Elitists of all nations...

32) It’s not like the Scythians or any other folks from those regions have much to say about the Hyperboreans—except maybe for what the Isedonians claim to know. Personally, I doubt even they have the full story; if the Scythians knew anything substantial, they surely would have passed it down, just like they tell us tales about those one-eyed giants. But we get our information about the Hyperboreans from Hesiod, and even from Homer in the Epigoni—assuming, of course, that Homer actually penned that specific piece.

33) Now, the people living on Delos seem to be the most informed. They claim that the Hyperboreans used to wrap their votive offerings in wheat straw and send them off via the Scythians. From there, these gifts were passed hand-to-hand from one tribe to the next, traveling all the way west until they reached the Adriatic Sea, then heading south into Hellas. They first landed in Dodona, moved toward the Gulf of Mali, crossed over to Euboea, and worked their way through city after city until they reached Charian—though they apparently bypassed Andra entirely. Once they hit Charian, the locals would ferry the goods to Ten, and the Thebans would take them to Delos. That’s the story, anyway—that these offerings made it to Delos this way. Originally, the Hyperboreans sent two young women to carry the gifts; her names were Hyperocha and Laodicea. To ensure their safety, the Hyperboreans sent five of their own citizens along as guards—people who are known today as "Persians" and who receive immense respect on Delos. Since the Hyperborean messengers weren't returning, the people grew anxious about sending travelers out only to have them vanish. So, they started leaving the offerings wrapped in wheat straw at the border and asked their neighbors to pass them along. Legend says these gifts eventually trickled all the way to Delos. It reminds me of how the Thracians and Paeonians operate—they wrap up their offerings when making sacrifices to Artemis; they never do it without that wheat straw.

34) I am certain that is how they handle it. As a tribute to the memory of those Hyperborean girls who died on Delos, the local men and women cut locks of their hair. Before a wedding, women will cut a strand, wrap it around a spindle, and place it on the tomb—which sits just to the left of the entrance to the Temple of Artemis, right under an olive tree. The young men of Delos wrap a lock of hair around a green branch and leave it there too. That is the level of honor the Delian residents show these women.

35) They also tell us that before Hyperocha and Laodicea, two other Hyperborean girls, Arga and Opia, traveled through those same lands to reach Delos. They had come to offer a tribute to Ilithyia to ensure easier childbirth. Word is that Arga and Opia arrived alongside the gods themselves, and they were honored accordingly. Women gathered offerings for them, celebrating them with songs composed by the Lycian Olen; it was from them that the islanders and the Ionians learned to sing these hymns, mentioning Arga and Opia and gathering gifts in their name. (This Olen from Lycia also composed several other ancient songs still sung on Delos.) As for the ashes from the sacrificial meat, they would take them from the altar and sprinkle them over the tomb of Arga and Opia. That grave is located just east of the Temple of Artemis, near the resting place for guests arriving from Keji.

Herodotus,
History,
Book Four

Greek History on the Black Sea was the first book I managed to finish this year...

It is an absolutely phenomenal read..

The stuff about the Skiti really blew my mind—specifically the fact that they left behind massive rampart remains in what we now call Kievan Rus, right at the Belskoe site... Estimates suggest they poured something like 11 million man-hours into building them..

The book clearly details accounts from Greeks who traveled inland from their coastal colonies along the Ponto, witnessing the sheer scale of this Skitian wonder firsthand...

Oh, those Achaeans... Glory to the Gods for you..

Are you actually certain the Skitian tribes are considered Greek? I have my doubts. Herodotus gives them quite a bit of space in his writing, but I'm not sure if he's referring to all Skitian tribes or just specific ones—either way, they were performing human sacrifices... every hundredth prisoner or so 🙂

They did all sorts of wild things, look at this...

2) The Skiti gouge out the eyes of all their slaves who provide the milk they live on, and this is how they prepare it. They take bone pipes—which look remarkably like flutes—insert them into the hindquarters of a mare, and blow into them. While some are blowing, others milk her. They claim they do this because the blowing causes the veins in the mare to swell, causing her to release the milk. Once they are finished milking, they pour the milk into large wooden vessels where donkeys gather around the container to churn it; they then collect the cream that rises to the surface, considering it the best part, while dismissing the liquid underneath as inferior. That is why the Skiti blind every captive they take. They aren't farmers; they are nomads living off livestock.

