Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #MythologyMonday

Most recents (22)

Arlecchino is the most famous of the Commedia dell’Arte masks. It probably has French origins (Herlequin or Hallequin was a demon figure in Medieval French tales) and in the 16th and 17th centuries it became the Commedia players’ mask.

#MythologyMonday

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Artwork : Unknown Image
Together with the role of the second zanni (in Bergamo dialect, a nickname for Giovanni), a crafty servant figure who is a thief, liar and trickster, at loggerheads with his master and obsessed with getting money to buy food to satisfy his enormous appetite.

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Over the years the character has grown more refined; his strong Bergamo brogue has transmuted into the softer lilt of the Venetian dialect and today his originally tattered costume is magnificently multicoloured.

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#MythologyMonday Thread: Codex-style plate depicting the rebirth of the Maize god. Maya, Late Classic Period. 680–740AD...Currently kept in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston collections.mfa.org/objects/36320

In this thread I would like to analyse the scene description which says:
"Maize god emerges from the Underworld through a cracked turtle shell, symbolizing the earth. The Hero Twins pour water onto their father to facilitate his resurrection, as Maya farmers water maize seeds to help them sprout"...
So corn god "emerging from the Underworld" is a symbolic depiction of a corn sprouting...So when does corn sprout in the Maya land? In the 1848 book "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. I" (gutenberg.org/files/33129/33…) by John L. Stephens we read that:
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In lieu of multiple posts today I'm going to do one on today's theme. When I've mentioned this story before, people have always asked how it ends, and I'm not sure I've ever said, so today, I'm going to tell that tale: 耳なし芳一

A 🧵 #MythologyMonday
In medieval Japan there was a type of performer called a biwa hōshi, lute priests. Traditionally blind, these wandering minstrels kept alive the legend of Heike, tales of the Genpei War (1180-85), a bloody civil war that displaced the Emperor from power.

Hōichi was a biwa hōshi.
No one questioned Hōichi's skill. It was said that passing spirits would stop and weep listening to his retelling of the Tale of the Heike, particularly the Battle of Dan-no-ura, the climactic final battle where the Boy Emperor Antoku was drowned rather than being captured.
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Thread: In which I will talk about the Chinese legend about the "Blue Boy", which, I think, identifies animal calendar marker behind the Chinese water dragon. The legend can be found in "Myths of China and Japan", page 80 archive.org/details/mythso… #mythologymonday Image
Here it goes:

One day Wang Shuh, a herbalist, went out looking for the Red Cloud herb. He followed the course of a mountain stream on a hot summer day, and at noon sat down to rest and eat rice below shady trees beside the deep pool of a waterfall...
As he lay on the bank, gazing into the water, he was astonished to see in its depths a blue boy, about a foot in height, with a blue rush in his hand, riding on the back of a red carp, without disturbing the fish, which darted hither and thither...
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1/ I just discovered _another_ amusing detail about this tale. After discussing how these magical "emergency shirts" protect the bearer from harm, the Brothers Grimm suddenly add a Latin sentence to the German text - which is strange.

#MythologyMonday
archive.org/details/deutsc… Image
2/ After I got some help with the Latin, I identified the source text for this sentence - and the source they cited ("Deß getreuen Eckharts Ungewissenhaffter Apotecker", by Johann Christoph Ettner) was actually written in German!

dfg-viewer.de/show?id=9&tx_d… Image
3/ This passage can be translated as: "Women also have such a type of shirts, which are taken from dead men. They put these on in the pursuit of their lusts so that they will not become pregnant in this manner."
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#MythologyMonday - Hermes🧚‍♂️📨💪

(1/8) One of the twelve Olympians and the herald of the gods, Hermes also played the role of protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves and merchants.

#Classics #ClassicsTwitter #Hermes #Greek #Myth #Gods
(2/8) In Greek mythology, Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia. In reality, he appears to have emerged in Mycenaean Greece in the Late Bronze Age. His name first appears in Linear B syllabic script as "hermāhās", and he may have been adopted from Mesopotamia.
(3/8) Beyond his role as messenger, Hermes was also able to freely move between the realms of mortals and the divine. As such, he also played the role of psychopomp, or "soul guide", directing the souls of the dead into Hades.
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Alchemy is an ancient practice that can be understood as a meeting of science & magic. While famed for being a predecessor of chemistry, alchemy was also undeniably spiritual in nature, believing everything, including metals, to have a spirit & be alive. 1/7 #MythologyMonday
Alchemists believed the world to be comprised of 4 elements: water, earth, air, & fire. Major goals of alchemy included creating an elixir of immortality, universal healing potion, & most famously turning metals into gold, regarded as the most perfect metal. 2/7 #MythologyMonday
Alchemical goals can be viewed both on physical & spiritual levels. While a goal would be to turn physical lead to gold, for example, this can also be viewed on spiritual terms with lead symbolizing a sinful & evil person & gold representing spiritual beauty. 3/7 #MythologyMonday
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¿Cuál es vuestro top 5 divinidades, de cualquier mitología?
Os dejo los míos y os cuento un poquito, igual no los conocéis y podrían gustaros. Tengo muchísimas más, pero he tenido que reducir la lista a 5. Quizá algún día hablemos de más en Twitch.

