- Robert Graves The Greek Myths: 1, ================================= Pretty much the only things that are agreed upon across portrayals are that he is young, clean-shaven, handsome, and muscular. Was he a character that was made up 100%. That in a predominantly white country films produced for primarily white audiences will contain mostly white actors? The sister of the gods Frey. But, hey, that is war and colonization. Being that you people are running the evil empire that controls the whole world. Fresco depicting Pentheus and the Bacchants, from Pompeii, 1st century CE, via National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Seems very hypocritical and targeted. I had just finished reading the great book Song of Achilles and built up a mental picture of what Achillies may have looked like. It is a decision productions are free to make as long as they own the reception, good or bad. 1. So yes a white lady. (hence the name PALLAS ATHENE) Pg. No beard. One of the hydra's heads was impervious to weapons. Given the lengths TFOACs particular adaptation of The Iliad goes to stay true to the minor threads and subplots of the epic, it is hard to ignore the distractingly forced multiracial casting that was so obviously coerced by modern inclusivity agendas. The painted scene on the skyphos could also recall a dramatic presentation of the event, perhaps a short play staged in honor of the local deities. Are there any black people in Greek mythology? All three of their stories are primarily based around conflict with groups of people who are of other races. knowledge of which Greek and Eastern deities were worshiped in different parts of the Black Sea area during antiquity So it really shouldnt come as some surprise that in a primarily white country the roles are cast with mostly white actors. Keep up the excellent work. 2. She was the Goddess of the kingdom of Folkvang and of the immense Sessrymnir. Race is almost irrelevant to the telling of the story, especially since the show runners decided to omit Memnon and the Ethiopians, as the author of the article mentions. Why would they change a character so completely but try to mimic the rest? All the ancient depictions I am aware of show her with either blond hair or black hair. Greek Mythology: The Story of Perseus #GreekMythology #Mythology #SeeUinHistory #History #MythologyExplained At left and center, respectively, Hera and Aphrodite are seated on the rocky slopes of Mount Ida, a sacred spot in the northwestern part of modern Turkey. K Series (Olympian gods & kin) : Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena. They were the personifications of dreams and according to Euripides, they had the form of black - winged daemons. Every other black role Ive seen in TV and Film I have never thought twice about. He was the son of King Aeolus of Thessaly and Enarete. Clash of the Titans (1981) Perseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda. The Trojan prince Paris was. I am a strong believer of casting as close to the character as it was intended as possible. Medusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. The Aithiopians were supposedly beloved by the gods and they were among the few peoples among whom the gods could walk openly. knowledge on the legends of Greek mythology referred to or linked to the Black Sea region ability to interpret these myths based on historical events, such as the Greek colonisation, the foundation of cities etc. His spouse was the nymph Merope, with whom he had four children; Glaucus, Ornytion, Almus, and Thersander. Because it breaks immersion. Troy: Fall of a City depicts anthropomorphic deities with supernatural powers meddling in human affairs, prophets who can foresee the destruction of cities decades in advance, and all kinds of other wildly implausible things, but, for some reason, those dont seem to break immersion for you. The mother is, the author believes, always black, when the child is. Western historians could not accept the hard fact that Black Africans actually had the capacity to conquer, colonize, civilize, and physically transform a white European people (the Greeks). It would be just as strange to see, say, Genghis Khan played by a white actor, or Henry VIII played by an Asian actor, just as it would be bizarre to see Shaka Zulu played by someone who isnt Black, or Pocahontas played by someone who isnt at least passingly Native American. Making the Distant Past Relevant to the Present Day, The miniseries Troy: Fall of a City, which originally aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom in spring 2018 and was thereafter distributed internationally on Netflix, created quite a stir of controversy due to the fact that, in the series, the characters Zeus and Achilles are portrayed by black actors. Arion is taken to the Underworld to train to be a warrior. For ye to Libyan women are most like, But it isnt accurate, or fair, to reflexively presume that anyone who might simply prefer more