Podcasts about Apollodorus

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the Creation myths of ancient Greece. We begin with an exploration of so-called "Old Europe" and a cavalcade of archeological evidence of the Great Mother Goddess religion that prevailed in the Stone Age. From there we follow Author--Robert Graves--as he reconstructs from ancient sources the oldest Creation myths of Greece; following the symbolic breadcrumbs which connect Zeus and the Olympians with the Great Mother Goddess who came before them. This takes us from Homer and the Orphics to the Bible, into Zoroastrianism and Ancient Egyptian myth, then we trip over Homer, Hesiod and Apollodorus and fall squarely into the Aryan migration theory (which we navigate tactfully). And before all is said and done, we pepper in a dash of depth psychology. Enjoy ;)

This episode originally aired March 22, 2022. Atalanta: the heroine of ancient Greece. Or, was it heroines? There are two Atalantas, sometimes conflated into one, other times separate. One fought the Calydonian boar, wrestled Peleus, and generally kicked ass. The other lost a foot race, distracted by a golden apple. CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing. Sources: Theoi.com entry on Atalanta, including Aelian, Apollodorus, Apollonios, and others; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz. Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Episode 247 of Lucretius Today. This is a podcast dedicated to the poet Lucretius, who wrote "On The Nature of Things," the most complete presentation of Epicurean philosophy left to us from the ancient world.Each week we walk you through the Epicurean texts, and we discuss how Epicurean philosophy can apply to you today. If you find the Epicurean worldview attractive, we invite you to join us in the study of Epicurus at EpicureanFriends.com, where we have a thread to discuss this and all of our podcast episodes.Today we are continuing to review Cicero's "On the Nature of The Gods," which began with the Epicurean spokesman Velleius defending the Epicurean point of view. This week will continue into Section 32 as Cotta, the Academic Skeptic, continues to insist that gods are supernatural and not at all similar to humans. XXXII. ...Nor can I conceive why Epicurus should rather say the Gods are like men than that men are like the Gods. You ask what is the difference; for, say you, if this is like that, that is like this. I grant it; but this I assert, that the Gods could not take their form from men; for the Gods always existed, and never had a beginning, if they are to exist eternally; but men had a beginning: therefore that form, of which the immortal Gods are, must have had existence before mankind; consequently, the Gods should not be said to be of human form, but our form should be called divine. However, let this be as you will. I now inquire how this extraordinary good fortune came about; for you deny that reason had any share in the formation of things. But still, what was this extraordinary fortune? Whence proceeded that happy concourse of atoms which gave so sudden a rise to men in the form of Gods? Are we to suppose the divine seed fell from heaven upon earth, and that men sprung up in the likeness of their celestial sires? I wish you would assert it; for I should not be unwilling to acknowledge my relation to the Gods. But you say nothing like it; no, our resemblance to the Gods, it seems, was by chance. Must I now seek for arguments to refute this doctrine seriously? I wish I could as easily discover what is true as I can overthrow what is false.XXXIII. You have enumerated with so ready a memory, and so copiously, the opinions of philosophers, from Thales the Milesian, concerning the nature of the Gods, that I am surprised to see so much learning in a Roman. But do you think they were all madmen who thought that a Deity could by some possibility exist without hands and feet?Does not even this consideration have weight with you when you consider what is the use and advantage of limbs in men, and lead you to admit that the Gods have no need of them? What necessity can there be of feet, without walking; or of hands, if there is nothing to be grasped? The same may be asked of the other parts of the body, in which nothing is vain, nothing useless, nothing superfluous; therefore we may infer that no art can imitate the skill of nature. Shall the Deity, then, have a tongue, and not speak—teeth, palate, and jaws, though he will have no use for them? Shall the members which nature has given to the body for the sake of generation be useless to the Deity? Nor would the internal parts be less superfluous than the external. What comeliness is there in the heart, the lungs, the liver, and the rest of them, abstracted from their use? I mention these because you place them in the Deity on account of the beauty of the human form.Depending on these dreams, not only Epicurus, Metrodorus, and Hermachus declaimed against Pythagoras, Plato, and Empedocles, but that little harlot Leontium presumed to write against Theophrastus: indeed, she had a neat Attic style; but yet, to think of her arguing against Theophrastus! So much did the garden of Epicurus abound with these liberties, and, indeed, you are always complaining against them. Zeno wrangled. Why need I mention Albutius? Nothing could be more elegant or humane than Phædrus; yet a sharp expression would disgust the old man. Epicurus treated Aristotle with great contumely. He foully slandered Phædo, the disciple of Socrates. He pelted Timocrates, the brother of his companion Metrodorus, with whole volumes, because he disagreed with him in some trifling point of philosophy. He was ungrateful even to Democritus, whose follower he was; and his master Nausiphanes, from whom he learned nothing, had no better treatment from him.XXXIV. Zeno gave abusive language not only to those who were then living, as Apollodorus, Syllus, and the rest, but he called Socrates, who was the father of philosophy, the Attic buffoon, using the Latin word Scurra. He never called Chrysippus by any name but Chesippus. And you yourself a little before, when you were numbering up a senate, as we may call them, of philosophers, scrupled not to say that the most eminent men talked like foolish, visionary dotards.Certainly, therefore, if they have all erred in regard to the nature of the Gods, it is to be feared there are no such beings. What you deliver on that head are all whimsical notions, and not worthy the consideration even of old women. For you do not seem to be in the least aware what a task you draw on yourselves, if you should prevail on us to grant that the same form is common to Gods and men. The Deity would then require the same trouble in dressing, and the same care of the body, that mankind does. He must walk, run, lie down, lean, sit, hold, speak, and discourse. You need not be told the consequence of making the Gods male and female.Therefore I cannot sufficiently wonder how this chief of yours came to entertain these strange opinions. But you constantly insist on the certainty of this tenet, that the Deity is both happy and immortal. Supposing he is so, would his happiness be less perfect if he had not two feet? Or cannot that blessedness or beatitude—call it which you will (they are both harsh terms, but we must mollify them by use)—can it not, I say, exist in that sun, or in this world, or in some eternal mind that has not human shape or limbs? All you say against it is, that you never saw any happiness in the sun or the world. What, then? Did you ever see any world but this? No, you will say. Why, therefore, do you presume to assert that there are not only six hundred thousand worlds, but that they are innumerable? Reason tells you so. Will not reason tell you likewise that as, in our inquiries into the most excellent nature, we find none but the divine nature can be happy and eternal, so the same divine nature surpasses us in excellence of mind; and as in mind, so in body? Why, therefore, as we are inferior in all other respects, should we be equal in form? For human virtue approaches nearer to the divinity than human form.

In this episode Chris is brining you Opinion Scholarship on the myth of the Great Flood. While it's widely known that the deluge story appears all over the world, from every continent, very few people ever read the original sources to see just how similar they are. Today, I have remedied that! We read through the flood account from Ovid's Metamorphosis, compare the Indian account of the Flood of Manu, explore the Greek version through Apollodorus and Lucian and finally compare the Biblical version to the most ancient account in the Babylonian Tablets of Creation. When all is done, we recognize the common skeleton underlying each myth, but we also find some unexpected parallels. We talk Giants, vengeful gods and the motif of death and resurrection! Enjoy ;)  

You get to eat a kid! And you get to eat a kid! And you get to eat a kid!   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode.   Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022, and https://hcmc.uvic.ca/people/greg/mom/library.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

When we last left Theseus, he was on the road to Athens. When we meet Theseus today, he's still on the road to Athens.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode.   Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022, and https://hcmc.uvic.ca/people/greg/mom/library.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

Well, that was a short chapter…   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode.   Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

*My apologies; I had a broken microphone on the day of the recording. But thankfully John's audio quality is perfect! The Epic Cycle, also known as the Trojan Cycle, refers to a collection of ancient Greek epic poems that were composed between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. It is a series of narratives that revolve around the events related to the Trojan War and its aftermath. Certainly most are familiar with The Iliad and the Odyssey. But there are other poems that exist today only in fragments or as references in other works including, of course, "The Cypria," which describes the origins of the Trojan War (e.g., the Judgment of Paris) and the events leading up to it.* But why is it called "The Cypria?" And then, of course, there is the King of Cyprus, Kinyras, mentioned in the Iliad. Who was he and where does he fit in this Homeric world? Join me as we discuss The Cypria and the mythical King of Cyprus, Kinyras** with John Franklin, from the University of Vermont. If you're interested in reading up on some of the existing fragments of the Cypria, check out this website. ------------------------------------------------------------------ *For a full background to the Epic Cycle, refer to February 15th's Primary Source episode description **According to Apollodorus in The Library: "This Cinyras in Cyprus, whither he had come with some people, founded Paphos; and having there married Metharme, daughter of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, he begat Oxyporus and Adonis, and besides them daughters, Orsedice, Laogore, and Braesia. These by reason of the wrath of Aphrodite cohabited with foreigners, and ended their life in Egypt. And Adonis, while still a boy, was wounded and killed in hunting by a boar through the anger of Artemis."  You can read more on Kinyras here:

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark… or at least on the island of Crete.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode.   Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

Bear with me. This is a long (but important!) episode description. Cyprus is mentioned only once in The Iliad. Kinyras, The King of Cyprus, gifts Agamemnon a breastplate as he prepares for war against Troy: "First [Agamemnon] strapped the splendid greaves around his shins, fitted with silver bindings around his ankles; Next he girt about his chest a breastplate, which in time before, Kinyras gave him to be a guest friend, for the great rumor had been heard in Cyprus that the Achaeans were about to sail out in their ships to Troy; for this reason Kinyras gave it to him, seeking favor with the king." -The Iliad 11:15-21 However, Cyprus is more intertwined in the Homeric Epics than that sole reference would seem to suggest. According to the ancient scholar and historian, Apollodorus, Kinyras was a legendary King of Cyprus and Priest of Aphrodite who was known for his beauty and musical skill. Apollodorus describes Kinyras as the father of several notable figures in Greek mythology, including the handsome Adonis. In his most famous work, The Library and Epitome (Bibliotheca), Apollodorus informs the reader that in the prelude to the Trojan War, Menelaus and Odysseus visited Kinyras to solicit him for ships to send to Troy. However, the King of Cyprus, being the Priest of Aphrodite, deceived them. Though he promised to send 50 ships, Kinyras provided only one for Agamemnon's cause -- and the rest were made of clay: "Menelaus went with Odysseus and Talthybius to Kinyras in Cyprus and tried to persuade him to join the battle. But he [Kinyras] made a gift of a breastplate for Agamemnon, who was not present; and vowing to send fifty ships, he sent one, which [name lost] the son of Mygdalion commanded. And molding the rest out of clay, he launched them into the sea." -Apollodorus 3.9 Kinyras technically fulfilled his obligation but drew the ire of Agamemnon. In later fragments and references, we learn that Agamemnon had, in fact, cursed the King of Cyprus, and drove him from his lands with his Achaean fleet (which some have said corresponds to the so-called Mycenaean Colonization that took place after the Trojan War). Kinyras would ultimately find refuge in Amathus -- the last "indigenous" city on Cyprus.* And then there is The Cypria -- one of the lost Epics that make up the Trojan Cycle.** It is possible that Apollodorus' story is referenced in its fragments but unfortunately, we know very little about The Cypria. The poem is thought to have covered the events leading up to the Trojan War, including the infamous Judgment of Paris and the Rape of Helen. It is believed to have been authored not by Homer, but by one Stasinus...of Cyprus. Next month I welcome John Franklin from University of Vermont to discuss the very Cypriot connections to this important lost Trojan Tale! --------------------------------------------------------------------- * For more on Amathus' "indigeneity," see episode 2, "The Linguistic History of Cyprus with Pippa Steele" and "Amathus with Thierry Petit" on Patreon! ** The Trojan Cycle (often referred to as the Epic Cycle) was a collection of the epic poems related to the Trojan War. Most readers are familiar with The Iliad and the Odyssey simply because they are the only works to have survived. Unlike the Homeric epics, these other poems exist only in fragmented pieces and summaries. There are, in fact, six other poems that made up the Epic Cycle. The order is as follows: The Cypria, The Iliad, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, Iliou Persis, Nostoi, the Odyssey and the Telegony.

