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nysus-temple · 2 years

Note

I'd like to request an opinion-based essay.

I saw the post about how you can picture the gods however you want. I'd like to know what you think of my theory:

How you picture the gods is usually influenced by your own appearance, idea of beauty, culture, and environment. For example, I am white, so most of my deities appear white to me because that is the skin I am most familiar with. My idea of beauty is rooted in the American idea of beauty because I'm American, and so on.

I'd genuinely like to know what you think!!!

I hope you have a good day

Greetings, hope you have a good day as well ! <3

Your theory is not that wrong, honestly. I can even give it several points in his favor, however, I feel that it falters in more things.

Let's see, it makes sense to see them from your own ideal of beauty, after all, it is how the Greeks themselves saw them back then. They had a canon ( depending on the moment, established by a different sculptor ) different from that of other cultures, hence, for example, when they saw the group of Egyptian deities, they thought they were their own gods… But wrongly done. I mean, it's funny to think about it.

They represented their deities like they themselves were, with all their faults, even ( the gods were not immune to fate, they can be seen having regrets ) and even if they turned into animals, they had nothing to do with the Egyptians and hence they thought of them that way. It's not even THAT weird to imagine when you know most ( if not all ) cultures just saw the same things with their own interpretation based on their enviornment.

· ) Examples ( ·

The Sun and Moon in Greek Myths are portrayed as a god and a goddess, but in Norse Myths ( correct me if i'm wrong, i haven't done much research about Norse Mythology ) they're the other way around, the Sun was portrayed as a goddess and the Moon as a god. In the Aztect culture, they went more far away and legit said the Sun and the Moon were in a constant fight, and that's why they were moving all the time, instead of riding around in chariots like Helios and Selene did. Points for being creative, if i'm being honest !

· ) Examples ( ·

Now, yes, we can have the belief, as you say, that the gods presented themselves in different ways depending on the person ( example: Athena transforming into an acquaintance of Telemachus to make him go out in search of news of Odysseus ) but it is not usually their "general appearance" with which they represented said gods.

The Greeks represented their Greek gods as them.

Although I personally don't think it's all that bad to see the figures of the gods as we want, I do prefer something safer and even respectable for, in this case, the Greeks.

I am not myself a Greek, I am a xenoi, as one could say, and when imagining the gods I usually look for representations of their moment or as similar as those times as possible.

For example, since this blog is mainly about Dionysus… Normally I have seen him with a young appearance, long and tousled hair and of course with waves.

( One of my favourite Dionysus' sculptures of all time, but not a Greek one tho, thanks i'm aware ) the reason why i see him this way is since i have preference for Euripides' design for him, how he describes him in The Bacchae. It's my favourite work and my favourite tragedy author, so it's obvious that i'm gonna prefer his interpretation than, let's say, Hesiod's.

BUT take as another example, someone who sees Dionysus with a beard, and more old-like.

It would be fine as well !

Neither one is more correct than the other, both are totally valid.

Now, about the skin tone... Well, Greeks nowadays consider themselves "white", technically, but you see, skin is faaar more than just "black and white", so we really shouldn't listen to people complaining about Greeks making Greek gods white.

You see, i would tell you that there was no problem seeing the gods with your standards as an American, since as i said, the gods may manifest in many forms. However, in this current day, i would say it's better to give them at least one little piece of detail that reminds you of how they were represented back then.

Mainly due to ( not in your case, but many others ) appropiating of these gods, that are from a culture that isn't theirs.

I say the same with the rest, let's say, Egyptian gods, Hindu, Norse, and so on. Usually it's better to view them based on the culture they're from. If i want to, for example, make art related to the Hindu deities, i'll probably look around representations that the people who originated with said culture made.

i think it's fine to view some figure details how you want and are most familiar with, but it's better to make research in order to honour the culture you're interested in with all the accuracies and respect possible.

Let's say, Apollo is most of the times described as blonde, but if you wanna see him with black hair, i mean, sure, go ahead, why not. But it wouldn't be very nice of anyone to "score a Percy Jackson" as i like to call it now and say stuff like "the Greek gods are in America because their power is stronger here" or whatever the hell the book said i don't remember neither do i care.

