Meaningless Accidents or the Wrath of the Gods?

[John.]

I was wondering how the gods could sit by idly as Alexander is portrayed as being gay.Have they? There have been some strange goings-on in Bangkok lately.Oliver Stone has just discovered the film he shot there has somehow been so badly damaged that it is "unusable," and he will have to go back and shoot the scenes all over again...http://www.teenhollywood.com/d.asp?r=60 ... 1027...but to do that, he will have to get Colin Farrell out of that cast. Seems he fell down the stairs in his Bangkok hotel, and only got out of the hospital after being fitted with a cast for his foot...http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/get ... 213n2.htmI was also wondering if anyone has ever dared to portray any of the other Greek gods as having same-sex lovers. I know the gods are often portrayed with multiple lovers, but ever with same-sex partners? Or should I quickly perish the thought before I am struck by lightning?John

[chris]

HiHe must get used to being just a cast member.Chris

[marcus]

Ouch!

[Nax]

just about sums it up, along with the millions of other little accidents and bad film days that happen to people every day. Uh, right- can anyone say Ganymede?

[John.]

Ganymede was a Trojan, enemy of the Greeks. Zeus made him his cub-bearer. That's all I remember from Homer concerning Ganymede.John

[gb]

I was also wondering if anyone has ever dared to portray any of the other Greek gods as having same-sex lovers. I know the gods are often portrayed with multiple lovers, but ever with same-sex partners? Or should I quickly perish the thought before I am struck by lightning?

Ganymedes, Hyakinthos (by tw+¦ Gods!), Kyparissos spring to mind easily. You could also add Patroklos, but to my knowledge neither Achilleus or Alexander are on the same level as the Gods. At best, you could say they're heroes, mortal descendants of 'the Deathless Ones' - this is generally accepted in the case of Achilleus, but not for Alexander.You could certainly be struck down for considering yourself above your station, I'm not quite sure about others - but I wouldn't take the risk...

[Nax]

Sounds like you have severely edited/censored stories!!!Kind of like what happens to The Canterbury Tales when someone somewhere decides the stories are too risque-
a pox on censors and blue pencils!

[marcus]

They even did it to Shakespeare!I always used to find it funny, also, that any story that was considered too risque would have the naughty bits translated into another language - on the assumption that only an educated person could deal with the rumpy-pumpy. I remember reading a French translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh (a long and laborious process, I Can tell you!) where the naughty bits were in Latin. Now *that* was a linguistic treat for me!All the bestMarcus

[John.]

I wonder who it was that first elaborated what Homer said about Ganymede being Zeus' cup-bearer into Ganymede being Zeus' lover? Did that person get struck down by Zeus'lightning bolt?Or maybe you can show me risque passages in Homer about Ganymede and Zeus that I have somehow missed.John

[Linda]

"She played the trumpet in my bed" is one of my favourite bowderlisations, although I don't know if that one is actually a joke...

[Linda]

Who elaborated on Homer? Probably a gay, John.Actually, Robert Graves' Greek Myths may have the different provenances of this story. I'll look it up when I get home.Linda

[John.]

Probably. You know the saying about people making the gods in their own image.Homer must have been hetero. Or maybe honest.John

[Linda]

Very perceptive - so, can you apply that to yourself, then? The Illiad is not history - it is based on fact, but is essentially a myth. So "honesty" isn't really a factor.

[amyntoros]

There is an anonymous 7th century homeric-type hymn that symply states "...wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymede because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of zeus - a wonder to see - honored by all the immortals as he draws the red nectar from the golden bowl."By the time of Euripides, 410 BC, this had been elaborated upon. In "Iphigenia in Aulis" the Chorus proclaims: "There was Ganymede, the darling of Zeus' bed, drawing libations of wine from deep in the bowls of gold." What else can I say? This is what the ancient Greeks believed. :-)Linda Ann

[gb]

And how about another son of Zeus: Herakles (Hercules if you prefer). I just realised, that makes him Alexander's half-brother.Plutarch said of his lovers (of the male variety): "it is difficult to record them because of their number". Some of the ones he liked best: Nestor, the youngest son of king Neleus, Iolaos of Thebes and Hylas of Argos.He also mentioned that Iolas was worshipped with his lover (and uncle). "It is a tradition likewise that Iolaos, who assisted Hercules in his labors and fought at his side, was beloved of him; and Aristotle observes that even in his time lovers pledged their faith at Iolaos' tomb."And now I'm going all mushy and tell you I think that's sweet.