Everything the gods need to know they should have learned in kindergarten.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode.   Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

There's a Big Bear in the sky!   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.    The Myths of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Accessed November 23, 2023. Available at https://www.aavso.org/myths-uma --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

This episode we are joined by Joy Piedmont of multiple other Doctor Who podcasts (such as Reality Bomb and Five Years Rapid) to discuss K9 Episode 8, "Jaws of Orthrus", originally broadcast on 1 March 2010. "Jaws of Orthrus" was written by "Lindsay James" (a pseudonym for writer Keith Shaw) and directed by James Bogle. Listeners can follow the podcast on Twitter at @K9BingeQuake or email feedback and comments to us at k9bingequake@gmail.com. ** Credits: Hosts - Tom Marshall (he/him) & Kevin Burnard (he/him) Guest - Joy Piedmont (she/her) Editing - Kevin Burnard Theme music - Jack Guidera (he/him) Logo/Artwork - Christy Burnard (she/her) Episode recorded 25 February 2023. ** Sources: The Black Mirror episode Arkangel was written by Charlie Brooker and directed by Jodie Foster and released by Netflix on 29 December 2017. Among other sources, and allowing for various spellings, the name 'Orthrus' to refer to a mythological hound comes from the Bibliotheca conventionally but falsely ascribed to Apollodorus of Athens (1st or 2nd century AD, trans. James George Frazer, 1921, Harvard University Press/William Heinemann Ltd), Book 2, Chapter 5. On the target audience for K9 being (supposedly) 11-15 year olds - ⁠"K9: Who's a good dog?"⁠, Stewart & Wall Entertainment, archived from the original on 12 August 2014. This is contradicted by the claim that the show is aimed at 8-12 year olds in Blum, Jonathan, "K9", Doctor Who Magazine #409 (24 June 2009), p. 8. The IMDb profile for Keith Shaw/"Lindsay James", including more information on Avalanche Sharks, can be found here. The classic series stories written under pseudonyms are The Dominators, The Daemons, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, The Invasion of Time, City of Death and Attack of the Cybermen, as listed by Sullivan, Shannon Patrick, A Brief History of Time (Travel), last updated 13 July 2020, 8 August 2020, 21 December 2020, 27 December 2020, 12 February 2021, 10 May 2021 and 25 June 2021 respectively. The childhood series Joy refers to are Saved by the Bell (1989-93), Batman: The Animated Series (1992-5), Barney & Friends (1992-2010), Animaniacs (1993-8), Zoom (1999-2005), and Hannah Montana (2006-11).

