Me: *writes 4,000 words on Sappho, the badass poet from Lesbos, the origin of the word lesbian; teaches 10s of 1000s of listeners how cool she was and where the word comes from in a tight 30 min*
Strangers on the internet: LesBoS iS a sLuR
We talking about Medusa again?
Your periodic reminder that she is wildly complex character but she was *absolutely* 1) a survivor of sexual assault and 2) undeserving of her ultimate fate
The way this has turned into assumptions that I or the person who messaged me are American based on zero evidence (I am not, for the record, and that’s in my bio) is truly bizarre.
TikTok just showed me a news story where two little girls went missing in the woods and their dog named ARTEMIS protected them until they were found.
Artemis. Protected young girls. In the wilderness.
Here’s the thing we should all remember:
Transphobia isn’t a difference of opinion, or politics, it’s life and death. It’s a fucking deal breaker. There’s no middle ground or agree to disagree.
This is way too late but I do want to make clear that this person was not a listener of my podcast. They found me, scrolled through a list of episode titles, and then sent me this message. It was 6:30am when I read it and posted the screenshot and all I could think of was Lesbos.
Went to the Greek exhibit at the Australian National Museum and I cannot get over this tote bag in the gift shop 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@mythsbaby
@AncientHistFan
I think you guys just might get a kick out of it too
Most authors make shit money (I doubt I’ll ever see actual royalties), don’t steal books!
Better option? Appeal to the author! They could send you a copy! Messaging them asking how best to PIRATE (aka STEAL) the book they spent so much time and effort on is real dick move.
@Kyatic
My grandmother was adopted and spent much of her adult life wondering if the single aunt who she often visited as a kid and who spoiled her was, well, not her adoptive aunt.
Honestly the way those little three dots appeared and then disappeared and appeared and disappeared after this...
Maybe especially don’t ask a podcaster you’re a big fan of how to steal her book?
Yes a single tweet has me thinking about Medusa because I’m in Greece, dammit. Anywhere here’s the most intricate tattoo I’ve ever gotten. For my best girl.
*UPDATE* the person was very nice after being told about the island that is not a slur but etymology. They did not, however, acknowledge how utterly absurd it was for them to message me this in the first place 🙄
Anyway listen to my episode on Sappho:
People really say the quiet part out loud when they suggest that the UK, a country which had how many leaders last year? Plus a crumbling monarchy embroiled in scandal… is somehow inherently more stable than Greece and thus deserves to keep stolen artifacts. Get over yourselves.
@HonAhmedHussen
Hey remember when Canada cut funding to the UNRWA despite admitting they hadn’t seen evidence for Israel’s claims? I think fixing that colossal mistake might be a good step towards us being not quite so responsible for the mass deaths of innocent people and children.
A guy I went to high school with won a couple Olympic medals a decade ago and now his local business uses that as marketing. The fields aren’t remotely related and it makes me laugh every time I see his ads.
I can now announce The Thing: Nectar of the Gods is about the nerdiest cocktail book ever imagined. Also probably the bloodiest... Preorder now: or wherever you get your books (yes! Worldwide!)
News flash: the Iliad as we have it, *in the Ancient Greek* is still a text that is separate from its original context. It is and has always existed as an interpretation of something that we will never be able to access. Accessible translation is good, actually.
@flaroh
😂 oh no, “if you are then I’m completely okay with you using it...”
So if I were a lesbian I would have their personal permission, so that’s nice
I will cherish him forever 🦔
(replica of one of the most incredible pieces of ART, TRUE ART in Athens’ Archaeological Museum… the Early Bronze Age hedgehog 🥰)
I sometimes wonder if perhaps Knossos was started by a woman swept out to sea on the back of a bull/god. It’s not completely out of the question.
At some point in antiquity, a bull/god (ridden by a very competent woman) landed on the coast of Crete. Where did they come from?
My favourite thing about Greece is just the way their mythology exists in everything… just saw a bag of cement called Heracles, because of course it is.
I virtually “adopted” a cat in Athens last year whose name is Bagel (I contribute monthly to the group that feeds/TNRs cats in the, funny enough, Thissio, area). And next week I get to meet him in the wilds! He’s always got a ‘tude in his pics and I can’t wait.
I’ve not even read Wilson’s Iliad yet, I make no judgment on the translation itself, but I will defend her right to translate it with an attempt to mitigate misogyny to within an inch of my fucking life.
Do you think people got angry when children’s versions of the Iliad got published? Illustrated? What about graphic novels?
Or… is there something about Emily Wilson’s that makes people more angry than is justifiable? Hmm… wonder what it could be? 🤔
I don’t want to leave Greece but I do want to go back to a life where I don’t get 2-3 super itchy bug bits per day. Upside: today I met this precious boy in a tiny mountain town
Theseus was a TERRIBLE PERSON.
