Greek Mythological Creatures of Africa Styles

Topic: My Storybook will be about some of the different animals of Ethiopia that are mentioned in Greek mythology. My goal is to find four different mythological beasts to 'do battle with'. My main source for this will likely be the Theoi Greek Mythology Bestiary but I will also spend time searching for other sources. Some possible animals I've already found are Drakones Aithiopikoi and Pegasoi Aithiopikoi. My criteria will be animals only from Africa with the potential of somehow coming to conflict with a human. Some of the stories may combine multiple animals instead of just one.

Bibliography: 
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 8. 72 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.)
Aelian, On Animals 2. 21 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.)

Pegasoi Aithopikoi

Microblogging: I read a description of storytelling in the form of a blog and at the end it mentioned telling the story as though it were via Twitter. I think this could be a super interesting format for the story, almost as though an adventurer is live tweeting his trip through mythological Africa. I think it could be used to provide some comedy in the story.

Pick Your Own Ending: I love the idea of pick your own ending. I used to read a lot of books with this type. Instead of writing just different endings, I think I would write a total of 5 stories with the final 2 being the potential endings. This might be a great way to make the stories even more interesting. They could either be about the same animal but with positive/negative ending or the decision could lead to encountering a different animal and therefore a different experience. 

The Prequel: I also really like the idea of a prequel. I have read stories about a lot of Greek heroes and I think it would be really cool to give an origin story to someone like Achilles. It could take details from already written stories, like a scar or injury, and give them a specific origin. 

Traveler As Storyteller: I was also interested in stories from the perspective of a traveler. I think this would be interesting because it doesn't demand any sort of realism to the stories. Although Greek mythology includes a lot of supernatural aspects, this would allow me to go ahead and change them as a see fit and as I believe will most benefit the story.

Reading Diary B: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)

For this diary I read the second part of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The portion I was most impacted by and interested in was the tale of Procne, Philomela, and Tereus. In this story, Procne and Philomela are sisters, with Procne being married to Tereus. When Tereus meets Philomela, he decides that he must 'have' her. So he tricks Procne and Philomela's father into letting him take Philomela with him back to Procne, and instead rapes and mutilates her. He leaves her trapped inside a building while he goes back to Procne and pretends she has died. Philomela manages to weave a message using her hair, which she gets to Procne. Procne then saves Philomela and exacts revenge on Tereus in a pretty horrifying way. Tereus and Procne have a son together, and because he is very much like Tereus, Procne proceeds to murder him and then feed him to Tereus. It's pretty awful. Then Tereus tries to kill the sisters and they all turn into birds and fly away. I've got some pretty mixed feelings about this story. The beginning with the rape of Philomela was terrible, but it didn't seem like an entirely uncommon thing in the context of Greek mythology. The murder of Procne's own son took me off guard though, as I (perhaps naively) don't associate many Greek myths with filicide being committed. I have read similar stories that appeared more recently that follow a similar path, but typically the two feuding parties aren't in the same family and so it's different. I think that ending turned me off to the story as a whole, but I would say I enjoyed it up to that point.

Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7)
Tereus Marries Procne
Tereus Rapes Philomela
Procne's Revenge

Rubens: Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itys

Storytelling Week 3: Arachne Weaves a Web

Minerva began to weave, depicting Troy upon a hill with the battles raging beneath. Brave Achilles runs through the battle, arrows ever searching for his heel. Noble Hector runs out to challenge him but will find only death in this decision. Further down she shows Odysseus, lost for so long at sea. His boat approaches an island covered in hulking cyclops. At the corners are the Gods, with royal Jupiter looking down over the struggles of common men.

Across the room, Arachne's work is coming together, though it doesn't appear as a typical tapestry. There are depictions of heroes or great battles; instead, the tapestry seems oddly translucent, as though the thread she used were thin enough to rip right through. As she progressed further and further in her weaving, Minerva noticed and began to grow confident. Though the material itself was incredible, it was undeniable that the scenes up on Minerva's work were far superior to those Arachne.

Finally time in the hour glass had run out, and it was time to compare the two works of art. Minerva began, showcasing the vibrant colors and incredible landscapes she had created. All in attendance agreed that it was certainly the most impressive weaving they had ever seen. Upon hearing this Minerva grew even more confident, knowing that she truly was superior to Arachne.

Then it was Arachne's turn. She pulled her weaving out, and the crowd looked on, confused. "Why, there's nothing on there!" said Minerva in glee. "You have to get closer," replied Arachne, "the silk is so very fine that you can't see it all from a distance.

And so Minerva moved closer, until her face was nearly touching the tapestry, and yet still she could not make out the designs. "You are nothing but a fake," declared Pallas Minerva, just as the tapestry suddenly rushed towards her, then over her, and finally around her. Suddenly Minerva found herself wrapped within the weaving, unable to escape. Though the material looked thin to the eyes, it was very strong and very sticky. The more she struggled the more entangled she became. "What is this travesty?!" she screamed. "I have had enough of your meddling in my life," replied Arachne, "maybe this time you will learn your lesson about messing with humans whenever you feel like it." And with that Arachne departed, and Minerva was left to scream and struggle, caught by the web of Arachne.

Author's Note: In the original story they offer quite a bit more detail for the actual weaving of the tapestries but I didn't have the Greek mythological background for that. The original version of this story is a classic example of Gods putting mortals in their place for perceived slights. Minerva challenges Arachne to a competition and loses. She is unwilling to accept this, and ultimately destroys Arachne's tapestry and attacks. Arachne can't stand this and decides to hang herself. Before going back to Olympus, Minerva changes her into a spider. This plotline occurs all throughout Greek mythology, as mortals are constantly doing one thing or another to anger Gods. I decided to put a twist on this. I don't like the idea omnipotent beings just fiddling around in mortal lives, so I put the twist on it to change that and make Arachne the one to defeat Minerva. The image is obviously just a picture of Arachne, though it's supposed to be her as part-spider. I chose this spider because Minerva is one of my favorite Greek gods and I had never actually heard the story of Arachne. I hope readers take from this story the idea that an individual with one special talent can do quite a bit, even against a person that seems incredibly powerful.

Minerva Weaves a Web

Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000) 

Arachne working on her web.

Reading Diary A

The Greek gods have always interested me because they generally come off as entitled babies. It's a significant contrast to God in Christianity or Judaism because humans seem to be their playthings as opposed to creature that they care for to some extent. I think this makes sense because they were originally thought up as a means for explaining all the terrible things that happened back in those days, and eventually transitioned to also explaining the good. For example, when crops died or there was an extended drought, Ceres could be to blame. Now of course if she was to blame when things were bad, she also received some credit for an especially strong crop. An example of the whims of the Gods exists in this section in the story of Arachne and Minerva. In this story, Minerva is essentially angry because Arachne is an excellent wool spinner, but refuses to give any credit to Minerva, thought Minerva claims that she in some way taught the girl this ability. Ultimately Minerva is so upset that she challenges Arachne and turns her into a spider. This is just one in a long lineage of stories of Gods messing with the lives of mortals. Later, a woman named Niobe rejects the goddess Latona as being inferior to her and tells the people to worship her instead. Latona is furious at this, and kills first Niobe's sons and then her daughters. Again, this is an example of a mortal putting themself above the gods, making one of them angry, and ultimately paying the price. These stories both explain the many tragedies that took place back in those times, but also teach people to be careful not to display hubris.

Ovid's Metamorphoses Part 2

Death of Niobe's Children, Konig