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Let's face it the New Testament probably calls Jesus God (or god) a couple of times and so do early Christian authors in the second century. However, no one offers much of an explanation for what they mean by the title. Did early Christians think Jesus was God because he represented Yahweh? Did they think he was God because he shared the same eternal being as the Father? Did they think he was a god because that's just what they would call any immortalized human who lived in heaven? In this presentation I focus on the question from the perspective of Greco-Roman theology. Drawing on the work of David Litwa, Andrew Perriman, Barry Blackburn, and tons of ancient sources I seek to show how Mediterranean converts to Christianity would have perceived Jesus based on their cultural and religious assumptions. This presentation is from the 3rd Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference on October 20, 2023 in Springfield, OH. Here is the original pdf of this paper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Z3QbQ7dHc —— Links —— See more scholarly articles by Sean Finnegan Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Introduction When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” (or “God”) what did they mean?[1] Modern apologists routinely point to pre-Nicene quotations in order to prove that early Christians always believed in the deity of Christ, by which they mean that he is of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. However, most historians agree that Christians before the fourth century simply didn't have the cognitive categories available yet to think of Christ in Nicene or Chalcedonian ways. If this consensus is correct, it behooves us to consider other options for defining what early Christian authors meant. The obvious place to go to get an answer to our initial question is the New Testament. However, as is well known, the handful of instances in which authors unambiguously applied god (θεός) to Christ are fraught with textual uncertainty, grammatical ambiguity, and hermeneutical elasticity.[2]  What's more, granting that these contested texts[3] all call Jesus “god” provides little insight into what they might mean by that phrase. Turning to the second century, the earliest handful of texts that say Jesus is god are likewise textually uncertain or terse.[4] We must wait until the second half of the second century and beyond to have more helpful material to examine. We know that in the meanwhile some Christians were saying Jesus was god. What did they mean? One promising approach is to analyze biblical texts that call others gods. We find helpful parallels with the word god (אֱלֹהִים) applied to Moses (Exod 7.1; 4.16), judges (Exod 21.6; 22.8-9), kings (Is 9.6; Ps 45.6), the divine council (Ps 82.1, 6), and angels (Ps 8.6). These are texts in which God imbues his agents with his authority to represent him in some way. This rare though significant way of calling a representative “god,” continues in the NT with Jesus' clever defense to his accusers in John 10.34-36. Lexicons[5] have long recognized this “Hebraistic” usage and recent study tools such as the New English Translation (NET)[6] and the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary[7] also note this phenomenon. But, even if this agency perspective is the most natural reading of texts like Heb 1.8, later Christians, apart from one or two exceptions appear to be ignorant of this usage.[8] This interpretation was likely a casualty of the so-called parting of the ways whereby Christianity transitioned from a second-temple-Jewish movement to a Gentile-majority religion. As such, to grasp what early postapostolic Christians believed, we must turn our attention elsewhere. Michael Bird is right when he says, “Christian discourses about deity belong incontrovertibly in the Greco-Roman context because it provided the cultural encyclopedia that, in diverse ways, shaped the early church's Christological conceptuality and vocabulary.”[9] Learning Greco-Roman theology is not only important because that was the context in which early Christians wrote, but also because from the late first century onward, most of our Christian authors converted from that worldview. Rather than talking about the Hellenization of Christianity, we should begin by asking how Hellenists experienced Christianization. In other words, Greco-Roman beliefs about the gods were the default lens through which converts first saw Christ. In order to explore how Greco-Roman theology shaped what people believed about Jesus as god, we do well to begin by asking how they defined a god. Andrew Perriman offers a helpful starting point. “The gods,” he writes, “are mostly understood as corporeal beings, blessed with immortality, larger, more beautiful, and more powerful than their mortal analogues.”[10] Furthermore, there were lots of them! The sublunar realm was, in the words of Paula Fredriksen, “a god-congested place.”[11] What's more, “[S]harp lines and clearly demarcated boundaries between divinity and humanity were lacking."[12] Gods could appear as people and people could ascend to become gods. Comprehending what Greco-Roman people believed about gods coming down and humans going up will occupy the first part of this paper. Only once we've adjusted our thinking to their culture, will we walk through key moments in the life of Jesus of Nazareth to hear the story with ancient Mediterranean ears. Lastly, we'll consider the evidence from sources that think of Jesus in Greco-Roman categories. Bringing this all together we'll enumerate the primary ways to interpret the phrase “Jesus is god” available to Christians in the pre-Nicene period. Gods Coming Down and Humans Going Up The idea that a god would visit someone is not as unusual as it first sounds. We find plenty of examples of Yahweh himself or non-human representatives visiting people in the Hebrew Bible.[13] One psalmist even referred to angels or “heavenly beings” (ESV) as אֱלֹהִים (gods).[14] The Greco-Roman world too told stories about divine entities coming down to interact with people. Euripides tells about the time Zeus forced the god Apollo to become a human servant in the house of Admetus, performing menial labor as punishment for killing the Cyclopes (Alcestis 1). Baucis and Philemon offered hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury when they appeared in human form (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.26-34). In Homer's Odyssey onlookers warn Antinous for flinging a stool against a stranger since “the gods do take on the look of strangers dropping in from abroad”[15] (17.534-9). Because they believed the boundary between the divine realm and the Earth was so permeable, Mediterranean people were always on guard for an encounter with a god in disguise. In addition to gods coming down, in special circumstances, humans could ascend and become gods too. Diodorus of Sicily demarcated two types of gods: those who are “eternal and imperishable, such as the sun and the moon” and “the other gods…terrestrial beings who attained to immortal honour”[16] (The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian 6.1). By some accounts, even the Olympian gods, including Kronos and Uranus were once mortal men.[17] Among humans who could become divine, we find several distinguishable categories, including heroes, miracle workers, and rulers. We'll look at each briefly before considering how the story of Jesus would resonate with those holding a Greco-Roman worldview. Deified Heroes Cornutus the Stoic said, “[T]he ancients called heroes those who were so strong in body and soul that they seemed to be part of a divine race.” (Greek Theology 31)[18] At first this statement appears to be a mere simile, but he goes on to say of Heracles (Hercules), the Greek hero par excellence, “his services had earned him apotheosis” (ibid.). Apotheosis (or deification) is the process by which a human ascends into the divine realm. Beyond Heracles and his feats of strength, other exceptional individuals became deified for various reasons. Amphiarus was a seer who died in the battle at Thebes. After opening a chasm in the earth to swallow him in battle, “Zeus made him immortal”[19] (Apollodorus, Library of Greek Mythology 3.6). Pausanias says the custom of the inhabitants of Oropos was to drop coins into Amphiarus' spring “because this is where they say Amphiarus rose up as a god”[20] (Guide to Greece 1.34). Likewise, Strabo speaks about a shrine for Calchas, a deceased diviner from the Trojan war (Homer, Illiad 1.79-84), “where those consulting the oracle sacrifice a black ram to the dead and sleep in its hide”[21] (Strabo, Geography 6.3.9). Though the great majority of the dead were locked away in the lower world of Hades, leading a shadowy pitiful existence, the exceptional few could visit or speak from beyond the grave. Lastly, there was Zoroaster the Persian prophet who, according to Dio Chrysostom, was enveloped by fire while he meditated upon a mountain. He was unharmed and gave advice on how to properly make offerings to the gods (Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 36.40). The Psuedo-Clementine Homilies include a story about a lightning bolt striking and killing Zoroaster. After his devotees buried his body, they built a temple on the site, thinking that “his soul had been sent for by lightning” and they “worshipped him as a god”[22] (Homily 9.5.2). Thus, a hero could have extraordinary strength, foresight, or closeness to the gods resulting in apotheosis and ongoing worship and communication. Deified Miracle Workers Beyond heroes, Greco-Roman people loved to tell stories about deified miracle workers. Twice Orpheus rescued a ship from a storm by praying to the gods (Diodorus of Sicily 4.43.1f; 48.5f). After his death, surviving inscriptions indicate that he both received worship and was regarded as a god in several cities.[23] Epimenides “fell asleep in a cave for fifty-seven years”[24] (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 1.109). He also predicted a ten-year period of reprieve from Persian attack in Athens (Plato Laws 1.642D-E). Plato called him a divine man (θεῖος ἀνήρ) (ibid.) and Diogenes talked of Cretans sacrificing to him as a god (Diogenes, Lives 1.114). Iamblichus said Pythagoras was the son of Apollo and a mortal woman (Life of Pythagoras 2). Nonetheless, the soul of Pythagoras enjoyed multiple lives, having originally been “sent to mankind from the empire of Apollo”[25] (Life 2). Diogenes and Lucian enumerate the lives the pre-existent Pythagoras led, including Aethalides, Euphorbus, Hermotimus, and Pyrrhus (Diogenes, Life of Pythagoras 4; Lucian, The Cock 16-20). Hermes had granted Pythagoras the gift of “perpetual transmigration of his soul”[26] so he could remember his lives while living or dead (Diogenes, Life 4). Ancient sources are replete with Pythagorean miracle stories.[27] Porphyry mentions several, including taming a bear, persuading an ox to stop eating beans, and accurately predicting a catch of fish (Life of Pythagoras 23-25). Porphyry said Pythagoras accurately predicted earthquakes and “chased away a pestilence, suppressed violent winds and hail, [and] calmed storms on rivers and on seas” (Life 29).[28] Such miracles, argued the Pythagoreans made Pythagoras “a being superior to man, and not to a mere man” (Iamblichus, Life 28).[29] Iamblichus lays out the views of Pythagoras' followers, including that he was a god, a philanthropic daemon, the Pythian, the Hyperborean Apollo, a Paeon, a daemon inhabiting the moon, or an Olympian god (Life 6). Another pre-Socratic philosopher was Empedocles who studied under Pythagoras. To him sources attribute several miracles, including stopping a damaging wind, restoring the wind, bringing dry weather, causing it to rain, and even bringing someone back from Hades (Diogenes, Lives 8.59).[30] Diogenes records an incident in which Empedocles put a woman into a trance for thirty days before sending her away alive (8.61). He also includes a poem in which Empedocles says, “I am a deathless god, no longer mortal, I go among you honored by all, as is right”[31] (8.62). Asclepius was a son of the god Apollo and a human woman (Cornutus, Greek Theology 33). He was known for healing people from diseases and injuries (Pindar, Pythian 3.47-50). “[H]e invented any medicine he wished for the sick, and raised up the dead”[32] (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.26.4). However, as Diodorus relates, Hades complained to Zeus on account of Asclepius' diminishing his realm, which resulted in Zeus zapping Asclepius with a thunderbolt, killing him (4.71.2-3). Nevertheless, Asclepius later ascended into heaven to become a god (Hyginus, Fables 224; Cicero, Nature of the Gods 2.62).[33] Apollonius of Tyana was a famous first century miracle worker. According to Philostratus' account, the locals of Tyana regard Apollonius to be the son of Zeus (Life 1.6). Apollonius predicted many events, interpreted dreams, and knew private facts about people. He rebuked and ridiculed a demon, causing it to flee, shrieking as it went (Life 2.4).[34] He even once stopped a funeral procession and raised the deceased to life (Life 4.45). What's more he knew every human language (Life 1.19) and could understand what sparrows chirped to each other (Life 4.3). Once he instantaneously transported himself from Smyrna to Ephesus (Life 4.10). He claimed knowledge of his previous incarnation as the captain of an Egyptian ship (Life 3.23) and, in the end, Apollonius entered the temple of Athena and vanished, ascending from earth into heaven to the sound of a choir singing (Life 8.30). We have plenty of literary evidence that contemporaries and those who lived later regarded him as a divine man (Letters 48.3)[35] or godlike (ἰσόθεος) (Letters 44.1) or even just a god (θεός) (Life 5.24). Deified Rulers Our last category of deified humans to consider before seeing how this all relates to Jesus is rulers. Egyptians, as indicated from the hieroglyphs left in the pyramids, believed their deceased kings to enjoy afterlives as gods. They could become star gods or even hunt and consume other gods to absorb their powers.[36] The famous Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, carried himself as a god towards the Persians though Plutarch opines, “[he] was not at all vain or deluded but rather used belief in his divinity to enslave others”[37] (Life of Alexander 28). This worship continued after his death, especially in Alexandria where Ptolemy built a tomb and established a priesthood to conduct religious honors to the deified ruler. Even the emperor Trajan offered a sacrifice to the spirit of Alexander (Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.30). Another interesting example is Antiochus I of Comagene who called himself “Antiochus the just [and] manifest god, friend of the Romans [and] friend of the Greeks.”[38] His tomb boasted four colossal figures seated on thrones: Zeus, Heracles, Apollo, and himself. The message was clear: Antiochus I wanted his subjects to recognize his place among the gods after death. Of course, the most relevant rulers for the Christian era were the Roman emperors. The first official Roman emperor Augustus deified his predecessor, Julius Caesar, celebrating his apotheosis with games (Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar 88). Only five years after Augustus died, eastern inhabitants of the Roman Empire at Priene happily declared “the birthday of the god Augustus” (ἡ γενέθλιος ἡμέρα τοῦ θεοῦ)[39] to be the start of their provincial year. By the time of Tacitus, a century after Augustus died, the wealthy in Rome had statues of the first emperor in their gardens for worship (Annals 1.73). The Roman historian Appian explained that the Romans regularly deify emperors at death “provided he has not been a despot or a disgrace”[40] (The Civil Wars 2.148).  In other words, deification was the default setting for deceased emperors. Pliny the Younger lays it on pretty thick when he describes the process. He says Nero deified Claudius to expose him; Titus deified Vespasian and Domitian so he could be the son and brother of gods. However, Trajan deified Nerva because he genuinely believed him to be more than a human (Panegyric 11). In our little survey, we've seen three main categories of deified humans: heroes, miracle workers, and good rulers. These “conceptions of deity,” writes David Litwa, “were part of the “preunderstanding” of Hellenistic culture.”[41] He continues: If actual cases of deification were rare, traditions of deification were not. They were the stuff of heroic epic, lyric song, ancient mythology, cultic hymns, Hellenistic novels, and popular plays all over the first-century Mediterranean world. Such discourses were part of mainstream, urban culture to which most early Christians belonged. If Christians were socialized in predominantly Greco-Roman environments, it is no surprise that they employed and adapted common traits of deities and deified men to exalt their lord to divine status.[42] Now that we've attuned our thinking to Mediterranean sensibilities about gods coming down in the shape of humans and humans experiencing apotheosis to permanently dwell as gods in the divine realm, our ears are attuned to hear the story of Jesus with Greco-Roman ears. Hearing the Story of Jesus with Greco-Roman Ears How would second or third century inhabitants of the Roman empire have categorized Jesus? Taking my cue from Litwa's treatment in Iesus Deus, I'll briefly work through Jesus' conception, transfiguration, miracles, resurrection, and ascension. Miraculous Conception Although set within the context of Jewish messianism, Christ's miraculous birth would have resonated differently with Greco-Roman people. Stories of gods coming down and having intercourse with women are common in classical literature. That these stories made sense of why certain individuals were so exceptional is obvious. For example, Origen related a story about Apollo impregnating Amphictione who then gave birth to Plato (Against Celsus 1.37). Though Mary's conception did not come about through intercourse with a divine visitor, the fact that Jesus had no human father would call to mind divine sonship like Pythagoras or Asclepius. Celsus pointed out that the ancients “attributed a divine origin to Perseus, and Amphion, and Aeacus, and Minos” (Origen, Against Celsus 1.67). Philostratus records a story of the Egyptian god Proteus saying to Apollonius' mother that she would give birth to himself (Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.4). Since people were primed to connect miraculous origins with divinity, typical hearers of the birth narratives of Matthew or Luke would likely think that this baby might be either be a descended god or a man destined to ascend to become a god. Miracles and Healing As we've seen, Jesus' miracles would not have sounded unbelievable or even unprecedent to Mediterranean people. Like Jesus, Orpheus and Empedocles calmed storms, rescuing ships. Though Jesus provided miraculous guidance on how to catch fish, Pythagoras foretold the number of fish in a great catch. After the fishermen painstakingly counted them all, they were astounded that when they threw them back in, they were still alive (Porphyry, Life 23-25). Jesus' ability to foretell the future, know people's thoughts, and cast out demons all find parallels in Apollonius of Tyana. As for resurrecting the dead, we have the stories of Empedocles, Asclepius, and Apollonius. The last of which even stopped a funeral procession to raise the dead, calling to mind Jesus' deeds in Luke 7.11-17. When Lycaonians witnessed Paul's healing of a man crippled from birth, they cried out, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men” (Acts 14.11). Another time when no harm befell Paul after a poisonous snake bit him on Malta, Gentile onlookers concluded “he was a god” (Acts 28.6). Barry Blackburn makes the following observation: [I]n view of the tendency, most clearly seen in the Epimenidean, Pythagorean, and Apollonian traditions, to correlate impressive miracle-working with divine status, one may justifiably conclude that the evangelical miracle traditions would have helped numerous gentile Christians to arrive at and maintain belief in Jesus' divine status.[43] Transfiguration Ancient Mediterranean inhabitants believed that the gods occasionally came down disguised as people. Only when gods revealed their inner brilliant natures could people know that they weren't mere humans. After his ship grounded on the sands of Krisa, Apollo leaped from the ship emitting flashes of fire “like a star in the middle of day…his radiance shot to heaven”[44] (Homeric Hymns, Hymn to Apollo 440). Likewise, Aphrodite appeared in shining garments, brighter than a fire and shimmering like the moon (Hymn to Aphrodite 85-89). When Demeter appeared to Metaneira, she initially looked like an old woman, but she transformed herself before her. “Casting old age away…a delightful perfume spread…a radiance shone out far from the goddess' immortal flesh…and the solid-made house was filled with a light like the lightning-flash”[45] (Hymn to Demeter 275-280). Homer wrote about Odysseus' transformation at the golden wand of Athena in which his clothes became clean, he became taller, and his skin looked younger. His son, Telemachus cried out, “Surely you are some god who rules the vaulting skies”[46] (Odyssey 16.206). Each time the observers conclude the transfigured person is a god. Resurrection & Ascension In defending the resurrection of Jesus, Theophilus of Antioch said, “[Y]ou believe that Hercules, who burned himself, lives; and that Aesculapius [Asclepius], who was struck with lightning, was raised”[47] (Autolycus 1.13). Although Hercules' physical body burnt, his transformed pneumatic body continued on as the poet Callimachus said, “under a Phrygian oak his limbs had been deified”[48] (Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis 159). Others thought Hercules ascended to heaven in his burnt body, which Asclepius subsequently healed (Lucian, Dialogue of the Gods 13). After his ascent, Diodorus relates how the people first sacrificed to him “as to a hero” then in Athens they began to honor him “with sacrifices like as to a god”[49] (The Historical Library 4.39). As for Asclepius, his ascension resulted in his deification as Cyprian said, “Aesculapius is struck by lightning, that he may rise into a god”[50] (On the Vanity of Idols 2). Romulus too “was torn to pieces by the hands of a hundred senators”[51] and after death ascended into heaven and received worship (Arnobius, Against the Heathen 1.41). Livy tells of how Romulus was “carried up on high by a whirlwind” and that immediately afterward “every man present hailed him as a god and son of a god”[52] (The Early History of Rome 1.16). As we can see from these three cases—Hercules, Asclepius, and Romulus—ascent into heaven was a common way of talking about deification. For Cicero, this was an obvious fact. People “who conferred outstanding benefits were translated to heaven through their fame and our gratitude”[53] (Nature 2.62). Consequently, Jesus' own resurrection and ascension would have triggered Gentiles to intuit his divinity. Commenting on the appearance of the immortalized Christ to the eleven in Galilee, Wendy Cotter said, “It is fair to say that the scene found in [Mat] 28:16-20 would be understood by a Greco-Roman audience, Jew or Gentile, as an apotheosis of Jesus.”[54] Although I beg to differ with Cotter's whole cloth inclusion of Jews here, it's hard to see how else non-Jews would have regarded the risen Christ. Litwa adds Rev 1.13-16 “[W]here he [Jesus] appears with all the accoutrements of the divine: a shining face, an overwhelming voice, luminescent clothing, and so on.”[55] In this brief survey we've seen that several key events in the story of Jesus told in the Gospels would have caused Greco-Roman hearers to intuit deity, including his divine conception, miracles, healing ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension. In their original context of second temple Judaism, these very same incidents would have resonated quite differently. His divine conception authenticated Jesus as the second Adam (Luke 3.38; Rom 5.14; 1 Cor 15.45) and God's Davidic son (2 Sam 7.14; Ps 2.7; Lk 1.32, 35). If Matthew or Luke wanted readers to understand that Jesus was divine based on his conception and birth, they failed to make such intentions explicit in the text. Rather, the birth narratives appear to have a much more modest aim—to persuade readers that Jesus had a credible claim to be Israel's messiah. His miracles show that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power…for God was with him” (Acts 10.38; cf. Jn 3.2; 10.32, 38). Rather than concluding Jesus to be a god, Jewish witnesses to his healing of a paralyzed man “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Mat 9.8). Over and over, especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus directs people's attention to his Father who was doing the works in and through him (Jn 5.19, 30; 8.28; 12.49; 14.10). Seeing Jesus raise someone from the dead suggested to his original Jewish audience that “a great prophet has arisen among us” (Lk 7.16). The transfiguration, in its original setting, is an eschatological vision not a divine epiphany. Placement in the synoptic Gospels just after Jesus' promise that some there would not die before seeing the kingdom come sets the hermeneutical frame. “The transfiguration,” says William Lane, “was a momentary, but real (and witnessed) manifestation of Jesus' sovereign power which pointed beyond itself to the Parousia, when he will come ‘with power and glory.'”[56] If eschatology is the foreground, the background for the transfiguration was Moses' ascent of Sinai when he also encountered God and became radiant.[57] Viewed from the lenses of Moses' ascent and the eschaton, the transfiguration of Jesus is about his identity as God's definitive chosen ruler, not about any kind of innate divinity. Lastly, the resurrection and ascension validated Jesus' messianic claims to be the ruler of the age to come (Acts 17.31; Rom 1.4). Rather than concluding Jesus was deity, early Jewish Christians concluded these events showed that “God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36). The interpretative backgrounds for Jesus' ascension were not stories about Heracles, Asclepius, or Romulus. No, the key oracle that framed the Israelite understanding was the messianic psalm in which Yahweh told David's Lord to “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110.1). The idea is of a temporary sojourn in heaven until exercising the authority of his scepter to rule over earth from Zion. Once again, the biblical texts remain completely silent about deification. But even if the original meanings of Jesus' birth, ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension have messianic overtones when interpreted within the Jewish milieu, these same stories began to communicate various ideas of deity to Gentile converts in the generations that followed. We find little snippets from historical sources beginning in the second century and growing with time. Evidence of Belief in Jesus' as a Greco-Roman Deity To begin with, we have two non-Christian instances where Romans regarded Jesus as a deity within typical Greco-Roman categories. The first comes to us from Tertullian and Eusebius who mention an intriguing story about Tiberius' request to the Roman senate to deify Christ. Convinced by “intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity”[58] Tiberius proposed the matter to the senate (Apology 5). Eusebius adds that Tiberius learned that “many believed him to be a god in rising from the dead”[59] (Church History 2.2). As expected, the senate rejected the proposal. I mention this story, not because I can establish its historicity, but because it portrays how Tiberius would have thought about Jesus if he had heard about his miracles and resurrection. Another important incident is from one of the governor Pliny the Younger's letters to the emperor Trajan. Having investigated some people accused of Christianity, he found “they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honour of Christ as if to a god”[60] (Letter 96). To an outside imperial observer like Pliny, the Christians believed in a man who had performed miracles, defeated death, and now lived in heaven. Calling him a god was just the natural way of talking about such a person. Pliny would not have thought Jesus was superior to the deified Roman emperors much less Zeus or the Olympic gods. If he believed in Jesus at all, he would have regarded him as another Mediterranean prophet who escaped Hades to enjoy apotheosis. Another interesting text to consider is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. This apocryphal text tells the story of Jesus' childhood between the ages of five and twelve. Jesus is impetuous, powerful, and brilliant. Unsure to conclude that Jesus was “either god or angel,”[61] his teacher remands him to Joseph's custody (7). Later, a crowd of onlookers ponders whether the child is a god or a heavenly messenger after he raises an infant from the dead (17). A year later Jesus raised a construction man who had fallen to his death back to life (18). Once again, the crowd asked if the child was from heaven. Although some historians are quick to assume the lofty conceptions of Justin and his successors about the logos were commonplace in the early Christianity, Litwa points out, “The spell of the Logos could only bewitch a very small circle of Christian elites… In IGT, we find a Jesus who is divine according to different canons, the canons of popular Mediterranean theology.”[62] Another important though often overlooked scholarly group of Christians in the second century was led by a certain Theodotus of Byzantium.[63] Typically referred to by their heresiological label “Theodotians,” these dynamic monarchians lived in Rome and claimed that they held to the original Christology before it had been corrupted under Bishop Zephyrinus (Eusebius, Church History 5.28). Theodotus believed in the virgin birth, but not in his pre-existence or that he was god/God (Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2). He thought that Jesus was not able to perform any miracles until his baptism when he received the Christ/Spirit. Pseudo-Hippolytus goes on to say, “But they do not want him to have become a god when the Spirit descended. Others say that he became a god after he rose from the dead.”[64] This last tantalizing remark implies that the Theodotians could affirm Jesus as a god after his resurrection though they denied his pre-existence. Although strict unitarians, they could regard Jesus as a god in that he was an ascended immortalized being who lived in heaven—not equal to the Father, but far superior to all humans on earth. Justin Martyr presents another interesting case to consider. Thoroughly acquainted with Greco-Roman literature and especially the philosophy of Plato, Justin sees Christ as a god whom the Father begot before all other creatures. He calls him “son, or wisdom, or angel, or god, or lord, or word”[65] (Dialogue with Trypho 61).  For Justin Christ is “at the same time angel and god and lord and man”[66] (59). Jesus was “of old the Word, appearing at one time in the form of fire, at another under the guise of incorporeal beings, but now, at the will of God, after becoming man for mankind”[67] (First Apology 63). In fact, Justin is quite comfortable to compare Christ to deified heroes and emperors. He says, “[W]e propose nothing new or different from that which you say about the so-called sons of Jupiter [Zeus] by your respected writers… And what about the emperors who die among you, whom you think worthy to be deified?”[68] (21). He readily accepts the parallels with Mercury, Perseus, Asclepius, Bacchus, and Hercules, but argues that Jesus is superior to them (22).[69] Nevertheless, he considered Jesus to be in “a place second to the unchanging and eternal God”[70] (13). The Father is “the Most True God” whereas the Son is he “who came forth from Him”[71] (6). Even as lates as Origen, Greco-Roman concepts of deity persist. In responding to Celsus' claim that no god or son of God has ever come down, Origen responds by stating such a statement would overthrow the stories of Pythian Apollo, Asclepius, and the other gods who descended (Against Celsus 5.2). My point here is not to say Origen believed in all the old myths, but to show how Origen reached for these stories as analogies to explain the incarnation of the logos. When Celsus argued that he would rather believe in the deity of Asclepius, Dionysus, and Hercules than Christ, Origen responded with a moral rather than ontological argument (3.42). He asks how these gods have improved the characters of anyone. Origen admits Celsus' argument “which places the forenamed individuals upon an equality with Jesus” might have force, however in light of the disreputable behavior of these gods, “how could you any longer say, with any show of reason, that these men, on putting aside their mortal body, became gods rather than Jesus?”[72] (3.42). Origen's Christology is far too broad and complicated to cover here. Undoubtedly, his work on eternal generation laid the foundation on which fourth century Christians could build homoousion Christology. Nevertheless, he retained some of the earlier subordinationist impulses of his forebearers. In his book On Prayer, he rebukes praying to Jesus as a crude error, instead advocating prayer to God alone (10). In his Commentary on John he repeatedly asserts that the Father is greater than his logos (1.40; 2.6; 6.23). Thus, Origen is a theologian on the seam of the times. He's both a subordinationist and a believer in the Son's eternal and divine ontology. Now, I want to be careful here. I'm not saying that all early Christians believed Jesus was a deified man like Asclepius or a descended god like Apollo or a reincarnated soul like Pythagoras. More often than not, thinking Christians whose works survive until today tended to eschew the parallels, simultaneously elevating Christ as high as possible while demoting the gods to mere demons. Still, Litwa is inciteful when he writes: It seems likely that early Christians shared the widespread cultural assumption that a resurrected, immortalized being was worthy of worship and thus divine. …Nonetheless there is a difference…Jesus, it appears, was never honored as an independent deity. Rather, he was always worshiped as Yahweh's subordinate. Naturally Heracles and Asclepius were Zeus' subordinates, but they were also members of a larger divine family. Jesus does not enter a pantheon but assumes a distinctive status as God's chief agent and plenipotentiary. It is this status that, to Christian insiders, placed Jesus in a category far above the likes of Heracles, Romulus, and Asclepius who were in turn demoted to the rank of δαίμονες [daimons].[73] Conclusion I began by asking the question, "What did early Christians mean by saying Jesus is god?" We noted that the ancient idea of agency (Jesus is God/god because he represents Yahweh), though present in Hebrew and Christian scripture, didn't play much of a role in how Gentile Christians thought about Jesus. Or if it did, those texts did not survive. By the time we enter the postapostolic era, a majority of Christianity was Gentile and little communication occurred with the Jewish Christians that survived in the East. As such, we turned our attention to Greco-Roman theology to tune our ears to hear the story of Jesus the way they would have. We learned about their multifaceted array of divinities. We saw that gods can come down and take the form of humans and humans can go up and take the form of gods. We found evidence for this kind of thinking in both non-Christian and Christian sources in the second and third centuries. Now it is time to return to the question I began with: “When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” what did they mean?” We saw that the idea of a deified man was present in the non-Christian witnesses of Tiberius and Pliny but made scant appearance in our Christian literature except for the Theodotians. As for the idea that a god came down to become a man, we found evidence in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Justin, and Origen.[74] Of course, we find a spectrum within this view, from Justin's designation of Jesus as a second god to Origen's more philosophically nuanced understanding. Still, it's worth noting as R. P. C. Hanson observed that, “With the exception of Athanasius virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordinationism at least up to the year 355.”[75] Whether any Christians before Alexander and Athanasius of Alexandria held to the sophisticated idea of consubstantiality depends on showing evidence of the belief that the Son was coequal, coeternal, and coessential with the Father prior to Nicea. (Readers interested in the case for this view should consult Michael Bird's Jesus among the Gods in which he attempted the extraordinary feat of finding proto-Nicene Christology in the first two centuries, a task typically associated with maverick apologists not peer-reviewed historians.) In conclusion, the answer to our driving question about the meaning of “Jesus as god” is that the answer depends on whom we ask. If we ask the Theodotians, Jesus is a god because that's just what one calls an immortalized man who lives in heaven.[76] If we ask those holding a docetic Christology, the answer is that a god came down in appearance as a man. If we ask a logos subordinationist, they'll tell us that Jesus existed as the god through whom the supreme God created the universe before he became a human being. If we ask Tertullian, Jesus is god because he derives his substance from the Father, though he has a lesser portion of divinity.[77] If we ask Athanasius, he'll wax eloquent about how Jesus is of the same substance as the Father equal in status and eternality. The bottom line is that there was not one answer to this question prior to the fourth century. Answers depend on whom we ask and when they lived. Still, we can't help but wonder about the more tantalizing question of development. Which Christology was first and which ones evolved under social, intellectual, and political pressures? In the quest to specify the various stages of development in the Christologies of the ante-Nicene period, this Greco-Roman perspective may just provide the missing link between the reserved and limited way that the NT applies theos to Jesus in the first century and the homoousian view that eventually garnered imperial support in the fourth century. How easy would it have been for fresh converts from the Greco-Roman world to unintentionally mishear the story of Jesus? How easy would it have been for them to fit Jesus into their own categories of descended gods and ascended humans? With the unmooring of Gentile Christianity from its Jewish heritage, is it any wonder that Christologies began to drift out to sea? Now I'm not suggesting that all Christians went through a steady development from a human Jesus to a pre-existent Christ, to an eternal God the Son, to the Chalcedonian hypostatic union. As I mentioned above, plenty of other options were around and every church had its conservatives in addition to its innovators. The story is messy and uneven with competing views spread across huge geographic distances. Furthermore, many Christians probably were content to leave such theological nuances fuzzy, rather than seeking doctrinal precision on Christ's relation to his God and Father. Whatever the case may be, we dare not ignore the influence of Greco-Roman theology in our accounts of Christological development in the Mediterranean world of the first three centuries.    Bibliography The Homeric Hymns. Translated by Michael Crudden. New York, NY: Oxford, 2008. Antioch, Theophilus of. To Autolycus. Translated by Marcus Dods. Vol. 2. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. Aphrahat. The Demonstrations. Translated by Ellen Muehlberger. Vol. 3. The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings. Edited by Mark DelCogliano. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2022. Apollodorus. The Library of Greek Mythology. Translated by Robin Hard. Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1998. Appian. The Civil Wars. Translated by John Carter. London, UK: Penguin, 1996. Arnobius. Against the Heathen. Translated by Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell. Vol. 6. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995. Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London, UK: Penguin, 1971. Bird, Michael F. Jesus among the Gods. Waco, TX: Baylor, 2022. Blackburn, Barry. Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions. Tübingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr, 1991. Callimachus. Hymn to Artemis. Translated by Susan A. Stephens. Callimachus: The Hymns. New York, NY: Oxford, 2015. Cicero. The Nature of the Gods. Translated by Patrick Gerard Walsh. Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2008. Cornutus, Lucius Annaeus. Greek Theology. Translated by George Boys-Stones. Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2018. Cotter, Wendy. "Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection Appearances in Matthew." In The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study. Edited by David E. Aune. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. Cyprian. Treatise 6: On the Vanity of Idols. Translated by Ernest Wallis. Vol. 5. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995. Dittenberger, W. Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae. Vol. 2. Hildesheim: Olms, 1960. Eusebius. The Church History. Translated by Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007. Fredriksen, Paula. "How High Can Early High Christology Be?" In Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity. Edited by Matthew V. Novenson. Vol. 180.vol. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Leiden: Brill, 2020. Hanson, R. P. C. Search for a Christian Doctrine of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. Hart, George. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2005. Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. Iamblichus. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Thomas Taylor. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras. Delhi, IN: Zinc Read, 2023. Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. Translated by Thomas B. Falls. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003. Laertius, Diogenes. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Edited by David R. Fideler. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988. Laertius, Diogenes. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Translated by Pamela Mensch. Edited by James Miller. New York, NY: Oxford, 2020. Lane, William L. The Gospel of Mark. Nicnt, edited by F. F. Bruce Ned B. Stonehouse, and Gordon D. Fee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974. Litwa, M. David. Iesus Deus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Livy. The Early History of Rome. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London, UK: Penguin, 2002. Origen. Against Celsus. Translated by Frederick Crombie. Vol. 4. The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Pausanias. Guide to Greece. Translated by Peter Levi. London, UK: Penguin, 1979. Perriman, Andrew. In the Form of a God. Studies in Early Christology, edited by David Capes Michael Bird, and Scott Harrower. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022. Philostratus. Letters of Apollonius. Vol. 458. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2006. Plutarch. Life of Alexander. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff. The Age of Alexander. London, UK: Penguin, 2011. Porphyry. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Edited by David Fideler. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988. Pseudo-Clement. Recognitions. Translated by Thomas Smith. Vol. 8. Ante Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Pseudo-Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies. Translated by David Litwa. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2016. Pseudo-Thomas. Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Translated by James Orr. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903. Psuedo-Clement. Homilies. Translated by Peter Peterson. Vol. 8. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1897. Siculus, Diodorus. The Historical Library. Translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Vol. 1. Edited by Giles Laurén: Sophron Editor, 2017. Strabo. The Geography. Translated by Duane W. Roller. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2020. Tertullian. Against Praxeas. Translated by Holmes. Vol. 3. Ante Nice Fathers. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Tertullian. Apology. Translated by S. Thelwall. Vol. 3. Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Younger, Pliny the. The Letters of the Younger Pliny. Translated by Betty Radice. London: Penguin, 1969. End Notes [1] For the remainder of this paper, I will use the lower case “god” for all references to deity outside of Yahweh, the Father of Christ. I do this because all our ancient texts lack capitalization and our modern capitalization rules imply a theology that is anachronistic and unhelpful for the present inquiry. [2] Christopher Kaiser wrote, “Explicit references to Jesus as ‘God' in the New Testament are very few, and even those few are generally plagued with uncertainties of either text or interpretation.” Christopher B. Kaiser, The Doctrine of God: A Historical Survey (London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1982), 29. Other scholars such as Raymond Brown (Jesus: God and Man), Jason David BeDuhn (Truth in Translation), and Brian Wright (“Jesus as θεός: A Textual Examination” in Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament) have expressed similar sentiments. [3] John 20.28; Hebrews 1.8; Titus 2.13; 2 Peter 1.1; Romans 9.5; and 1 John 5.20. [4] See Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians 12.2 where a manuscript difference determines whether or not Polycarp called Jesus god or lord. Textual corruption is most acute in Igantius' corpus. Although it's been common to dismiss the long recension as an “Arian” corruption, claiming the middle recension to be as pure and uncontaminated as freshly fallen snow upon which a foot has never trodden, such an uncritical view is beginning to give way to more honest analysis. See Paul Gilliam III's Ignatius of Antioch and the Arian Controversy (Leiden: Brill, 2017) for a recent treatment of Christological corruption in the middle recension. [5] See the entries for  אֱלֹהִיםand θεός in the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon (BDB), Eerdmans Dictionary, Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, the Bauer Danker Arndt Gingrich Lexicon (BDAG), Friberg Greek Lexicon, and Thayer's Greek Lexicon. [6] See notes on Is 9.6 and Ps 45.6. [7] ZIBBC: “In what sense can the king be called “god”? By virtue of his divine appointment, the king in the ancient Near East stood before his subjects as a representative of the divine realm. …In fact, the term “gods“ (ʾelōhı̂m) is used of priests who functioned as judges in the Israelite temple judicial system (Ex. 21:6; 22:8-9; see comments on 58:1; 82:6-7).” John W. Hilber, “Psalms,” in The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 5 of Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. ed. John H. Walton (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 358. [8] Around a.d. 340, Aphrahat of Persia advised his fellow Christians to reply to Jewish critics who questioned why “You call a human being ‘God'” (Demonstrations 17.1). He said, “For the honored name of the divinity is granted event ot rightoues human beings, when they are worthy of being called by it…[W]hen he chose Moses, his friend and his beloved…he called him “god.” …We call him God, just as he named Moses with his own name…The name of the divinity was granted for great honor in the world. To whom he wishes, God appoints it” (17.3, 4, 5). Aphrahat, The Demonstrations, trans., Ellen Muehlberger, vol. 3, The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2022), 213-15. In the Clementine Recognitions we find a brief mention of the concept:  “Therefore the name God is applied in three ways: either because he to whom it is given is truly God, or because he is the servant of him who is truly; and for the honour of the sender, that his authority may be full, he that is sent is called by the name of him who sends, as is often done in respect of angels: for when they appear to a man, if he is a wise and intelligent man, he asks the name of him who appears to him, that he may acknowledge at once the honour of the sent, and the authority of the sender” (2.42). Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions, trans., Thomas Smith, vol. 8, Ante Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [9] Michael F. Bird, Jesus among the Gods (Waco, TX: Baylor, 2022), 13. [10] Andrew Perriman, In the Form of a God, Studies in Early Christology, ed. David Capes Michael Bird, and Scott Harrower (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022), 130. [11] Paula Fredriksen, "How High Can Early High Christology Be?," in Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, ed. Matthew V. Novenson, vol. 180 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 296, 99. [12] ibid. [13] See Gen 18.1; Ex 3.2; 24.11; Is 6.1; Ezk 1.28. [14] Compare the Masoretic Text of Psalm 8.6 to the Septuagint and Hebrews 2.7. [15] Homer, The Odyssey, trans., Robert Fagles (New York, NY: Penguin, 1997), 370. [16] Diodorus Siculus, The Historical Library, trans., Charles Henry Oldfather, vol. 1 (Sophron Editor, 2017), 340. [17] Uranus met death at the brutal hands of his own son, Kronos who emasculated him and let bleed out, resulting in his deification (Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 1.10). Later on, after suffering a fatal disease, Kronos himself experienced deification, becoming the planet Saturn (ibid.). Zeus married Hera and they produced Osiris (Dionysus), Isis (Demeter), Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite (ibid. 2.1). [18] Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, Greek Theology, trans., George Boys-Stones, Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2018), 123. [19] Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology, trans., Robin Hard (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1998), 111. [20] Pausanias, Guide to Greece, trans., Peter Levi (London, UK: Penguin, 1979), 98. [21] Strabo, The Geography, trans., Duane W. Roller (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2020), 281. [22] Psuedo-Clement, Homilies, trans., Peter Peterson, vol. 8, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1897). Greek: “αὐτὸν δὲ ὡς θεὸν ἐθρήσκευσαν” from Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca, taken from Accordance (PSCLEMH-T), OakTree Software, Inc., 2018, Version 1.1. [23] See Barry Blackburn, Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions (Tübingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr, 1991), 32. [24] Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, trans., Pamela Mensch (New York, NY: Oxford, 2020), 39. [25] Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Thomas Taylor, Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras (Delhi, IN: Zinc Read, 2023), 2. [26] Diogenes Laertius, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 142. [27] See the list in Blackburn, 39. He corroborates miracle stories from Diogenus Laertius, Iamblichus, Apollonius, Nicomachus, and Philostratus. [28] Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 128-9. [29] Iamblichus,  68. [30] What I call “resurrection” refers to the phrase, “Thou shalt bring back from Hades a dead man's strength.” Diogenes Laertius 8.2.59, trans. R. D. Hicks. [31] Laertius, "Lives of the Eminent Philosophers," 306. Two stories of his deification survive: in one Empedocles disappears in the middle of the night after hearing an extremely loud voice calling his name. After this the people concluded that they should sacrifice to him since he had become a god (8.68). In the other account, Empedocles climbs Etna and leaps into the fiery volcanic crater “to strengthen the rumor that he had become a god” (8.69). [32] Pausanias,  192. Sextus Empiricus says Asclepius raised up people who had died at Thebes as well as raising up the dead body of Tyndaros (Against the Professors 1.261). [33] Cicero adds that the Arcadians worship Asclepius (Nature 3.57). [34] In another instance, he confronted and cast out a demon from a licentious young man (Life 4.20). [35] The phrase is “περὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ θεοῖς εἴρηται ὡς περὶ θείου ἀνδρὸς.” Philostratus, Letters of Apollonius, vol. 458, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2006). [36] See George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2nd ed. (Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2005), 3. [37] Plutarch, Life of Alexander, trans., Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff, The Age of Alexander (London, UK: Penguin, 2011), 311. Arrian includes a story about Anaxarchus advocating paying divine honors to Alexander through prostration. The Macedonians refused but the Persian members of his entourage “rose from their seats and one by one grovelled on the floor before the King.” Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 1971), 222. [38] Translation my own from “Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην.” Inscription at Nemrut Dağ, accessible at https://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm32. See also https://zeugma.packhum.org/pdfs/v1ch09.pdf. [39] Greek taken from W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae, vol. 2 (Hildesheim: Olms, 1960), 48-60. Of particular note is the definite article before θεός. They didn't celebrate the birthday of a god, but the birthday of the god. [40] Appian, The Civil Wars, trans., John Carter (London, UK: Penguin, 1996), 149. [41] M. David Litwa, Iesus Deus (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014), 20. [42] ibid. [43] Blackburn, 92-3. [44] The Homeric Hymns, trans., Michael Crudden (New York, NY: Oxford, 2008), 38. [45] "The Homeric Hymns," 14. [46] Homer,  344. [47] Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, trans., Marcus Dods, vol. 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001). [48] Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis, trans., Susan A. Stephens, Callimachus: The Hymns (New York, NY: Oxford, 2015), 119. [49] Siculus,  234. [50] Cyprian, Treatise 6: On the Vanity of Idols, trans., Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [51] Arnobius, Against the Heathen, trans., Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell, vol. 6, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [52] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 2002), 49. [53] Cicero, The Nature of the Gods, trans., Patrick Gerard Walsh (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2008), 69. [54] Wendy Cotter, "Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection Appearances in Matthew," in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study, ed. David E. Aune (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 149. [55] Litwa, 170. [56] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, Nicnt, ed. F. F. Bruce Ned B. Stonehouse, and Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974). [57] “Recent commentators have stressed that the best background for understanding the Markan transfiguration is the story of Moses' ascent up Mount Sinai (Exod. 24 and 34).” Litwa, 123. [58] Tertullian, Apology, trans. S. Thelwall, vol. 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [59] Eusebius, The Church History, trans. Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007), 54. [60] Pliny the Younger, The Letters of the Younger Pliny, trans., Betty Radice (London: Penguin, 1969), 294. [61] Pseudo-Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, trans., James Orr (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903), 25. [62] Litwa, 83. [63] For sources on Theodotus, see Pseduo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2; Pseudo-Tertullian, Against All Heresies 8.2; Eusebius, Church History 5.28. [64] Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, trans., David Litwa (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2016), 571. [65] I took the liberty to decapitalize these appellatives. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, trans. Thomas B. Falls (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003), 244. [66] Justin Martyr, 241. (Altered, see previous footnote.) [67] Justin Martyr, 102. [68] Justin Martyr, 56-7. [69] Arnobius makes a similar argument in Against the Heathen 1.38-39 “Is he not worthy to be called a god by us and felt to be a god on account of the favor or such great benefits? For if you have enrolled Liber among the gods because he discovered the use of wine, and Ceres the use of bread, Aesculapius the use of medicines, Minerva the use of oil, Triptolemus plowing, and Hercules because he conquered and restrained beasts, thieves, and the many-headed hydra…So then, ought we not to consider Christ a god, and to bestow upon him all the worship due to his divinity?” Translation from Litwa, 105. [70] Justin Martyr, 46. [71] Justin Martyr, 39. [72] Origen, Against Celsus, trans. Frederick Crombie, vol. 4, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [73] Litwa, 173. [74] I could easily multiply examples of this by looking at Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and many others. [75] The obvious exception to Hanson's statement were thinkers like Sabellius and Praxeas who believed that the Father himself came down as a human being. R. P. C. Hanson, Search for a Christian Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), xix. [76] Interestingly, even some of the biblical unitarians of the period were comfortable with calling Jesus god, though they limited his divinity to his post-resurrection life. [77] Tertullian writes, “[T]he Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I.” In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being “a little lower than the angels.” Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son” (Against Praxeas 9). Tertullian, Against Praxeas, trans., Holmes, vol. 3, Ante Nice Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003).