In the end, the best way to view the Greek gods, is looking for Greek sources. You may prefer one interpretation than other, but it does not matter what it is for, it is best to research at least for the bases.

#this is one of the reasons why i didn't like the Hades game all that much #Artemis and Persephone are pretty. for example #but Dionysus.... oof #i am getting a lot of people to unfollow me for those tags #but no. i don't like the Dionysus of that game #you're not being inclusive. buddy #and also this is personal but i don't like considering Dionysus and Zagreus as different gods. so yeah. another point down for that game #THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ESSAY #BUT WERE ELSE WAS I GONNA PUT IT #or does it-#anyways- hope this was something #i still think native Greeks might be better for this opinion than a xenoi xD #greek gods #representation #answered #metzos-digital-shrine

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greek-orthodox-priest · 1 year

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can xenoi follow this blog?

foreigners SHOULD follow this blog. especially italians. but they are barely foreigners. una faccia una razza etc.

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liggmebols · 4 months

Text

SIBLINGS EXPERIENCED

"Who is likely to.." (Part 1)

Siblings scott editions

words: 253

characters: 1424

BEGIN

Blake: Glad we are gathering here today to have a fun conversation with a little twist.

Mox: what’s with the twist this time.

Linus: You and I didn't discuss that twist, why weren't you telling me about it before?

Blake: Because it’s a surprise.

Blake: We are doing.. “Who is most likely to…!”

Some smoll whiteboard pop out in front of them

Sam: This must be fun!

Jophiel: Don’t really mind this at all.

Blake: This little event is easy! All we have to do is write someone’s name on a board in which is the most likely to! Just be honest y’all.

Jophiel; Oh this is easy.

Brahm: Sure.

Linus: Bring it in!

Mark: Hm

Sam: Ooooohhhh

Blake: Mox.. The approvalll..?

Mox thumbs up as the show begins

• Who is most likely in charge of the angel realm?

Jophiel: (Mox)

Mox: (Linus)

Linus: (Mox)

Blake: (Linus)

Mark: (Linus)

Sam: (Mox)

Brahm: (Mox)

Blake: 3 for Linus, 4 for Mox!

Jophiel: At least everyone knows who is in charge of the angel realm.

Mox: Absolutely.

• Who is most likely to who didn't experienced love yet?

Jophiel: (Mox)

Mox: (Jophiel)

Linus: (Obviously Me)

Blake: (Mark)

Mark: (Linus)

Sam: (Mox)

Brahm: (Jophiel)

Jophiel: Heyyy…I have experienced love you know!

Mox: Thought you were a single pringle.

Linus: PFFt–

Jophiel: And so were you.

Mox: I know.

Blake: Pretty know Mark doesn’t experience love, right?

Mark: But- I do..

Blake: I- I’M SORRYY

Jophiel: don’t y’all even notice that I am very fruity in lore?

Mark: Well.. You weren’t that time of old ones

Blake: Oh, Mark’s right.

Jophiel: It’s my old era

Mox: Being a perfect angel our father wishes for one.

• Who is most likely the best singer?

Jophiel: (Blake)

Mox: (Blake)

Linus: (Jophiel)

Blake: (Brahm/Jophiel)

Mark: (Brahm)

Sam: (Jophiel)

Brahm: (Blake)

Blake: Brahm is actually a singer most of the time!

Jophiel: Can’t deny that.

Blake: HE COULD BE OUR TRIPLE BUDDY!

Brahm: no.. Thank you.

• Who is most likely the favorite sibling?

Jophiel: (Brahm)

Mox: (Brahm)

Linus: (Brahm)

Blake: (Brahm <3)

Mark: (Brahm)

Sam: (Brahm)

Brahm: (Me)

Blake: No question at all <3

Brahm: Why is there a heart shape beside me?

Blake: CAUSE THAT’S HOW I LOVEEEEE U!

Mox: Our father is your favorite now.

Blake: OOOOHH, Yes, yes.

Brahm: Okay then

• Who is most likely to skip class a lot?

Jophiel: (Blake)

Mox: (Blake)

Linus: (Blake)

Blake: (Me)

Mark: (Blake)

Sam: (Blake?)

Brahm: (Blake)

Jophiel: He did a great job.

Blake: Oh I Bet I Am.