Herodotus, History (Book Four)

Herodotus called them bald men (I don't think he particularly liked them🤣).

The Achaeans are the Achaeans.

Megan Chase43 said:Are you actually sure the Skitian tribes were Greek? I don't think they were. Herodotus gives them plenty of space in his book. I'm not sure if it was all Skitian tribes or just some of them, but they practiced human sacrifice... every hundredth prisoner 🙂

They did all sorts of things, look at this...

2) The Skiti gouge out the eyes of all their slaves to get the milk they live on, and this is how they prepare it. They take bone pipes that look a lot like flutes, insert them into the rear of a mare, and blow through them. While some blow, others milk her. They say they do this because the blowing causes the mare's veins to swell and relaxes her. Once they're done milking, they pour the milk into large wooden vessels, and the blind people gather around the vessel to churn it. They collect the milk that settles on the surface, considering it the best part, while the liquid underneath is seen as inferior. That’s why the Skiti blind every man they capture. They aren't farmers; they're nomads.

Herodotus, History (Book Four)

Herodotus called them bald men (I don't think he liked them much🤣).

The Achaeans are the Achaeans.

That's not what I said...

Look... the Skiti and the Gepids were extremely hostile toward the Greek colonizers expanding along the edge of the Ponto. From the Danube delta through Crimea to Colchis (modern-day Abkhazia), areas they rarely settled.

During times when the Skiti were more inclined toward trade, those Greeks would enter their territory with caution.
Most of the time, they were just warring against one another..

To be clear, the Skiti killed any Greeks they captured; there's specific mention of pirates from Crimea..
While the Greeks had culture, laws, art, crafts, temples, food production, and pottery, the Skiti just ran wild across the steppes, carving out their destiny through plunder..
There's no doubt the Skiti described here had long hair and beards, looked intimidating, wore clothes wrapped around their bodies and legs held by leather straps, and carried weapons ready at hand..

"...The Greeks used to call it the Pontus Euxinus, or the hospitable sea—which is pure Antifraza* given the brutal storms that slam into those open waters without any islands for cover, not to mention the fog and currents that make navigating it a total nightmare...."

*Antifraza...describing something using its exact opposite, an ancient rhetorical device similar to litotes, specifically when a word is used in a way that flies in the face of its literal meaning. If you express a concept by negating its opposite, it’s essentially akin to irony.

Up until now, my understanding was limited to blinding, killing, or sacrificing captives. Now, I’ve stumbled upon the fact that their prisoners were actually their primary export.

"This Megarian and especially Milesian colonization of the Black Sea has a very specific flavor: the cities scattered across this massive territory functioned as trading outposts, largely isolated amidst barbarian tribes with whom they had to maintain peace through tribute. However, the natural wealth of these distant lands fueled a thriving trade: iron, lead, and copper from Thracian mines, timber from the North America, dried and smoked fish from the great estuaries, Thracian and Skitian slaves, and finally, most importantly, grain from the fertile plains of central Russia—that was the main commodity the Greek fleets sought out in the markets of the Pontus Euxinus."

Francois Shamoux, Greek Civilization in the Archaic and Classical Periods

Megan Chase43 said:*Antifraza...using an opposite term, an ancient rhetorical device for a litotes figure, especially when a word is used in a sense completely contrary to its primary meaning. If the concept is expressed through a negated opposite, it's akin to irony.

Antifraza is proof of a certain level of consciousness, isn't it? They actually used their brains. They didn't just blindly follow whatever was wrong... They knew how to recognize logic.

Megan Chase43, just wanted to say hey 👋

Hey rowdylynx98

Aaron Fox19 said:Antifraza—that’s essentially proof of their level of consciousness, isn't it? They actually used their heads. They didn't just blindly follow whatever was wrong... they were capable of recognizing logic.

Oh, they knew plenty. We’re talking about ten centuries of a singular, cohesive culture that touched every single facet of human existence.
Even just looking at literature—which, mind you, took massive hits from things like the fire at the Library of Alexandria, the shift from parchment to papyrus, and those iconoclasm crises back in the Byzantine Empire—we still have the names of two thousand writers left to us.