The story of Lycaon (also spelled Lykaion, Lykaon) has been told by many dating back to Ancient Greece, where it was attested in works like Pausanias' Description of Greece, Apollodorus' Library, and Hyginus' Astronomica, and across centuries and civilizations through works like Ovid's masterpiece Metamorphoses. Lycaon's attempt to deceive the gods leads to a terrifying transformation, which many have described as the oldest depiction of a werewolf, wolf-man, or lycanthrope. The story of Lycaon, his test of the god Zeus, and his transformation as punishment is not just a great scary story; it provides insight into Ancient Greek customs of morality such hubris and as hospitality (Xenia.) Like the best of gothic and modern horror, the story of Lycaon explores the fine line between man and monster. All revenue for the month following the release of this video will be donated to SAFE Project US, supporting recovery for those struggling with addiction. Mythos & Logos are two ancient words that can be roughly translated as “Story & Meaning.” Support the channel by subscribing, liking, and commenting to join the conversation! Support the channel financially through your generous Patreon donation: patreon.com/mythosandlogos Cline, Austin. "Method of Sacrifice in Ancient Greece." Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/method... Paphitis, Nicholas. "Ancient Teenage Skeleton Unearthed on Mountain Top Could Confirm Darkest Greek Legend." Ekathimerini. https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/... SAFE Project US: https://www.safeproject.us Mount Lykaion Excavation & Survey Project: https://www.lykaionexcavation.org The purpose of this channel is to share the important stories at the foundation of human cultures throughout history. These include mythology, legends, folktales, religious stories, and parables from the dawn of history to the modern day. This channel provides interpretations and insight into these stories, to find and apply their meaning to contemporary life. All stories covered are treated academically. This channel makes no claims regarding the historical, scientific, or religious truth of these tales. Rather, its goal is to find the meanings understood by their authors and apply them to the modern world. Thumbnail image generated via use of artificial intelligence. Ambiment - The Ambient by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