Mark: No wonder I haven't seen you in class, Where were you?

Mox: Going to his ex lover perhaps.

Blake: NUH UH I just wanna go to the mortal realm just to buy donuts. It’s hard to go through there, y’lnow,? The portal was on guard and it took years to create one for me.

Mark: And that is why you won’t be skipping class because there’s a reason for that.

Blake: shushh

• Who is most likely to know Xenoy?

Jophiel: (Who is Xenoy?)

Mox: (Probably Blake)

Linus: (Blake)

Blake: (Linus)

Mark: (Brahm)

Sam: (Linus)

Brahm:(Sam)

Blake: The audacityy.

Mox: i don’t really give a fuck about her, to be honest.

Brahm: Agreed with Mox.

Mark: She was just shadowing around and that’s all

Mox: If only she could do something useful in common. We could know more about her better.

Linus: father adopted her after all.

Sam: She is the first sister and the adopted one.

Jophiel: Who tf is Xenoy?

• Who is most likely to hasn't fucked anyone ?

Jophiel: (Mark)

Mox: (Brahm)

Linus: (Brahm)

Blake: (Brahm)

Mark: (Me)

Sam: (Mark)

Brahm: (Mark)

Brahm: I can’t just do that to him.

Linus: You two have been together since a year and a half.

Mox: Besides, he’s a demon.

Mark: Wait, so you are engaged with a common demon?

Blake: Correction, A prince demon almost became a king.

Jophiel: Wheww, Lucky him.

Brahm: I don’t feel ready for him and so was he.

Sam: Were you two sharing a connection or something?

Blake: THEY WERE, SAM.

Linus: You know what I taught you. Get a condom and..

Brahm: HE ISN’T SUBMISSIVE AND BREEDABLE.

Blake show jophiel his lover’s picture

Jophiel: Huh..He does look submissive and breedable.

Blake: right???

Brahm: oh jeez.

Sam: I thought Brahm is.

Mox: you two will be ready for your honeymoon.

Brahm: That would never happen.

Mark: I don’t like having sex, that’s all.

• Who is most likely to actually have a half of braincells exist and act goof around?

-Blake and Linus

Jophiel: (Blake)

Mox: (Blake)

Linus: (Blake)

Blake: (Linus)

Mark: (Linus)

Sam: (Linus)

Brahm: (Blake/Linus)

Mark: They were such a duo.

Mox: Duo of idiots.

Jophiel: I thought we are duo, Blake 🙁

Blake: WE ARE, DON’T WORRY.

• Who is most likely powerful but doesn't know how to use their will power?

Jophiel: (Brahm)

Mox: (Brahm)

Linus: (Brahm)

Blake: (Brahm)

Mark: (Brahm)

Sam: (Brahm)

Brahm: (I don’t know)

Brahm: Tf you mean i couldn’t control mine?

Mark: The ancestors and the scrolls are true.

Blake: Yeah Brahm.. You know you are more powerful than us, right?

Brahm: I did not know.

Blake: Come on, You’ll grow bigger horns, Your rages, Emotions, Abilities, Had tentacles.

Brahm: I had tentacles?

Linus: Yep, Since you are a half demon after all.

Brahm: It’s weird. Since when did I have tentacles?

Mox: You can’t control it yet, including your sheep form.

Mark: Yeah.. according to this scroll you’ll have to take more practice and concentration about your emotions and spoilers, spoilers.

Jophiel: Lol.

Blake: Just imagine how cool it was !!

Brahm: No words.

Mox: But you just got words already.

Brahm: Shut up.

• Who is most likely to be literally high ranked but still acts like a mutt??

Jophiel: (Mox)

Mox: (Me, and i know it.)

Linus: (Mox)

Blake: (Mox)

Mark: (Mox)

Sam: (Mox, sorri.)

Brahm: (Definitely mox.)

Jophiel: You really know yourself, huh?

Mox: Works like a charm.

Blake: I guess, That’s the last question.

Sam: It was a blast.

Blake: We should probably do this sometimes!

Brahm: And telling our secret stuff?

Linus: Prolly.

Blake: Prolly.

