A Handbook of Greek Mythology

Looking Out for Number One: Euphemism and Face

“…God-fearing Greeks referred to the hideous goddesses as the Eumenides, or "pleasant ones," not out of sympathy or respect, but to avoid the negative consequences of referring to them by their less complimentary literal title. According to legend, any mortal who dared to refer to them as the Erinyes-a designation apparently restricted to intrapantheon communications-would be visited by the goddesses and driven mad by their terrifying appearance (Rose, 1964). Divine retribution is, of course, a far more fearsome consequence than the potential loss of face incurred by offending a human addressee.…”

Helen's "Judgment of Paris" and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16

“…The next stanza, which refers to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis and to the birth of Achilles, recalls the history that leads to the answer (42.5-8): 7 The first literary source for the judgment of Paris is Iliad 24.28-30. See Littlewood 1968.149-51 andRose 1991.128 note 17 for a list of early sources of this myth, which include fragments of the Kypria, Proclus's epitome of the Kypria in the Chrestomathia, and allusions in several plays of Euripides-a detailed treatment of which appears in Stinton 1965. In his treatment of the judgment of Paris and the apple of discord, Littlewood 1968.151 writes: "This legend is one of the oldest attested themes in this study, since the crucial scene is depicted by a relief on an ivory comb found in the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta and dated from its presence among Proto-Corinthian pottery to c. 700 b.c.…”

Dynamics of Power: an Architectural Reading of the Concentration of Power (Ullastret, 4th-3rd Century BC).

“…It is intended to show how power is articulated through a myth, yet we ought to bear in mind that without analysing the subsequent foundational myth, that of Aeneas, the conclusions are provisional. Romulus had two mothers which represent the mechanism of power, Gaia -Rea Silvia is equated to Rhea, for the Romans Magna Mater (Rose, 2005) and the telluric forces of the woodland, Luparca, given that founding a new city would require the control of the economy. In reality, it is the same mother who expresses two different concepts, Gaia which channels the principle of fertility, abundance, the continuity of the new lineage and the she-wolf, Luparca, which represents the ancient principle of the blood fully identified with the death of Remus, the predatory face of mother earth, and the aggression Panta Rei (2018), 51 -71 Dynamics of Power: an Architectural Reading of the Concentration of Power (Ullastret, towards sedentary settlements.…”