"In the eyes of the Greek, the defining human quality wasn't intelligence, as widely understood today, but rather a specific kind of courage known in their tongue as arete ... Their favorite heroes were Achilles, the bravest of men, and Ulysses, whose brilliant spirit would have been worthless without his fearless heart...
The lesson of Greece is less political and more moral; it's a lesson in modesty and temperance that keeps a person grounded. A man is capable of understanding, yet also capable of ignoring; he loves life, yet remains acutely aware of its fleeting nature; he uses his intellect with enjoyment, but never forgets that the future belongs to the Gods...
That Greek individual experienced the full weight of human passion while remaining fully aware of his own weaknesses. That's why he doesn't despise his opponent. "

Back to the prisoners😁

"The enemy here isn't always a subordinate, and his defeat, when it happens, doesn't strip him of his right to mercy.
It was said that Achilles felt a sudden surge of love for the warrior Penthesilea at the very moment he dealt her a fatal blow on the battlefield..."

Shamoux

Megan Chase43 said:"In the eyes of the Greek, man's defining trait wasn't intelligence—not in the way we spread it around today—but rather a specific kind of courage known in their tongue as arete ... Their favorite heroes were Achilles, the bravest of men, and Ulysses, whose brilliant mind would have been worthless without his fearless heart...
The lesson from Greece is less about politics and more about morality; it’s a lesson in humility and temperance that keeps a person grounded. A man is capable of understanding but also capable of ignoring; he loves life but knows it's fleeting; he uses his intellect with pleasure but never forgets that the future belongs to the Gods...
That Greek experienced human passion but remained aware of his own weaknesses. That's why he doesn't despise his enemy. "

Everything said here suggests the Achaeans were basically supermen compared to modern people. You have to look at our current standards of living—our housing, our transport, the sheer opportunities available to an individual during a lifetime...

From all this, I can sense that steel-like willpower in the Greek, that raw drive for life.
It was a simple grasp of commerce, of developing what you have, of pure creation, always shadowed by the realization that the Gods will eventually judge every mortal.

I don't have enough words to express my admiration.
How could a world like that fall apart? Now, we just have religious conventions that have completely suffocated free thinkers—the very thing the Greeks clearly valued most.
Free thought...

I know Aaron Fox19, but let’s not forget—those who actually had the luxury of being free had nothing but time to sit around and think, mainly because those who weren't free were too busy working.😁

Now, regarding this second point... religious systems... even there, freedom of thought faced very real boundaries. After all, they sentenced the most "free" man of them all to death simply because he doesn't believe in the gods (and supposedly corrupts the youth). That’s how Plato describes the death of his mentor, but here is what my dear teacher has to say about him...

"It is difficult to convincingly defend the view held by both Marvin Prati and others—that the Greeks were the ones who pioneered a truly rational worldview, a supposed cornerstone of Western civilization. Prati himself points out that mythical modes of thought still linger within the philosophies of both Plato and Aristotle. This applies primarily to Plato, who viewed the Sun and the stars as divine beings, and whose ideal state was anything but a product of purely rational design. Plato’s state is strictly hierarchical, led not necessarily by philosophers in the modern sense, but by those who subscribe to the theory of Ideas—not to mention that this thinker was a fervent advocate for a repressive, totalitarian form of government where a privileged elite would dictate even the styles of artistic storytelling, punishing anyone who deviated from these prescribed norms with exile—which, in those days, wasn't much better than a death sentence..."

Nikola Milošević, The Intellectual Physiognomy of Europe.

I want to emphasize two points here..

I recently watched a documentary (I think it was a CNN production) that compared Athens and Sparta, specifically looking at them as city-states and their infrastructure..
Can we even imagine a mid-sized American city today having such a perfectly organized drainage system, street cleaning, precise street layouts, and a structured arrangement of homes and temples and plazas?
Everything was meticulously ordered, though Sparta lagged behind significantly because they simply didn't prioritize urban planning and stuff like that.
Their entire goal was to forge an absolutely unquestionable military powerhouse, stretching all the way to Mount Taygetus...
They were building a warrior—a man of war—under the eyes of Ares...
In contrast, Athens was developing a much broader philosophy..

Didn't Aristotle envision a world where every king would be a philosopher, and vice versa?
Wasn't it ultimately the Greek striving to rise above lower human traits and ascend into something truly worthy of admiration...

They were always pushing to create something new. They knew perfectly well that, at his core, Man is just a fickle, vulnerable, and often hard-to-understand two-legged animal..

Aaron Fox19 said:It's crazy how that whole era just collapsed... I mean, now we have religious conventions that basically suffocate the kind of free thinking those ancient Greeks clearly valued most.
Free thought....