true-to-life, or at least true-to-source depictions of iconic characters, is racist. NOTE ON TEXT By Robert Graves In fact, they even feature prominently in the story of the Trojan War itself; there are several highly significant, canonically black characters in the story of the Trojan War that Troy: Fall of a City completely omitted. Im also confused by what you say about Helen of Troy being a little too old. Helen is portrayed in the show by the German actress Bella Dayne, who, according to her Wikipedia page, was born in either 1987 or 1988. Black Annis. I am just tired of the apologists who feel the need to try to diminish or exclude from western culture those who make up the vast majority of the population or vilify those who have made art/media to be consumed by those majorities. Today, most rapists are still white men and if you broaden the category to sexual assault, it is 78% white men who perpetrate. Everyone is all upset about Zeus and Achilles being black, but no one is upset about any of the shows other deviations from traditional iconography. Of course not. I will now proceed to his other solemn considerations. Very true. Beyond that, what I find most obnoxious about this sort of casting is that it only works in one direction. Likewise, Troy: Fall of a City is a fictional television series. The Romish Cristna is black in India, black in Europe, and black he must remainlike the ancient Gods of Greece, as we have just seen. Nemesis - Goddess of Revenge. the Danaids were of African or Ethiopic origin on both their maternal and paternal sidesnote their mothers place origins, as well as the paternal connection with Aegyptus, Cepheus and Belus. A ghostly black dog who is said to stalk the coastline of eastern England is known as Black Shuck as well as Old Shuck, Old Shock or Shuck. ABOVE: Engraving of a nude Memnon by the French engraver Bernard Picard (lived 1673 1733) depicting him as a black man, Hello! He is usually seen holding either a scepter or a thunderbolt. This doesnt necessarily mean anything, however, since, in Greek black-figure vase paintings, all men are portrayed with black skin and all women are portrayed with white skin. The most important recorded episodes are . I am from Denmark myself and if I saw a portrayal of gods and goddesses from Nordic mythology portrayed by people other than Scandinavians I would it strange and forced to put it mildly. The Gorgons were three monsters in Greek mythology, daughters of Echidna and Typhon, the mother and father of all monsters respectively. For me to hear, that ye from Argos spring It is a horror film that stars Tom Hardy. The rest of the Europeans belong to Europe, but the Greeks belong to us, man. They would have looked like Greek people. At this point Im just happy to see a change from the white-British portrayal of Mediterranean people. Danaus, suspecting a plot would not consent and when an oracle confirmed his fears that Aegyptus had it in his mind to kill all the Danaids, prepared to flee from Libya. Concerning ancient Greek Christian icons: All of the show the saints, Jesus and Marry as either dark brown or just black. was know as Lybia in ancient times. Left-to-right, top-to-bottom: the birth of Aphrodite, a revel with Dionysus and Silenus, Adonis playing the kithara for Aphrodite, Heracles slaying the Lernaean Hydra, the Colchian dragon regurgitating Jason in the presence of Athena, Hermes with his mother Maia, the Trojan Horse, and Odysseus 's ship sailing past the island of the sirens 1. 14. The gods, much like the Greek goddesses of history, have very exaggerated personalities and they are plagued with personal flaws and negative emotions despite they immortality and superhero-like powers.. Based on your article, it is limited at best. White ground: White background. An engraving by the French engraver Bernard Picart (lived 1673 1733), for instance, clearly depicts him as such. You must be talking about the entertainment world or Hollywood, because thats the only place I can see black people trying to fit in for roles, acceptance or some type of recognition. What Im getting at is, in all of these examples ( which YOU chose ) the race & nationality is a very important part of the history. Were Achilles and Zeus Black in Greek Mythology?. In the Iliad, hes portrayed as petulant, insecure, self-obsessed, and a poor leader. Youre funny.. On top of all I said, Caucasians are a mutation that descend from Neanderthals (sub humans) go do your research. The primordial god was born near the beginning of time in Gaia. Netflix is becoming a buzzkill like the rest of pandemic 2020. - Quora Answer (1 of 15): I've read in other answers some wrong statements, but understandable, mostly. Minotaur (2006) Available on Tubi and Vudu. Scandinavia 1000 years ago had a more homogenenous population than today and pretending otherwise is to my mind silly. This response was hardly demeaning, however, since for the Greeks the exotic in nature held an enormous capacity for warding