He was a TYRANT. He betrayed every ideal he ever claimed to stand for. He was a shameless pathological liar who killed millions of people for his own insatiable vanity. He is literally one of the worst people in history.
Alright nerds, this is a big day! I spoke with Rachel Smythe /
@used_bandaid
all about
#LoreOlympus
. We talked about the series, Greek myth generally, troublesome sources, and so much more! Listen here:
Coming soon…
In January I will be (finally) covering the story of Atl*ntis in the way it deserves/should be told. (Yes, I’m already trying to avoid Those People.) Special thanks to the magnificent and brilliant
@SaraRichard
for “Face Palm Plato”. More info soon.
I’m looking at the final pages of Nectar of the Gods and… oh it’s just so fun. And silly. And
@SaraRichard
’s art is fucking fantastic.
Pre-order wherever you get books! … if this tweet gets 500 likes I’ll finally share my fave cocktail!! 🥰🍸🩸
I bought a decadent peacock covered robe for this trip and now I’m wearing it while drinking coffee on my Acropolis-facing rooftop and writing my novel. Life goals being accomplished 😍🦚🏛
Getting vaccinated is NOT a license to convince a woman to help you kill her brother with the promise of a better life. NOT EVEN if her brother is a horrifying half monster. It is NEVER okay to abandon a woman on an island because you got bored.
On Monday night I had to say goodbye to the cat I’ve had since I was 18. I spent 16 years with him, mostly just the two of us, save a handful of roommates. I quite literally don’t know how to live without him, I feel like I’m drowning. Or like it’s some horrible mistake or dream.
Did I ever tell you all that my little book of Greek myths has sold over 50,000 copies? Feels like I should say that before this app is gone. If you bought it, thanks, that number is seriously cool.
The idea that someone can be called out for serially abusive behaviour and just delete Twitter and lay low for awhile before picking back up as if nothing ever happened and without even a semblance of apology should be surprising but then cishet white men exist so here we are.
Someone *really* just DM’d me to say that they really love the show and are sad to give it up but, alas, they have to, because I shit talked J*rdan P*terson and anyone who gives him a platform or legitimacy.
Cry me a river and don’t let the podcast app hit you on the way out 😘
Ancient sources are wild because one random dude writing hundreds and hundreds after a fictional war fictionally took place can just, pick a day and year for the war and then 2000 years later people get to say things like “on this day in 1184 BC…”
I don’t know how or why this is controversial but I don’t think tens of thousands of children should die, no matter what is or is not going on around them, tunnels or otherwise. I kind of thought we as humans agreed on that, but I guess I’m wrong. I feel like I’m losing my mind.
Very pro-Perseus take I see.
Even if we don’t go with Ovid’s Medusa, this is a bummer of a description of the fate of a famous and important Gorgon.
In this house we know Medusa was defending herself 🤷♀️
Perseus was one of the greatest and oldest pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. He famously slew the dreaded Gorgon Medusa whose gaze could turn men to stone, an exploit he swiftly followed up with the daring rescue of the princess Andromeda.
The oldest extant version of Medusa’s myth
▶🔘──────── 00:10
Men explaining the “Original” myth of Medusa and why it means her death was necessary and required for “balance”
▶🔘──────── 4:52:33
HE’S HOME! My sister found him with the help of a neighbour. As predicted he was unconcerned with how long he’d been away and didn’t think anything of being locations after five days missing. But he’s home and now I can breathe.
My cat got out of my sister’s place in Victoria. (He’s an adventurous jerk who snuck out despite many barriers). If I have any followers around Gordon Head/Mount Doug, please keep an eye out for this handsome tuxedo cat who is probably having the time of his life while we stress.
I made an Instagram reel about the pyramids not being built by enslaved people and like… why does everyone just want to believe there were enslaved people working on it? It’s bizarre how many people are twisting things to suggest I’m wrong or not telling the whole truth.
Really bizarre number of people out there who listen to a free podcast and still think “hmm... pretty annoyed this podcast had to the audacity to interrupt their free product with a single ad break”
People really trying to explain Ovid to me.
Yes, I am aware of when he was alive. I am aware he was a Roman. I assure you I haven’t made a very successful career out of this topic without understanding basic history and how time functions.
Today you can officially find Nectar of the Gods wherever you get your books! It looks like it’s coming in May to the UK, etc., but North America’s got it now and everywhere (everywhere!) can preorder!
@britishmuseum
You stole someone’s work, you can’t pretend you didn’t, and then you handled it horribly. We all watched. Everyone involved should be embarrassed.
Abortions are important.
I don’t want children. Ever. It took until my 30s for people to stop saying I’d change my mind. It’s a huge part of who I am & having that decision taken away from me would fundamentally change me as a person. Pregnancy would break me, let alone a child.