With some of the foundational myths behind us, let's go on a little tour of our Solar System and see just how Greco-Roman mythology inspired the names of our planets and moons! Along the way, we have time for plenty of tangents on planetary exploration, Planet X and Indo-Europeans! Sources for this episode: Bond, P. (2022), Solar Surveyors: Observing the Sun from Space. Chichester: Springer in association with Praxis Publishing. Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford. Dietz, R. S. and Holden, J. C. (1970), The Breakup of Pangaea. Scientific American 223(4): 30-41. The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Ares (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Charon (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Cosimo II (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Selene (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Fry, S. (2017, 1st edition), Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (eBook). London: Penguin Books Ltd. Gill, N. S., ThoughtCo (updated 2019), Table of Roman Equivalents of Greek Gods (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd. Hind, J. R. (1852), The Solar System: A Descriptive Treatise Upon the Sun, Moon and Planets, Including An Announce of all the Recent Discoveries. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. Howe, A. R. (2022), Cloud Continents: Terraforming Venus Efficiently by Means of a Floating Artificial Surface. Kavelaars, J. J. and Delsemme, A. H., Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Kuiper Belt (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Konow, S. (1925), Indo-European Religious Ideas in Ancient India. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 6(2): 59-66. Landis, G. A. (2020), Settling Venus: A City in the Clouds? ASCEND 2020: Transformative Technologies for Space Exploration II. Lemonick, M. D. (2016), The Search for Planet X. Scientific American 314(2): 30-37. Main, W. H. (1824), The Tusculan Disuptations of Cicero. London: W. Pickering. Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume I). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume II). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Norris, R. P. and Norris, B. R. M. (pre-print, date unknown), Why are there Seven Sisters? Oldfather, C. H., LascusCurtis (date unknown), Diodorus Siculus Book IV, 59-85 (end) (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Renfrew, C. (1989), The Origins of Indo-European Languages. Scientific American 261(4): 106-115. Szocik, K., Wójtowicz, T. and Baran, L. (2017), War or peace? The possible scenarios of colonising Mars. Space Policy 42: 31-36. Trzaskoma, S. M. and Scott Smith, R. (2007), Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. Van Helden, A. (1994), Naming the Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. H.A.D. News 32. Veverka, J. (1977), Phobos and Deimos. Scientific American 236(2): 30-37. Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), Moons of Our Solar System (online, plus pages springing from it) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), The Planets (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Asteroid belt, Caelus, Janus, Pleiades, Pleione, Thalassa and 10 Hygiea (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023]. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Earth (online) [Accessed 29/10/2023].