Brahm: Prolly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#who is most likely to #part 1 #siblings experienced #scott

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alatismeni-theitsa · 3 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/cardassiangoodreads/722229585723424768/im-just-going-to-say-right-now-that-i-dont-think?source=share

Just curious about your thoughts

The post and the tags because this person has blocked me preemptively - and they're lucky cause I wouldn't shat all over them. This person is a USAmerican very removed from Italian culture.

My Answer:

Ooooo coloniser rhetoric in the 21st century! That's a sight for sore eyes! (Which became sore cause they see such takes all the time).

Funny how this person talks about how objects belonging to Greece right after saying that our heritage figures (like our gods and heroes) don't belong to us. If Greek culture is a global culture why can't foreigners keep the objects? Hmmm I wonder…. They still put the "Greek" or "Roman" to characterise the stories but the moment Greeks and Italians speak up, then all of a sudden "the stories akksuually have no culture, they belong to all of us!" 😂😂😂

I wonder if this person understands what the term "heritage" means, because gods and heroes are definitely part of one's heritage and we never stopped preserving the texts that spoke about them, and they are still part of our living culture.

I'm all for listening to the members of the diaspora but when we are at the point when one of them is regurgitating imperialist points, not only there's a big divide with current opinions in Italy, but I also cannot leave such points unanswered. Also, many Italians, like Greeks, are sick of how their myths are treated but this person didn't even check, they just spoke over them. Because they didn't bother to ask people, obviously.

Ancient Greek heroes and gods still mean a lot to us. They always meant. They were born from visions, dreams, and other sacred methods, or oral traditions from our ancestors, reflecting specifically the ancient Greek culture. It's good that foreigners can access them and relate to a degree but divorcing any folk story from its origin is always negative. Especially when this culture is still ongoing.

Our Christianity is revamped ancient Greek religion, I wonder, does this person know that? Our temples have the same parts. We still have home altars, and divinities presiding over domains. Our hagiography is how we used to paint our gods and creatures. We still have almost the same nature creatures. The customs have remained and have persisted, and I won't have someone who clearly ignores this say "They gave the religion up". Ftou.

Also when it comes to our gods and their symbols (and yes btw we call them "our" gods lots of times), we can deduce things from our local tradition and environment, whereas an Anglophone who worships the gods or is interested in them but doesn't know stuff about the country of origin of those gods has no idea about our history, methods and environment. Example: Foreigner refuses to accept that there's a pine cone on Dionysos' thyrsos (although it looks like a pinecone) because "it doesn't make sense" and very excitedly suggests another plant instead. Greek lets them know that it is actually a pine cone not only because it looks like a pinecone but because the pinecone has been used in our winemaking process forever, and Dionysos also presided over this process. Guess Greece and its environment and it's people are still relevant to the religion, and it also turns out that the symbols of the gods derived from the Greek reality. Who knew!

Now onto another point. Op says that the Greek stories became "global culture" because they got shared everywhere. Them being shared is not a bad thing! However just studying them and be taught about them is not culture. By this logic, and since Egyptians "gave their old religion up", ancient Egyptian gods are now MY ancient gods because I can find books about ancient Egypt at my local bookstore. woww 😂 What about this? Almost every Greek knows 100 and 1 nights. We have made it into a play also. SOO... these are our cultural stories now, right? West Asians and Arabs in general shouldn't speak if they ever see us and other nations being ridiculous about the stories, and stereotypes and changing the characters a lot but still claim we are doing great, right? Got it.

The way this post is written it's like Germans and Brits kept the ancient Greek myths alive since ancient years or something. Greeks themselves never stopped preserving their own ancient texts, and they escaped with them in Europe after the fall of Constantinople, so NW Europeans REDISCOVERED them 1500 years later. They had lost interest by then.

Funny they mention different nations that were Hellenized or became Roman territories because people living in these nations are exactly those who don't speak about Greek and Roman culture as "a global culture". It's always North Westerners who start these discussions, I wonder why…..

People from the aforementioned nations already interact healthily with their ancient heritage - which is not Greek or Roman culture but always a local version with Greek or Roman elements, and that's great too. I haven't heard a Pakistani say "Theseus is our hero too!" or a Tunisian say "Zeus is our local ancient father of the gods!" Because they know exactly how the mix happened and what their national identity is. And I'm getting more and more tired of seeing Westerners erase these experiences too, and just make assumptions for other nations.

