Tag: greek mythology

Posted on by

Mythographers we Love: Becoming Hero

Comic book character kills his author–and in the version with comics, you’re part of it. Either watch as Skye jumps in and out of the comic pages into the novel, or read the grittier, darker, text-only version (first ten chapters of that available free here)!

Skye’s a comic book superhero with a gun in his hand and a gripe against his author. Every girl Skye’s ever dated is either dead or trying to take over the world, and in the series finale, Skye’s best friend kills him. Or so he thinks. The weapon meant to disintegrate Skye lands him in his author’s universe. With a shot at revenge.

Skye, meet Jace. Jacen Howard’s a brilliant #blerd math whiz and comics aficionado–but at his West Baltimore high school that’s a bad thing, and if the bullying isn’t bad enough, Jace’s cop-father regularly pisses off the neighbors. Jace doesn’t see himself as a hero; he’s just trying to survive.

Jace might be just the hero Skye needs.

But Skye won’t open up when Jace tries to ease him out of PTSD, and the author’s still torturing his friends. As Skye’s mood swings and nightmares escalate, Jace realizes that if he doesn’t uncover his roommate’s real identity soon, Skye will hurt someone–and Skye’s still deciding if murder will save his world, or damn his soul.

Read it on Amazon COM

Read it on Amazon UK

Posted on by

New Audiobook Stories! ?

We have three (3!) new stories on audio format right now.

Here they are:

Speaking in Bubbles, a short but very punchy story beneath the Aegean Sea

Gorgonise Me, where a piano melody can stop your heart

and,

Where a Spaceship Goes to Die, where a French girl learns what lurks below the furthest point in the ocean.

Posted on by

I Give You Permission To Have a Black Achilles In Your Story

If the script doesn’t contain at least one BBC joke, I’ll be sorely disappointed for a perfectly wasted opportunity.

Here’s something that should put your mind at ease:

I, George Saoulidis, give you permission to have a black/asian/latinx/whatever Achilles in your story. I also retroactively give you permission to have any possible combination of skin colour/sexuality/hero name from the Greek epics.

How the fuck can I possibly give permission for something like that, you might ask?

Exactly.

That’s my point. The same way that it’s nobody’s business to give you permission to do something like this, nobody can stop you from doing it either.

The Greek epics do not belong to me, you, or any other Greek in the world. They belong to everybody. So much so that the words “public domain” are too puny to describe them. They’re infused into our culture, shaped the very pathways in our brains. They have inspired endless creators for literal millennia (pause and let that sink in for a moment.)

So, do you want to take a popular myth and make it your own? Are you inspired by Odysseus or Achilles or Zeus and want to see yourself in their shoes, and you also happen to not be white and male? Do you want to cosplay as them, write about them, make films and games and VR experiences about them? Do you want to create and have found inspiration in the most influential and badass mythology of all time?

By all means, go for it.

That won’t mean that I’ll like your story. It won’t mean I’ll spend money on your story. If it objectively sucks, I’ll happily tear you a new one. Or worse, I’ll just ignore it. But if the story is good, if your vision is great, if your interpretation is modern and touches the souls of those around you, then go for it.

Nobody’s stopping you. Not me. Certainly not Homer.

Posted on by

Mythographers we Love: Ancient Blogger

One of the blogs that have popped up recently is that of the Ancient Blogger, a bloke from UK that writes about Greek and Roman mythology. He doesn’t just write, it seems there’s a wealth of pictures and videos and he shows us everything with a touch of humour.

This is him telling us about the aspis, a hoplite shield. Don’t know what that is? Well, click the video then, duh.

And since at the time of posting this, Valentine’s Day is dangerously imminent, I’d like to point you to a specific blog post about Unrequited Love in Ancient Greece.

It all starts with, and on, the island of Lefkada which sits in the Ionian Sea (west of mainland Greece). It’s here where you’ll find a particularly vertigo-inducing white rock which gave the island its old name, Leucas. Apollo had a temple here and if you know your Greek love gossip then you know Apollo is never far from a tragic date.

Lefkada (Leucas) in red

When Aphrodite was grieving for Adonis it was suggested to her by Apollo that she jump off the white rock to cure her feelings. Whether this was sage advice or the sort of thing which siblings do to each other is unclear but as Aphrodite emerged from the sea she was indeed cured.

The famous Sappho apparently jumped from here to cure herself of love, but died, which isn’t exactly surprising. Strabo contends that the first mortal to attempt the feat wasn’t Sappho (as is sometimes stated) but Cephalus who had fallen for Pteralas (10.2.9). Whether Cephalus survived isn’t known but we do have a list of those who attempted and (mostly) failed thanks to a Greek grammarian called Conon who lived around the time of Augustus.

Keep on reading.

Posted on by

Mythographers we Love: Greek Myth Comix

This is one of the educational ones. Greek Myth Comix has Greek mythology in stick-figure format, probably influenced by XKCD.

These can be used to teach kids of all ages about certain mythological figures or ancient Greek concepts, like Kudos or the Homeric Hero.

I especially like the Moirai and the Muses poster, I printed these out and have them on my board for reference.

Make sure you visit their store for neat merchandise or large posters.

