putting Hershey's Kisses on top.

“So, first, we have to put the dry ingredients in a bowl.” - you

Joe grabbed one of the bowls I had set out and quickly placed it in front of me, the small act making me giggle.

After getting the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl, I handed Joe a whisk.

I felt like a mom letting her young son help her make cookies, and that thought resurfaced when Joe flung a bunch of the mixture out of the bowl.

“Shit.” - Joe deadpanned

“It’s okay, baby. The dry ingredients are hard to mix.” - you

After taking the whisk from Joe’s hand, he stepped to the side to let me finish his job.

Once that was done, it was time to move on to the next step.

“This might be easier… wanna use a hand mixer, Joey?” - you

“Sure.” - Joe

I plugged it in and handed it off to Joe, who was looking slightly intimidated.

“I’ll put everything in there, you just mix it, okay?” - you

Joe nodded his head, and I put the butter and granulated sugar into another bowl.

He looked adorable, waiting for me to tell him to start.

I gave him a nod and Joe slowly started to mix the contents up.

“How do I know when to stop?” - Joe

“When it's fluffy.” - you

Joe was doing great, but at one point, I was buckled over laughing at the sound of the beaters hitting the side of the bowl repeatedly when Joe lost control of the mixer.

“Don't laugh at me!” - Joe

A second after he said that, it happened again. I couldn't help but laugh, and this time Joe was laughing with me.

I moved behind him and laid my head on his shoulder blade when he turned the mixer off, and the content sigh that escaped his lips told me he liked the contact.

“Baby…” - Joe

“Mhm?” - you

“I've never felt as happy with someone as I am with you.” - Joe

“Feelings mutual, Joey. I love you.” - you

“I love you too. I just wish things weren't so hard.” - Joe

“Me too. Soon though, I promise, I'll be with you every day.” - you

“Can’t wait.” - Joe leaned into your touch

I contently stood behind my boyfriend, relishing in his touch, when seemingly out of nowhere, he remembered the task at hand.

“Wait, baby, what's next?” - Joe

“Oh shit, the cookies. Uhm, we have to put eggs and vanilla extract in what you just whipped up. Then add the dry ingredients.” - you

Joe grabbed the bottle of vanilla extract, thinking it would be simple enough for him to do without messing up.

So he thought.

When he went to open the glass bottle, his hand slipped, and he dropped the bottle onto the counter. It broke, and the extract went all over his pink sweatshirt.

My reflexes quickly grabbed the rest of the bottle before the rest could spill out, the lid was the only part that shattered. I thought everything was okay, but that was until Joe spoke up.

“Are you shitting me! Why can't I fucking do anything right!” - Joe

“Joe, baby, calm down. Did you get glass on you?” - you

“No…” - Joe mumbled

He looked down at his sweatshirt and let out a loud, annoyed groan.

It was stained for sure, and sadly, it was my favorite one of his sweatshirts. The bright pink Nike top always looked so good on him, and I loved stealing it.

“Just take it off, I'll get the stains out.” - you

“You just want me to take my shirt off…” - Joe

Deciding to play along with his pouty statement, I put my hands on Joe’s shoulders and bit my lower lip as I looked straight into his eyes.

“So what if I do? Are you gonna take it off for me?” - you

“Yes… ma’am.” - Joe stuttered

“Atta boy.” - you backed away and Joe pulled his sweatshirt over his head

After he pulled the sweatshirt over his head, he handed it to me. I put it on the chair to tackle later, and when I turned back around I couldn't stop myself from admiring my boyfriend.

Joe was toned, not too much, the perfect amount. His chest was my biggest obsession, and those veiny arms… god, he was a work of art.

My gaze trailed down his flat stomach, where the slight blonde happy trail ran from his belly button and down.

Knowing what it led to.

Knowing how good he made me feel with what that little patch of hair led to.

It made me hot all over.

“y/n, the cookies…” - Joe

“Oh- yeh!” - you snatched your eyes away from Joe’s body

I hurriedly busied myself with mixing the vanilla into the mixture before turning back to Joe.

