XXIV.

[hellshaped]

[Hey students!!

Today Greek Mythology will be taught outside under some shady trees because it's nice out, okay. Some of you campers could use some more sun. So I hope you're okay with sitting on the ground.

Hellboy is seated on a short, crumbled pillar, smoking a cigarette because he is an excellent role model. Whatever, most of you are adults anyway.]

I don't really have a classroom agenda or anything. Is there anything you guys want to know about?

[ooc. open greek mythology class post! i suppose if any other teachers/non-campers wanted to stumble upon him, they could c:]

Comments

[ino]

Yeah, sure, if you don't mind.

[hellshaped]

Okay. [He drops his cigarette and crushes it under his hoof, then lights another one.]

It looks like the cabins are named after the principal deities. So, Zeus, Hera, Apollo -- all of them. Zeus is sort of the "main" god; I think the ancient Greeks held him in the most regard. He's sort of the king of all the other deities, and his domain is lightning, thunder, that sort of stuff. He liked to turn into animals and seduce mortal women, so a lot of demi-gods have Zeus as a father.

Hera is his wife, and she didn't really like that he was always messing around behind her back. Understandably. So she tried to kill a lot of them, and a lot of Zeus' demi-god children, too.

Zeus had kids with other goddesses and mythological creatures, too. So he kind of got around. Some of his kids are the other cabins -- Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Ares, Hermes ... come to think of it, they're all Zeus' kids except for Hera, Poseidon, and Demeter. Oh, and Hades.

[He pauses, realizing this can get kind of long and boring ...] Err, which cabin are you in? I can tell you about that one.

[ino]

Wow. He sounds like a total asshole! Why didn't Hera just break up with him??

I'm in Artemis. [she's kind of curious about the others, too, but -- mostly about her]

[hellshaped]

They were married. In ancient Greece, it was really hard for a woman to get a divorce. Plus I think she was just really proud; Zeus had a bunch of kids with other women and goddesses, but she never cheated on him. So it was probably a matter of pride, too.

Okay, Artemis is one of Zeus' kids with a minor goddess named Leto. She's the goddess of the hunt, and is associated with the moon and I think deer too, if I'm remembering right. She's a maiden goddess, who never took a consort or a husband or anything. A lot of the gods tried to woo her, but she didn't like any of them, I guess.

[ino]

That's still kind of awful ... [but she guesses she gets the pride thing ... still, Zeus. YOU DICKBAG. 8|]

I guess deer wouldn't surprise me, because -- [ ... wait a second. no consort or husband? she just blinks ... WHY IS SHE IN THE VIRGIN CABIN ...] ... uh, because of the whole hunting and archery thing.

[hellshaped]

[KEEP THAT ON THE DOWNLOW, INO, he doesn't want to hear about your ~escapades~ ... Mr. Hellboy, Mythology Teacher and Professional Prude.]

A lot of Greek mythology has to do with symbolism. A lot of people during that time period were literate, but they still depended on symbols to understand what god they were looking at in the case of statues or art and things like that. So Artemis is associated with deer, bows and arrows, the moon, hunting dogs ... if you saw any of that stuff on a temple, you'd know whose domain you're entering.

[ino]

[LMFAO SHE DOESN'T REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT THEM SO do not worry, hellboy! she is just a teensy bit weirded out rn is all]

I guess that's handy.

... So, are any of these gods or goddesses not one of Zeus' kids, besides Hera, I guess ...

[hellshaped]

Yeah -- Poseidon, Demeter, and Hades are sort of his siblings. They're all descendants of the Titans, which are sort of an older race of gods, if that makes sense. Depending on who you ask, Aphrodite is either Zeus' daughter or another descendant of the Titans.

Threadjacking, for the win? :D

[stalkershiki]

[Shiki tried her best to be on time for every lesson. No, really! But after all the fighting she's been doing, it's kind of hard on the muscles. So she's a little bit late.

She speed walks over, just as he's saying all of this about the gods, and she can't believe it. She knew a little bit about the gods from history class when they studied the beginnings of civilizations, but not much more than what the main gods were gods of.]

Wait, but... that's terrible!

Re: Threadjacking, for the win? :D

[hellshaped]

It's no worse than a soap opera. Think of it that way.

[stalkershiki]

But... I mean, if we're here, with real satyrs and everything, don't we kind of have to assume that all of that is true? At least here?

[hellshaped]

Why wouldn't it be true anyway? I haven't met any of these gods, but I've met mythological figures before.

[stalkershiki]

You have? But... that's amazing! Who have you met?

[hellshaped]

Hecate. The Baba Yaga too, though she's Russian, not Greek. And a few others.

[stalkershiki]

Wow... that's really impressive! I guess that does make those kinds of stories easier to believe, huh?

[hellshaped]

First-hand experience usually does that.

[stalkershiki]

Oh, totally... but then, do you believe in all of the mythological figures and everything?

[hellshaped]

It'd be irresponsible not to.

[stalkershiki]

I guess... but isn't it also kinda irresponsible to plan for certain figures' existances, even if they never really show up? If that makes any sense?

[hellshaped]

I think you're trying to say it's a waste of time. But politely.

[stalkershiki]

Wha- n-no! No! I'm not saying that it's a waste of time!! I'm just... if you don't have any proof that the people that you haven't met exist, how can you be sure that they exist? Like, not EVERY mythological figure can be there, right?

[hellshaped]

[He just smiles.] It's probably better to be safe than sorry, in this case.