This week we are going to interpret Athena as a nonbinary manifestation. Whether pursuing masculine-coded activities like conflict and competition or feminine-coded activities like weaving and homemaking, Athena strove for excellence. 

Athena-Mentor is kind and compassionate, encouraging everyone to strive to be their best, and to pursue the most excellent things they are capable. 

Athena’s nonbinary attributes allow them to be the kind of non-binary mentor we all need sometimes. 

Happy Pride Everyone!

This week's episode covers the story of the Agdistis. They were created through an immaculate conception with an intersex condition resulting in the manifestation of male and female sexual characteristics. The other Gods were so terrified by Agdistis, that they violently exposed and publicly castrated them. 

This episode explores the Intersex condition in Antiquity. Whether human or divine, intersex conditions reflected a fundamental challenge to the established social order. Everything social role from the business deal called marriage to the citizen roles were challenged by the mere existence of Intersex conditions. 

The story of the Agdistis is a divine archetype for how humans publicly exposed and addressed such conditions. 

This week we are discussing Dionysos as a manifestation of all things Queer. 

They are constantly shown moving between gendered expressions, never really settling on any one for long. This creates a being able to manifest the raw creative power of the primordial cosmos into the most powerful Olympian deity. 

Dionysos is also shown in long lasting relationships with men and women in different stories. But where many Gods viewed their human loves as conquests, Dionysos shows far more respect and long-lasting affection than most. 

In all, neither Dionysos' gender nor sexuality conform to societal expectations.

Dionysos is an archetypal Queer!

Today's episode concludes our deep-dive into Attis, the Phrygian fertility deity assigned male at birth who underwent gender transition. After the emotional turmoil subsides, Attis settles into the house of Rheia. Though Attis had a few stumbling blocks at the beginning, she was able to grow in this affirming environment. Eventually Rheia and Attis got married and raised a foster child in Dionysos. Features of life such as  athletics and chariot races which Attis feared loosing actually did transfer over to her new life. 

Rather than interpreting the story as a tragedy, the story of Attis can be read as one of a successful transition!

Happy Lesbian Day of Visibility!

Today we have a very special episode covering  stories of Lesbian desire. There is a spell found in the Greek Magical Papyri which was intended to bind Serapias to Herais, two women whose desire to be together transcended even death. The other stories of Lesbian desire are drawn from the incomparable poetry of Sappho. Sappho calls upon Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, to aid in her courting. Later she describes Anactoria  as the best sight in the world, and describes the visceral full-body reaction to seeing her girlfriend. 

Wherever you are and whatever is going on in your life, take a few minutes to think about the Lesbians. Think about what it means to be a Lesbian, or else what it means to support Lesbians. Rejoice that we do still live in a world where Lesbian voices are visible and can help us shape our concepts of love and how love can be represented. 

Have a good Lesbian Visibility Day!

This week we are continuing our deep-dive into Attis, a figure assigned male at birth who travelled to Asia and underwent a gender transition. Following the surgery itself, Attis experiences first the manic highs of gender euphoria before falling into a depressive low. 

Rather than interpreting the anxiety through the lens of a hero acting shamefully and later regretting their acts, we will read the story through the lens of a woman lamenting a social death in the hours immediately after the change in social status. 

Part 3 will focus on Attis' life after transition through other appearances in ancient media. 

This week we are looking at Attis, a figure assigned male at birth who travelled to Phrygia and underwent a gender transition. The experience of Attis mirrors closely the experience of modern trans-women as we start with a figure who was never all that comfortable with male societal roles who is able to flourish upon gender affirmation. 

The story of this transformation and the first few hours after is found in Catullus 63. Though he reflects the general Roman attitude that Attis has become a counterfeit woman, everything about Attis is expressed with feminine terms in the poem. Interpreting this story through a Trans lens allows us to better interpret the emotional period immediately after the sexual reassignment. 

This is Part 1 covering the transition itself, Part 2 will focus on those swirling emotions which express grief for a changing status. 

This week we are talking about the God of the Arts Apollo.

Apollo was a deity whose amorous escapades are split between men and women. 

Some of the most widely known stories of love between Gods and Mortals involve Apollo in some way. 

Apollo was involved with many of the Muses, often bequeathing remarkable artists and bards in the process. He was involved with many men, including Admetos of Thessaly whom he tried to save from death. His romance with Hyacinthos is among the most iconic stories from Antiquity. 

Yet Apollo never married anyone, instead choosing to follow his desires for both men and women throughout his entire life. 

Taken together, Apollo becomes an archetype for Bisexuality in the ancient world. 

Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility!

Today we have a very special episode covering the stories of Dionysos and Caeneus, two narratives from the ancient world where transgender characters transcend visibility and are able to thrive by their gender transitions. 

Whatever is going on in your life, pause for a moment and think about what it means to be Trans, or else what it means to support Trans people, or else what it means to live in a world where Trans people are visible. 

Today's episode covers the story of Ganymedes, a young man so beautiful that the cosmic king Zeus snatches him away to be his immortal boyfriend. 

Though the story is among the oldest pieces of Greek Mythology which comes down to us, many scholars have questioned when the narrative became homoerotic. It was a long time before any author explicitly stated that Zeus and Ganymedes were lovers, though it may well have been coyly presented from the beginning. 

Once it was established, gay men used the image of Ganymedes to represent their lovers in a wide variety of situations. Ganymede was an immortal archetype for all mortal homosexual men.