The Godyssey Podcast

Hoocoodanode?!

Anastasia Beltyukova's depiction of Shamhat leading a now-clothed and somewhat forlorned-looking Enkidu from the wilds into the city of Uruk. The style is somewhat abstract, with the two humanoid characters rendered cartoonishly.

When the gods made Enkidu, they forgot to instill in him the instinct for civilization, making him no better than a Beast! It took love from the Beauty Shamhat, priestess of civilized Inanna, to tame him: but Enkidu lost his animal brethren. #FairytaleTuesday

🖼️: A. Beltyukova

A. Bellucci's depiction of Psyche shining a light upon her husband, who lies naked and asleep in bed, his wings unfurled, and finding him quite beautiful.

Many folklorists point to the key episode of Cupid and Psyche as the inspiration of Beauty and the Beast: Psyche has married a man but never sees his face; her sisters say he is a hideous monster. She cannot help herself: she must look! #FairyTaleTuesday

🖼: A. Bellucci

An Indian depiction of a young woman in red holding a fruit and a snake, with another snake slithering inside of a tree and a storm above them raining down.

In India's Panchatantra, a girl named Bimbala Das married a black snake by the name of Debo, keeping him fed and happy in their relationship, and in kind also married the snake god, an avatar of Shiva, in an Indian variation of Beauty and the Beast. #FairytaleTuesday

Turf farms in Iceland, famous for their traditional architecture, here seen with a woman in premodern attire.

Elves sometimes need songs to wake them in summer according to premodern Icelandic tradition, and it must be women to sing it, coaxing them and their desires. Without elves, nothing will grow, so women sowing seeds sing to coax the elves to fertility. #MythologyMonday

I like how this describes both Daylight Savings Time and also everything about America.

I want to expand this a wee bit by saying that some women specifically prefer proximity to power (whiteness) and to be “chosen” (‘pick mes’ are DANGEROUS) by men than to work on themselves and dismantle internalized misogyny.

They will act as safe spaces but they are not to women like me.

Two rabbits in an autumn grove; artist unknown.

In Appalachian folk thought, rabbits should not be killed until the first few frosts of autumn set in. This is largely practical: it guarantees any pests on the rabbit have died off, making them safe for consumption. #FolkloreSunday

The train window is one of the best cinema screens It forces us to stitch together narratives from the briefest glimpse. In a blurred moment whole stories race into us. We see a track and know it is older than the line we travel. We see a track and all of its treading ghosts wave to us. – #DAKilroy

Oiwa, appearing in a lantern. Her green fire is melting the lantern from the inside out, and Oiwa, the right side of her face centered on her eye showing a horrific wound, is screaming, holding what looks like a baby as she emerges into the otherwise picturesque ukiyo-e night, in art by Matthew Meyer.

The weeping ghost of Oiwa originally hunted her husband, who disfigured her and had her killed so he could marry another. Everywhere he looked as he fled his crime, her weeping face was there: and so he slew the innocent to flee her until he went mad #PhantomsFriday

🖼: M Meyer

Among sleeping men and women, a man awakes in terror to see a black-shrouded figure squatting on his body.

'Night' by Ferdinand Hodler, 1890. A splendid representation of night terror or perhaps something more sinister. There's nothing sexual here, but you can see a lady's bottom, which is presumably why it's been marked adult content. Ludicrous but I'm posting anyway.
#PhantomsFriday #Symbolism #artsky

Y'all. Y'ALL. This looks devastating in the best way.

The carved handwriting, like using a #calligraphy pen specifically for stone 'paper' 🤩❤️

A depiction of the "Qilin" of the Ming court, which is very clearly a giraffe pulled by a zoo keeper with a fantastic mustache. Weirdly the giraffe is wavy, not spotted like we think of with modern giraffes.

Unlike the unicorn, the Qilin is very real: during the Ming Dynasty the explorations of Zheng He and his compatriots brought one back to the Emperor (who was non-plussed) from Africa. To this day the word Qilin/Kirin means giraffe in East Asian languages. #LegendaryWednesday

Graffiti on marble at the Hagia Sofia: Younger Futhark runes are marked in shaky hand on the marble, which likely required a lot of effort, spelling out Halfdan was here.

