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Category Archives: mythology

The Lovely Judi Bowker in Clash of the Titans

11 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Racer X in art, beauty, film, mythology, traditional, women

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Judi Bowker as Andromeda in Clash of the Titans

Judi Bowker as Andromeda in Clash of the Titans

The 1981 version of Clash of the Titans is a fun film. Made at a time before CGI, it was not so dependent upon the big screen stunning visuals that are so much a part of today’s cinema, but rather it focused more on the story of Perseus and Andromeda. This ancient Greek myth has always been a favorite story for thousand of years, as it is really a simple fairly tale or love story between a noble hero, Perseus, and a beautiful princess, Andromeda, who is in need of rescue from a sea monster. Although the 1981 film is really a mishmash of various Greek mythological stories, none of which have any relation to each other in traditional mythology, the finished product remains one of the great testimonies to the enduring power of these ancient Classical myths.

Perseus and Andromeda by the 19th Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne Jones

Perseus and Andromeda by the 19th Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones

The actress who played Andromeda in the movie is the lovely Judi Bowker. Although she made few films, she is fairly well known for this one role, especially for those of us who grew up watching this movie on television, especially in the days before cable. She was the perfect, almost traditional princess in this movie: soft, feminine, vulnerable, and endowed with a gentleness that is attractive to all men. It is interesting to contrast her traditional femininity, so lovely and alluring, with the hardness and barren masculinization of so many contemporary females. Like the myth itself, she seems to belong to an age which has vanished.

Harry Hamlin played Perseus in the 81 film, one of the reasons why a lot of girls enjoyed it as well.

Harry Hamlin played Perseus in the 1981 film, one of the reasons why a lot of girls enjoyed it as well.

Films should be fun. They are entertainment. Too many of today’s movies, even the ones that are attempting to be simple stories, are so infused and saturated with social justice PC bullshit that they are unbearable to watch. I go to a movie to escape from the world, not to be lectured to by snobbish and insufferable Hollywood elites about every latest Leftist fad and cause.

So this movie, like the myth itself, was and remains a great piece of entertainment. It is free from all the nonsense of contemporary cinema, and presents a simple, traditional story, as just that, a simple, traditional story. And the simple, traditional beauty of Judi Bowker only makes the film that much more delightful.

One more photo of her...we can't get enough!

One more photo of her…we can’t get enough!

It is always a great pleasure to see such beauty, whether in film or real life!

Odysseus

07 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by Racer X in art, culture, Fiction, mythology, poetry, traditional

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Odysseus and the nymph Calypso.

Odysseus and the nymph Calypso.

Odysseus was a great figure from Greek mythology: he was the king of Ithaca who fought in the Trojan War for ten years; after the war he spent the next ten years attempting to return home while enduring many trials and tribulations, not only among cannibals and cyclopes, sea monsters and sirens, but also among lovely women such as Circe and Calypso. The painting above is of Odysseus and Calypso. I am not sure who the artist is, but it looks like something from the 19th century.

There were different attitudes towards Odysseus in the ancient world: the Greeks both loved and hated him, since he was the prototype of not only a great war hero, but also of an amoral man who would say or do anything to achieve his goals. The Romans simply hated him, as they saw him as a symbol of what they considered the sleazy and duplicitous character of the Greeks in general.

There are many different depictions of Odysseus throughout the history of literature, but my favorite depiction of Odysseus is that of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two great, ancient Greek epic poems at the fountain head of all Western literature. In these poems Odysseus is not only a great man of action but also a man of great intellect: two things which have always been prized, but especially so in the ancient Greek world. The fact that he endured many things, journeyed to many different places, and had to suffer much before he could return home from the Trojan War has always caught the imaginations of generations for over three thousand years.

There is a classic epithet used for Odysseus by Homer, the poet behind the Iliad and Odyssey: “polytropos” which roughly means “a man of many turns”. This is often interpreted as either “a man who is much traveled or wandering” or “a man who is wily and crafty”. The meaning is ambiguous, and deliberately so, since Odysseus was all of these things. Which shade of Odysseus one prefers, is usually left up to the reader of whatever work in which Odysseus is being portrayed.

What I like is that Odysseus had to go through many things in life, and although my life is certainly not as glamorous as his, the story of someone having to endure different trials is one with which most people can identify. This is one of the reasons why Odysseus has been and remains to this day one of the most enduring figures in all of literature. It is one of the reasons I have chosen to use his name as my moniker. It seems appropriate at this point in my journey of blogging.

Hello, March

01 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Racer X in mythology, nature, nymphs

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March, and spring mean the return of such beauties as this, a lovely forest nymph.

March, and spring mean the return of such beauties as this, a lovely forest nymph.

Now that a most brutal February has finally passed, we can welcome March into the year of 2015. Although March can be cruel–snow and cold are not uncommon in the first two weeks of March–by the end of the month, with the lengthening days and more abundant light, we can begin to enjoy burgeoning spring. Yes, we being to feel light and warmth, the lovely wonders of spring.

March is the month that spring begins, and spring is the time when those lovely and mysterious forest nymphs, sorely absent during the cruelty of winter, return to our world. I can hardly wait. My soul longs for such visions of beauty.