“You wanna crack an egg? I know you can do that because you make eggs for breakfast all of the time.” - you

Joe felt a flutter in his stomach. He loved how much I was trying to make him feel useful.

“Sure.” - Joe smiled

He executed the step with no problem, and now that the combination of everything was mixed, it was time to add the dry ingredients.

When I grabbed the bowl containing it, I heard Joe grimace beside me.

“I have beef with those dry ingredients.” - Joe

I looked up at him just in time to see his stank face as he stared down the bowl. His look made me let out a snort, and he laughed with me.

Soon, they were mixed into the wet mixture, and Joe was pleased to see that it was turning into sugar cookie dough.

Joe helped me scoop the dough into balls on the cookie sheet.

I slid them into the oven and set the timer from the recipe.

“Thank you for helping me, baby.” - you

He wrapped his arms around me and placed a huge kiss on my lips.

“I didn't do much helping, more messing things up.” - Joe chuckled

“It’s okay. I had fun with you nonetheless.” - you

“Good, I'm glad.” - Joe grinned

A few seconds of silence went by till I spoke up.

“While we're waiting, what else do you want to do?” - you

“Uh, we can… decorate the gingerbread houses I bought.” - Joe

“Ooo, yeah!” - you

——

A few minutes later, Joe and I sat at the bar with our separate gingerbread house kits opened and spread out.

“Have you done this before? You act like you have a system.” - you

“I’ll have you know, I'm actually a reigning gingerbread house decorating champion.” - Joe

“Where? Within the team?” - you laughed

“My family Christmas. I've been winning it since LSU.” - Joe

“Oh really?” - you grinned at him

“Yup. If you're lucky I'll teach you my ways.” - Joe

“Mmm?” - you

——

“Joe, how is your’s staying together?!” - you

It was thirty minutes later. The cookies were on the cooling rack, and I was struggling to keep a gingerbread house together.

Looking down at my house, which had a caved-in roof with two walls, I muttered something under my breath.

Struggling might be an understatement.

“What was that?” - Joe

“Nothing.” - you sighed

My gaze shifted over to Joe’s perfectly intact gingerbread house. The roof had M&M’s in the colors black and white, alternating in a pattern.

He was already done with the structure, so now he was just adding random stuff onto it. Including using green icing to make grass on the plastic base.

“Baby.” - you whined

Joe tilted his head to look at me, wanting to know why there was a slight annoyance in my tone. I watched his eyes flick down to my pile of icing and gingerbread, and he had to bite the insides of his cheeks to not laugh.

My glare intensified causing him to giggle, but he leaned forward to press his lips to my forehead.

“looks beautiful, baby.” - Joe

“It looks horrible, Joe!” - you

“I was talking about you.” - Joe laughed

I felt my cheeks heat up as he said that, averting my gaze to anywhere but his intense eyes.

“Oh wait, do you want a cookie before we go to bed? It's getting late.” - you

Joe chuckled at my pathetic attempt to shift the mood and subject before answering.

“Please.” - Joe

I got up from my barstool and walked over to the cookie sheet. They were small so I grabbed a napkin and placed two on it, sliding it across the island to Joe.

“Thank you, my love.” - Joe

“You’re welcome.” - you grinned and bit into a cookie yourself

——

“Our last sleepover…” - Joe sighed

I was already lying in the bed when Joe crawled in beside me.

“For now.” - you smiled

Joe pulled me into his chest with a content sigh and squeezed my waist tight.

My hand lingered over his naked body, having just gotten out of the shower and opted for no undies. When I reached his hip, he grabbed my hand gently and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.

“Can I just hold you tonight?” - Joe

His statement set off butterflies in my stomach. Joe and I had engaged in at least a round a day this entire week, enjoying each other while we could. Hearing him say he just wanted to hold me made me feel so loved, and gosh, was he sweet.

“Of course.” - you

That night, Joe and I held each other so tight.

——

December 25, 2023

Loved.

That's the only way I could describe how I felt.

Christmas morning with Joe was amazing, making me look forward to my future with him even more.

I mean, I was sure my future had Joe in it.

He had to be because after he came into my life, I was sure I wouldn't know how to live if he left it.

