Gweiddi at Ecate

Said Odyssey audiobook was gifted to me at methink age 4-5? I already had lots of cassettes that were just little greek/roman myth collections. I used to listen to cassettes and later cds constantly, while playing, drawing, falling asleep, including when my poor poor friends were over.

My version of the Odyssey was undoubtedly ‘for kids’, partially narrated by a talking pig that then later turned out to be homer? and they left out stuff like Odyssey killing his slaves or getting assaulted by Calypso, also the entire Telemachus travel story for some reason. But it included a lot of Philosophical meandering? Like during the Helios incident Zeus tells Odysseus that all the terrible things happening to him are his comeuppance for sacking Troy because Troy was like a star in the world and therefore sacking it was akin to hubris and comparable to landing on the sun(island) and killing a star(cow) which isn’t even in the Odyssey idk why they put it in there i thought it was neat tho?

Anyways when I tell you I was really REALLY into it I mean it. I could recite a couple large parts of my cds/cassettes word of word and the first few chapters of that Odyssey was one. When I was in the car I would recite it in my mind to entertain myself. I was only allowed to watch one very kid/toddler friendly tv channel and films my parents sanctioned so the odyssey/my myth collections were like the one piece of media that I had access to with at all mature themes and action

Then at like 6/7? I got an ✨MP3✨ player that my mom just loaded a bunch of stuff from her computer onto, among other things a children’s version of 😱the Iliad😱 (also the new testament for some reason?) and oh boy was I ecstatic when I found out there was a MORE ODYSSEUS???

Now that Iliad version was truly ‘for kids’ in the broadest of terms. It was easier to comprehend, they left out the catalogue of ships ect. but they left in Agamemnon threatening to have Briseis “grow old in his bed” and also all the gratuitous descriptions of heads being smashed by spears and also all the x killed y of people you never heard of. They even kept calling Zeus ‘the chronide” which like i get now but they just never elaborated on that i was so confused lmao

And in case you’ve ever wanted a professional analysis of morality in the Iliad by a 7 year old here’s a recap: Everyone who opposes Odysseus is EVIL including Agamemnon and Achilles who were mean-to-him. Athena is the GOAT, Apollo fucking sucks (ironic I know). The Trojans should loose because they don’t have Odysseus and also because I had been to greece and had thought it was really nice and also bc i liked cretan potatoes and my german-greek classmates and also the old man running our local greek restaurant who always gave me candy so clearly the dudes vaguely identified as ‘from greece’ should win (they should hire me for international diplomacy). Diomedes slaps, Paris needs to die in a fire. Hector and his nuclear family can jump off a bridge (my sympathies for adorable babies were very limited when i myself was still an adorable baby idk)

Then at like age 9/10? one of my 10000 ‘Was ist Was?’-books covered ancient greek history and among other things Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of historical Troy and his archeological ‘shenanigans’ and boy did my 10 year old self go through a roller coaster of emotions from ‘wait we found troy??’ to ‘ohmygod if only we had taken longer to find troy’

11 and beyond was internet access time.

Odysseus and Telemachus would totally do one of those childhood photo recreations the Greeks would have been unstoppable if they had cameras 😔

This is a spot from an italian estate agency (we are governed by the right-wing party)

The woman says "Ridiculous..."

(was asked to put my Bluesky thread on tumblr)

Just because of some stuff I saw yesterday: if you are a minor online, please do not openly identify yourself as such. It is not safe, it allows adults who want to interact with minors for bad purposes to know you are one.

There are different, safer ways to accomplish your goals than to do that.

You do not need to identify yourself publicly as a minor online to:

Ask that people respect your boundaries

Not create or interact with adult material

Not be a victim of harassment

Not give away personal information

All these are normal things anyone of any age can do online.

If you are being invited into spaces you don't want to be in as a minor, or which people have asked you not to be in as a minor, decline for any or no reason. If an adult wants to do something with you they should not with a minor, decline for any or no reason. If people do not accept that, they are not people you should be interacting with. Don't pretend to be an adult, just don't say you aren't.

I understand that recently, more people under 18 tend to say that they are under 18 to protect themselves online. People who are not dangerous don't need that information. People who are dangerous will gladly use it because they know you are vulnerable. You are not protecting yourself.

As an adult who doesn't really care to interact with minors, I probably won't interact a lot with you if you are "young." That's not hard to catch from the way people act online. If you are "young" I care about you being safe and not victimized by opportunists, regardless of your birth year.

Protect your identity and safety on the internet, and if you are a person who is vulnerable, be a mysterious figure. Make silly posts. Complain about "people you know." Complain about "living with your parents."