Mars is also named after the Roman god of warfare, Mars. It is named so because March was the month in the calender year that men could, after the cold of winter, once again resume the ancient habit of warfare. One of the great stories in the mythology is the union of Venus and Mars, the goddess of love and the god of warfare, both of whom represent the deeper and often more destructive passions of man. Poets and artists throughout the ages have enjoying depicting the two together, often in the few moments after they have had sex. One of my favorite depictions is that by the great Italian artist Botticelli, a man who knew how to paint beautiful women with a sensuality like few others have.

Venus and Mars, by Botticelli, ca. 1483.

Venus and Mars, by Botticelli, ca. 1483.

I am sure most women would find the image of the virulent but now sleeping Mars after his sexual liaison with Venus rather amusing. Even gods have their weaknesses.

The Strange Beauty of Mars

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by Racer X in culture, history, mythology, nature

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Mars, the Red Planet close up.

Mars, the Red Planet close up.

Now that it is March, the month named after the Roman god of war, Mars, I thought I would post a few photos from the planet named after Mars. There is a strange beauty to this place. Also, I think it is remarkable the quality of photos that we now have of Mars. As long as man has been looking up at the heavens, the planet Mars has been a source of fascination and imagination, and throughout all the ages we are the first people who can actually see what the surface of the planet looks like. Right now there one lonely robotic machine wandering around up there, exploring and taking these photos, while we hustle and bustle about on our busy world. I like to imagine what it would be like for the first humans to step on this land in some distant future, perhaps with the intentions of somehow colonizing it, a place so vast and empty and free from all the plagues of our own world.

These rocks seem to be the result of volcanic activity.

These rocks seem to be the result of volcanic activity.

I really do not know a whole lot about the our explorations of Mars, but I find the photos fascinating, and even beautiful in their own strange way. We can actually see what others could only imagine only a few decades ago.

Even robots  on Mars like to take selfies...

The Mars Rover: even robots on Mars like to take selfies…

From ancient mythology, to H.G Well (War of the Worlds) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter of Mars), Mars was and remains a part of our culture, and perhaps someday our future.

A Martian wasteland...

A Martian wasteland…

Here are few more photos…I like the how the sky is so different in this one.

Stark and strange...

Stark and strange…

And here we see a rocky terrain with a bare mountain the background…

It is hard to imagine anything could ever live on this world...

It is hard to imagine anything could ever live on this world…

And finally a Martian sunset. I think it has been digitally enhanced, but I am sure it is close to the truth of what a sunset on Mars is actually like….

A Martian sunset...

A Martian sunset…

And another Martian sunset, this one a bit different. Notice how small the sun appears from Mars.

Another Martian sunset...

Another Martian sunset…

So as March begins, here is toast to the planet Mars, named after the Roman god of war, and as fascinating to us as it was to the ancients.

Dryads, or Tree Nymphs

03 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by Racer X in mythology, nymphs

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A Dryad, or Tree Nymph

A Dryad, or Tree Nymph

Here is a lovely Dryad, or Tree Nymph. There are many types of nymphs out there, wandering about, hidden and yet not so hidden, ancient creatures of beauty and delight and dangerous allurement.

Perhaps you have never seen a nymph. Yet there are thousands, perhaps millions of these creature all over the world, inhabiting different natural places, such as streams, rivers, fountains, forests, mountains and oceans. They have existed for thousands of years. We know this because they are common figures in literature, both oral and written, from the earliest times. Men have been testifying to the existence of nymphs since men have been telling stories.

You might one day come across a nymph. If you do, you must beware. Although beautiful, they are nevertheless dangerous. Their sexual allure is irresistible, but the consequences of bedding a nymph can be quite bad. You might find yourself transformed into some type of coarse, foul animal, or condemned to some sort of terrible fate, such as being granted immortality without the benefit of eternal youth, and so you simply grow old forever. Since the nymphs belong to a divine world, messing with them has its perils.

Still, they are lovely creatures. They do exist. And this photo is another proof of that. And perhaps, just perhaps, bedding a nymph is worth the potential perils.

Another Divine and Beautiful Sea Nymph

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Racer X in daily dose of beauty, mythology, nymphs

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Although summer has now passed, taking with it many of the ocean’s delights, the nymphs remain. Here is more proof that Nereids, or sea nymphs, are not just fanciful creatures of mythology, but real, living beings. And yes, they are truly divine.

Sunday’s Mythological Beauty: A Nereid, or Sea Nymph. Yes, They Really Do Still Exist.

20 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by Racer X in daily dose of beauty, mythology, nymphs

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As someone with neo-pagan tendencies, I have always had a deep devotion the the figures of classical mythology. One of my favorite group of divine beings are those wonderful group of beautiful maidens, the nymphs. I have written about them before, but I never get bored of writing about them.

Today’s nymph is a Nereid. The Nereids were sea nymphs, the daughters of Nereus, fifty in all. Nereus himself was a sea god, an ancient god who could change his shape at any time in order to avoid capture. The Nereids often engaged in different and delightful activities, were a help to sailors in distress, and were worshiped frequently on islands, coasts and the mouths of rivers. They were also known, like most nymphs, for their musical and dancing skills, and could often be seen riding along the ocean on various fantastic sea creatures.

I love nymphs. The world of classical mythology, often very real to those living in those ancient times, still seems real to me. This is a photo of Nereid. It is real. Yes, the Nereids still exist, although hiding now for many centuries, fearing Christian persecution, but they are still alive and well. They will return. Such creatures cannot be forever forgotten and suppressed.  Occasionally we may see one. This photo is proof of that.

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