Mark Wilson Jones is an an esteemed academic architectural historian. He is known for his significant contributions to the understanding of architectural history of antiquity, mostly through his seminal work on the Pantheon. He doesn't limit himself to historical research, but is a practicing architect at his own firm, Apollodorus Architecture.  Previously an Associate Professor at the university of Bath, he has authored multiple scholarly books and a great number of articles. Additionally, he serves as chair of the Traditional Architecture Group and has taught at the Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture Summer School at Cambridge, and the summer school of La Table Ronde d'Architecture in Bruges.  He recently made an exciting counterproposal for the renovation and replacement of the ageing Bath rugby stadium, which has caught the attention of many. Although it is far from certain the design will be taken serious by local government, it has significant advantages over the current proposal. Find his books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-Wilson-Jones/author/B001KDDJPE?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Apollodorus Architecture: https://www.apollodorus.uk/ Bath Arena: https://www.apollodorus.uk/project-bath-arena-landing ========  For more information on The Aesthetic City, find our website on https://theaestheticcity.com/ Love what we do? Become a patron! With your help we can grow this platform even further, make more content and hopefully achieve real, lasting impact for more beautiful cities worldwide.  Visit our Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/the_aesthetic_city?fan_landing=true  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@the_aesthetic_city  Follow us on X: https://x.com/_Aesthetic_City  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.aesthetic.city/  Substack: https://theaestheticcity.substack.com/  Get access to the Aesthetic City Knowledge Base: https://theaestheticcity.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/18809486-2532-4d91-90fd-f5c62775adec

I swear this chapter really is about more than Cassandra.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

For famous twins, they don't get much screentime in the Bibliotheca…   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

Our author takes us from Hermes to Helen in today's episode.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