We had just exchanged gifts and smiles never left our faces.

Currently lying on top of Joe, my face smashed into his chest as he rubbed my back with a big hand, I could never feel more content than this.

Christmas music played softly on the TV, and at the same time, we looked at my bags by the front door.

“I love you.” - you both whispered at the same time

Joe and I laughed softly, his hand on my back trailing to cup my head.

“I love you too.” - you both whispered again

——

“So… when is the next time I'll see you?” - Joe

Joe and I stood on my front porch. It was around three in the afternoon now and my family was getting Christmas dinner ready inside.

My bags sat next to us, our arms around each other, holding one another as close as possible.

“When I get my schedule, I’ll tell you every single day that is free to come to Cincinnati. Anytime you're here to see your parents, if you can… stop by, okay?” - you

“I will. I'm not going two months without you ever again.” - Joe

Just then, one of my cousins came out onto the porch telling me to come inside because dinner was being served.

“Just a minute.” - you

They nodded and turned back into the house.

“I love you so much. Remember that okay? Even when I'm not there in person to tell you, just know I love you with my whole heart.” - Joe

“I love you too.” - you

I felt tears well up in my eyes and then spill over onto my cheeks. Joe quickly kissed them away.

“None of that, okay? It's not goodbye forever, just a temporary one.” - Joe

“Okay. Okay, yeah. I'm gonna see you again. This isn't goodbye forever.” - you reassured yourself

“That’s my girl. Uhm, I think they're gonna shoot me if I keep you up any longer so…” - Joe

“Bye, Joey.” - you buried your head into his neck

“Bye, baby.” - Joe

I leaned in and pressed a long kiss on his lips, never wanting to break away, but knowing I had to.

Joe stepped away from me and took a few steps back.

“You go ahead. I'll feel better if I see you walk in safely.” - Joe

I walked away slowly and turned towards the door, reaching for the doorknob and opening it before turning around to look at Joe one last time.

He gave me a sad smile and it gave me enough reassurance to walk into the house and shut the door behind me.

Everyone in the living room stopped and looked at me.

My mom's eyes flicked from my sad face to Joe’s through the window.

I watched him look at the door and then down at his feet before slowly walking back to his car.

Before he could reach for the handle he felt something cold hit his nose. Joe looked into the sky and saw that it was snowing. It was a white Christmas.

Joe smiled to himself and flinched at the sound of a door being slammed.

He looked around before his eyes landed on me. I was standing on the roofed porch as I watched the snow fall from the sky.

“It’s snowing!” - you

Joe stood there and admired me; his girl, the woman he was in love with, the one he thinks is his forever.

Slowly, I walked off the porch and over to Joe, who was leaning against his Porsche with a wide grin on his face.

The snow collected in his blonde hair, and as I admired him, he pressed his soft lips onto mine.

When we pulled away, all we could do was look into each other’s eyes… and just smile.

“Merry Christmas, Joe.” - you

“Merry Christmas, y/n.” - Joe

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Authors note: RAHHH. This was one of my favs.

Request for this fic;

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

#joe burrow #bengals #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow x reader #joey b #cincinnati bengals #joe burrow fan fic

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evilios · 11 months

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Thargelia (θαργήλια) is an Athenian and Ionian festival celebrated in the city of Athens and on the isle of Delos on the 6th and 7th of month Thargelion, which corresponds with late May. This year, Thargelia falls onto the 26th and 27th days of the month.

Traditionally thought to celebrate the birth of Artemis and Apollo Patroos, or, in some versions, venerate Helios and the Horae, this festival is a two-day long celebratory occasion focused on a cult sacrifice, rich offering, and devotional games given to the Gods in hopes of appeasing Them.

Thargelia, like many other celebrations of the Ancient times, is an agricultural festival. At the beginning of this celebration, Demeter was praised by the people, and the name of the festival itself, Thargelia, according to grammarians, translates into “fruits/grains of the earth”: Θαργήλια εισί πάντες οι από γης καρποί.

The specific harvest given attention to during this celebration was that of the first fruits of the earth, symbolically connected to the heat of the sun. Due to the connection between Demeter’s celebration and that of the Twins, it was customary to annually send an offering of fresh corn to Delos.

