/lit/ - Literature

>>14759036
Yorgos Lanthimos

Ajax the great was based

Cadmus is the patrician's choice. After that Oedipus.

Diomedes was a Chad

>>14759036
Perseus. idk why exactly, when i was young i thought his myth was the coolest

>>14759036
Oedipus.

>>14759089
Because it is the coolest. He goes around slaying monsters and sleeping with women. It's operatic.

>>14759079
based Thebeans. Thebes is the patrician city-state as well.

>>14759036
Jason, because I have a friend named Jason. Now Aeneas, he was a real one, not a GAYreek.

Odysseus

>>14759036
I always liked Iolaus.
Sidekicks never get a lot of love.

Ναι, εγώ ρε.
Εάν δεν είσε έλληνας, δεν έχεις την ψυχή να καταλάβεις την μυθολογία.
Πρέπεις να έχεις την ελληνική ψυχή μέσα στον εαυτό σου, αλλιώς δεν μπορείς να φτάσεις στην καρδιά αυτού που προκαλούν οι ιστορίες

>>14759036
Hector

>inb4 greek

>>14759036
Socrates

>>14759092
God yes

>>14759494
Βλάκα. Η ελληνική ψυχή ανήκει σε όλους. Είναι το δώρο για τον κόσμο όλον. Μόνο ένας ανίδεος πίθηκος σαν και εσένα θα απαγόρευε την εξερεύνησή της για το μοναδικό σκοπό της διερεύνησης της ψυχής όλων.

Andy Millionakis

>>14759084
This. Nigga stabbed the manifestation of war itself.

Agamemnon

Paris. My nigga stole the hottest bitch from King Menelaus and banged her silly while his men were slaughtered on the Trojan shore.

>>14759706
Trojans will never be Greek

>>14759684
Literally a whiny pussy bitch
>>14759706
Another pussy bitch who only got his way because he was being used by Eris to create discord in the gods.

>>14759719
>cope
Trojans survived the war and made their way to Italy to plant the seed of the Roman Empire. The same one that would tame the Greek barbarian.

>>14759756
You do know what the word barbarian means right? If you don't, you're an idiot, if you do and used it together with the word Greek, you're an even bigger idiot.

>>14759784
Yes my good sir. BAR BAR BAR BAR BAR. That's what the refined Greek ear would hear when listening to a foreigner speak. I agree with you factually but I'm just takin the piss. However my point still stands, the greek bent the knee before the Imperial Eagle and tutored Roman aristocratic children. May Paris' and the Roman legacy live on in the USA!

>>14759036
Hippocleides, the lesser known god of not giving a fuck.

>>14759746
Have the gods ever chosen you as an avatar to carry out great historical events?

>>14759854
>Implying that's a good or desirable thing

Diogenes

>>14759939
Cringe

>>14759854
Yes. It happens often, however those involved are usually unaware how their desires and actions are manipulated.

Arimnestos of Plataea ftw. Lowborn farmer who came up through the arisocratic ranks and singlehandedly won the battle of marathon, saved athens from devolving into tyranny the year before, cleared a phoenician galley by himself. Basically achilles reborn. Another Arimnestos of Sparta crushed the persian general Mardonius' head with a rock in the battle of Plataea

>>14759036
Lades

>>14759036
Odysseus because he tried to dodge draft by feigning insanity.

>>14759036
Theseus
>had to prove he was a man before doing anything else by moving a huge rock to get at his dads sword
>killed the highway men around Athens
>killed a dude who catapulted people from trees by catapulting him from a tree
>pushed some guy who pushed others off a cliff off the same cliff
>outed medea for the witch she was when she tried to poison him after she killed her mids
>killed the Minotaur via minos daughter having the hots for him
>after killing it he takes her sister instead
>kidnapped Helen way before Paris did
>went and dared ask hades to give him persephone
Theseus > all others except maybe hercules

Rance

>>14760220
Have you read the Phaedra tragedies? It doesn't end well for the ol'boy. (it's a tragedy tee hee)

>>14759036
Bellerophon

>>14759576
Based

>>14759819
American fag alert

>>14759036
Lord Byron

>>14760137
its spelt Leides you dummy

>>14760258
No. Does it talk about him being imprisoned in Hades or being killed after losing his throne when he gets outta the underworld?
Dude ran full tilt his whole life, nothing to be ashamed of

>>14759036
Because he's just like me.