Posted on by

Mythographers We Love: Eros and Psyche Project

There’s a very nice comic retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth, by two Greek girls, Myrto Gkiouli and Eirini Skoura.

It was a kickstarted project that got a lot of attention from fans. And it was well deserved, the design is lovely and very emotive.

Get Eros and Psyche in EnglishGet Eros and Psyche in Greek

You can find them on their page on Facebook, for orders etc.

Here’s a juicy taste of the story:

“A light breeze blew in from the window and put out the lamp’s flame, plunging the room in darkness. Using her surprise to his advantage, Eros seized the opportunity and slipped into bed next to her. Her eyes widened in shock; someone was in her bed. That was it, then; time to meet her mysterious husband. She was petrified; from fear or anticipation, she didn’t know.”

Some of the concept art and other mythographies

There’s a limited time promotion running for each ebook order with an added collection of short stories.

Here it is in their own words:

It’s been 2 years since the launch of our campaign, so, in order to celebrate the occasion, starting today, and for the following month, anyone who buys the e-book (at a special price too!), will be getting a bonus pdf with a collection of short stories/outtakes revolving around the myth! (make sure you read the introduction of that thing as well, it’s fun!)

Get Eros and Psyche in EnglishGet Eros and Psyche in Greek

 

Posted on by

Stephen Fry’s Long Awaited Mythos Is Finally Here

We have no affiliation with either Mr. Fry or the publisher.

I simply waited for this retelling for so long. If you can’t remember where you know Stephen Fry from, it’s from the Harry Potter audiobooks. Or the dozen shows on BBC.

Intelligent, witty, provocative, I simply love most of his work. And with this book, he definitely takes the scepter of Mythographer of the Year.

What? What about Neil Gaiman and his Norse Mythology? Who fucking cares?

And the Mythos book is out and it only costs…

$30 FUCKING DOLLARS with European taxes.

Thank you, Penguin publishing house. Screw you for being utterly clueless about this century.

I’ll buy it, but simply because I’m a fan of Mr. Fry.

Let’s listen to a Greek myth in 60 seconds cause I’m angry now:

Posted on by — 4 Comments

Vote On The New Myth-Gods-Tech Cover!

We are partnering up with the incredibly talented digital artist Antoine Collignon for some art and book covers. Here is a draft of the main omnibus in the God Complex Universe:

Myth Gods Tech is a constantly updated omnibus of all the books in the God Complex Universe.
Myth Gods Tech is a constantly updated omnibus of all the books in the God Complex Universe.

Tell us how you like it! Vote on the poll:

{3c8f4da9b128660293e5267e2f10c9f1bd8d9182b4c5f363c0a5386c1d86bb3b}POLL_QUESTION{3c8f4da9b128660293e5267e2f10c9f1bd8d9182b4c5f363c0a5386c1d86bb3b}

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

There’s something different about this omnibus. We are constantly updating it with all the other books in the God Complex Universe. That’s correct, the omnibus is getting bigger all the time, updated with our new stories. There is a delay in the update (a few months). The price keeps going up, but everyone who purchased it early will keep getting the new files. If you haven’t already, turn on your DLC settings on Amazon so that the file is always up to date. On other retailers, just delete the file and redownload. If you happen to encounter any difficulty at all, just send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll sort it out.

That’s why this book is important, because it represents the whole body of work. But it also rewards dedicated fans like you, while being an experiment at the same time (We haven’t heard of any other publisher doing it).

Does this evoke the right feel for you? Please comment on this post, we want to hear from you.

Posted on by

Watch the book trailer of “How to 3D print a god”

The gods are back in town. Skyscrapers pop out of nowhere all around Athens. Corporations rename themselves as Greek gods. It all started with the Greek crisis of 2009 and it will forever change the world as we know it. Some say that CEO’s have gone mad. Others, that they know damn well what they are doing. That there is something solid amongst the myth. In the day of inter-connectivity and social media admiration, can the ancient myths come back to life?

The gods are back in town and they carry a god complex.
The gods are back in town and they carry a god complex.

When the score of a lifetime falls in their lap, Deimos and his team accepts to sneak in a factory and 3D print the client’s secret design. But will they succeed when a pack of well trained Amazons tries to stop them, when things don’t quite go as planned and when the secret design turns out to be something very different?

See the product page on our shop:

Click Here to Buy the Book How to 3D Print a God

bscap0012
How to 3D print a god is available on Amazon Kindle now.

If you want more of these tidbits, get on our mailing list to be the first to know.

I Want to Be a Mythographer

Posted on by

A shout-out to theoi.com because they are worth it

For some things you have wikipedia, but for other a well-maintained directory is the only thing on the top.

It is a lot to bear.
It is a lot to bear.

Theoi.com is a site that not only catalogs the ancient Greek myths, but also refers to the passages where everything is mentioned, gives you a latin pronunciation, a Greek transliteration of the name and a ton more info. It is an amazing starting point to do your own research.

Their description:

The Theoi Project, a site exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art. The aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive, free reference guide to the gods (theoi), spirits (daimones), fabulous creatures (theres) and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion.

Amazing work, support them on their site.