#apollo smintheus

[apollomes-supremacy]

Apollo Smintheus, Lord of mice 🧡🐁

#im not very good at side profiles #but im proud of this one #i hope it ages well #apollo #apollon #phoebus apollo #Apollo Smintheus #mice #mouse #art #mine #my art #greek mythology #greek myths #greek myth #greek mythos #mythology #myth #myths #mythos #mythoi #greek god #greek gods #ancient greece #digital art #sketch #mythology art #epithet #epithets

[matriarca-inodora]

A modern take on Apollon Smintheus (UPG)

(this is a non-scripted ramble, all views here are my own)

I had a very interesting (personal and def upg) insight about Apollo's connection to mice and rats while I was playing with my pet rats earlier today.

My lord always finds ways to surprise me. I knew the fact that I recently got pet rats is one of many ways I'm battling depression, but it's so, so much more than that.

You see, rats are often very negatively portrayed in contemporary culture. They are seen as a pest, as a synonym to illness, as something to be fought against. People see them with disgust for what they are. Hell, even Apollo Smintheus is often seen as a rather scary aspect of the god.

Now, this is the thing. This is also very much how I see myself in my worst days of depression. Horrible, pestilent, surrounded by mourning and illness. I have been very deep into this pit and it feels like all you wanna do is eliminate that pest that is yourself.

And then I saw it all under a new light. Slowly, with intense ups and downs, until the idea shone on me.

Pet rats are wonderfully smart and loving creatures. They are fun, energetic, and full of surprises. Despite being quirky compared to most usual pets, they have a lot to teach in their short, fragile lives.

That is how I perceive myself in my bright days, too. As a mortal, I know I'm fragile, ephemeral, and small compared to the enormity that is life on this planet. And imagine just how much "smaller" a rat is. Small, short lived, fragile, and yet absolutely curious, full of live. The duality, clear as day, terrible as the night.

Their existence taught me once again what it is to be alive. Being limited, being human, is not something that hinders our lives. It doesn't diminish their, or our worth. The fact that I am small, or that my rats are small, doesn't make any of us less alive.

Apollo Smintheus, lord of rats, taught me that just as there is death, there is life. To me, he is a fierce protector of mental health and (alongside Dionysos, Aphrodite and Eros) a god that celebrates live as the amazing flame it is.

Not just that, Smintheus, by very definition, is ambiguity. Leader of rats, destroyer of rats. A protector, yet unpredictable. There is a very fine line that threads these oppositions, and in this nuance I once again find the old wisdom of Apollo.

I remember I am mortal and I cherish my life, twice-given by him.

#apollo #apollo* #apollo smintheus #hellenic polytheism #apollodeity #apollon #apollo devotee #upg #btw I'm aware this all sounds very dramatic #welcome to the life of this oathbound devotee

[deathlessathanasia]

“Unlike many epithets, the name Smintheus does not immediately speak to us: “The name of Smintheus is a perplexity for the ethnographer, and suggests an interesting problem for anthropology” (L.R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States, vol. IV 164). And it seems that the Greeks too had their problem with the term. But the need for an explanation must have arisen early, especially with an author such as Homer whose text was so important for the education and self-definition of the Greeks: already the rhapsodes who, in Archaic and Classical Greece, recited their Homer from memory, were asked questions about the meaning of strange words in their text. They had to have answers; they were, after all, public personalities. The epithet Smintheus, as the learned commentators tell us, would derive from the word for mouse in the local dialect. These locals, some then go on to tell, were immigrants from Crete where the mouse was still called sminthos. And they told two stories that had to explain what the somewhat repulsive but innocent rodent had to do with one of the most exalted gods of Greece; neither story holds water.

According to the first, Cretans were emigrating towards the Black Sea, guided by an oracle that told them to found a sanctuary and a city where the “Earth-born ones” (gêgeneis) would attack them; they must have sailed away not without trepidation, since “earth-born” was a standard circumlocution for the giants whose mother was Gaia “Earth.” While they spent the night on the shore of what was to become Chryse, mice ate all the leather of their weaponry. Thus attacked and defeated by rather unexpected “earth-born” creatures, they understood the oracle, founded city and sanctuary and, Apollo being an important Cretan god, dedicated it to Apollo Smintheus (Strabo, Geography 13.604, after Callinus of Ephesus). The second story tells of the anger of Apollo towards one of his local priests; the angry god sent mice on his land that laid it practically waste. A friend of the priest placated the god and made him shoot the mice; the grateful priest instituted the cult of “Mouse Apollo” (Scholiast on Homer, Il. 1.39, after Polemo of Ilion).

