The BLUGH: March 15, 2023
“There is a time for making speeches, and there is a time for going to bed.”
Blessed be the gods because it’s BLUGH Day! God(s)!?! Yes, specifically the Greek gods.
Growing up I was VERY INTO with Greek mythology; my sisters and I all loved it. I had very good intros to mythology from Mrs. Jacobus’ 3rd Grade Class, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, and the Disney movie Hercules. The canonical inaccuracies of the latter were troubling to 8 year old Justina (Hercules is not Hera’s son (also his name is Heracles, not Hercules (real life Heracles had a really sad life (none of this matters, this movie is amazing))), but I still appreciated the effort. TO BE CLEAR: you can absolutely enjoy something and not know every single last detail about that thing! I’ve mentioned my love of Greek mythology in conversation before and occasionally, someone will throw a “GREek MyThOlOGY IS MOre tHAN jUSt ThE 12 MAiN GoDs AnD GodDeSsES dO You eVen KNOW Who ThEsiOnoCLOdES* IS?” at me. No. I do not know who Thesionoclodes is but I still like Greek mythology and always will.
One of my favorite myths is of Persephone being stolen by Hades. In the myth, she eats a pomegranate seed and as a result must spend half of the year with Hades and away from her mother Demeter. I had never tried a pomegranate before learning of this story and so requested that Della (goddess mother) buy us one to try and she did. My sisters and I who were children and my mom who was an adult did not know that you could eat the seeds (even though the Greek myth literally said Persephone ate the seed). We thought they were like watermelon seeds or something. So we would take a bite, suck the seeds and spit them out and red juice dripped down our chins and we looked like little vampires and we loved it but we were like wow it’s really hard to eat and enjoy a pomegranate.
*Thesionoclodes is a name I made up for dramatic effect.
🤌 LEARNING OF THE WEEK: Greek yogurt in your eggs HEAR ME OUT. Saw it on Instagram and it’s amazing. Here’s the recipe but I confess that my yogurt to eggs ratio is more yogurt-y than what they say to do. It makes the eggs SO fluffy and tangy and delicious. 🤌
PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION
Haven’t tried it BUT it fits the theme. The first hand review that my friend, Lisa (goddess), gave this hand cream was staggering. The fact that I haven’t ordered it yet is honestly concerning because when people tell me about amazing new products, my motto is “no think, only buy”. Also, I love donkeys so much, they are sweet angels. Manifesting this lotion and a donkey of my very own in the near future.
✨
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
There are many great books on Greek Mythology. The most recent one I read is one that I got for my 33rd birthday (dreams do come true). The 75th anniversary edition of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is a beautiful book. It’s definitely more reference-y than story-y, but is wonderful nonetheless if you are interested in Greek mythology. Edith Hamilton was a badass by the way and became an honorary citizen of Athens and it was the proudest moment of her life (DREAMS DO COME TRUE).
✨
YOUTUBE
Sorry, no TikToks this week BUT I have something very special for you. In my sophomore Western Civ class at College of Charleston, we were tasked with filming a Greek tragedy. My group chose Medea by Euripides and I played the role of, yes, Medea. I really committed and it’s some of my best work. There are 16 minutes of footage, I do not expect you to watch it all. Look out for this absolute fox pictured to the left (on desktop) or above (on mobile) if you want to see a powerful performance.
✨
September 2022
Medusa
Gotcha. You are now stone.