off evil. Apotheon. Do you think it unusual https://hollywood.greekreporter.com/2018/01/19/why-is-achilles-never-greek-in-hollywood/. When they are thus described, I suppose they are meant to be represented as priests of the sun; this was probably confined to the celebration of the Isiac or Egyptian ceremonies. Do you answer the question in the headline? In my view Brad Pitt as Achilles is as stupid as David Gyasi. Helen seemed a little too old and menelaus did not feel right. I am merely pointing out the hypocrisy of the fact that people are getting all upset that Achilles and Zeus are portrayed as black and there are tons of people throwing winy temper tantrums about black Achilles, but not a single person that I am aware of has thrown even the slightest temper tantrum over redhead Aphrodite.. So let me explain why Achilles was the last straw. I did answer the question. But though the Bull of Osiris was black, the Bull of Europa was white. If the makers of the show were trying to make it an accurate portrayal of the Aegean Bronze Age, Black Achilles would be the least of their historical inaccuracies. Add such big names as Athena, Patroclus, and Nestor among team Greece, to say nothing of notable leaders and allies among team Troy. It is true that, in ancient Greece, Achilles and Zeus were both consistently portrayed as what most people today would generally consider white. That being said, I think that most of the outrage over the fact that Troy: Fall of a City portrays Achilles and Zeus as black is motivated more by racial prejudice than by actual concern for faithfulness to traditional portrayals. It is not for example set in a fictional place or an imagined time but what was considered contemporary time in known locations for much of the story. Its very much a follow the money and who benefits theory. But Achilles? You people flock to our culture, we dont really have any interest in yours, unless its by default and we have to study for a history test or something. There is scarcely an old church in Italy where some remains of the worship of the Black Virgin and Black Child are not to be met with. Additionally, ancient art and scriptures depict Nyx as a beautiful woman dressed in black, surrounded by mist. I know it got horrible ratings; I know most of the critics hated it; and I am sure everyone is probably going to lambast me in the comments for saying this, but I am still going to say it right away to make it clear. On other skyphoi, the range of black figures includes the highly popular type of the cave-dwelling pygmy. The Shocking Ancient Pagan Origin of the Legend of Stingy Jack, The Decline of Cursive Isnt Historically as Big of a Deal as Most People Think, Nonbinary Characters for Children Are Nothing New, No, the Epic of Gilgamesh Is Not the Oldest Surviving Work of Literature, Most of My Pictures Seem to Have Suddenly Disappeared, 13 September 2022, No, Athena Didnt Turn Medusa into a Monster to Protect Her. The moors of anatolia and aegean islands: Black Turks and, 13th Century African Coin Found in Australia. Argos m Greek Mythology. ABOVE: Map from Wikimedia Commons showing the world as it is described by the fifth-century BC Greek historian Herodotos of Halikarnassos in his Histories. By dragonverse. This includes Krishna of India (1200BC), Tammuz of Syria (1160BC), Iao of Nepal (622BC . Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. 900 BC to c. 800 BC onward. Weirdly, Medusa was also not considered the child of . Malcolm X against the white American system, Shaka Zulu versus the British Empire, and Kublai Khans expansion westward. Throughout the Greek legends, an Africoid or dark-skinned people are associated with Danaus and the Danaids. (I am going on the picture that you posted, I wouldnt have noticed that she has red hair unless you said). The Crow is one of the animals sacred to Apollo and Hera. This does not necessarily mean that Cleopatra VII was what most Americans today would consider Black, but it does mean that she might have been, since we do know that some ancient Egyptian people were Black. 2. The evocation of a world of mysterious, irrational forces on the vase reveals a side of the Greek temperament at odds with the magisterial order imposed on human society by the Olympian gods. You must have at least the decency to respect the original material. 