Both stories are told by people with some local knowledge: Polemo of Ilion was living around 100 BCE and came from the city that succeeded Troy, and Callinus of Ephesos was a poet who lived around 650 BCE in one of the major cities further south on the coast of Western Asia Minor. The sanctuary, and Homer’s story, must have been famous already in Callinus’ time, and Ephesos was close enough for him to have visited it. Both stories, however, are inventions in order to explain the cult, and they hinge on the idea that sminthos means mouse; we have no way to check whether this was true. I suspect that the Cretans called the rodent sminthos but not the inhabitants of the Troad who spoke a very different dialect; this would account for the narrative need to bring in Cretan settlers. Smintheus thus would be a word that neither the ancient worshippers of the god nor Homer’s audience would have easily understood. Since there are several cults of Apollo in the region, and words with the sequence -inth- belong to an older, non-Greek language, most likely the epithet preserves the name of an indigenous divinity supplanted by Apollo.

Whatever the accuracy of the etymology, the Greeks firmly believed that it had to do with mice; another local author tells us that there were sacred mice in the sanctuary. And when the locals wanted to enhance the image of the sanctuary, they turned to one of the most famous sculptors of their epoch (the fourth century BCE), Scopas of Paros. Scopas made for them not a new image of Apollo (that must have proved too costly), but at least a beautiful marble mouse that was placed beneath the foot of an existing cult image of the god (Strabo, Geography 13.604); local coins of the Imperial epoch show the god with the mouse. Apollo thus was understood as a god who kept away mice; this at least is what `1one of the two stories implies, and it goes together with a few other instances where the mighty god averts lowly pests. To modern minds, made wiser by the experience of devastating plagues in early modern Europe that were spread by rodents (rats rather than mice, however), the Mouse-Apollo who sent the plague to the Greeks and killed mules, dogs, and men was irresistible: Homer must have known how rodents spread plagues, and the Greeks must have turned to him when ravaged by pests or plague. There is, however, no other indication that the Greeks were aware of the connection; no city that ever was hit by an epidemic turned to Apollo Smintheus – some cities called upon the oracular Apollo of Delphi or Clarus, and the Romans instituted a cult of Apollo Medicus, “Physician,” which seems much more sensible. To connect Apollo, mice, and plague is the result of our wishful thinking, and maybe of our surprise at seeing Apollo connected with simple mice. The surprise is modern, as is the insight into how plagues spread.”

 - Fritz Graf, Apollo

#apollon #apollo #epithets #smintheus #quotes #excerpts

[vdoes]

Apollo Smintheus

rats and mice are sometimes associated with Apollo, likely because ancient farmers would pray to him protect their crops from them - but I also like to think that Apollo has them as little friends <3

//print

#v does art #artists on tumblr #greek mythology #pagan #polytheist #apollo #apollon #apollo deity #greek gods #devotional art #apollon deity #hellenic polythiest

[themodernwitchsguide]

greek god epithets (pt.2)

this post includes hades, persephone, aphrodite, hermes, apollo, artemis, dionysus, and hekate. for part one including zeus, hera, demeter, ares, athena, poseidon and hephaestus click here

HADES:

-PLOUTON= of wealth

-THEON CHTHONIUS= god of the underworld

-POLYSEMANTOR= ruler of many

-POLYDEGMON/POLYXENUS= host of many

-NECRODEGMON= receiver of the dead

-NECRON SOTER= savior of the dead

-ADESIUS= of grace

-STYGIUS= from the Styx

-URAGUS= of fire

-NIGER DEUS= the black god

PERSEPHONE:

APHRODITE:

-CHTHONIA= of the earth

-CARPOPHORUS= bringer of fruit

-SOTEIRA= the savior

-MEGALA THEA= the great Goddess

-HAGNE= the pure/holy one

-DAEIRA= the knowing one

-PRAXIDICE= the exacter of justice

-PROTOGONE= the first born

-BRIMO= the dreaded/vengeful

HERMES:

