Greek Mythology

When one reads the stories told about the Greek gods and goddesses which later became the Roman gods and goddesses one soon learns easily to dismiss these tales as folktales, legend, mythology, and nothing of any real consequence. I am using the Greek gods and goddesses in my story on Alexander since he was certainly under the influence of what was then a powerful and important belief system. The Greeks did in fact believe in the immortality of the gods and the mortality of mere humans. Much of life was truly determined by one's faithfulness to the devotion and sacrifices made to the gods. Nobody knows exactly how these gods and goddesses came to be known to these ancient souls but literature alone describes and explains them away as the actual cults which devoted their worship to them have since been destroyed and replaced by other greater gods than those who lived then. I am reading a book by Madeline Miller on a legendary figure called Achilles who is purported to be the son of a minor sea goddess, and a mortal man. In reading about Thetis, she may be more than simply a minor sea goddess but at this writing, in the book that Madeline Miller spins her tale Thetis is reduced to a minor goddess. Surprisingly enough, Madeline's fantasy tale includes Thetis as a major figure, spinning her version around some of the legends attributed to her. I have only just begun reading the book which is told through the eyes of Patroclus, who according to legend is a cousin to Achilles. In this book, he is a disgraced Prince who has been punished because of an act of self defense in which he has killed a nobleman's son. However, as a young boy, Patroclus is not quickwitted enough to make his father take pride in him, so for that reason alone, he is sent in exile to live in the house of another man. I won't review the book until finished, but occasionally Madeline needed someone to coach her a bit when writing this book. She has an editor and entire team to whom she lavishes praise, but I found a few glaring errors that should have been cleaned up (as Caroline, my word processing instructor taught me) before final publishing. I am picky picky at times, despite my glaring errors which I leave all the time for others to criticize. In the end, before publication, my works must be letter perfect too but until then I am a whole lot sloppy and don't give a fuck. I will say this which will alienate many who are into gay literature. I do not think that Achilles and Patroclus were gay in their relationship so that her gay writing attempt makes me think that this gal is indeed pandering and possibly projecting her own ideas onto a dubious figure at best. The gay crowd does over insist that because someone mentioned thighs that that means copulation of some kind. In my opinion, Madeline goes way too far in her explicit attempt to describe gay sex. Be that as it may, I am reading the book to the finish. She is an excellent writer in many ways, but there are justifiable criticisms for her decision to juice up her book in this manner. Not being very interested in gay lifestyles, I do not find it attractive to write about the personal aspects of the relationship. Since Achilles is likely to be as much gay as he is to be born of a sea goddess in fact, all this is so much wasted words. HOwever, because of the book,I did choose to read all I could about Thetis which is a subject that now fascinates me since she is even in one old hymn described as creator of the Universe. That delighted me a bit. I honestly think that the descriptions of her in this book A Song Of Achilles are quite intriguing, but I would prefer a different kind of Thetis than this were I to dwell upon this subject enough. At any rate, more to come as I continue to read the book...between books that describe blood running down girls legs to prove menstrual periods and books that describe the wetness on men's stomachs and bodies to prove ejaculation upon one another, and running one's hands down one's thighs, I am not really impressed that it is good writing at all. #