Tuesday, 18 July 2023   Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. Acts 18:24   The words now form an insert into the narrative to introduce a new figure into the Bible. While Paul is going through the areas of Galatia and Phrygia, the figure is introduced so that when he meets with Paul, their two accounts will properly align. Understanding this, it now says, “Now a certain Jew named Apollos.”   The name Apollos is derived from the pagan deity Apollon, meaning the sun god. It is from the same source as Apollonia which is a place in Macedonia noted in Acts 17:1. The name Apollos may be a shortened form of a longer Greek name, such as Apollonius or Apollodorus.   This person will be noted twice in Acts, six times in 1 Corinthians, and then once in Titus. Outside of these verses, nothing more is known of him. He is next noted as having been “born at Alexandria.” Of this location, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown says –   “...the celebrated city of Egypt on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean, called after its founder, Alexander the Great. Nowhere was there such a fusion of Greek, Jewish, and Oriental peculiarities, and an intelligent Jew educated in that city could hardly fail to manifest all these elements in his mental character.”   This evaluation then explains the next words, saying he was “an eloquent man.” The word in Greek is logios. It signifies being gifted with learning. It also speaks of one with excellent oratory skills. Vincent's Word Studies explains further –   “The word is used in Greek literature in several senses. As λόγος [logos] means either reason or speech, so this derivative may signify either one who has thought much, and has much to say, or one who can say it well. Hence it is used: 1. Of one skilled in history. Herodotus, for example, says that the Heliopolitans are the most learned in history (λογιώτατοι) of all the Egyptians. 2. Of an eloquent person. An epithet of Hermes or Mercury, as the god of speech and eloquence. 3. Of a learned person generally. ...the scripture-learning of Apollos is specified in the words mighty in the scriptures, and his superior eloquence appears to have been the reason why some of the Corinthians preferred him to Paul.”   The comment about Apollo being preferred by some in Corinth is found in Paul's first epistle to them where the church was divided in who was the best example to follow. Because of his eloquence, it is assumed that some in the church preferred following Apollos. Not only did he possess the ability to eloquently convey his thoughts, but it also notes of him as, “and mighty in the Scriptures.”   Rather, the Greek contains a present participle, saying, “being mighty in the Scriptures.” In other words, he had a deep knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures. Of this, Albert Barnes rightly says, “The foundation was thus laid for future usefulness in the Christian church.”   This is the purpose of introducing him at this point. When someone will soon play a prominent role in the ongoing narrative, he or she is often introduced in advance. Then, at the right time, that person is brought directly into the ongoing narrative. Suddenly introducing Apollos as Luke has done means that this will be the case with him in the verses ahead. For now, it notes of him that he “came to Ephesus.”   Earlier in the chapter, it noted that Paul indicated that he would return to Ephesus –   “When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, 21 but took leave of them, saying, ‘I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.' And he sailed from Ephesus.” Acts 18:20, 21   From there, the account hurriedly rushed through Paul's trip. At this point, he has left Antioch and is in the region of Galatia and Phrygia. At the same time, Apollos is introduced and he is at Ephesus, the place Paul committed to returning to. Without looking forward, one can be reasonably assured that these two will meet up in Ephesus. What type of meeting is unknown. Maybe they will be rivals, fighting over points of doctrine. Maybe they will become close friends as Paul and Timothy have done. But it is reasonably assured that the two will be brought into the same account in the narrative in the not-too-distant future.   Life application: One of the biggest mistakes made by people looking for a church, or of churches in the selection of the pastors, is that they look, first and foremost, for a person who is a skilled orator. There is nothing wrong with good oratory skills. Instead, they can be a source of great encouragement or stirring of the soul by those who hear well-spoken sermons.   Another similar mistake occurs when people look first and foremost for a pastor who is incredibly intelligent and articulates his thoughts in a remarkably logical and methodical way. There is nothing wrong with this approach either. Some people or congregations are so well developed in their thinking that having this type of presentation really edifies them.   However, the problem with such selections is derived from the thought “first and foremost.” All of the oratory skills in the world are wholly useless to a church if they are not properly aligned with Scripture. Likewise, being extremely well versed in the Greek language or in the structure of literature means diddly if evaluations of such things are torn out of their proper context.   What should be the first and foremost consideration is, “How well does this person know, understand, and care about Scripture?” Without this considered, nothing else really matters. To be properly and excitingly orated into heresy can only lead to sadness. To be presented with meticulous analyses of Scripture that are not based on what is contextually proper will only lead to faulty conclusions and aberrant doctrine.   If a person does not know Scripture well and if his understanding of it is not orthodox, he shouldn't be given two seconds of your time. Don't look at externals! How he is dressed, what he looks like, where he went to school, what type of degree he possesses, etc., are all not to be thought of as primary considerations. Understanding of, and adherence to, sound doctrine should be looked for before anything else.   Remember this and don't get caught up in fallacious thinking. Innumerable people have been swept up into cults and aberrant sects because they failed this first and primary consideration.   Glorious Lord God, please direct us to leaders who are mighty in Scripture and who handle it properly. We have our part in the selection of our leaders, so help us to be well-versed in Your word as well. Fill us with the strong desire to be fully aware of what Your word is conveying before we select those who we will appoint over us. If they are sound in such things, only then should we consider their other qualities. Keep us on the straight path in this matter. Amen.  

Atalanta outsmarts many suitors in today's episode.   To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

There's a bear in the sky! To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization.  If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content.    References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bethany-banner/support

 Legendary Passages #0118,Philostratus the Elder, Imagines Book 2,Image 2,Centaurs & Hippolytus. Previously, Theseus fought a war against the centaurs, and cursed his son Hippolytus to an early death. In this passage, we hear descriptions of the education of Achilles by the centaur Chiron, female centaurs and their foals, and the tragic fate of Hippolytus.  The first image is that of the boy Achilles, fated to fight and die in the Trojan War. He is an athletic boy being trained by the centaur Chiron, like many heroes before him. Chiron lets the boy ride on his back to teach him horse-riding, and rewards his efforts with apples and honey. The second image is of pretty centaur mares, their beauty comparable to Naiad mermaids or the horse-riding amazons. Their babies are born fairly human, eventually sprouting manes and their feet becoming tender hooves, turning wild at a young age. The last image shows the end of Hippolytus, the son of Theseus and the amazon Antiope. Theseus eventually married the sister of Ariadne, Phaedra, and when Hippolytus spurned her advances, she accused him instead. Theseus cursed his own son; and while Hippolytus rode his chariot along the shoreline, a white bull emerged from the waters, terrified his horses, and the chariot crashed. The very landscape of the painting mourns the passing of the mangled youth, handsome even in the throws of death.Centaurs & Hippolytus,a Legendary Passage from,Arthur Fairbanks translating,Philostratus the Elder,Imagines Book 2,Images 2-4.https://www.theoi.com/Text/PhilostratusElder2A.html#22.2. THE EDUCATION OF ACHILLES A fawn and a hare – these are the spoils of hunting of Achilles as he is now, the Achilles who at Ilium will capture cities and horses and the ranks of men, and rivers will do battle with him when he refuses to let them flow, and as reward of those exploits he will bear away Briseïs and the seven maidens from Lesbos and gold and tripods and authority over the Achaeans; but the exploits here depicted, done at Cheiron's home, seem to deserve apples and honey as rewards, and you are content with small gifts, Achilles, you who one day will disdain whole cities and marriage with Agamemnon's daughter. Nay, the Achilles who fights at the trench, who puts the Trojans to rout merely by his shouting, and who slays men right and left, and reddens the water of the Scamander, and also his immortal horses, and his dragging of Hector's body around the walls, and his lamentation on the breast of Patroclus – all this has been depicted by Homer, and he depicts him also as singing and praying and receiving Priam under his roof. This Achilles, however, a child not yet conscious of valour, whom Cheiron still nourishes upon milk and marrow and honey, he has offered to the painter as a delicate, sport-loving child and already light of foot. For the boy's leg is straight and his arms come down to his knees (for such arms are excellent assistants in the race); his hair is charming and loose; for Zephyrus in sport seems to shift it about, so that as it falls, now here, now there, the boy's appearance may be changed. Already the boy has a frowning brow and an air of spirited haughtiness, but these are made gentle by a guileless look and by gracious cheeks that send for a tender smile. The cloak he wears is probably his mother's gift; for it is beautiful and its colour is sea-purple with red glints shading into a dark blue. Cheiron flatters him by saying that he catches hares like a lion and vies with fawns in running; at any rate, he has just caught a fawn and comes to Cheiron to claim his reward, and Cheiron, delighting to be asked, stands with fore-legs bent so as to be on a level with the boy and offers him apples fair and fragrant from the fold of his garment – for their very fragrance seems to be depicted – and with his hand he offers him a honeycomb dripping with honey, thanks to the diligent foraging of the bees. For when bees find good meadows and become big with honey, the combs get filled to overflowing and their cells pour it forth.  Now Cheiron is painted in every aspect like a centaur; yet to combine a horse and human body is no wondrous deed, but to gloss over the juncture and make the two into one whole and, by Zeus, cause one to end and the other to begin in such wise as to elude the eye of the observer who should try to detect where the human body ends, this seems to me to demand an excellent painter. That the expression seen in the eye of Cheiron is gentle is the result of his justice, but the lyre also does its part, through whose music he has become cultured; but now there is also something of cozening in his look, no doubt because Cheiron knows that this soothes children and nurtures them better than milk. This is the scene at the entrance of the cave; and the boy out on the plain, the one who is sporting on the back of the centaur as if it were a horse, is still the same boy; for Cheiron is teaching Achilles to ride horseback and to use him exactly as a horse, and he measures his gait to what the boy can endure, and turning around he smiles at the boy when he laughs aloud with enjoyment, and all but says to him, “Lo, my hoofs paw the ground for you without use of spur; lo, I even urge you on; the horse is indeed a spirited animal and gives no ground for laughter. For although you have been taught by me thus gently the art of horsemanship, divine boy, and are suited to such a horse as I, some day you shall ride on Xanthos and Balios; and you shall take many cities and slay many men, you merely running and they trying to escape you.” Such is Cheiron's prophecy for the boy, a prophecy fair and auspicious and quite unlike that of Xanthos.2.3. FEMALE CENTAURS You used to think that the race of centaurs sprang from trees and rocks or, by Zeus, just from mares – the mares which, men say, the son of Ixion coveted, the man by whom the centaurs though single creatures came to have their double nature. But after all they had, as we see, mothers of the same stock and wives next and colts as their offspring and a most delightful home; for I think you would not grow weary of Pelion and the life there and its wind-nurtured growth of ash which furnishes spear-shafts that are straight and at the same time do not break at the spearhead. And its caves are most beautiful and the springs and the female centaurs beside them, like Naïads if we overlook the horse part of them, or like Amazons if we consider them along with their horse bodies; for the delicacy of their female form gains in strength when the horse is seen in union with it.  Of the baby centaurs here some lie wrapped in swaddling clothes, some have discarded their swaddling clothes, some seem to be crying, some are happy and smile as they suck flowing breasts, some gambol beneath their mothers while others embrace them when they kneel down, and one is throwing a stone at his mother, for already he grows wanton. The bodies of the infants have not yet taken on their definite shape, seeing that abundant milk is still their nourishment, but some that already are leaping about show a little shagginess, and have sprouted mane and hoofs, though these are still tender. How beautiful the female centaurs are, even where they are horses; for some grow out of white mares, others are attached to chestnut mares, and the coat's of others are dappled, but they glisten like those of horses that are well cared for. There is also a white female centaur that grows out of a black mare, and the very opposition of the colours helps to produce the united beauty of the whole.2.4. HIPPOLYTUS The wild beast is the curse of Theseus; swift as dolphins it has rushed at the horses of Hippolytus in the form of a white bull, and it has come from the sea against the youth quite unjustly. For his stepmother Phaedra concocted a story against him that was not true, to the effect that Hippolytus loved her, - but it was really herself that was in love with the youth – and Theseus, deceived by the tale, calls down upon his son the curse which we see here depicted. The horses, as you see, scorning the yoke toss their manes unchecked, not stamping their feet like well bred and intelligent creatures, but overcome with panic and terror, and spattering the plain with foam, one while fleeing has turned its head toward the beast, another has leaped up at it, another looks at it askance, while the onrush of the fourth carries him into the sea as though he had forgotten both himself and dry land; and with erect nostrils they neigh shrilly, unless you fail to hear the painting. Of the wheels of the chariot one has been torn from its spokes as the chariot has tipped over upon it, the other has left its axle and goes rolling off by itself, its momentum still turning it. The horses of the attendants also are frightened and in some cases throw off their riders, while as for those who grasp them firmly about the neck, to what goal are they now carrying them? And thou, O youth that lovest chastity, thou hast suffered injustice at the hands of thy step-mother, and worse injustice at the hands of thy father, so that the painting itself mourns thee, having composed a sort of poetic lament in thine honour. Indeed yon mountain-peaks over which thou didst hunt with Artemis take the form of mourning women that tear their cheeks, and the meadows in the form of beautiful youths, meadows which thou didst call “undefiled,”  cause their flowers to wither for thee, and nymphs thy nurses emerging from yonder springs tear their hair and pour streams of water from their bosoms.  Neither did thy courage protect thee nor yet thy strong arm, but of thy members some have been torn off and others crushed, and thy hair has been defiled with dirt; they breast is still breathing as though it would not let go of the soul, and thine eye gazes at all thy wounds. Ah, thy beauty! How proof it is against wounds no one would have dreamed. For not even now does it quit the body; nay, a charm lingers even on thy wounds.https://www.theoi.com/Text/PhilostratusElder2A.html#4 This passage continues with Rhodogoune, but in our next episode we read a letter from Phaedra to Hippolytus.