I guess every era eventually falls apart, that’s just how it works. Honestly, all of Christianity is built on free will, so the world being this messy is really just a result of the choices Adam makes. But I suppose you’d have to be super specific about which religious convention is doing what where, right? ☕

Megan Chase43 said:I hear you, Aaron, but don't forget that the people who actually had the freedom to think only could because everyone else was busy working.😁

I just dropped in to say 👍 Classical slavery really only took off with Greece and Rome—those two civilizations we all look up to today. No Eastern despotism ever had an economic system quite like that, or at that scale. And the status of women in Athens was just terrible, though maybe things were slightly better in Sparta. Those brave Spartans practiced their heroism by heading out into the streets and just slaughtering all the helots in their path. It isn't even that much of an original culture or way of thinking; Heraclitus (my favorite!) pretty much took everything from Persian Zoroastrianism that he encountered in Asia Minor.

What is wrong with today's youth? They’re obsessed with Hellenic philosophy, and honestly, I get it. 😬

Aaron Fox19 said:I’d like to emphasize two specific points here...

I was watching this documentary recently—I think it was a CNN production—that compared Athens and Sparta, specifically regarding their city-states and their infrastructure...
Can we even imagine a mid-sized American city today having such a perfectly organized drainage system, street cleaning, urban planning, and a precise layout of houses, temples, and the agora?
Everything was literally dialed in, whereas Sparta lagged far behind because they didn't place nearly as much importance on urban development and things of that nature.
Their sole objective was the creation of an absolutely unquestionable military powerhouse—stretching all the way up to Mount Taygetus...
They were forging a warrior, a man of war, dedicated to Ares...
In stark contrast, Athens was busy developing a much broader philosophy...

Didn't Aristotle envision a world where all kings would be philosophers and vice versa?
Wasn't it ultimately the Greek attempt to transcend lower human traits and ascend toward something truly worthy of admiration...

They were always striving to create something new. After all, they understood better than anyone that Man is essentially a fickle, vulnerable, and often quite difficult-to-understand two-legged animal...

I see why you find them so compelling—that drive to enrich life with substance that goes beyond mere existence and doesn't just stop at religion. There are so many vital aspects of their culture; their beauty and thought are, in my view, among the most significant.
It seems to me that when it comes to urbanization, the Romans actually held the edge; at one point, the city of Rome had a population of 2 million. That takes...
Actually, I don't recall Aristotle saying that exact thing—he might have, but to me, it sounds more like ideas pulled from Plato's Republic. I know Aristotle believed the best political community is one formed by the middle class. The wealthy, according to him, tend to be disobedient due to childhood indulgence and can only rule despotically. The poor are too humiliated and weak to follow principles of reason or to command, so they must be ruled like slaves.

stormybison42 said:It’s not even that original of a culture or thought; Heraclitus (my favorite) basically took everything from Persian Mazdaism, which he encountered in Asia Minor.

Look, there was definitely influence—there’s no avoiding that. They utilized the knowledge of the Egyptians and Babylonians, but they did it in their own way. They took existing knowledge and analyzed and systematized it. The Egyptians measured the Earth, and the Greeks turned that into a logical, structured whole: geometry. The Babylonian priests watched the skies to discern the whims of the gods, while the Greeks used those same observations to study the geometric laws governing celestial bodies and so on.
Hippocratic doctors claimed that illnesses had natural causes, whereas Easterners wouldn't dream of moving away from magical practices... and so on.
As for Heraclitus, according to all "relevant sources," he was an original thinker. He was influenced by Anaximander, who was influenced by Thales of Miletus... Maybe they just had the same dealer in Persia... but that's a whole different conversation.😁

Look, Heraclitus is just one single figure when you consider the sheer scale of that entire culture—he’s just one part of the whole thing. Even if they all happened to be working with the same supplier, that doesn't change the fact that there were probably ten thousand other people out there coming up with groundbreaking ideas at the same time. And who knows how much else was lost to the flames or just vanished into thin air over the years?

Megan Chase43 said:I guess today's kids just love Greek philosophy, so there you go! 😬

No way, move aside! Honestly, those Heraclitus Fragments are such a cute little read—only about 56 pages plus the intro. Maybe grab one when you're stuck in St. Louis 😁

I used to read the Pre-Socratics, specifically the Fragments (I can't really focus on dialogues, to be honest), and I think people say he was actually pretty close with those Persian magicians. Plus, picking fire as the primary element definitely backs that up!