I swear I mostly see USians getting butthurt about other people getting conquered 2.000 years ago. The nations themselves don't give a shiiit. Guys, I know our antiquities are the only interesting thing about us in your eyes but Please Make An Effort to understand people from ancient cultures and how we don't give a shit about these conquests cause they happened Two Thousand Years Ago, and we had other tragic stuff in the meantime. Thanks

Also, as I said, these conquests are not why Greek myths are popular today. The conquests were so incredibly old that the average person in these countries (Balkans, the Mediterranean, West Asia) - and Greece - had no idea who built the ancient ruins they saw around! Does this person think Greek myths were handed down from Moroccan grandma to Moroccan grandchild from 300 BCE to 2024 continuously or something?

Greek myths are very popular in most parts of the world today because the West (meaning not Greece, especially at the time when we were "cattle") popularized them non-stop the last few centuries. And they did a shitty job, at that. In fact, Greeks abroad have been cringing about this treatment of our myths since the 15th century but, as usual, we were not being heard.

And what does "global culture" even mean?? As if you see any culture to how the US (because OP focuses on the US and the retellings there, from the looks of it) interacts with our stories. As if they care about the meaning of the story. (There are a few notable exceptions ofc but they remain FEW) People with such arguments just want to feel guilt-free when using our myths out of context. That's why Western academic cycles often run in circles about "what the myths mean" while Greeks have told you exactly what they mean.

The US audience is still not free of the coloniser WASP approach. They see our myths STILL as a product of modern White Supremacy instead of an ancient Greek product, and they often condemn the myths and "better" them by completely pushing them into USian lens to the point they don't look or feel like the original myths anymore. (All the above you don't dare to do with cultural stories and figures from nations you want to respect, by the way.) Is this the cultural "exchange" they're talking about?

I'm done hearing in the international spaces that my culture is "boring" because USians have seen horrible adaptation after horrible adaptation. I'm tired of USians making wild assumptions about how "horrible" our gods are because whoever told them the myths didn't give a simple explanation about our ancient societies. (Don't start crap about accessibility, there are very accessible ways to talk to kids, teens, and adults about other cultures and teach them age-appropriate tales) I'm tired of my heritage being commercialized to that degree. All Greeks roll their eyes in USAmerican movies about our culture and we call them Amerikaniés. And don't worry, I'm getting to the real stuff.

How our ancient culture is treated and how we are sidelined has real consequences on our lives abroad AND inside our culture, on how we are perceived, on how our surnames are perceived, on how we "don't look like Greeks", on how our Greek myth retellings don't get published abroad! They speak in front of us about our own words as if they are magical and mythical and strange! The opinions and perspectives of Greeks are not sought abroad, and you are a masterclass on why this happens. We make y'all uncomfortable. You feel better if you forget about us.

Another exhibit: All the hurtful comments of foreigners who centered the HUGE milestone of same-sex marriage in Greece because all they could imagine - while queer Greeks suffered a lot these last few months - was their wedding in Gay Mykonos and Lesbian Lesbos. This was their first reaction. They didn't possibly think that Greeks were seeing that because we are far away and irrelevant, right?

Obviously culture-mixing is not bad but the West didn't mix our culture with theirs. They just took it for entertainment and their popular culture never saw the depth or the meaning of it. OP speaks about how our stories were spread while actively avoiding speaking in depth about the problematic elements of that spread. They recognize to a small degree how Greeks feel about the matter but they dismiss most of our concerns in such a nonchalant way that all that comes to my mind is "privilege".

And speaking of power… Greeks have less systemic power than the countries of the West. We are the US' puppet, are you kidding me?? Our armies get deployed wherever the US wants. Our politicians don't even fart without a telephone from the US. We are the whores of the German, Belgian and French governments. Greeks abroad still face discrimination for their customs and how they look, and how their food smells, and how our religion is and how our hymns sound, and other ridiculous stuff. Our infrastructure is slowly being bought out by Germans and USians to various degrees. There are different scales to exploitation and bigotry, I agree, but that doesn't mean that only the roughest bigotry cases are worth discussing.

