Aside from Odin, Mr Ibis was probably my favorite portrayal (though I do dearly love Mr Nancy). I love the way he wrote and the way his script was described; he's so very precise and methodical, and alien and non-American in his Egyptian obsession with detail and ritual. Thoth is so cool.
Is it REALLY that difficult to envision a god associated with death or the underworld as benign or neutral? It annoys me SO MUCH. Are we really that fearful of death?!
Oh yeah, totally. I think for whatever reason it's very hard for some people to wrap their minds around a god of death that isn't evil, just as it's hard for people to accept Loki's strange, strange role within the Norse cycle. (One of the things I love about Loki is that apparently he creates as much chaos within academic circles as he does in the myths! An archeologist once told me that there's no end to the debates and confusion. XD)
And IDFK about Anubis. You're right, people just love him, and I don't know why. He's the god of freaking EMBALMING, which is significantly less exciting to us than it was for the Egyptians, I would imagine! I like the guy too-- psychopomps are always cool-- but I think people are just attracted to him because of his, aha, character design. The jackal-headed god does
look pretty epic, but he's jackal-like in that he hangs around dead people and is loyal like a dog, not in a wild, adventurous way. Hades is the same: he's completely devoted to his duties as Lord of the Dead. He's not rebellious or exciting. He's pretty dull, actually. I mean, he's known for his invisible helmet. He clearly got the Aquaman end of the god power stick.
In conclusion, yes Set is waaaaaay cooler.
Weren't the Morrigan present at the battle, though? The girl with Pict-ish (I have dubbed that a legit word) tattoos and wearing the crow's wing who talks to Easter? Didn't she say she was a part of the Morrigan?
You know, now that you mention it, you're right-- it's been three years, and I was in crazy paroxysms of excitement when I read it (which means I read it waaay too fast), so I'm sure I missed quite a lot. XD Clearly I need to read it again!
Dude. Historical periods are totally fandoms. Okay, well maybe I'm just in denial that there isn't a thriving French Revolution fandom... I do consider it a fandom though. That probably shows off my uber-nerdiness really well.
Ooh, the French Revolution!
I definitely treat historical periods like fandoms as well. I wish more people did, though it would be a BIT weird if fangirls started shipping actual people. If Romanticism were a fandom, there would be
so. so. SO. MANY Byron/Shelley shippers. D:
The books have meaning to them, but they are so very fun as well. I often enjoy books, but Riordan's works have a sense of fun to them that I wouldn't often associate with just reading. It is sort of like sitting around with good friends and cracking all sorts of jokes, but there's actual meaningful storytelling going on as well.
My littlest brother (who is 11) absolutely adores the Percy Jackson series, and way back when I was tutoring English a bunch of my students were into it-- everyone from elementary school kids to 15 year olds. Their response to it was very strong and I love YA lit myself, so I skimmed some of the first book at one point. When I saw that Hades was "the villain" and that Dionysos' role was rather ignoble, I rolled my eyes and put the book back on the shelf.
Obviously, this means I am a jaded old fogey and I need to actually read the books. It's good to know that kids are so interested in a quality series!