-URANIA= of heavenly/divine love

-PANDEMOS= common to all people

-MACHANITIS= the diviser/contriver

-EPISTROPHIA= she who turns to love

-CALASCOPIA= the spying/all seeing

-PSITHYRISTES= the whispering

-PRAXIS= of sexual action

-MELAENIS= the black

-SYMMACHIA= the ally in love

-APATURUS= the deceptive one

-NYMPHIA= the bridal

-MIGONTIS= of unions

-DORITIS= the bountiful

-MORPHO= of shapely form

-AMBOLOGERA= the postponer of old age

-NICEPHORUS= the bringer of victory

-HOPLISMENA= the armed

-EUPLOEA= of fair voyages

-PONTIA= of the sea

-LIMENIA= of the harbor

-XENIA= of hospitality to foreigners

-PHILOMIDES= the laughter loving

-APHROGENEIA/APHROGENES= the foam born

-PHILOMMEDES= the genital loving

-CHRYSEA= the golden

-DIA= the golden/shining

-POTHON MATER= the mother of desire

-EUSTEPHANUS= the richly crowned/the well girdled

-EN KIPIS= of vegetation/agricultural fertility

APOLLO:

-EPIMELIUS= keeper of the flocks

-OEOPOLUS= the shepherd

-AGORAEUS= of the market place

-DOIUS= of crafts/wiles

-ENAGONIUS= of the games

-PROMACHUS= the champion

-HERMENEUTES= the interpreter/translator (of the gods)

-TRICEPHALUS= the three headed

-DIACTORUS= the guide/messenger

-ATHANATUS DIACTORUS= the immortal guide

-ANGELUS MACARON/ANGELUS ATHANATON= messenger of the divine

-CHRYSORRHAPIS= of the golden wand

-CLEPSIPHRON= the deceiver

-MECHANIOTES= the trickster/contriver

-PHELETES= the thief/robber/rustler

-ARCHUS PHELETEON= leader of robbers/thieves

-POECILOMETES/POLYTROPUS= the wily

-DAIS HETAERUS= comrade of the feast

-CHARIDOTES= giver of joy

-CHARMOPHRON= the glad-hearted

-DOTOR EAON= giver of good things

-ACACETA= the guileless/gracious

-EUSCOPUS= the keen sighted/watchful

-CYDIMUS/ERICYDES/AGLAUS= the glorious/famous/splendid

-CRATUS/CRATERUS= the strong/mighty

-POMPAEUS= the guide

ARTEMIS:

-THEARIUS= of the oracle

-PROUPSIUS= the foreseeing

-CLERIUS= of distribution by lot

-CLEDONES= of omens

-HECATUS= the shooter from afar/the archer

-AGRAEUS= of the hunt/the hunter

-MUSAGETES= the leader of the Muses

-ULIUS= of good health

-PAEON= the healer

-ACESIUS= of healing

-ALEXICACUS= averter of evil/harm

-EPICURIUS= the succoring/helping

-BOEDROMIUS= the rescuer

-LYCIUS= of the wolves

-SMINTHEUS= of the mice

-DELPHINIUS= of the dolphin

-ACTIUS= of the foreshore

-THEOXENIUS= the god of foreigners

-ARGYEUS= of streets/public places/entrances to homes

-VIROTUTIS= the benefactor of humanity

DIONYSUS:

-AGROTERA= of the hunt

-PHERAEA= of the beasts

-ELAPHAEA= of the deer

-DAPHNAEA= of the laurel tree

-CEDREATIS= of the cedar tree

-CARYAE/CARYATIS= of the walnut tree

-LIMNAEA/LIMNATUS= of the lake

-HELEIA= of the marshes

-EURYNOME= of broad pastures

-LYCAEA= of the wolves

-LEUCOPHRYNE= of the white (bird)

-PAEDOTROPHUS= the nurse of children

-PHILOEIRAX= the friend of young girls

-ORSILOCHIA= the helper of childbirth

-SELASPHORUS/PHOSPHORUS= the light bringer

-SOLEIRA= the saviour

-HEMERASIA= she who soothes

-HYMNIA= of the hymns

-HEGEMORE= the leader of dances/choir

-ARISTE= the best/the excellent

-EUCLEIA= of good repute

-CALLISTE= the very beautiful

-BASILEIS= the princess

-HIEREIA= the priestess

-HEURIPPA= the horse finder

-PEITHO= the persuasive

-PYRONIA= of the fire

HEKATE:

-BROMIUS= the noisy/boisterous

-MAENOLES= the mad/raging

-NYCTELIUS= of the night

-LAMPTERUS= of the torches

-HESTIUS= of the feast

-PHALLEN= the phallic

-ANDROGYNUS= the androgynous (of sexuality, he bed all genders)

-PHLEON= the luxuriant

-STAPHYLITES= of the grape

-OMPHACITES= of the unripe grape

-LENAEUS= of the wine press

-THEOENUS= the god of wine

-AGATHUS DAEMON= the good spirit (as in a ghost, not a drink)