Anyway, I'll leave you guys to it. I'm not an elitist or anything, and I don't really buy into all that formal systematization. 🙂

Maybe he leaned into substance, but historically, people have always credited him with that holistic grasp of dialectics—the idea of seeing the world as one complete, interconnected system.🤷
The guy was a hardcore aristocrat through and through—a descendant of the Athenian royal line who had zero patience for "the masses"—and yet, somehow, the Marxists managed to hijack his legacy. It’s honestly pathetic.🤣.

Actually, this isn't half bad... considering how much Zoroastrianism might have influenced the whole concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat.😁

stormybison42👋

stormybison42 said:Every world eventually has to collapse; that’s just how it works. **The whole foundation of Christianity rests on free will.** The world we live in right now is the direct result of that free will—the choices made by Adam. If you want to get technical about religious conventions and who believes what where, then fine, go ahead. ☕

It's interesting how every civilization that ever rose had to fall. From the Sumerians to Elam, there's nothing left of them. Just gone. Everything resets to zero.

Megan Chase43 said:I get what you value about them—that drive to enrich life with things that go beyond mere survival, moving past just religion. There are so many vital aspects of their culture; in my opinion, their beauty and philosophy are among the most significant.
It seems to me that when it comes to urban development, the Romans were ahead. At one point, the city of Rome had 2 million residents. It took...
I honestly don't recall Aristotle saying something like that. Maybe he did, but to me, it sounds much more like ideas from Plato's Republic. I know Aristotle believed the best political community is one formed by middle-class citizens. In his view, the wealthy are too spoiled from childhood and become disobedient, leading them to rule only through despotism. The poor are too humiliated and weak to follow principles of reason or to command, so they have to be ruled like slaves.

I'm not sure, but I can say you're probably right... It might indeed be Plato's Republic.

What fascinates me about the Danaids is that simple yet incredibly powerful essence...
Men, bare bodies, philosophy, fate...
They put everything into context, and it all possesses such sense and style...
Incredible... Such tiny little colonies created so much, spanning everywhere from Colchis to Syracuse to the Nile delta or Scythia....

What kind of Greek man had to be to grasp all of this in one relatively short lifetime? It’s as if their destiny was predetermined, whispered to them the moment they understood their first words. As if they knew this wasn't their world and that they were essentially leaving the moment they were born.
A boldness that borders on awe... It might not be an exact match for time, but it brings to mind the definition of a gentleman... Someone who fights for battles that are already lost...
As if they stole that very sense of purpose from the Greeks..

Aaron Fox19, you really are a poet of historical events, aren't you? 😍

To pivot away from philosophy for just a moment—this poet was a true Heraclitean--

Laza Kostić

A Singing Hymn to John Damascene

To the god of zephyrs, to the god of storms,
to the lord of the sonic spheres,
to the god of the nightingale and the god of the worm,
to the lord of the thundering lightning:
you, the curse of earthly delusions,
you, the song of celestial dreams,
carry it to him, holy John,
along with the echoes of our pain!

To the God of the blessed, blissful kiss,
to the hellish passion that writes of paradise,
to the lord of the desperate cry,
shattering the endurance of eternal hopes:
you, the curse of earthly delusions,
you, the song of celestial dreams,
carry it to him, holy John,
along with the echoes of our pain!

To the God of the silence of a living grave,
to the god of the order of eternal sleep,
to the lord of gods, to the lord of slaves,
to the mute god of wordless dread:
you, the curse of earthly delusions,
you, the song of celestial dreams,
carry it to him, holy John,
along with the echoes of our pain!

To the Lord of the reaping of brittle swords,
when the final battle is joined,
to the god, who through the clatter of broken things
makes the lyre sing of victory;
you, the curse of earthly delusions,
you, the song of celestial dreams,
carry it to him, holy John,
along with the echoes of our pain!

To the god of zephyrs, to the god of storms,
to the lord of the sonic spheres,
to the god of the nightingale and the god of the worm,
to the lord of the thundering lightning:
you, the curse of earthly delusions,
you, the song of celestial dreams,
carry it to him, holy John,
along with the echoes of our pain!

Hmm... sounds interesting.
You can really feel that Greek spirit here.