#MythologyMonday
🐂 Verethraqna 🐂
Admití hace años en @ElLibroRojoR que tengo un 'crush' gordísimo con el yazata de la Victoria del zoroastrismo. Tiene mal carácter, se transforma en 10 cosas diferentes y es el 'jabalí de batalla' del dios Mithra.
🌙 Nanna/Sin 🌙
El dios de la luna en la mitología sumero-acadia. Uno que vive y deja vivir, de los pocos que no tiene mal carácter (normalmente). Además, su barba estaba hecha de lapislázuli, para qué queremos más.
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The pomegranate is Iran's national fruit & is very symbolically important in Persian & Iranian culture, viewed as a symbol of abundance, fertility, love, and immortality. It is said that if someone can peel a pomegranate in one peel, they will go to heaven. #MythologyMonday
In Iran's lengthy & treasured epic poem, Shahnameh, the divine warrior Esfandiyar became invincible as a result of eating a pomegranate. The Shahnameh tells that pomegranate trees grow from the blood of Siavesh, a character regarded as a symbol of innocence. #MythologyMonday
Pomegranates also have larger significance in most of the most widely practiced religions in Iran, including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity.
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Methods of flying in Indo-Malay legends for #MythologyMonday

1. Ride a flying creature, like a dragon or giant eagle Image
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Folktale type 405, "The Animal Bride," & folktale type 425, "The Animal Groom," are common folktales across many cultures. In type 425, a wife's husband turns out to be an animal/beast, in type 405, the animal bride is typically a captive or a trickster. #MythologyMonday
Below I will link posts I've made today featuring this type, and add in a couple new ones. I will also link further reading about this trope.
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Xōchihuahqueh (plural of xōchihuah) labeled people designated as men at birth but who were involved in "behaviors" or "aspects" considered "feminine" because they had an essence (Xochi/flower) that distinguished them in that society.

#MythologyMonday
Patlachehqueh (plural of patlacheh) is more complex, with variants, but in general they seem to label those in which the "masculine aspects" were more dominant, that is, they identified themselves as men, exercised "masculine roles", (and also women who were attracted to women).
Bearing in mind that it is important not to analyze these aspects with our modern perspective and that the ethno-historical records we have are not enough to understand the whole dimension of the issues that involved gender identity and sexual orientation in that society.
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Hey Myth Lovers! For #MythologyMonday’s Resurrection theme we’ll explore some stories from #AfricanMythology which feature resurrections.
#MythologyMonday
Among the Bunyoro (Uganda), it is believed that Ruhanga the Supreme Deity used to resurrect all humans who died. Resurrections were cause for great joy and ritual celebration in the community. Only animals died permanently.
#MythologyMonday
But then, a woman, upset over the death of her dog, refused to participate in the rituals surrounding death and resurrection. This angered Ruhanga who then stopped resurrecting humans.
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(10) PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA (1963)

Or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her

Particularly when the Goddess in question is the playful goddess of chaos in classical mythology, Eris or Discordia, Image
(9) DAISETZ SUZUKI - ZEN & JAPANESE CULTURE (1959)

Zen's influence on Japanese traditional arts - art, haiku, tea ceremonies, the Japanese love of nature and above all swordsmanship. I've always found swords to have a metaphorical resonance to life and how one lives it. Image
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Garlic has been associated with the healing process in India from the time of the first available written records. Three ancient medical traditions, Tibbi, Unani and Auryvedic, made extensive use of garlic as a central part of the healing efficacy of plants.

