#cecrops

This is literally Cecrops. And as if this wasn't enough, his parents are also Gaia and Hephaestus. Which means that Erichthonius isn't just his foster son, but also his younger brother. If somebody would've asked me who is more likely to be his biological child I would say that it's Erichthonius, not his boring mortal daughters.

I'm currently trying to comprehend right now how can you live with a grown ass serpent-man since diapers, but when you see an infant version of the exact same type of hybrid your father is you get scared af.

Heading to the BIG CITY to look at things belonging to Greece in the BIG MUSEUM with my GCSE kids. Brought my sketchbook (naturally) and found this shamefully abandoned cache of old comics for Kekrops and Erikthonios.

Page 2 is my favourite.

We’re going to see the reference for something on page 4 today!

CECROPS Two-Natured, first king of the Athenians, began to reign in the 2408th year of the world, the 1554th before Christ was born. He founded Athens, according to Cassiodorus. Justin, book 2, also says this about him:

Before the time of Deucalion the Athenians had Cecrops as king, who, according to all the ancient stories, was said to have two forms, because he was the first to join male and female in marriage. Under his reign Athens was either resettled or founded.

Cecrops is a legendary king of Attica in Greek mythology. Born from the very earth itself, he was said to have the body of a man and the tail of a serpent or fish.

Cecrops founded the city of Athens, and introduced to its people the concepts of reading, writing, marriage and funereal rites. As such, he was viewed as a culture hero by many.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Cecrops: The fear of guilt/freeing our minds

In the FAN EXPO Canada convention that Lucy and Renee were at a few month ago, they answered a question on what they thought the core theme and message of the show was. Now, Lucy’s not good at giving straight or serious answers to questions in conventions, but I think she did very well in explaining what the fundamental message to ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is all about and what the character, Xena, felt inside. Renee said that she thought it was all about redemption. Lucy added to that by saying there’s an underlying message under the theme of redemption in the show. A greater message. The way she explained it reminded me of the episode ‘Lost Mariner’, when Xena was lecturing Cecrops on the weight of his conscience over condemning so many people to a cursed life on his ship. He spoke about how he was afraid to end the curse because he felt he didn’t deserve to live at all, as so many have lost their lives because of him. And because he was immortal, he feared every day of life.

When you think about redemption…. what does it actually mean to you? Redemption from or for what? Being saved from your sins or for what you’ve done or said? In religion we think of redemption as repentance. Being saved by some Higher power. Asking for forgiveness from God or Jesus. Asking to be saved from Hell. What about feeling that redemption in yourself? The meaning to redemption for me is about freeing yourself from the mental slavery we put ourselves under when we know we’ve done wrong and feel we can’t ever make up for it. It has nothing do with salvation from any sovereign. Not for me, anyway

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” As Bob Marley put it in his famous Redemption Song.

This song, from how I interpret it, is about freeing ourselves from the way we feel because of what we’ve done or said. Because of the sins of our past. Because of the pain and damage we’ve caused to others… to those we love and that love us. I believe you have to first allow others to forgive you before you can ever forgive yourself. You have to feel worthy of that second chance and of being forgiven. You have to be able to unchain yourself from all the wrong you’ve done and the only way you can do that is by giving back. Making it right again. Correcting the damage you’ve caused in hopes of taking away the pain. For others and … for yourself… otherwise… you’re never going to forgive yourself.

Redemption definetly has more to do with self-worth and self-love, as Lucy said. And I would also say self-awareness too… because if you’ve recognized where you’ve done wrong and you can see what you’ve become and you’re able to turn around from that… you’re on your way. But it’s extremely difficult because you always have in the back of your mind the thought that you don’t have the right to victimize yourself when you take on the world’s sufferings for them… but that you also don’t want to see yourself as any kind of hero either. You are mentally bound to that mindset of deservedness. So, it’s about freeing yourself from it.

I don’t know if Xena ever did forgive herself. I’d like to believe she did. But I can understand why she may not have. She received her ultimate redemption for all the evil she had done in AFIN, yes. But did she feel that in herself? Did she free her mind from her mental slavery? I don’t know because she decided to stay dead! Throughout the whole show she was seeking a redemption that she never allowed herself at any point. I can only hope that somewhere down the line in their adventures together that Gabrielle got through to her and helped her reconcile with her darkness and exorcise her demons. Otherwise that woman was suicidal her entire life. The only person she ever listened to was Gabrielle because she was the only one who could make her bring down her walls and just for the moment, be the person she was without thinking about how she had hurt so many people in her past. Without worrying about how she was going to atone for it… and constantly wondering if she ever could. Not riddled with thoughts and feelings of extreme guilt and contempt.

For me it’s particularly important that she did learn to forgive herself because I am still in the process of allowing others to forgive me. I’ve got a long way to go before I can ever free my own mind and forgive myself from all I’ve done and said. I always ask myself whether I deserve redemption or not. But I don’t mean being saved from anything or anyone. I mean being able to allow myself to be forgiven, and especially by myself because if I don’t feel I’m worthy of forgiveness, how can I ever expect others to forgive me? That’s what it comes down to for me. Freeing myself from the chains I’ve shackled myself to all these years because I really do feel like I cannot atone for it all. I just don’t believe I can ever forgive myself before I have been forgiven by others. But the problem is allowing myself to be forgiven. I’m in the exact same state Xena was in mentally. Despite all the good I have done already or all that I can and will do… I just don’t feel I am worthy of such forgiveness. I don’t think I ever will be.

I think Lucy is right. Redemption has a lot more underlying meaning than just feeling regretful. I mean what if regret and guilt is all you can ever feel? There’s no point in receiving a redemption that you don’t feel you deserve at all. How do you even get out of that destructive mind cycle? It never stops or ends. It’s a constant. And I certainly don’t have a Gabrielle to help me through it and to make me feel worthy and loved. Something Gabrielle said that really resonated with me in the episode, ‘Forgiven’, was that it’s easier to believe in yourself when someone else has believed in you first. I don’t have anyone to believe in me. I always have to believe in myself. Maybe that’s the answer to my problem.

BONUS: “Till love redeems you.”