The festival of Thargelia has ritualistic sacrifice of two individuals as its nucleus. The individuals, called pharmakoi (φαρμακοὶ) are sometimes said to be picked from the “ugliest and vilest” of the citizens, as to associate with all that is negative, unhealthy, and plague-ridden. After an extensive ritual, the pharmakoi would be either driven out of the city or, if the festival happened to fall onto a plague year, thrown into the sea or burned alive.

There are two possible origins of that tradition. According to Istrus, there was a man named Φάρμακος who had stolen the sacred vials of Apollo and was later discovered by Achilles’ men. He was, allegedly, stoned to death for the theft, and the sacrifice of Thargelia is meant to commemorate that happening.

According to Helladius, expiatory (made to offer atonement) offerings were a common custom of offering to the Deities in order to purify the city of diseases, such as plagues. Epimenides, for example, attested a different pair of sacrificial youths, Cratinus and Ctesibius, who were allegedly put to death to stop the plague that overtook the Athenian army earlier.

The origins of Thargelia are as Ancient and unclear as the origins of the ritual sacrifice given to the Twins during the celebration. We can only assume that this is a very old festival celebrated with the aim of both asking the Divine for rich harvest of ripe fruits - and safety during the times of contagious diseases.

The ritual of Thargelia starts on the 6th with an offering of a sheep to Demeter Chloe (Δημήτηρ Χλόη) followed by a large purifying sacrifice when two people are put to death or exiled.

The rites of this particular ritual are definitely old, as all human sacrifice goes deep back into the earliest civilizations of the world. One of the pharmakoi (sometimes called σύβακχοι), sacrificial humans, was to represent the women of Athens, the other - the men. They were either both men or a man and a woman, as accounts differ. According to the Ancient writers, on the day of the sacrifice these two, picked from the most unpleasant parts of the society, were led to the temples of Apollo Patroos, Apollo Delphinius, and Apollo Pythius, and then - towards the seaside, followed by a flute melody called κραδίης νόμος.

The pharmakoi were richly dressed in garlands of black and white figs, and as they walked through the city they were whipped with rods made out of fig-wood; some account that the citizens would throw objects at them. They were given honey cakes, cheese, and figs before being burned on a ritualistic funeral pile made of fig-wood. Their ashes were scattered to the winds or thrown into the sea. Some writers state they were thrown into the sea alive while some argue that they were in fact exiled to never return.

Is it possible that an actual sacrifice only took place in the years of calamity where appeasing the Gods with a bloody offering was necessary. It’s hard to say who the pharmakoi were: some say convicted criminals, some call them τὸν πάντων ἀμορφότερον (the ugliest), some say they were φαύλους καὶ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐπιβουλευομένους (or simply physically deformed).

The second day of the festival was meant to be devoted to offerings of thanks given to the Sun God, that is, Apollo or Helios. Children took part in the celebration, carrying εἰρεσιῶναι - olive branches wrapped in wool that were hung up before the doors of houses. One of the best sources on the occasion, Porphyrius, lists a large number of offerings given to the Gods on that day, including ἰλύς - moist soil from which all is born.

A choral procession of men and boys (agon) performed solemnly during the second day of the celebration. This supposedly involved some sort of competitive air to it, as two masters of chorus were given two different tribes, which they were then to supply a chorus from. Whoever succeeded was given a tripod meant to be dedicated at the temple of Apollo. Chorus of women and young girls was also present.

Adoptive parents could properly register their children into the gens and phatria during Thargelia.

Solemn sacrifice was not the only focus of the festival, as it also included the so-called Delia (δήλια), which is the name of festivals and games held at the great panegyrics at the island of Delos. Initially it seems that there was a religious center formed around Delos for the sole purpose of worshiping and securing the worship of Apollo, θεὸς πατρῷος (Father-God) of Ionians. The Delia were held every five years and were supposedly happening during the birth of Artemis and Apollo.

