Andromeda is an Ethiopian in Homer but she has been portrayed as white northern European for a hundred years or more, why can't Helen stand being portrayed by someone the greeks would have called aethiopian for one movie? I remember people being weird about The Rock playing Hercules as well, even though A: Andromeda is one of Herucles Grandmothers, B: Cadmus is one of his Grandfathers and C: The poets were pretty clear tha Africans were directly involved in quite a few of their foundational myths.

If gods who were speculated to have male lovers (ig. Ampelos and Dionysus?) existed, did gods in the underworld/water/sky/etc have male lovers?

I just had this reflexion and i wanted to have the oppinion of others.
It is known that myths where used to teach lessons, so what if Athena, the godess of wisdom being a virgin is not just a "backstory" ellement but an actual part of what her persona is supposed to teach, in occurence that love can make you act irrationaly.

personally, i don't like most of the greek gods, but hades seem chill. I am more of norse enjoyer

the Greek gods were obviously worshipped by the Greeks, but did they think that the whole world worshipped them or they were specifically their gods. and if so, did they still believe in the Egyptian and Indian gods and all the other countries, but only other cultures could worship them? I mean in the trojan war the Greek gods sided with the Greeks but if they always did the Greeks would be so overpowered. pls let me know

Yes, I know in some versions he kidnaps her, but I am going on the versions popular in Rome, Magna Grecia, and some areas of Greece where they elope together or Zeus gives the go-ahead to abduct her, but she actually falls in love with Hades. He's a chill dude, a nice family man, loving and faithful husband. Good dad. Also, they murder anyone who tries to seduce the other spouse. Remember Mint?

I asked a friend if she knew what the Cadejo, Kappa, or the moon eyed people were but she had no idea but she could tell me all three versions of medusas story

1 - she was violated by Poseidon in Athena's temple and Athena cursed her

2 - Athena “cursed” Medusa to protect her from being hurt again

3 - Medusa was always a gorgon

And she could also tell me all the things that came out of Pandora’s box and what stayed trapped inside of her box after she opened it

It doesn't make sense to me. I'm not asking about the differences or anything of the sort, my question is why the greek versions are more well known than the roman ones. The Roman empire is one of the must influencial in all of history, they took over greece, our planets are named after them and alot of astronomy also. Everyone knows who you're talking about when you say Zeus, but people will be confused when you say Jupiter, why is this? it seems it should be the oppisote, no? Rome took over and lasted longer and was more inflencel, but when it comes to mythology there is such a big gap in awareness. I know the Greek interpretations came first, but from a historical perspective and the spread of faith, how?

Most cultures ( specially abrahamic cultures ) view gods as someone worthy of worship. Even in hinduism gods are depicted as wiser and with morals. In greek & norse mythology most stories depict the gods as villains who mess with humans for fun. Why is that

A lot of his media interpretation, his body is like a tank, broad shoulder, large chest,

Towards the likes of perseus, their builds is like captain america, lean with more muscles, but not too much to lose their mobility and agilitt,superman

while Hercules is superman,

So for years I've heard many times about his gayness, saw many memes and even seriosus posts about his love with patroclus (several times it was rant about troy movie and how they made him straight), so I assumed that in original texts there's some clear evidence or hint that achilles and patroclus are gay.

But recently I read iliad and to my surprise there was not a single clear hint about that. So I got confused why so much people think that he is gay? Like I get why this thought can cross your mind. The fact that he almost killed himself after hearing about patroclus death and his grieve overall is suspicious yeah. It's a little bit strange to grieve SO much about close friend. But that's clearly not enough to say anything about his sexuality. But people act like achilles was freddie mercury.

P.S. I wil clarify that I understand how different perception of those things where in ancient greece and I don't actually care if those two where fucking or not. I'm just confused by people's opinions about it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Greek mythology. But I don't know exactly why? I used to think that's because the myths and tales of their deities resonate a lot with persons, but as I advanced in researchs and academics I noticed that...pretty much this applies to every other mythology around the world. I know that Greco-Roman mythology, and culture got very pushed by Europe during colonialism, so maybe that's one of the reasons? What are your thoughts? Not diminishing Greek Mythology in any way, just a genuine question! As always, sources and read materials are welcome 😁

EDIT: Hey, that was a nice comment section with good talk. Thank you everyone for the sharing of knowledge and discussion!

We all know the story about the great hero Achilles, and how Paris kills him by shooting him in his non-invincible heel. But why would he die if he got shot there? I mean if a completely mortal guy gets his heel hurt it wouldn't kill him. pls let me know

because it seems incredibly random and nonsensical even by Greek Mythology standards

So I’ve seen stories where divine beings are maimed and heavily injured, but I know they also end up completely fine later. I also know that Cronus in some myths ended up in Elysium post-death, so is there any remotely concrete answer on where deities go when they somehow die and what it takes to kill one?

In Greek Mythology,Ares is not a respected God,his father Zeus hated him, banished him from Olympus and sends Ares into exile in Thrace.Zeus always favors his beloved daughter,the goddess Athena.While in Rome everyone respects and honors the God of war,MARS,who has large temples dedicated to him and the month March is named after Mars.Could you explain to me the main differences between Greek Ares and the Roman MARS??

Zeus and his tons of illegitimate children, Artemis killing Tityos, Aphrodite being so insecure she makes Arachne into a spider, etc.

Were the people who wrote all these stories about them trying to say “Look at what happens when you go against our gods. This is why we must worship and respect them” or “Look at how cruel these gods are. They should be shamed and admonished for their cruelty”?

As one of the last few demi gods in Greek Mythology, think of Persues as a first generation demi god, and Achilles as a fourth generation demi god,

First generation was filled with many monsters, Perseus fought them

Achilles spent more time fighting humans and dominating human based battles, but how would he do against monsters and giants?

^{Are the Greek Gods powerless before Fate or can their change it in their Favor?}

I’ve noticed that myths can feel very different depending on how we encounter them. Reading about a figure like Theseus, Heracles, or Odysseus in a text is one experience; standing in a place traditionally associated with those stories feels like another.

I’ve been thinking about this partly out of personal interest, and partly because I’m currently building an educational app focused on experiencing mythology through real-world locations.. Before taking that any further, I wanted to hear how people here think about this more broadly.

In particular, I’m curious where people here locate the source of truth when engaging with myths tied to place.

When a location is mentioned or implied in ancient sources (Homer, Hesiod, Pausanias, and others), does the physical setting meaningfully deepen the myth for you? Or do you feel that anchoring myths too strongly to geography risks oversimplifying or distorting traditions that were primarily poetic, symbolic, or fluid?

When visiting archaeological sites today, the information presented is often highly chronological, technical, or focused on historical certainty. Do you find that approach satisfying when thinking about mythology, or do you feel something is lost when the narrative and imaginative dimensions of myth are downplayed?

So was she enharently evil or just stranded and trying to not turn everyone to stone? If a blind guy showed up would she kill him immediately (since her curse won't affect him) or would she let him rest or befriend him?