-OENOPS= the wine-dark

-ACRATOPHORUS= the bringer of mixed wine

-CISSEUS= of the ivy

-CITIOPHORUS= the ivy bearer

-ANTHION= of the flowers

-CISTOPHORUS= the basket bearer

-DIMETOR= twice born

-IRAPHIOTES= the goat child

-AEGOBOLUS= the goat slayer

-MELANAEGIS= of the black goat-skin

-ANTHROPORRAESTUS= the man slayer

-LYSIUS= of release

-ELEUTHEREUS= of liberation/freedom

-PSILAX= uplifted on wings

-SAOTES/SOTERIUS= the savior

-AESYMNETES= the dictator

-POLITES= the citizen

-MYSTES= of mysteries

-CHTHONIUS= of the earth

-MELPOMENUS= the singer/of the tragic plays

-BRIMO= the dreaded/the vengeful

-CHTHONIA= of the earth

-DESPOINA= the goddess/our lady

-ENODIA= of the crossroads

-AENAOS= the eternal/the ever loving

-AGLAOS= the beautiful/the bright

-APOTROPAIA= the one that protects

-EROTOTOKOS= the bringer of love

-INDALIMOS= the beautiful

-KLEIDOUCHOS= the keeper of the keys of Hades

-KOUROTRPHOS= the nurse of children

-PHOSPHOROUS/LAMPADEPHOROUS= the bringer/bearer of light

-SOTERIA= the savior

-TRIMORPHE- the three formed

-TRIODIA/TRIODITIS= she who frequents crossroads

#pagan #paganism #polytheist #witchblr #witchcraft #polytheism #witch #magic #magick #ancient greece #hellenic pagan #hellenic polytheism #hellenic polythiest #hellenic deities #hellenic gods #hellenism #hellenic paganism

[aroaceleovaldez]

Any headcannons about Will Solace? he's an underrated bby (I think?) and I personally hc that he used to be a very moody kid but then decided to turn off all of his negaive emotions (most of the time)

oh i have SO many Will Solace headcanons built up from writing him on Deadangelos so much. Below the cut cause this is very long (and tumblr started glitching about the list format so manual it is):

- His roles at CHB are basically "Every possible medical personnel Ever™." He's camp medic, physician, surgeon, pediatrician, pharmacist, psychiatrist, therapist, dentist, optometrist, veterinarian, etc etc etc. Technically Chiron is also All Of That, but ever since Will joined camp most of the responsibility falls to him (at least in part because campers generally feel a bit more comfortable dealing with somebody their own age versus an immortal centaur), and Chiron just mentors him on it (unless they're running low on hands, in which case Chiron does pitch in, and sometimes the other Apollo kids help staff the infirmary if Will needs. In the past though it was usually just Chiron and whichever camper he pulled in that week to do first aid training with. Mr. D only really handles therapy stuff if Will isn't able to for one reason or another. Will gets very individualized training and has has own schedule separate from the rest of his cabin to account for all of that. Chiron basically personally took Will in under his wing as his apprentice and a not insignificant portion of Will's personal training is gross anatomy lessons with Chiron in the camp morgue. Will does not question where Chiron procures the cadavers for that. He probably should. They aren't campers. They are sometimes demigods, but not always. Most of the rest of camp doesn't even know there's a morgue, let alone that Will does gross anatomy dissection. It's not technically a camp "secret," Will isn't secret about it at all, but most campers treat it like it is and like to use it to try and spook new campers. The ones who find out about the gross anatomy portion and that there is exactly zero information about how Chiron is procuring cadavers are Mildly Concerned.

- Photokinesis and plague powers Will are both extremely fun. I love making him a son of Apollo Smintheus specifically and giving him pet rats and/or the ability to talk to rats and mice. He thinks they're soooo cute and is definitely the type to brag about how intelligent rats are. I also like to think he maybe had a pet snake at one point, like a big ol' boa. Will with a sunglow boa or something? yes? (I also just in general love the idea of Will's house back in Texas being a cute little ranch cause Naomi is rich and also a cowgirl and Will having a ton of different animals over the years. He probably originally wanted to be a veterinarian before he settled more on medic.)