>>14760678
Nope, he is kind of a side character in those plays who only shows up at the end. I'll give a quick synopsis.
>Theseus is gone to help his friend get a chick back from the underworld
>His son is sad that Theseus has been gone for so long and that his step mother hates him
>his step mother is actually in love with him
>she confesses this to her step son to which he says ew no im gay
>father returns and is told by his wife that his son raped her (she is mad about getting rejected)
>son is exiled so he takes off on his horse, wife kills herself since she'll never see him again
>Theseus prays to Poseidon to kill his son after finding his dead wife
>Poseidon does so. His son gets dragged for miles by his horse that got spooked by a big water monster
>play ends with Theseus reading a a confession from his dead wife that she was never raped, and his dead, mangled son's sack of flesh and bones is brought back to him.
fin

>>14760725
Ah ok Ive read this myth, just not the play. Still mad about it
Afterward I think is when Theseus kidnaps Helen. He gave up on love and went for someone who would elevate his fame I guess

>>14759036
Spartacus

>>14759036
It's low-hanging fruit, but Odysseus (shout-out to >>14759136, but not >>14760141). I will tell you why.

Odysseus is at war for ten years. Then another two years pass as he attempts to voyage home. But his real test is seven years, seven long years, on Calypso's island. Every night for seven years Calypso drags him to bed and has her way with him. They have heated, passionate, divine sex, perfumed with nectar and sweating in the Aegean night. Every night for seven years Calypso turns to Odysseus in his postcoital fugue and whispers to him with the sweetest enticements words more melodious than a mortal can stand to hear: yield to me, stay, be my lover, and with me you will be an immortal god. Every night for seven years he drifts off to sleep on a raft made of such honeyed temptations.

Yet every morning he arises from Calypso's bed, walks to the sea, looks out towards Ithaca, and weeps. He weeps for his land and his wife and his son. He knows he is king, father, husband. He will not abandon his duties nor his commitments, not even in the face of the fairest temptation a mortal has ever known. In rejecting immortality he proves himself something more than a god--a superhuman, a man whose DEVOTION exceeds any mortal's. Decades and distance have not diminished his resolve in the least.

>>14759576
I'm only ten chapters into Mastronarde's Introduction to Attic Greek but I'm pretty sure you're the based one and >>14759494 is not based.

>>14759819
The US in its current form represents exclusively the worst aspects of the Roman Empire, and this has been the case for the past 50 years

Favorite Greek traitor

>>14760362
Yeah, the British slang really gives it away eurofag nice try

>>14760860
>portrayed as commander of entire Persian navy and a stronk wamyn in 300 sequel
>in actuality artemisia commanded like 10 ships and wrecked the ship she was on into another Persian ship to get away from Greeks during a battle, thus proving even in ancient times women cant drive

>>14759036
For me, it's achilles

>>14759036
kyriakos grizzly

>>14760819
keep going with mastronarde. also both of them were speaking modern greek lmfao

Achilles

>>14759084
>>14759651
Based Diomedes bros. He is arguably the most entertaining character in the Iliad, both of his highlight parts (when he goes on his rampage and when he and Odysseus steal the horses) are a blast to read.

>>14761327
WEH WEH WEH

>>14759036
Hector. Based homebody who just wanted to relax at home but was willing to fight when it came down to it.

>>14761730
>Greek Hero
>Hector
>Greek
Anon I...

Cadmus

Orpheus is pretty based

>>14759036
Which one is the most depraved?

Hercules. Yes I’m basic. No I don’t care. Dude beat a legendary creature to death with a stick and wore its skin for the rest of his life. Absolute chad.

>>14759036
Hector. Theseus if you want specifically greek. Odysseus is fun too.

>>14761773
You are basic.

>>14761327
BLOAT MAXXXX

>>14761860
Not even that guy but you are. His story is fucking tragic. All the bad shit that happened to him was because of Juno/Hera (since he was the product of Zeus cheating). The guy gets filled with rage and with madness by Juno/Hera and slaughters his wife and kids.

>>14759576
Ναι, ξέρω τι λές, αλλά όπως και μόνο οι Γερμανοί μπορούν να κατανοήσουν την αληθινή ψυχή του γερμανικού πολιτισμού, το ίδιο ισχύει για τους Έλληνες. Όλοι μπορούν να το εξερευνήσουν, αλλά όταν ξέρεις ότι οι πρόγονοί σου ήταν εκεί, η ψυχή σου μπορεί να βυθιστεί σε αυτό που σημαίνει

>>14759036
Aeneas was better than all of them

Greek Hero Power rankings (I am assuming Greek birth only so Hector though being very much a hero is not on the list)

1. Hercules - Conquered Troy in less time with fewer men than achillies and the rest, went ape cause Ajax's dad went into the city before him so Telemon apologized and gave him some gril, did the 12 labors, his bow was required in order for the later Trojan war to be won. Argonauts wanted him to be leader instead of Jason but he had the control to say no and make Jason their leader

2. Theseus - A cousin to Hercules and every bit fills the part. Killed the minotaur, killed highwaymen around Greece, escaped the labyrinth, kidnapped Helen before it was cool and didn't let Athens be destroyed over it, asked death himself to give his wife to his friend. Theseus is below Hercules as Hercules had to save him from the underworld.

