First of all, I love the ways that Lizzo challenges a lot of our ideas around classical iconography via imagining herself in the world--having the statues reflect her body type, and seeing her own stories and rumors displayed through classical art forms:
She also has such an interesting color palette for this video particularly with these bright amphorae, and I know I'm not the only one thinking that she might be displaying herself among these other goddesses as a potential audition for the upcoming live-action "Hercules" film.
I also love Cardi's phallocentric throne, and her scroll of rumors (not to mention the little gold dicks flying around), but I especially love Lizzo's classical hair here at the end and the shoutout she gives to Sister Rosetta Tharpe as the progenitor of rock 'n' roll.
The gals have given us gossip, sex, identity, iconographic references, and a fascinating new chromatic lens to consider worth when it comes to antiquity, and why we pull forward these symbols and icons to represent ourselves with.
Fama would be so proud 😘 --Ѱ
If you loved this thread, check out the one we did on @LilNasX’s #montero
It has come to my attention that the online articles on the weirdest classical myths are totally insufficient. Since it’s been a while since we’ve done a thread, I’m giving a list of 10 of my wildest, most disturbing or confusing Greco-Roman myths. #mythology#ClassicsTwitter. 🧵
(CW: literally everything bad you can expect from myth, inc*st, SA, just gross stuff)
1. A different “King’s Disease”: Minos, the king of Crete from the Minotaur story, at one point was cursed to ejaculate spiders, scorpions, and snakes that would devour his sexual partners from the vagina out. He sought the aid of Procris, whom he promised an infallible spear and
BREAKING: After disputes with leadership, famed Greek warrior Achilles withdraws from Trojan War in stunning display of self-care.
Achaean council leader Agamemnon went on record stating: “we believe making exceptions for our biggest stars undermines the authority of the war effort. We wish the swift-footed hero the best and hope he considers rejoining the effort later.”
Retired hero Heracles chimed in to show support: “It’s easy to look from the outside and go ‘oh, he got mad and quit,’ but it’s hard out there. You wouldn’t know until you’ve done it yourself. I remember leaving the Argonauts’ expedition. It was a hard call but the right one.”
An in-depth look at every instance Stephenie Meyer explicitly references the Hades/Persephone myth in her Twilight Saga novel "Midnight Sun":
To preface: I, a mythologist who looks at a large quantity of media produced about Persephone on a regular basis, and who grew up a few hours from Forks, WA and read this series obsessively as it was coming out when I was in middle school--was COMPLETELY blindsided by this.
I bought this novel for two reasons--the first being nostalgia, and the fact that I waited YEARS for this book to come out (which is the novel of Twilight rewritten from Edward's perspective instead of Bella's) back when it existed as uploaded chapters on Meyer's website.
THREAD TIME: That’s right, @LilNasX’s #MONTERO is still number one on the charts and in our hearts. Let’s talk about it’s incredible engagement with ancient narratives and the transformative power of alternative and queer #headcanons reclaiming the past.
Nas X creates a sort of world halfway between the Garden of Eden and the classical ruins, what people view as origins of western society. He starts with the familiar Garden of Eden story, but instead of Eve being tempted, it’s him, and he’s the serpent too.
Then we get to the scene that launched a thousand classics blog post; as he’s being seduced by the serpent, the camera zooms on the other side of the tree, which has a quote from Plato etched into it.