- I just generally love playing with Will (not-so) subtly being the exact opposite of what people would expect from an Apollo kid. Initially he looks like the gold standard for an Apollo kid - sunny, friendly, chill, medic/healer, interest in science/arts/fandom, etc etc. Then you speak to him for more than 20 minutes and find out he loves snakes and rats and guts and gore and is fascinated by disease and mold. He takes gross anatomy classes taught by Chiron. One of his favorite hobbies is just dissecting stuff. He's into vulture culture. His idea of a perfect date is holding hands over a cadaver he is actively cutting into and passing the other person cool stuff he's fishing out. Also he's very vocal about thinking monsters are hot and the combo of all of that is exactly why he's into Nico. Everybody else thinks Nico's inherently cursed or something? Will doesn't mind being cursed - in fact he wants to be cursed, for science. He's swooning over the idea of Nico sacrificing him for some dark ritual in the middle of the night. He daydreams about Nico being a vampire that's gonna romantically kill him. The rest of camp is waiting for the day Will does something stupid and gets himself killed like, flirting with a monster (or the Hades kid) or something. Nico just generally doesn't know how to feel about the whole situation but is? (hesitantly) flattered?? that somebody is enthusiastic about him while recognizing and appreciating his Underworld aspects. Will is out-weirding him, somehow, and Nico never knew this was a thing that could happen.

- Related to that - I have a whole headcanon about "Bad Omen" demigods, which are basically the other main CHB cabin's versions of Hephaestus kids with fire powers being bad luck. For Apollo kids their "bad luck omen" super rare power is a plague-powers kid, and Will showed up during the Titan War, just a couple months before the Battle for Manhattan when nearly all his cabin died. He is very acutely aware of this superstition and fully believes he is a bad luck charm for the cabin and feels SUUUUPER guilty about it and so hides his plague powers. It's not that he feels bad about his plague powers specifically - he thinks plague stuff is really fascinating and his powers are cool and can be used for healing too! - he's just really concerned about how others will view him. (Very strong parallel dynamics between how Will views his plague powers vs the stigma around them & how Nico views his Underworld powers vs the stigma around them. They are handshake emoji).

- TTC implies that Apollo kids are more often than not summer-only campers, and I think it's fun to have Will's backstory being: He may or may not have "accidentally" caused a plague/pest outbreak at his old school early into the year and between that school having to shut down for a couple of months because of that and his mom maybe going on tour, they decided it was time for him to move to CHB and go there year-round. Except he goes from Texas to New York in the middle of winter and he's a son of Apollo, so he gets there and it's like sleet and slush and all cold and he's the only Apollo kid at camp and he hates it so bad. He eventually gets used to it but it is awkward when all his siblings come back in the spring/summer to find they have a new youngest sibling who's just been chilling all by himself for a couple of months. But then Austin and Kayla join so at least he's not the newest/youngest Apollo kid. (But then nearly all of Cabin 7 immediately dies in TLO and Will's right back to being in a mostly empty cabin and being in charge.)

- He definitely puts on an approachable/friendly, or at the very least calm, face 99% of the time, partially because it's expected of him and it's also maybe a little bit masking (it's a lot masking) cause he knows he can be a bit much. He is 100% the type of guy who feels like he has to solve all his problems himself and can't let anybody else know he has problems, and also that he has to help everybody else with their problems because that's his job, right? So he's constantly stressing himself out to the point of breakdown. He also half lives in the infirmary (which he totally has his own little office in) and he'll just shut himself in and spend like, a couple of days straight in there and probably not sleep. He's a workaholic just as bad as Nico and a total hypocrite about it/about overexerting one's self but he's working on it. Nico's too much of a take-no-shit kind of guy (and also him and Will are way too similar) so usually when Will nags Nico about that kind of thing it turns into Will looking in a mirror or Nico turning it back around on him and Will going "ah shit i need to take my own advice >:T"

- He's best friends with Drew Tanaka and he lets out his bitchy side when he's hanging out with her. they are bitching friends. they love to bitch. It's a great venting environment for him cause he knows Drew loves to hear him complain and talk shit so he can just let out all his pent-up frustrations and she'll just enthusiastically eat it all up. The two of them will gossip endlessly. Drew is mildly concerned about Will's romantic tastes though (again: monsters. cryptids. the Addams family. evils from the shadows. the guy from The Shape Of Water. Nico) and keeps trying to talk him out of flirting with things that might kill him. He does not listen to her.

- His only normal crush is Paolo but everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop about how Will could possibly be weird about this one (there's an ongoing camp bet with different theories). He also dated Drew for like, all of a week but they both decided they totally hated it and preferred to stay just besties (bonus points: That was what Drew considered as her passing the whole Aphrodite-kids-breaking-hearts thing. literally neither of them cared).