3. Odysseus - Tried to avoid going to Troy not out of fear of death, but longing for his family as well as knowledge that the men he sailed with would never return home. Won matches during Patroclus' and Achillies' funeral games, and won achillies armor. Blinded a cyclops and resisted temptation of calypso, cersei, and went through horrible pains to make it home, and took back what was his. His wife waited 20 years for him, says a lot about the man. Thought up the Trojan horse too.

4. Perseus - Made his grandpa seethe so much he was put in a chest with his mom and thrown into the ocean. Survived this. His new wannabe stepdad demanded he bring him the gorgon head, which he did. Killed a sea monster and saved Andromeda.

5. Bellerophon - Sent to a king to be killed due to a king 1's wife lying about his love for her. Was sent on suicide mission and accomplished them. Tamed Pegasus, killed the Chaimera, killed so many elite asassins/mercs that the king trying to off him finally gave up. Lower than the others simply because his resume is shorter

cont.

6. Diomedes - Wounded the physical representation of war as well as the representation of love both in a fit of rage. BTFO the ancestor of the future founder of Rome so bad he had to run away crying for his mommy. Sailed home and made it home from Troy before most of the others. Retook the city of his grandfather, and put his grandfather back on the throne after getting home from Troy. Farther back because despite all of this, it took odysseus' cunning for the war with troy to be won, his rage was not enough. Also below perseus because as Greeks and all humanity are want to do, Older > younger generations

7. The great Ajax - Crushed Hector's rib cage with a rock (Hector survived, a show of his own abilities). Killed countless trojans, rescued achillies corpse, and was achillies cousin. Huge AF and followed a code of honor relating to Strength being greater than cunning, and any society that chooses craftiness over physical ability is not worth fighting for (hence offing himself). Lower on list due to his throwing a fit that odysseus got achillies armor, as well as him committing suicide and never making it home, regardless of his reasons for doing so.

8. Agamemnon – Sailed to war get his brother’s wife back even though it would embroil his land in war, because blood is thicker than water. Took Achilles woman because he could. Dumped her on Achilles again when he was bored of her. When Achilles criticized him for not leading the army, he went and lead from the front. Survived the war but got home and got killed by his own wife because he brought Cassandra home.

9. Achilles – ability to kill unlike any other. Fought a river. Killed Hector, the queen of the amazons, and the king of the Ethiopians. Sat down in defense of his honor and his rights as a man in the face of the king, but at the cost of friends dying. Knew he would die if he went to war but did so anyway for glory and honor. Died by getting shot in the heel and never conquered Troy, and seethed over Agamemnon so he’s pretty low.

10. Menelaus – BTFO the man who took his wife in a duel. Sailed across the ocean and took a city to get his wife back, not for love, but because his honor was that important. Lower on list cause he got cucked and had to screw around in Egypt for like a decade before he sailed home and pretended his wife did nothing wrong.

Honorable Mention:

Little Ajax – survived the war, and cucked Agamemnon via doing Cassandra in Athena’s temple when they were sacking troy. Took rocks from sea cliffs falling on him to kill him. Doesn’t do much aside from this though

>>14762046
>gets btfo by dimomedes so bad his mom had to save him
>gets btfo by achiles so bad Apollo had to rescue him
yeah nah

>>14761877
> insecure about his tastes because he knew he only liked it because he killed big mythical beast.
>not basic
I like hercules never said anything against him.

>>14759036
Ivanhoe

Achilles. His bitching, whining and raging speaks to me

the most based death

>>14761483
Thought some of the forms seemed a little bit off from what my book taught me :^)
>>14762147
>>14762157
pretty based list, ngl

>>14762175
>defeated by Diomedes as a younger warrior, defended by Apollo and Venus so that he may reach his destiny
>becomes the leader of the Trojan exiles and encourages them to reach their fate in Italy
>btfos Carthaginian thot in order to perserve his people's future
>goes against Juno's hopes for Carthage and faces the consequences head on, being an inspiration to all Trojan refugees
>succeds in achieving his fate by defeating the Latins and gives a hopeful future to his people
>does more than any Greek hero could ever hope to do in several lifetimes by founding the city that would lead to Rome through his descendants
>that piety
yea, I'm thinking he's based

>>14759036
Any random non-superhuman non-named Greek soldier. Dudes went up against literal demi-gods while barely clothed and died sword in hand like champs. Fuck all those fancy divine daddy's boys.