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Professor Kozlowski tries to contextualize the Iliad of Homer by reading through the Trojan War narrative in the Library of Apollodorus. Along the way, he presents the timeline of fifteen-hundred years between the (supposed) events of the Trojan War and the digested version found in Apollodorus, and he discusses the major gods, goddesses, characters and events in the mythic tradition surrounding the Trojan War. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

That necklace gets around… To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

I think Aeschylus skipped some of these parts. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

So much territory to cover… To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

The doctrine that the world is a living being, rational, animate and intelligent, is laid down by Chrysippus in the first book of his treatise On Providence, by Apollodorus in his Physics, and by Posidonius… And it is endowed with soul, as is clear from our several souls being each a fragment of it. (DL 7.142-3)[1] Some people think the idea of a conscious cosmos is an antiquated relic of ancient Stoicism that we must abandon in light of modern science. However, numerous modern scientists and philosophers describe the nature of the cosmos in ways that are compatible with the intuitions of the ancient Stoics. Some now suggest consciousness must be a fundamental aspect of the cosmos and refer to a mind-like background in the universe. A few boldly claim the universe is conscious, just as the Stoic did more than two thousand years ago. Modern thinkers frequently label this idea panpsychism, which entails consciousness as a fundamental aspect of the cosmos. When we consider a concept like a conscious cosmos and relate it to ancient Stoicism, we first must acknowledge that the Greeks did not have a word for conscious. The word first appears in English in the seventeenth century. Next, we must admit that many definitions of consciousness exist today. The ancient Stoics argued the cosmos is a living being (organism) that is rational, animate, and intelligent. I cannot imagine an entity that meets all those criteria we would deny is conscious. Instead of a conscious cosmos, we could say a rational, animate, and intelligent cosmos; however, that will not appease those who believe the universe is mechanistic, reductive to matter, and governed by laws that just happen, accidentally, to be conducive to life as we know it here on Earth. Therefore, the term conscious serves quite well as a substitute for a living being (organism) that is rational, animate, and intelligent. The ancient Stoics considered their unique conception of a conscious, providentially ordered cosmos a necessary element of their holistic philosophical system. They did so for good reasons. Today, Traditional Stoics think this conception of the cosmos is still viable. First, despite the objections offered by those who adhere to the metaphysical assumptions of the current scientific orthodoxy, there is no objective scientific reason to abandon the conscious cosmos of Stoicism. More importantly, Stoic practice relies on the essential relationship between the way the world is (physics) and the way we should act in the world (ethics). Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoa, argued that universal nature is the source of our knowledge of virtue, good and evil, and happiness. Further, according to Plutarch, Chrysippus asserted, “physical theory turns out to be ‘at once before and behind' ethics.”[2] As I have written before, the conscious and providential cosmos is the soul of the Stoic philosophical system. Speaking of soul, the ancient Stoics believed the cosmos has a soul, and it is God. As Plutarch notes: In his On providence book 1 [Chrysippus] says: ‘When the world is fiery through and through, it is directly both its own soul and commanding-faculty.[3] Unfortunately, many people recoil, almost reflexively, from the concept of a conscious cosmos because it entails some form of intelligence that preexists human consciousness. They mistakenly assume such a concept necessarily invokes a supernatural divinity akin to those of traditional monotheistic religions. Likewise, many people are unaware of the increasing number of scientists and thinkers breaking out of the pre-twentieth-century, mechanistic, materialist, reductionist box and arguing that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality. I will highlight a few of those thinkers shortly. Consciousness was ignored by the mainstream hard sciences, including psychology, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Science could not explain consciousness via reductive materialism; therefore,

Meet Dionysus's family. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Atalanta: the heroine of ancient Greece. Or, was it heroines? There are two Atalantas, sometimes conflated into one, other times separate. One fought the Calydonian boar, wrestled Peleus, and generally kicked ass. The other lost a foot race, distracted by a golden apple.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com entry on Atalanta, including Aelian, Apollodorus, Apollonios, and others; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Glaucus dies. But don't be nervous. It will all be all right in the end. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Atalanta: the heroine of ancient Greece. Or, was it heroines? There are two Atalantas, sometimes conflated into one, other times separate. One fought the Calydonian boar, wrestled Peleus, and generally kicked ass. The other lost a foot race, distracted by a golden apple.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com entry on Atalanta, including Aelian, Apollodorus, Apollonios, and others; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do small statues found in Japan indicate that sushi, tea and kimonos originate from otherworldly beings.  Atlantis, according to Plato this mythic land would be outside the pillars of Heracles, but could he have been wrong? Did aliens try to contact us in Japan by drifting ashore in a hollow boat in 1803 with a box some might say contained a super computer? Our host Fredrik continues the mission to discover what is genuine, fake, and somewhere in between on the TV-show Ancient Aliens. In this episode we will start our journey into season 2 and an episode about underwater worlds. So put on that scuba gear and let's dive straight on to it. We are joined this week by none other than Tehya (TK) from “For the love of history”. Podcaster by night, teacher by day and former Atlantis hunter. Her knowledge about Japanese history is amazing and she provides this episode with a lot of great knowledge nuggets. If you want to hear more from Tehya you can find her podcast on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/for-the-love-of-history/id1506003489 (Apple), https://www.amazon.com/For-the-Love-of-History/dp/B08JJRNH7D (Amazon), https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vZm9yLXRoZS1sb3ZlLW9mLWhpc3Rvcnkv?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiAofG7taf2AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=sv (Google )Podcast or any other player. You can follow her on https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=/fortheloveof_historypodcast/ (Instagram), https://twitter.com/fortheloveofhi3 (twitter )or check out her https://www.patreon.com/fortheloveofhistorypodcast (patreon). According to signals from outer space there might also be a https://www.fortheloveofhistorypodcast.com/home (website that you find right here). We did talk about a painting in the episode and it did turn out to be an old school poster. Unfortunately it's not within the public domain but https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/A010285/Primitive-men-hunting-a-rhinoceros (it can be found here )if you are curious.  In this water themed episode we did cover these little topics: Atlantis Bermuda Triangle Yonaguni monument Utsuro-bune Dogu figures Jamon Culture India's sunken cities Lake Titicaca's sunken temple Sources, resources and further reading suggestionsFeder, K.L. (2020). Frauds, myths, and mysteries : science and pseudoscience in archaeology. New York: Oxford University Press. Mit.edu. (2009). The Internet Classics Archive | Timaeus by Plato. [online] Available at: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html) . Mit.edu. (2009). The Internet Classics Archive | Critias by Plato. [online] Available at: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/critias.html (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/critias.html).  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332031766_Cities_under_the_Mediterranean (Muckelroy, K. (1980). Archeology underwater : an atlas of the world's submerged sites. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. pp. 162 - 177.) Fitzpatrick-Matthews, K. (2012). An underwater city west of Cuba. [online] Available at: https://badarchaeology.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/an-underwater-city-west-of-cuba/ (https://badarchaeology.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/an-underwater-city-west-of-cuba/). April Holloway (2014). What Happened to the Sunken City of Cuba? [online] Ancient-origins.net. Available at: https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/what-happened-sunken-city-cuba-001883.%E2%80%8C (https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/what-happened-sunken-city-cuba-001883.‌)  Theoi.com. (2017). APOLLODORUS, THE LIBRARY BOOK 1 - Theoi Classical Texts Library. [online] Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html (https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html).  1.4.1 www.theoi.com. (n.d.). HYGINUS, FABULAE 50-99 - Theoi Classical Texts Library. [online] Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html (https://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html). 53 NOAA. Historical Maps and Charts

Catreus has some kids, and they also have some kids, and that's the story in today's episode. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. Wikipedia contributors. "Pleisthenes." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Sep. 2021. Web. 2 Feb. 2022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

First there's the Zeus bull. Then there's the Poseidon bull. Then there's the Man-Bull… To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Heracles's sons and grandsons carry on the line in today's episode. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Heracles kills some more people and finally gets his comeuppance. Sort of. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Heracles kills some more people and has to atone for it. Again. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

Heracles makes himself famous in today's episode. To join the discussion, visit the blog at Triumvir Clio's School of Classical Civilization. If there's no hyperlink showing up here, you can go to triumvirclio.school.blog to find a feed of recent episodes as well as discussion pages for every episode. Join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/triumvirclio to get early access to ad-free episodes and bonus content. References Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Available online at https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022. “Lernaean Hydra (Hydra Lernaia)". Theoi.com, https://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonHydra.html. Accessed 6 Nov 2021 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bethany-banner/support

After killing Medusa, Perseus comes across the Phoenician-Ethiopian princess, Andromeda, awaiting death by sea monster. He steps in, for a price...For the article referred to at the end of the episode: sententiaeantiquae.com/2021/08/07/just-a-girl-being-briseisCW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com (entries on Perseus, Danae, Hesperides, primarily content from Apollodorus); Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz; Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Allen Mandelbaum.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Perseus's quest continues as he goes in search of the Gorgons sisters with a little (a lot) help from the gods. Looking at all the variations on this myth and their implications on one of the most ancient heroes... For more information on the intricacies of Medusa and all the variations over ~700 years, listen to this episode.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com (entries on Perseus, Danae, Hesperides, primarily content from Apollodorus); Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Liv is on "holiday!"! A re-airing of two favourite Theseus Was the Worst episodes. First, Theseus is destined to be a hero, he just knows it. He's willing to kill anyone along the way in order to prove it. Then, Theseus is back and badder than ever. He finally encounters the Minotaur and proceeds to leave the woman who helped him on an island. He's just that type of guy.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thingSources: Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton, Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology translated by Robin Hard, The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, Plutarch's Life of Theseus translated by Bernadotte Perrin as found here theoi.com/Text/PlutarchTheseus.html.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So many origins! Where did Laomedon of Troy's fancy horses come from, and why do they matter? And what about Heracles' familial origins?!CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com; Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology translated by Robin Hard; The Greek Myths by Robert Graves; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The story of the Titans, the first race of gods in Greek mythology, and the war between those Titans and the new race of gods, the Olympians.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Hesiod's Theogony, translations by Hugh Evelyn-White and Richard Lattimore; Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology, translated by Robin Hard; various Titan/Titaness entries on Theoi.com.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rosy-Fingered Titan/goddess Eos has a great epithet, but she wasn't such a great lady... She had a habit of pulling a Zeus. The stories of Cephalus and Procris, and Tithonus.CW/TW far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Theoi.com; Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Allen Mandelbaum; Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology translated by Robin Hard.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's horror movie horror, and there's "the world is dark and awful" horror. This episode has a little of each... The Daughters of Minyas could've used to be a bit more deferential to the god Dionysus, and Procne and Philomela, well, they were just unlucky enough to meet Tereus.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault (this one especially). Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.Sources: Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Apollodorus' the Library of Greek Mythology translated by Robin Hard, Theoi.com.Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.