For centuries they were thought to just be scratches in the marble, perhaps structural damage from earthquakes. In 1964 it was determined these markings weren't random but writing: the Hagia Sophia bears Viking Era graffiti, runes that say "Halfdan was here." #WyrdWednesday

Hanuman praying in a temple in Singapore, his skin blue, his face looking maybe more dog-like than monkey-like.

Devoted to his master Rama, Hanuman is the vanara companion of the hero of the Ramayana and monkey-faced son of the wind god Vayu. Celibate, his lordship of vanara helps to build a land bridge from India to Sri Lanka. #LegendaryWednesday

Graffiti on a desk in the Tower of London, containing many names, dates, and phrases in Latin, French, and English.

When imprisoned, why not pass the time by defacing the property of your captors and likely executioners? That was the thinking for hundreds of prisoners in the Tower of London, who took their time to write their names and in some cases, detailed horoscopes. #WyrdWednesday

Animals Wildlife Vintage animal print by artist Adolphe Millot

This week's theme is exotic wildlife. With your species discovery legends, rainforest anomaly, jungle inhabitants, rejected runts, irregular genetic beast, safarii art, & animalistic deities. Share a #legend #folklore #quote #fairytale #poetry #film #art #mythology 💫 #LegendaryWednesday

Wyrdlings!

Some things are set in stone. Or wood. Or bone. You name it, since this week:

"Carvings, Inscriptions & Writings on the Wall"

is our #WyrdWednesday topic – so, tell us tales of wyrd bas-reliefs, strange runes on artefacts and otherworldy hieroglyphs found in deep dungeons!

In "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" from Japan, a bamboo cutter and his wife raise a baby girl they find in a glowing stalk of bamboo. It's later revealed she's a princess of the moon and must return there. When she dons her celestial robe, her memories of life on earth are erased. #FairyTaleTuesday

We are such a trash civilization

Listen: cancer had it coming.

Dollman's depiction of Sola and Muni fleeing on their chariots across the sky, pursued by ethereal wolves.

Sol and Mani, the Norse sun goddess and moon god, are siblings who ride across the sky each day and night. They flee without end, because they are pursued by the ravenous children of Fenrir. When Ragnarok comes, they will fall first. #FairytaleTuesday

🖼: J.C. Dollman

A depiction of the Roman god Luna holding the alchemical symbol of silver/the moon, standing on a lobster likely representing Cancer.

In Western alchemical color theory, silver represents the full moon, a color of purity and crisp clarity, contrasting the brilliant sun's gold. Despite this its symbol is the crescent, but no one can deny the moon's brilliance in any visible phase. #FairytaleTuesday

Rabbit Mochi, surrounded by seasonal fare from the fall.

The moon is full of rabbits and food: in East Asia, Chang'e's companion the Jade Rabbit makes sweets, such as mochi in Japan; in Mesoamerica, the rabbit was placed in the moon by a thankful Quetzacoatl who drank from the willing rabbit when dying of thirst. #FairytaleTuesday

An ancient Greek depiction of Selene with two winged horses, the moon on her head. The details are somewhat lost to history, the horses' faces obscured.

Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon, the bright vessel at night driven by her steeds. She fell for Endymion, the sleeping King of Elis, who chose to remain beautiful forever, but only if he slept forever. #FairytaleTuesday

Quote from Washington Times editorial board "[Radical liberals] don't realize that, when they express contempt for the man who holds the country's highest office, they reveal their contempt for the Americans who put him there."

Uh no...we definitely realize it.

See also Julie Taylor’s opera: kalaity.com/2006/07/19/g...

A prominent cover of Grendel, showing a furry bear-man screaming at the sky with fangs out. It is very sepia-scale. The words read John Gardner, Grendel. "An extraordinary achievement"-The New York Times

"Poor Grendel's had an accident. So may you all."

Taking Beowulf and flipping the script, this postmodern retelling frames Grendel as a vehicle for viewing society and the meaning of actions from the viewpoint of Grendel himself, an outsider of ethics. #MythologyMonday

The #MythologyMonday theme, since it can't be cross-posted.