This celebration included gymnastic and musical contests, choruses, and dances. Men, women, and children participated in the festival in equal measure, and the members of the religious assembly of Delos and neighboring islands were welcome. Athenians took part in the celebration from the very early times, as suggested by historical records; they also sent out a “sacred vessel” (θεωρίς) to Delos annually, claiming it was the same as legendary Theseus sent out after returning from Crete. These celebrations were stopped at some point, having been reignited by Athens later on. After Athens took control over the Ionian confederacy, the leader of the Delia became a picked Athenian, and the superintendence of Athenians at the local sanctuary became prominent.

Sources and further reading: 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞 🌞

#FESTIVAL : THARGELIA 🌞#greek mythology #delos #thargelia #apollo #artemis #demeter #Sort of demeter deity

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tylermileslockett · 4 months

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Erinyes, also known as the Furies, the Erinyes were underworld goddesses of vengeance who hunted and persecuted criminals driving them mad, infecting them with disease, and even a town harboring a criminal may suffer hunger or plague. Although the Erinyes punished mortals for crimes like murder, crimes against elders or guest/host relations, they were particularly known for punishing blood killings between family members, as they were born from such a crime.

According to Hesiod, Cronus mutilated his father, Uranus, by cutting off his penis with a sickle, and tossing it to earth. While Aphrodite was born from the foam, The Erinyes were born from the blood. In contrast, the playwright Aeschylus says they were born from the goddess Nyx (night).

The three goddesses were known as Tisiphone (murder avenger), Megaera (grudge) and Alekto (unceasing anger). According to Aesychlus the Erinyes had gorgon like features, snakes entwined in their hair and arms. Later authors describe them with long black tunics, wings, blood dripping form their eyes, and brandishing snaky whips. They are also repeatedly mentioned as flaming, or with fire, and brandishing a torch.

The Erinyes had a particular function in the Underworld. Whereas pure, noble spirits were sent to Elysium, the sinners were punished in Tartarus, where the Erinyes oversaw the tortures in the dungeon fortress. Sinners like Sisyphus; ever pushing his boulder up the hill, and Tantalus, unable to satiate his thirst or hunger.

A famous portrayel of the Erinyes takes place in Aeschylus Oresteia trilogy. In the final play, The Euminides, the Erinyes have chased Orestes to Athens for the murder of his mother Clytemnestra. Here the playwright shows the modern Athenian court justice as superior to violent blood vengeance. Athena pardons Orestes and offers the Erinyes to become more kindly, worshipped and honored amongst the Athenians.

Support my book kickstarter "Lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in early 2024.

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lionofchaeronea · 11 months

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Marble bust of the great Athenian general, orator, and statesman Pericles (ca. 495-429 BCE), shown here wearing a Corinthian helmet. Pericles is credited by many historians, notably Thucydides, with guiding 5th century BCE Athens to its peak of greatness; among his achievements were the ambitious building program on the Parthenon and the conversion of the Delian League, originally formed to combat the Persians, into a tribute-paying Athenian empire. His reputation was not, however, unblemished. His political opponents accused him of aiming at tyranny, while his enforcement of the Megarian Decree--which barred Sparta's ally Megara from all Athenian harbors and was effectively an act of economic warfare--may have been the proximate cause of the Peloponnesian War. His death from plague plunged Athens into crisis and led to a succession of populist leaders such as Cleon and Hyperbolus, whose far more aggressive foreign policy ultimately proved disastrous for Athens. Though the city would survive and even make a second attempt at empire-building, it never regained the unchallenged supremacy it had enjoyed in the Periclean period.

Roman copy of uncertain date after a lost Greek original. Now in the Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican City.

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uwmspeccoll · 2 months

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Tragically Greek

This 1955 edition of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, features the original Greek text alongside the English verse translation. Offering a rich, immersive reading experience results from hard work, dedication, and creative minds coming together to create this masterpiece.

Jan van Krimpen (1892-1958), Dutch typographer, book designer, and type designer, designed the two typefaces. The Greek type is named “Antigone,” and the English type is called “Romulus.” The translator for this work was Francis Storr (1839-1919), a British classicist, translator, and teacher.