#MythologyMonday
Garlic was also observed to have a diuretic effect. It is possible that the mobilization of fluid from the extravascular space may have been due to improved cardiovascular function resulting from garlic treatment.
#MythologyMonday
It is now recognized that garlic, appropriately used, will reduce blood pressure, improve elevated serum cholesterol, decrease platelet aggregation and protect vascular endothelial cells from damage by LDL, all of these effects are of potential cardiac benefit.
#MythologyMonday
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Thread: Shepherds chapel, Velebit, Croatia dedicated to Holy Mary. The altar is actually bedrock, around which the church was built, indicating that this a Christianised pagan holy place. oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2016/04/shephe… #mythologymonday Image
Bedrock is in the Balkans known as "kamen živac, živi kamen, živa stena" (living stone, living rock), called so, because it is believed to be still part of the living body of the Mother Earth. And is venerated as sacred...
Transhumance shepherds used to bring offerings to these lumps of exposed bedrock before they took their flocks to the highlands, to ensure good weather. People believed that "Mother Earth, known as Baba, controls the bad, cold, rainy, snowy weather" oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2019/07/weathe…
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The Cherokee tell how the Sun stopped every day at her daughter's house for her midday meal. People looking at her screwed up their faces. She told her brother the Moon that all the people were ugly, but he said they were beautiful, because they smiled at him. #MythologyMonday
The Sun was jealous and decided to get hotter and hotter and kill all the people. The spirits of the mountain caves told the people their only hope was to kill the Sun, and turned two men into snakes, the Spreading Adder and the Copperhead. They lay in waiting for the Sun.
When she arrived at Daughter of the Sun's house, they were blinded by the light and failed in their task. So the spirits changed another man into the Uktena, the great horned snake, and another into the Rattlesnake, and sent them to wait outside the house of Daughter of the Sun.
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#mythologymonday Thread: In 2007 two stelae, each bearing figures of the Storm-god leading a ruler and a duplicate Hieroglyphic Luwian text, were discovered at Uluçinar (formerly Arsuz), on the Turkish coast south of İskenderun... Image
The inscription is the work of a Suppiluliuma, son of Manana, king of the land of Walastin, now understood as the Luwian designation of the Amuq plain with its capital at the Iron Age site of Tell Tayinat... Image
The stelae, probably dating to the later tenth century BC, record the successful reign of the ruler who "achieved things his father or grandfather could not" like conquer the city of Adana and the land of Hiyawa (most likely Ahhiyawa, the Hittite designation of Greeks) Image
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Thread: This is Priapus, Ancient Greek god of the male reproductive power and fertility and the fertility of nature in general. Allegedly he originated in Hellespont from where his cult moved to the Balkans and then throughout Greek and later Roman world... #mythologymonday Image
Priapus was a peasant god, god of shepherds, farmers and beekeepers...For Classical Greek city dwellers he was apparently "a bit of a joke"...What else could be expected from city people separated from nature...
The Olympians definitely couldn't stick him. They refused to allow him to live on Mount Olympus and threw him down to Earth...Which is where the archaic god of fertility should be living anyway...
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Horseman and griffin, Phrygian, 600–550 BC, collection of Ancient Greek (???) antiquities, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. There seem to be no strife between the horseman, who is not even armed, and the griffin...So what does this scene mean? Love the triskelion... #MythologyMonday Image
Winged lions, dragons, symbols of summer heat, are known to bring with them Thunder gods. Like in Sumerian mythology. Thunderstorms following drought...Eagles are known Thunder god symbols...Phrygian main deity Sabazios, was equated with Zeus but he was also a horseman god???
So maybe this just shows rains (thunder god as a horseman) arriving at the end of summer (griffin)...Who knows...
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Today's #MythologyMonday theme is JUSTICE.
There are several deities in #ancientGreek religion that deal with law, order, and justice. One of them is the King of the Gods himself, #Zeus who delights in thunder. He is the god of law, justice and moral conduct.
Zeus gets the help of #Dike, the daimona or spirit of moral order and fair judgement. She is his daughter by #Themis and both mother and daughter are personifications of justice: Dike of human justice and Themis of divine justice. In poetry Dike is often the attendant of #Zeus.
In reliefs on the archaic Chest of Kypselos, a votive offering at Olympia, Dike throttles Adikia ("injustice") and beats her with a stick.
Her half-brother Ares would likely act in a similar fashion. Despite his impulsive nature, he is also a god that maintains civil order.
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It's #MythologyMonday and today's theme is WITCHES!
There are two Greek gods who are commonly associated with witchcraft and magic. Most of you will know Hekate as the goddess of witchcraft but Hermes has his sticky fingers in everything, so obviously he dabbles in magic as well.
Illustration of #Hekate by Victoria Francés

victoriafrances.es/en/hekate-illu…
#Hekate is a titan goddess with power over heaven, earth, and sea. Her name means "worker from afar" implying the workings of magic, but her name is also an epithet of #Artemis as one who shoots from afar. In Roman times, Hekate formed the lunar triad of Hekate-Artemis-Selene.
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