I could tell you what that was, but they you’d have no reason to listen (except, of course, for the sheer joy of hearing me do voices.)

This episode begins with a reference to washing before sacrifice, but then quickly goes to the ‘prayer’ of Achilles to his mother, Thetis. (I put the word prayer in quotes, because she was standing in front of him.)

Most of what I have to say has been said before, and I’m beginning to wonder if the rest of the Iliad — as viewed through the lens of mortal/immortal interaction — will just be repeating the same themes. We will see.

What really impressed me about the story is that Ceres is really a badass. She has power and willpower, but I wound up most impressed at the one time she choose to yield rather than dig her heels in.

From it, I try to moderate my expectations on what it means to have a relationship with a God — or, for that reason — with a person, probably.

Really, for lack of a better idea of where to begin, I’ve decided to start this as just me reading through the Iliad, looking the the relationships between mortals and Gods.

Eventually, this would be in podcast format and would feature what you hear here: me relating a bit of lore and then talking about the lessons I get from it.

Please note: I’m super proud of how well I did on this except for the fact that I actually forgot to read the fifteen lines of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter that I wanted to read. So, when critiqueing this, please include the idea of me relating bits of ‘original lore’ in the audio. (Also, I’ll tack those fifteen lines on the bottom of this post.)

Some questions to consider as you listen: So, it’s a long bit of audio. If you need to distract your eyes while you listen, here are some questions to prompt your feedback:

• This is super-long! It’s a long time to hear just me talking. If I hunted for and found some music to break it up it would be longer, but less monotonous. Would that make it easier for you listen to?
• Should I only relate a shorter part of the lore? I mean, I tried to get the whole story of Persephone – even in abbreviated form – before talking about it. I could do just the part I’m thinking of talking about. Another option would be to do one section just telling the story of Persephone, another, later episode of the lessons I draw from it.
• Is this too phenomenally arrogant of me? I make an honest effort to make it clear that this is mostly about me, that doing this should help me continue to think deeply about my lore. But, I worry that it sounds like I’m describing the meaning of the Lore, and not the meanings that I take from the lore.

The excerpt I didn’t read: So, if you’re wondering what I hadn’t gotten around to reading — because I stopped looking at my notes — here are lines 5 to 20 of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter that I had intended to read at the part where I talked about this all happening clearly against her will (these are from a translation by Sarah Ruden):

The girl played with Sea’s deep-bosomed daughters
In a lush field, picking hyacinths, bright violets,
Irises, crocuses, roses–and the narcissus,
Which the earth grew to trap the flower-faced girl,
By Zeus’s tactics, for the host of man.
Gods whose life never ends and mortal people
Were dazzled by the flower when they saw it.
From a single root a hundred blossoms flourished
And smelled so sweet the whoel wide sky above it
Laughed, and the whole earth and the salt sea laughed.
Enthralled, the girl stretched both hands toward the fine toy–
But the plain of Nysa, with its wide roads, opened:
And the lord Cronian, famous host of many,
Drove his immortal, leaping horses at her.
She was unwilling, caught in the gold chariot
That took her wailing, shriking for the help of
Her Father, son of Cronus, highest and greatest.