The paper was specially manufactured at the historic Dutch Pannekoek Papermill, a mill with a rich history that unfortunately met its end in a fire in 1944. This exclusive feature adds a touch of rarity to your reading experience. Printed in the offices of Johannes Enschedé, under the supervision of Mijnheer van Krimpen, it was for the members of the Limited Editions Club.

Adding to the richness of this edition is the detailed and insightful introduction provided by Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), American playwright, novelist, and native of Madison, WI. His esteemed perspective offers an enlightening preface to the classic tale.

The illustrations are black and terra-cotta wood engravings designed by Greek artist Demetrios Galanis (1879-1966). He was the trailblazer of modern Greek engraving and was once touted as one of the greatest living Greek artists at the time of the book’s release.

Sophocles (c. 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC) was an ancient Greek playwright born in Colonus near Athens. He is one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays during his lifetime, although only seven have survived in their entirety. His works are characterized by their complex characters, well-crafted plots, and profound exploration of moral and philosophical themes.

Among his most famous plays is the tragedy Oedipus the King. The story is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who tries to uncover the truth behind a plague that has struck his city. In doing so, he discovers that he himself is responsible for the plague, having unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. The play delves into themes of fate, free will, and the consequences of one's actions.

-Melissa, Special Collections Classics Intern

View other Classics posts

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thatoneneuvichiliauthor · 3 days

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YOU!

I saw your post about Ratorine Wing AU and NOW IVE BEEN PLAGUED BY THEM! I was already plagued by the bois, but now you added wing au into the mix. MY FAVORITE AU!

I love them so much! Ahhh, my brain is giving me so many ideas and scenarios!

I know right, Wing AU fits them so well 😭 It is one of my favorite AU as well so the moment I made the connection between the two, it was over for me too.

I'm so deep into this AU that my personal headcanon is that Ratio's wings should be based on this particular owl because:

This species (Athene Noctua) is named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom

It looks just as unimpressed as Ratio when he has to deal with idiots

Cuddles

And thanks for the ask, I'm always happy to scream about this AU!

#ratiorine #aventurine #dr ratio #wing au #asks #rambling

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findusinaweek · 1 year

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Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alexios (Assassin's Creed)/Brasidas (d. 422 BCE) Characters: Alexios (Assassin's Creed), Brasidas (d. 422 BCE) Additional Tags: Sickfic, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, The Isu Do Not Exist (Assassin's Creed), historical inaccuracy (probably), References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Series: Part 2 of A Braid that Binds Us Summary:

Alexios doesn’t realize he is sick until he has almost made it home. He struggles with what he should do, torn between the relief of a familiar face and the burden of introducing illness to those he cares about.

Yeah, so I’ve been sick so I wrote myself (half of) a sicfic.

#It's not covid! (although my roommate has covid so there is that)#It's also not actually the plague of Athens. Thucydides scared me out of that.#Ok well goodnight folks

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straightplayshowdown · 8 months

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The Last Days of Judas Iscariot: Set in a courtroom in Purgatory, the play asks one of the most plaguing questions in the Christian ideology: What happened to Judas Iscariot? The facts (we think!) we know are these: Judas was the disciple of Jesus who betrayed his friend and teacher to the authorities. He is seen as the man responsible for Jesus’s death; afterwards, Judas fell into despair and hung himself from an olive tree; since then, he has been suffering for his deeds deep in Hell, and will continue to do so for all eternity. Is that really fair? Was Judas the duplicitous master of his own fate, a much-suffering pawn used for Jesus’s ends, or just a man who made a mistake?

Medea: The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering his new wife as well as her own two sons, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.

Propaganda under the cut!

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot:

A courtroom drama about everyone’s favorite biblical traitor, this play confronts the problem of evil head on in a comedic, heartfelt, and tragic way. it’s a favorite with the web weavers of tumblr. this play has the famous “why didn’t you make me good enough that you could have loved me” and it absolutely lives up to that line. if you’ve never read it before i highly recommend it, and if you’re not up for reading right now, there is a honolulu production on youtube that is absolutely fantastic.