- I know his full name is William but it's really funny if he lies about that and his full name is actually Wilhelm, named after the scream.

- ...He is a Swiftie. He's been a Swiftie since he was younger back with like, OG-era country music Taylor Swift and he's just stuck with it.

- Trans!Will is fun and I love it lots. Drew helping him with transition stuff is also very near and dear to me.

- His crush on Nico originates from them meeting for the first time during the Battle for Manhattan. Nico's attempt at flirting with Percy misfired and hit Will instead lmao. Nico parts the Titan Army in cool thematic armor and with three gods in tow, says a dramatic one-liner, and then is super badass in battle and Will is head-over-heels for him immediately. He then proceeds to spend the next year obsessing over Nico and being tormented by Nico never being at camp and never being able to talk with him. Ergo why when Nico shows up in BoO, Will is immediately like "HOLD MY HANDS. THREE DAYS IN THE INFIRMARY. HANG OUT WITH ME PLEASEEEE-" (and that's why Will was under the assumption that Nico was actively avoiding people rather than being ostracized, cause he had heart-eyes tunnel vision). Him in BoO though really is just seeing his crush and losing all his cool.

- For some reason he is just an absolute magnet for chthonic demigods. Nico, Lou Ellen, Cecil (who i hc is a chthonic Hermes kid), etc etc. He thinks Underworld stuff is super cool though (again, see: Will being super into spooky/gory stuff/etc). Also all the ex-Titan army kids decided they were his personal body guards immediately after the war cause he was nice to them.

- He is a HUUUUGE nerd. Specifically a sci-fi and disney nerd. They're his hyperfixations (/special interests if you lean more autistic!Will) <3 His favorite franchises are Star Wars and Avatar (the blue one). He loves conceptual alien biology/ecology and could go on about it endlessly. He will also very enthusiastically infodump about Disney history (both the art/animation side and theme parks side) and other sci-fi series. Ask him about Doctor Who (you will be there for several hours).

- Will being a micro-celebrity cause of his mom is very fun to me. He's been on talk shows and stuff before cause people love how snarky this country star's kid is. He has an extremely popular Instagram and Austin uses him as clickbait in his Youtube videos extremely often (including forcing him to guest-star or do like react content and stuff) (Will is more than happy to indulge him though cause he finds it funny).

- I also love the idea that Will and Piper have actually known each other since they were little, from Tristan and Naomi meeting at some point and realizing they had kids the same age and encouraging them to be pen-pals. Once social media becomes more of a like, Proper Thing™ they become mutuals on Instagram but just use it to periodically send each other silly memes (Piper's instagram is private and basically all she uses it for is dm'ing people). It takes them a solid week of being at CHB together to realize "WAIT, YOU'RE THAT [PIPER/WILL]?!" One of their hobbies is going into the city and seeing if people will recognize them/if paparazzi will see them and making games out of it (who can ruin the most photos, what types of fake gossip can we get them trying to circulate, etc etc).

- I am a firm believer that Will is an extremely loud out-and-proud type of guy and has been for awhile (again see: him being a micro-celebrity) and he spearheads or runs a lot of pride stuff at CHB ever since he joined. If there is a pride parade/event at CHB he helps organize it. If there's a GSA club at CHB he is the head of it. He keeps pamphlets in the infirmary of queer educational material and guides to different identities and stuff and is very passionate about making people feel welcomed and comfortable. Because of this, when he found out Nico was from the 1930s and severely not up-to-date on terminology and stuff, he considered getting Nico up-to-date his greatest challenge yet. It was a personal quest for him. There was also definitely at least a week before that where Will thought Nico might be homophobic or something and was going "I CAN FIX HIM" before Nico managed to explain that no, he's... very supportive (muffled coughing coming from closet), he's just also extremely behind and doesn't know what any of those words mean, thanks. Will set up the most extensive queer crash course possible for him and poor Nico was just going "slow down please,,,," the entire time. Will gets him up mostly up to speed eventually. I just love Will being that type of guy who will start explaining misc queer history with citations at the drop of a hat. It is probably another hyperfixation of his.

- Will and Annabeth both consider Chiron an adoptive father-figure and joke about being siblings and which of them is the favorite child, cause they both know they're definitely Chiron's favorite campers. They both get him father's day cards/gifts.