65% of all NBA players need to be white. If the reader doubt my word, he may go to the cathedral at Moulinsto the famous chapel of the Virgin at Lorettoto the church of the Annunciatathe church of St. Lazaro, or the church of St. Stephen at Genoato St. Francisco at Pisato the church at Brixen, in the Tyrol, and to that at Paduato the church of St. Theodore, at Munich, in the two last of which the whiteness of the eyes and teeth, and the studied redness of the lips, are very observable ;to a church and to the cathedral at Augsburg, where are a black virgin and child as large as life:to Rome, to the Borghese chapel Maria Maggioreto the Pantheonto a small chapel of St. Peters, on the right-hand side on entering, near the door; and, in fact, to almost innumerable other churches, in countries professing the Romish religion. Io was the daughter of Inachus, the river god, and Melia. Also use of this cry is still retained in the African descended cultures in the Levant (Palestine Syria Egypt etc. ) (The poet) Aeschyluss, Suppliant Maidens, describes the Danides as Black and smitten by the sun. Atlas. Interpretations can change and in our world it seems to be about sending a political signal which is okay, because that is how it works. For example: Agamemnon was poorly portrayed. She was the daughter of Njrd and Nerthus. The Nine Muses were: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomeni, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope. Black God). He would go on to become the King of Egypt and Libya. The disabled but highly industrious Blacksmith God. Fleeing from the god she cried out to Athene for help and was transformed into a crow (koronis). Was Corinth Really an Ancient City of Vice? (By Sir Godfrey Higgins) - Osiris and his Bull were black; all the Gods and Goddesses of Greece were black: at least this was the case with Jupiter, Bacchus, Hercules, Apollo, Amnion.The Goddesses Venus, Isis, Hecati, Diana, Juno, Metis, Ceres, Cybile, are black. In fact, they even feature prominently in the story of the Trojan War itself; there are several highly significant, canonically black characters in the story of the Trojan War that Troy: Fall of a City completely omitted. ABOVE: Promotional image for the BBC miniseries Troy: Fall of a City, In the Iliad, Achilless hair is described as (xanths). Koroneis, a princess of Phokis (in central Greece), daughter of Coroneus. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with "her abhorred shears ". Together she and Zeus would have a son called Epaphus. ), ABOVE: Ancient Greek polychromatic vase painting dating to c. 300 BC depicting Achilles dressed in armor and a plumed helmet slaying Memnon, the king of the Aithiopians. Yet I think, with respect to their humanity, the agreement continues. She offers him the fateful potion, which he rejects with a surprised gesture. Aegyptus was given Arabia as his kingdom; but also subdued the country of the Melampodes, (blackfeet) and named it Egypt after himself. Greek form of Argus. Ancient sources told several different stories about Orion; there are two major versions of his birth and several versions of his death. 3. In ancient Greek artistic depictions that attempt to show skin color in an at least vaguely realistic manner, Achilles is not evidently portrayed as having dark skin, nor is he shown with any stereotypically African characteristics. Black storm trooper? The Black Sails of Theseus Theseus sailed to Crete to halt a macabre ritual. From $1.39. The fact that an actual black man was named after Memnon strongly suggests that at least whoever named him thought of Memnon as what we would consider black. A black virgin and child among the white Germans, Swiss, French, and Italians!!! Just as strange and forced as if I saw African or South-East Asian gods portrayed by Scandinavians. Minotaur is a very loose retelling of the famous Greek myth. The answer is that we currently have no evidence to indicate that the ancient Greeks imagined Achilles or Zeus as black. Is Lucifer Satan? After he had seduced the nymph to play with him and caress him in his pasture for some time, at last he persuaded her to mount him, when he fled with her to Crete, where he succeeded in his wishes, and by her he had Minos, Sarpcdon, and Rhadamunthus. because of racism? I totally disagree as a greek. In all honesty, if I had been in charge of the show, I probably wouldnt have chosen to portray Achilles as black, but I am not at all angry that the people who did the casting for Troy: Fall of a City chose to make him black. The 12 Titans in Greek Mythology. Because we know what they are meant to look like. Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. Ares was an ancient Greek god of war and one of the 12 Olympians he was the son of Zeus and Hera. Unimaginative, Im very confused by your complaint about Agamemnon being portrayed as small and weak in Troy: Fall of a City. Cleopatra VII was a hellenized woman of 100% Macedonian ancestry. I did not even realize this guy was supposed to be Zeus until the second episode. The same scriptures say the antichrist is coming from a European nation. The visual characterization of blacks as figures from Greek legend seems to have been derived from the association of Africans with the liminal zones of the earth, associated by the Greeks with barbarismsimply meaning non-Greek culture. The most complete example is Theogony by the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around the 8th century BC. . It is, I think potentially dangerous to dismiss all who found the criticized the casting as racist. Greek and Roman writers often incorporated