Medea:

Imagine you are an Athenian man at the Dionysia circa. 431 BC. You are drunk. Your little Athenian wife is at home weaving or giving birth or talking to the slaves about vegetables or something. On stage, you watch a man dressed as a woman give one of the greatest monologues of all time about how hard it is to be a woman. Maybe you are moved, maybe not. Then you watch her KILL HER CHILDREN with a sword and FLY off into the sky in a chariot pulled by DRAGONS. Wyd?

I do love me a greek play. Chorus is all 'oh no, murder is happening, someone stop it. We can't, obvs '

It’s MEDEA by EURIPIDES.

#polls #round 1 #the last days of judas iscariot #medea #the straight play showdown

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fantasyfantasygames · 2 months

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Amazons

Amazons, Warrior Women Games, 2006

As one would expect, you play Amazons in this game - women from out of Greek myth.* You're warriors, hunters, scouts, sailors, and sages. There's only one supernatural power involved (which I'll get into later), so no witches or demigods or anything.

Your characters are defined by a fairly standard set of attributes and skills - Strength, Agility, Wisdom, Spear, Archery, Stealth, etc. All of them are done with a pyramidal cost scheme. As a result, it's easy to build a group where your characters overlap too much. It costs the same number of points to buy a 10-point skill (rolling 1d10x10) as it does to buy two skills at 8 and 6 (1d10x8 and 1d10x6), and the 8 and 6 are generally high enough to hit the typical target numbers. I think what I'm trying to say is that the game could really use a better approach to handling character archetypes, both for flavor purposes and for niche protection.

As mentioned, the game uses multiplication, which you'll either be fine with or will really bother you. Since it's dice-times-stat instead of dice-times-dice, the probability distribution is fairly flat, and you don't have weird statistics stuff going on. You do get margin-of-success effects from rolling higher, but you don't actually have to do two-digit subtraction. Instead, you get one "rank" of success for every point by which the tens place in your result is higher than the tens in your opponent's result. You roll a 25 and they have a 48? They have a rank-2 success. Same if you roll a 28 and they have a 40. Ranks get you damage, but also duration and effectiveness for other types of roll. It's a little weird at low values - a 12 and an 18 get you a tie even though one is 50% higher than the other - but it works well for higher values.

The particularly cool part of the game is that you play in two time periods simultaneously: ancient Greece and modern-day Athens. Your characters went "through" the Oracle at Delphi (is that how that works??) and are experiencing parallel events. When they run into a businessman in the modern day, they meet a merchant in ancient Greece. A Spartan warrior might become a rich but violent criminal. They see both things happening at once, and the GM is encouraged to mix the two in their descriptions. Philosophers arguing in the shadow of concrete and steel. Ocean liners passing by sailing vessels. It's an interesting conceit, and it gives you some cool ways to solve problems in one time by approaching them i the other.

Typical antagonists are "cruel people in positions of power" - slavers, price-gouging traders, sadistic princes, petty senators, etc. Several examples are statted up, along with their entourages. There isn't much discussion of what the backlash is going to be from your characters going after those people and their well-trained bodyguards. Like a lot of this game, the surface level is presented and any implications are left to the GM and their table.

As we leave this review, it may be interesting to know that Warrior Women Games was two cis men in their twenties. The game is written with respect, but without personal experience. There's no major misogyny here, no particular fetishization or anti-feminist rhetoric involved. There's also no real punch to the fact that you're actually playing women. On the one hand - awesome! The game treats your women characters just like it would treat men characters. Straight-up equality. On the other hand, there's a missed opportunity to dig into how your ancient women experience the modern world. There's no discussion of what has changed and what has not since the (admittedly fictional*) time of the Amazons. I think a game written by someone able to delve into that experience more might be more compelling. But I'll at least give it credit for not having fallen into a number of traps that plague other men-written-women-centric games. You're not going to cringe reading this.

*Edit to add, March 2024: Maybe the Amazons are not as fictional as I thought! https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/24/truth-behind-the-myths-amazon-warrior-women-of-greek-legend-may-really-have-existed

#ttrpg #imaginary #indie ttrpg #rpg #review #no glamazon archetype in this one maybe next time #no discussion of trans amazons either but this was 2006 #fun fact there's a trans amazon supporting character in Wonder Woman these days

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