#pjo #riordanverse #will solace #headcanon #headcanons #ask #Anonymous

[littlesparklight]

My headcanons for Apollo's connection to Troy and how it developed:

With Leto's connection to the coast of Asia Minor (especially Lycia, where she was equated with a mother goddess), and Lydia, I headcanon she mostly actually raised the twins around there, only visiting Delos and the Greek mainland. [Kind of both based in real religious practice and myths, then, because Strabo reports that near Ephesus there were myths that had Leto having given birth around there, and Hera being scared away from spying on her by the Curetes.] Through this the three of them visited and were hosted by Xanthos in the twins' early years, and the locals raised a shared altar for them (on the hill Troy is on).

Apollo is also present during/after the birth of Xanthos' son Teucer, who will take the kingship as he grows up.

The same year Apollo kidnaps a couple Cretans ahem establishes the Delphian priesthood, he and Artemis and Leto are attending a feast in the Troad, coinciding with Teucer coming to the throne. Teucer asks him where he should make a colony to further expand the land under his control, and Apollo makes his first oracular statement to a mortal by replying it should be where the group he sends out is "attacked by the earthborn". [Based in a founding myth for the city of Hamaxitus and the temple of Apollo Smintheus.]

Teucer rules the kingdom from Troy (I base Troy more on the real world city, that was of course much older than it would've been in Greek myth), and the first Ilus, son of Dardanos, settles here. He expands the city as well as the first altar/shrine to Apollo, Artemis and Leto, earning their favour.

His punishment to serve Laomedon together with Poseidon for a year, then, is very much "muddled" by the fact that Apollo has close connections to the city and the land, and he builds more than just the wall for the city. In particular at least the palace's altar to Zeus Herkeois is built by Apollo. [As referenced in the Hecuba by Euripides and shown through several arts were Zeus' altar is surrounded with a palm tree or other symbols of Apollo.] He also connects to/with Priam, and then later, of course, you have his various entanglements with several children of Priam in one way or another... as well as Priam's wife.

#apollo #greek mythology

[pomegranatehymns]

Saving this list of epithets here for me, but also for the ppl who want to look more deeper into any deity’s list of epithets.

I know some are missing from the list. (I noticed apollon smintheus was missing from apollos list of epithets) and not all Hellenic gods are on the list.

Hope this helps someone out ☺️

#hellenic gods #hellenic pagan #apollo #apollo deity #deity #apollon #hellenism #deity worship #hellenic polytheism #dionysus deity #greek gods #hades #hellenic deities #persephone #witchblr #dionysos #zeus #hera #aphrodite #hestia #ares #artemis #athena #demeter #hermes #hephaestus #posideon #tyche #epithets

[paganplaces]

Apollon Smintheion

Apollon Smintheion, also known as the Temple of Apollo Smintheus, is an ancient sanctuary located in northwestern Turkey.

Read more at: https://paganplaces.com/places/apollon-smintheion/

[viktorkondrakis]

Greek myths: Sminthus and Cassiterus

The ingenuity of Greco-Roman folk tales is that they often preserve older rural myths when the images and texts of such stories are either lost to time or re-adapted to a newer religious context.

Take the Mycenaean war-deity Enuwalios, who was absorbed into the mythology of Ares to produce the local form of "Ares Enyalius" (Ἄρης Ἐνυάλιος) who assisted warriors and soldiers. The old myths surrounding Enyalius may have been lost to history, but he found a new mythos and life as a god reborn. In the case of Sminthus and Cassiterus, we see an older mythological stratum absorbed into an expanding Greco-Roman theological framework.

Sminthus (Σμίνθος) was a minor deity worshipped in northwestern Anatolia, and was, for lack of a better term, the "god of mice." Mice were considered sacred as they often lived under altars to eat the food offered to local deities, abiding constantly in the presence of the divine. In India we find Mūshika and Ganesha, in Mesopotamia "Nin-Kilim" (the "Mouse Lord"). Mice were also considered disease-bringers, and were worshipped by humans seeking shelter from pestilence (like people worshipping Poseidon to avoid earthquakes).

Sminthus appears to have been later absorbed into Apollonian tales, as seen in "Apollo Smintheus" (Ἀπόλλων Σμινθεύς) being worshipped in Hamaxitos. This "Sminthian Apollo" was even invoked in the Iliad by Chryses to smite the Greeks for his daughter's kidnapping (Book I, Line 39). In some of the re-imagined sources Sminthus is the son of Apollo and an unnamed human woman, making him a demigod like Aristaeus or Asclepius.

Cassiterus was a shepherd from a mortal family of no repute. His name (Κασσίτερος) means "Tin", and may have connected him to the earth metals as a chthonic deity in an older dispensation. Either way, this human and this god would find themselves caught in Aphrodite's rosy net.