Apuleius

>>14759036
Xena the Warrior Princess, because she killed all the fickle gods except for Ares and Aphrodite, who were the only based gods anyways

>>14759140
Based

>>14762157
It's surprising that Lil' Ajax survived for as long as he did, given his numerous slights against the gods

>>14759084
Don't know if my overall favorite, but Diomedes is certainly the most based of the heroes.

>>14759102
Thebeans are a bunch of honorless backstabbers. Obsessed by enslaving other Greeks (based lacedemonians btfo during négociations at the end of the peloponesian war). They were in league with the Persians at the time of Darius and Xerses. They bitched about Macedonia. Basically 'barbarian empire good, Greek empire bad'.
They were phillistins that precisely contributed zero to high culture, from the arts to philosophy. Not even one significant engineer came from this trash pile.
They are also the main reason why people think Greeks were faggots. Athenians, Corinthians, Spartans, etc sort of tolerated pederasty as a joke, meanwhile thebeans were having adult gay orgies in their baths.

>>14759036
This chad.

Alexander the Great and if i had to choose a videogame hero it would be Kratos.

>>14760725
Between the #believewomen, exposing the witch, and the fact that theseus btfo the Amazons and dragged their queen as his sex slave (which ends up the only happy female story of theseus), I think his whole myth also serves to warn about the danger of women.
Truly ahead of its time.

>>14763092
>As a joke
Are you sure it was just a joke? Iirc, Themistocles and his principal political opponent Aristides had their first fallout over wanting to fuck the same minor

Why do y'all pretend Greek epics are enjoyable? We have much better action/adventure stories today. Sure they have an importance if you're a student of literature but please stop pretending you enjoy reading them for pleasure.

>>14759036
Heracles.

>>14759036
The gay one

>>14763173
not even good bait

Does anyone know what book this picture is from?

Also where my /Herculesbros/ at

Does anyone know a book that fully details the lives of the Greek heroes? Like I know for Achilles there’s the Achillead and the Illiad, is there some kind of book or resource for the full “biographies” of these characters?

>>14759036
Odysseus
>tfw Philostratus talks shit about him

>>14763232
it's from one of those Osprey books, a relatively recent one

>>14759073
spbp

>>14763346
Thanks bro

>>14759494
*Ναὶ, ἐγὼ ’ρέ.
Ἐὰν οὐκ Ἕλλην εῖ , οὐκ ἔχεις τὴν ψυχὴν ἵνα τὴν μυθολογίαν καταλαμβάνῃς. Δεῖ ἔχειν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν ψυχὴν ἐν σεαυτῷ, ἄλλως ού δύνῃ ἀφικνεῖσθαι εἴς τὴν καρδιὰν αὐτοῦ ὃ προκαλοῦσι αἱ ἱστορίαι.
probably fucked it up I'm a beginner

>>14759036
Odysseus

>>14763239
Plutarchs lives covers some I think. For some though you just gotta read something like apollodorus library as alotta epic poems are gone.

Jason.

>>14765108
Jason got a raw deal. Sent out just because his uncle got a prophesy saying someone with one send me would kill him so he sent him off to get the fleece. Jason has to get it, accept medea as his wife to make it home. Then she kills his uncle they get banished and when he tries to marry the king of corinths daughter medea kills her, kills her own kids she had with Jason and runs off to Athens. Meanwhile Jason moped around by the Argo thinking of better days and then the mast falls on him and kills him

Any good /lit/ tips on books about the legendary greek times?

Personally, I'd like to recommend Return to Ithaca by Eyvind Johnson to everyone in this thread; an absolutely stellar re-telling of the myth of Odysseus. It is far from a "simple langauge" version of the Odyssey, and I'm not sure why it shares an english name with two books that seem to be just that. A properly translated title would be "The Surge of the Shores", which is a recurring leitmotif if you will.

>>14759036
I want to say Hector. The only one who’s virtue is faultless, but he isn’t of Greek birth I suppose.

>>14759939
He wasn't a hero. Play the game or don't.

>>14759719
>>14759756
>t.

>>14762147
>His wife waited 20 years for him
She had infinite supply of dick. She literally had analog tinder and could swipe on thousands of guys each day

>>14759084
FACTS

>>14760819
Damn nigga, that was dope