"We could also talk about the additional level of exploitation in how imperial powers used Greek mythology as an argument for the "superiority of the West," while at the same time plundering Greece's resources and treating it like it exists only as a tourist site" They are SO close to getting it, and yet their post says otherwise.

Fetishism of a culture makes the members of the actual culture feel alienated and hurt. As a person of Italian ancestry you should know how this specific "global culture" argument has been used to strip Greeks and Italians of any claims, so the "dirty Greeks" can be separated from the "pure WASP" USian upper class of the time who deemed themselves more suitable to engage with the material.

"Greeks spreading their culture through military force all over (eventually) most of Europe" what the hell?? Sorry, guys, (side-eyes the other Greeks) we conquered Romania??? wow!

Plus, this person doesn't know the difference between the Greek colonisation of Italy and Sicily and the recent European colonisation, and - to say it very politely - they should open a book.

By The Way

You can still interact with the Greek culture without having a colonial attitude! Nobody is barring you! I want to make this abundantly clear!

Most importantly, you don't have to make arguments for "global culture" when it's simple to place the myths inside their original context while interacting with them! You just have to read a bit more books that are on the internet and your library for free! Recognising that a foreign culture is not yours, and that you engage with it because it's just popular, doesn't stop anyone from interacting with it. You simply refuse to interact with them at the proper, deeper level, because you always want to center them around yourself. You want to interact with foreign stories just how the colonisers did it. Congrats.

I'm talking about the majority of cases. Of course people in the US can take all sorts of inspiration from foreign myths and adapt them to their reality. And it's a good result when they're being respectful and have studied the stories beforehand.

All we ask is to engage with the material in context so you can understand what our ancestors wanted to express. If your only view of Greek myths has come from other Americans and NW Europeans then you see them through coloniser lens. That's non-negotiable. I had people from other countries recite to me USAmerican viewpoints about the Greek gods, as if they were fact. Cause it's the only exposure that's happening worldwide right now.

You can interact with Greco-Roman myths whether Greece and Rome touched your country or not, we don't care. But please don't get your source from the pop US culture. These people think that it makes sense for nymphs to look like trees (that's an Anglo-Saxon and Celtic nature creature depiction. Ancient Greece was very anthropomorphic). It's not a crime if you change some stuff in a retelling but why willingly ignore the original depictions and what they have to show you for the ancient people who created them?

Pfff... Thank you anon for bringing this trash to me. I needed to - metaphorically - throw something in the trash. It took me a few hours to answer this but well... I do write a lot and this post was full of shit I had to shovel.

#answered #xenoi doing bs #uscentrism #representation #appropriation #greek myth #greek mythology

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thefirstempress · 5 months

Text

Appendix B: the Tollesian Pantheon

As an additional aid for readers of The First Empress, I typed up a short who's who of the deities mentioned in the story. None of the gods actually show up in the story, and I basically leave it up to readers whether or not said gods actually even exist. Thematically, I want the Tollesian gods to have a similar feel to the Greek Pantheon, without directly copying them straight across.

The Tollesian Pantheon: A Brief Who’s Who Among the First-Generation Tollesian Gods —By Zahnia, the Chronicler

The Tollesian Pantheon (known as the Vestic gods among many non-Tollesian theologians) refers to all of the gods worshiped by the Tollesian-speaking peoples. Like many pantheons, the hierarchy of the Tollesian gods consists of one or more Elder Gods or Titans who created the first generation of offspring gods, who in turn reproduced to create minor gods, demigods, and mortal heroes of divine parentage.

Like many creation stories, Tollesian folklore personifies the Sun as the ever-watchful father of his children here on Mother Earth. The first generation gods, or Titans, are children of the Sun and Earth, who are responsible for the caretaking of the planet and the wellbeing of her inhabitants. And though this volume focuses primarily on Arr and his better-known descendants, modern theologians and classicists estimate as many as five-hundred and seventy deities were worshiped over the course of the Classical-era, with dozens of gods and goddesses falling into and out of obscurity during that seven-hundred-year period. Tollesian legends also mention at least thirty Titans aside from Arr, as well as countless demigods and goddesses. Not to mention giants, monsters, muses, nymphs, wraiths, angels, demons, and even spirits of personified concepts, any of which may or may not also be demi-deities.