Like Apollo and Admetus, Sminthus found himself ardently devoted to Cassiterus, whom he doted on and bestowed with gifts. The two were intertwined like the staff of Hermes, and were inseparable until Morus struck with his hateful spear.

While Sminthus was away, Cassiterus attempted to protect his flock from a band of travelling Trojans looking for food and a place to build a new settlement. He was mortally wounded in the process.

In a divine rage, Sminthus sent a swarm of field mice to eat the leather of their items, and would have struck them with plagues as well had his father not intervened. Apollo made a petition to the Sky Father for help, and Zeus offered to make the site of Cassiterus' death sacred for all generations.

Upset that he refused to save him in some way, Sminthus knelt on the ground with his dying partner in his arms, and let his tears mingle with the spilt blood. At the place where tears and blood, love and death, came together, a plant grew. Life for a life. And so they were separated, but never divided. One to be assimilated into his more famous father's mythology, and the other to fade into time, but never from his lover's heart.

#greek gods #greek mythology #sminthus #cassiterus #folk stories #apollo

[apollomes-supremacy]

Thinking about Apollo Smintheus sm....... My love

#🫶🫶🫶🫶🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁🐁 #apollo #apollon #mine #phoebus apollo #apollo worship

[sapocururunabeira]

I always try to avoid hexing when possible, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not excited to finally awaken this little guy.

Made it months ago right after learning about Apollo Smintheus ("of the mice"). I think it's the cutest, but couldn't think of any task suitable to it until now.

[powerson]

Style not sure…

What are your two favorite things to wear? Shades of black, navy blues, and white. These are dominant colours I wear, and my favourite things are shades of black with a little colour to break here and there. I’m big on the fit, so my tops are usually a size larger. That’s that, as long as I’m dressed up I’m ready for work. “I don’t know why you’re so fond of this ‘life.'” Apollo Smintheus…

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#dailyprompt #dailyprompt-2138

[quidcumque]

Hear me, Apollo! God of the silver bow who strides the walls of Chryse and Cilla sacrosanct -- lord in power of Tenedos -- Smintheus, god of the plague! If I ever roofed a shrine to please your heart, ever burned the long rich bones of bulls and goats on your holy altar, now, now bring my prayer to pass: REPORT AND BLOCK THESE GODDAMN PORN BOTS

[matriarca-inodora]

Prayer to Apollon Smintheus for Mental Health

I call you, fierce one,

Apollon Smintheus, two-natured

leader yet destroyer of rats,

impetuous lord of arrows

who once descended like the night.

I invoke you with my song

Anax, whose hands are stars incandescent

Apotropaios, Alexikakos,

piercer and destroyer

bringer of light.

You who know the nature of imbalance

You who know how quickly it spreads

swiftly you avert it, and in flame you consume it

your very presence like wildfire

over a cloud of locusts.

Avert your terrible face

but come, Apollon, as a protector, eyes bright with furious intent

your cry piercing the dark

leaving no trace of that which attacks me

for to pestilence you are frightful

yet to me you are mild as sunrise.

Rejoice, my lord

and bring me light 

for another day.

#prayer #hymn #helpol #hellenic polytheism #devotional writing #apollon* #apollo* #apollo devotee #apollo worship #smintheus #apollo smintheus #mind you some of the imagery there is 100% upg #just so readers are aware #as is the association between Smintheus and mental health #this is personal but ey maybe it's useful to someone out there

[spirits-child]

Apollo Epithets

Feel free to correct me if im wrong!

Aegletes/Αἰγλήτης —> Light of the sun

Phoebus/Φοῖβος —> Bright (literally)

Klêdônes/Κληδωνες —> Omen in Words and Sounds

Hekatos/Ἑκατος —> Shooter from Afar

Mousêgetês/Μουσηγετης —> Leader of the Muses

Paian/Παιαν —> Healer

Alexikakos/Αλεξικακος —> Averter of Evil, Harm

Βοηδρομιος/Boêdromios —> Rescuer

Lykios/Λυκιος —> Of the Wolves (this is my favorite epithet btw xd) 

Smintheus/Σμινθειος —> Of the Mice

Theoxenios/Θεοξενιος —> God of Foreigners

#apollo #apollon #deity #deities #epithets #hellenism #hellenic deities #polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenic devotion #hellenic deity devotion #deity epithets #athens #greece #greek mythology #paganism #apollo aegletes #apollo phoebus #apollo hekatos #apollo smintheus #artemis #greek pantheon #greek deities #devotion #greek myths #greek gods