I’ll add something to this. I’ve been reading this book lately—slowly, thoroughly, and with total devotion for months now. I'll drop a few lines here just for my own soul...

..He thrusts his spear with such force that it slams into Achilles' shield,
And Achilles quickly pulls the shield away from his body to dodge
the blow.
It never occurred to him that the shield was a divine creation, designed to be
impenetrable to any mortal hand.
Of the five plates that made up the shield, two were bronze, two were zinc, and one was gold.

Then Achilles hurls his spear and strikes Aeneas on the shield where the bronze is thinnest.
The impact is massive, splitting the shield and driving the spear deep into the ground.
A chill runs through Aeneas and darkness clouds his eyes because he’s left completely defenseless. With a terrifying cry, Achilles lunges at him with a bare sword in hand.
To defend himself against the attacker, Aeneas grabs a heavy stone with his right hand, intending to hurl it at him.

Poseidon, seeing Aeneas' obvious doom, rushes onto the battlefield.
Stepping between the heroes, he shrouds Achilles in a thick fog, blinding him to Aeneas.
He pulls a spear from the shield, places it at Achilles' feet, and whisks Aeneas away to safety on the edge of the battlefield.

Aaron Fox19 said:He hurls his spear with such raw, violent force that it pierces right through Achilles' shield—just like that.
Achilles moves his shield away from his body with lightning speed—anything to avoid the impact.
Impact.
It never even crossed his mind—not once—that the shield is a divine creation, and that it is...
Impervious to the hands of any mere mortal.
So, looking at those five plates—how many shields did he actually have? It breaks down like this: two were made of bronze, two were zinc, and just one was solid gold.

The Iliad dedicates about 150 lines to the shield—specifically in Book 18—and honestly, it’s one of those moments where the pacing just shifts entirely. After the tragedy of Patroclus, when Achilles finally decides to rejoin the Greeks in the fray, Hephaestus gets commissioned to forge this masterpiece up on Olympus. It isn't just armor; it's an entire universe captured in metal.

The Iliad, Book 18.

11.
Hephaestus is forging a brand new shield for Achilles.
(468-608)

a) Preparations (468-477)

That’s how he says it—just walks away from her like that—and by the time he finally reaches his breaking point, he’s already lost everything.
You just turn up the heat on them—really make them feel the burn—and then you order them to get to work.
Twenty massive bellows start pumping into those furnaces at once—
It’s pretty obvious to anyone paying attention—those guys are nothing more than a total sham, just waiting for the moment they can start burning through cash like it's going out of style.
Hephaestus is all over the place—one minute he’s working with frantic intensity, and the next, he just stops dead in his tracks. It's infuriating.
It’s always the same story—how he acts when things actually get serious versus how he demands work from everyone else. It’s a total double standard.
He claims it’s copper and tin—just raw materials tossed straight into Hephaestus's fire.
And then there’s the gold and silver—all that overpriced glitter—followed by a full-scale onslaught.
The anvil is massive compared to the blacksmith's plan—and that hammer is absolutely huge.
Take it with your right hand, but use your left to grab the pliers.

b) Commencing work on the shield (478-482)

First off, there’s the shield—it’s massive, cumbersome, and frankly, a total pain everywhere you go.
The crown—and let me tell you, it was quite the piece—was encircled by this brilliant, shimmering halo.
It’s magnificent—truly a triple threat of design—and then, just to top it all off, he adds a silver belt.
There were five plates set upon the shield—with Hephaestus looming above them.
Many of them shape their images through sheer skill and the power of their own will.

b) The depiction of the celestial vault (438-489)

First, you create the earth, then the heavens, and finally, you craft the sea.
The sun that never tires, and the moon in its full glory—it’s just constant, isn't it?
And all those lights that have scattered themselves across the entire sky—
Regarding Orion the giant, the Pleiades, and even the Hyades—
The Bear—which some people also call the Circle—is always...
He paces back and forth in the exact same spot—just constant, restless movement—while his eyes remain locked on that giant, unable to look away.
He’s the only one who wouldn't dive headfirst into the Atlantic just to make a quick buck.

(...)

The twenty songs are dedicated to the Battle of Achilles and Aeneas—it’s all quite grand, really. At the very start of the singing, you have this entire chorus of gods up on Olympus, until Zeus decides to send them down to stir the pot and meddle directly in the fight.