Arr God of fate, time, destiny, Tollesianism, judgment, heaven, loyalty, fidelity Patron cities: Aneth, Arr Patuna Symbols: clouds, sundials, scales, dogs, full circles

Arr is the father of the first generation of Tollesian gods and one of few remaining Titans not imprisoned in the Underworld. Having been betrayed by his fellow Titans and forced to imprison many of them during what Tollesian theologians call the Great Division, Arr is inherently mistrustful of deities outside his family and is even more mistrustful of foreigners who follow non-Tollesian gods. Arr is most popular among the more isolationist city-states upon the Vestic Sea. Non-Tollesian theologians often suggest that Arr’s judgmental attitude toward xenoi was the religious and thereby cultural cause of many Classical-Era Tollesians’ mistrust of foreigners and foreign gods.

Thanusa Goddess of death, rebirth, fertility, mortality, the cycle of life and death Patron Cities: Pultus, Tiphilia Symbols: rabbits, flowers, beehives, eggs, vulvas, skulls, the Phoenix

Thanusa is Arr’s wife, fellow Titan and mother of the first generation of Tollesian gods. It’s not ucommon for modern historians and worshippers to misunderstand Thanusa’s role as goddess of death in Classical Tollesian theology. Earlier portrayals depicted her as a guide or guardian ensuring that souls of those who’ve died find their way to the afterlife. Around the 320s AE the first tragedies and satires came out featuring Thanusa as a callow, unfeeling villainess who cut off lifelines of those whose time had come[1]. The worst offender was whichever playwright invented that trope where the hero or heroine saves their dying loved one by interrupting Thanusa before she can cut their lifeline. Discerning whether someone knows this is a popular method among modern classicists of sorting out the semi-educated.

AndivaGoddess of justice, order, law, civilization, expansion, spread of Tollesian culture Patron cities: Andivel, Vislow, Chyllar Symbols: scales, columns, owls

Andiva is the first-born of Arr and champion of the expansion of Tollesian culture into other lands. As such, she is most popular among major cities which border on barbaroi lands. Like her father, Arr, Andiva is mistrusting of foreign gods, but unlike him encourages nonbelievers to convert to Tollesian religion, thought, and culture.

Zupor God of strife, war, destruction, warriors, physical strength, martial prowess Patron cities: Pellastor, Ryllar, Partha Symbols: spear and shield, hoplite helm, fire

Zupor is known across the Vestic Sea as the god of war and strife, and is the second of Arr’s children. Poleis which follow Zupor most closely tend to have a strong warrior caste—or at least place a special emphasis on having a well-trained force of hoplite elite.

Nyrus God of the sea, sailors, overseas trade, storms, tides, male bisexuality Patron cities: Illarra, Fildor, Tutna Symbols: orcas, waves, tempest, sailing ships

As god of the sea, Nyrus is among the more popular patron gods among costal and island poleis. Third of Arr’s children, Nyrus is also father or grandfather of the Nereids, sea nymphs equally famous for saving or drowning Tollesian sailors.

Cibades God of agriculture, farmers, planting, harvest, wine, brewing, vineyards, fertility Patron cities: Clenia, Mertal, Vindel Symbols: plow, wheat, goblet, grapes, scythe, sickle

God of wine and wheat, Cibades is fourth of Arr’s children, and patron god of polies famous for their wine or beer production and to a lesser degree of breadbasket poleis.

Kralor God of knowledge, learning, wisdom, teachers, students, critical thinking, literacy, writing, science, art, philosophy, music Patron cities: Ovec, Thornic Symbols: scroll, book, abacus, lyre, drum, quill

Though not always most cunning of the gods, Kralor is by far the most learned. Father of the Muses. In the Tollesian tradition of wholeness of body and mind, Kralor is frequently depicted as a warrior-philosopher or scholarly wrestler.

Ido and Iva God and goddess of love, romance, sexuality, fertility, marriage Patron cities: none Symbols: the heart, the lovers, roses, rabbits

Ido and Iva are twin god and goddess of love and romance. While Ido and Iva have no patron cities as such, their clerics and priests are frequently called upon during marriages and rites of fertility in towns and cities across the Vestic Sea.