myth into their work as its legendary status was associated with sophistication and a learned mind. They are Africas for all eternity. In Greek mythology, Arion is the name of a black-maned horse who is of the divine breed and possesses dizzying speed. This was not the case as most people never travelled further than 50-100 miles away from their birthplace In their entire life. Spanish Proverb:- Africa empieza en los Pirineos. Because of this, the ancient Greeks said their skin was burnt black by the heat of the sun. Regarding redhead Aphrodite, they probably take her look from Botticellis rendition of Venus, which is rather known. The Greeks themselves recorded their much vaunted relationship with the ancient Ethiopians heros in their holy books which narrate accounts of mythological Ethiopian derived heros such as Does the Word Dinosaur Really Mean Terrible Lizard? One of the most remarkable of these presents a dramatic confrontation taken from Homers Odyssey, the companion epic to The Iliad. In cases like the one seen here, however, the decoration evokes a far different relationship with the divine. Also, during nearly a decade of working as a sexual assault survivor advocate, when I finally got *one* disclosure of a black man raping a white woman, she reported (it isnt the majority of women who report and this was a date rape on campus, usually handled in house). Of course race relations and ideology have to do with it, especially because these online controversies amplify the voices of the extreme. Nyx, the ancient Greek goddess of the night, was the daughter of Chaos. I agree with the others that said they would have prefered Greek actors over white. The two word answer is origins and ancestry., GREEK MYTH 60 THE GREEK MYTHS: VOLUME 1. a. d. With Athenes assistance, he built a ship for himself and his daughters the first two-prowed vessel that ever took to sea and they sailed towards Greece together, by way of Rhodes. Any contemporary reference which used BC in its dating system is obviously fabricated of course. k. During the wedding-feast Danaus secretly doled out sharp pins which his daughters were to conceal in their hair; and at midnight each stabbed her husband through the heart. At a site where the powerful and potentially dangerous Kabeiric mysteries were summoned, the normal place of Greek religion was given over to the protection of the sites resident forces. They were a lot more merciful to the Greeks than the Western Europeans or the Turks. The toes are often white, the brown or black paint being kissed away by the devotees, and the white wood left. Does History Have a Presentism Problem? Cerberus is the multi-headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld in Greek and Roman mythology. And not everyone who takes pause at so many prominent casting deviations is a closet racist (though some may well be). The greek word for crow, corone, comes from the name of Apollo's mistress, Coronis. Athena - Goddess of Wisdom. Plato identified Athene, patroness of Athens, with the Libyan god-dess Neith, .. the aegis. Why? Red figure (white ground . Everyone knows what Zeus is supposed to look like. The gods image is instantly iconic. c. On Beluss death, the twins quarrelled over their inheritance, and as a conciliatory gesture Aegyptus proposed a mass-marriage between the fifty princes and the fifty princesses. They are generally esteemed by the rabble with the most profound veneration. Its called ACTING. Nonetheless, your claim that Cleopatra VII was of 100% Macedonian ancestry is certainly inaccurate, since, as I discuss in this article I wrote about her in January 2020, we do know for a fact that she had at least one very remote Sogdian ancestor on her fathers side. I must now request my reader to turn back to the first chapter, and to reconsider what I have said respecting the two Ethiopias and the existence of a black nation in a very remote period. 15. Its worth noting that, as I discuss in this article I wrote about Jesuss appearance in March 2020, none of the works that are included in the canonical Bible say anything about what Jesuss skin color looked like while he was alive on earth, nor do any of the early apocryphal Christian sources that have survived to the present day. Interestingly, the notion of a black Circe as skilled practitioner of spells reappears in our own time as the protagonist in Toni Morrisons Song of Solomon. especially bearing in mind that Chemmis, located on the Nile was the name given to ancient Egypt and also translates as black or charred and that the entire continent of Africa west of Egypt Youre mad about Achilles being portrayed as a black man but you people have been doing this since forever. In mythology, Helen had already been married to Menelaos for at least several years by the time she went away with Paris, which means she must have most likely been at least in her early twenties at the beginning of the Trojan War.
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