Ferra Goddess of medicine, healing, physicians, health, sanitation, fertility, wholeness of body and mind, female bisexuality, same-sex marriage Patron cities: Kel Fimmaril, Noro, Ferra Arte Symbols: the serpent, burning incense, mortar and pestle, leaves and herbs, midwives

Ferra is the goddess of health and medicine and was particularly popular among smaller city-states such as Noro and Kel Fimmaril. As a goddess of fertility, theatre frequently portrays Ferra as somewhat overly prolific—sluttish, really—giving birth to nearly half of the second generation of gods, goddesses, and demigods. According to legend, however, Ferra would later marry and forsake all other lovers for her younger sister Avilee.

Suvie Deity of the wilderness, mountains, forests, jungle, hunting and trapping, natural selection, gender queerness, gender nonconformity Patron cities: Gillespar, Hastia Symbols: mountains, trees, bows and arrows

Hermaphrodite deity of the forests, variously portrayed as either a beautiful, bow-toting goddess of the hunt or as a virile, spear-wielding warden of the forests. Additionally, Suvie is the parent and guardian of such forest spirits as wisps, fey, Dryads, Naiads, and fauns.

Avilee Winged goddess of protection, defense, common soldiers, fallen soldiers, bereft mothers and widows, war orphans, battlefield medicine Patron cites: Voris, Ortenia, Aula Symbols: spear, javelin, guard dogs, shepherd’s crook, hoplite armor

Wife of Ferra and youngest of Arr’s children, Avilee is also humblest, most caring, and most protective among the Tollesian pantheon. As such, she is also most beloved among her siblings, often acting as a mediator between her more quarrelsome kindred. Early in life, upon seeing the grief and destruction caused by her brother Zupor’s war and strife, Avilee took it upon herself to protect the common soldiers and care for the victims of war, be they fallen soldiers or bereft families. She is generally depicted with great, hawk-like wings and full hoplite panoply, wielding a spear and shield or bow and arrows.

Second-Generation Tollesian Gods

Vepu God of the afterlife and the Underworld Patron Cities: Tanythe, Zunia Symbols: skulls, bones, ashes, urns

Vepu was a mortal king who so impressed Thanusa with his management skills that she elevated him to godhood to rule and organize the Underworld and its afterlife.

Arrolus God of naval warfare, warships, marines Patron Cities: Descal, Tarsa Symbols: war galley

Arrolus is the son of the war-god Zupor and a Nereid huntress named Gale.

Orova Goddess of night, shadows, trickery Patron Cites: None Symbols: bats, wraiths, shadows, blackness, the moons

Orova is the best-known Tollesian trickster goddess, a daughter of Ferra and an unknown Titan. Her favored ally is a wraith named Anache. Not necessarily evil, Orova is the most chaotic and capricious of the Tollesian gods.

Pharesthus God of smithing, mining, iron and bronze Patron Cites: Velia Cestini Symbols: hammers, ingots, anvils, forges

Pharesthus is the son of Ferra and an ancient giant named Sherto.

Clanti Goddess of merchants and trade Patron Cities: Vislow, Ortenia, Lecne Symbols: coins, purses, scales, trading galleys

Clanti is the oldest daughter of Ferra and Nyrus as well as twin sister of the god Curé. Satirically speaking, she was considered the second-most-important god of the Illaran Confederation.

Curé God of bandits, pirates, burglars, and thieves Patron Cities: Illarra, Adis Symbols: daggers, slings, raiding galleys, purse-cutters

Curé is the son of Ferra and Nyrus and twin brother to Clanti. Both satirically and literally, he was regarded as the most important god of the Illaran Confederation.

Axu God of gender assignment and gender presentation Patron Cities: none Symbols: none

Daughter of Suvie and Ferra, Axu’s primary duty is assigning humans their gender at either at birth or conception, depending on the particular theologian.

[1] Truly, the quickest way for an author or playwright to kill my interest in their work is to portray Thanusa as a villainess. This was a character who felt deeply for those who’d died—especially those who died unjustly—and whose ancient stage-masks nearly always portrayed her weeping. Portraying her as a murderess remains one of the worst character-assassinations in the history of Tollesian literature and theatre.

#first empress #my novel #my writing #excerpts #appendices

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