Rapidfire Gay Greek Divine Liasons + a poem from Sappho. Happy Pride!

A rapidfire list of a few gay Greek divine liasons and then a reading of a poem of Sappho, followed by a fragment of another poem, translated by Julia Dubnoff (link below).

Happy Pride!

https://www.uh.edu/~cldue/texts/sappho.html

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Falcha, welcome to For the Rest of Us podcast. I am Julian, and in honor of pride, I wanted to do two things. First, a rapid fire reading of gay Greek couples, mostly divine, followed by a reading of a poem of Sappho, translated by Julia Dubnoff. And apologies, I don't speak Greek, so I do the best I can with these pronunciations. So here we go. We have Zeus and Genymede, Zeus and Aetos, Zeus and Euphorion, Phaeton and Cygnus. Phaeton died, and Cygnus became a mute swan, mourning him forever by the river. Also Cygnus and Phileus, Calamos and Carpos, Hermes and Ampion, Hermes and Crocus, Hermes and Perseus, maybe Hermes and Pollux, Eris and Electron, Pan a lot of people, men and women, Pan and Daphnus, Dionysus and the Seder Ampelos, Dionysus and Adonis, Dionysus and Prosymnus in the underworld, Dionysus and Staphalus, Dionysus and Chiron. Apollo called the champion of male love was invoked to bless MLM unions. He himself had relationships with Macedonian prince Hyacinthos, which became Hyacinth. This man was fought over by Apollo and Zephyrus, the West Wind, Apollo and Thracian singer Thamerius, Apollo and Edmetus, Apollo and Adonis, Apollo and Boreus, Apollo and Bronchus, Apollo and Carnus, Apollo and Separusus, Apollo and Hellenus, Apollo and Hymeneus, Apollo and Iapus, Narcissus and Amenius, Hypnos and Endemion, Heracles and Helus, Heracles and Eolus, which if you watched the Heracles show back in the nineties that may seem a bit strange, or maybe not. Poseidon and King Pelos of Pisa, Poseidon and Neratus, Minos and Theseus, Orpheus took male lovers after failing to retrieve Eurydice from the underworld. Callisto and who she thought was Artemis, signifying her desire to be with the goddess. Artemis and many nymph lovers, Cyrene, Atalanta, and Ticlea, as well as Moon goddess Dictina. Athena expresses romantic interest in the Attic maiden mirix, Achilles and Antilochus after the death of Patroclus, also gay, and many more that I didn't write down because I had already typed a lot of them. And now a reading of one of the poems of Sappho, again translated by Julia Dubnoff, and modernized as well, I believe. Immortal Aphrodite, on your intricately brocaded throne, child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, this I pray. Dear lady, don't crush my heart with pains and sorrows, but come here, if ever before. When you heard my far off cry, you listened, and you came, leaving your father's house, yoking your chariot of gold. Then beautiful swift sparrows led you over the black earth from the sky through the middle air, whirling their wings into a blur. Rapidly they came, and you, O blessed goddess, a smile on your immortal face, asked what had happened this time, and why did I call again, and what did I especially desire for myself in my frenzied heart? Who this time am I to persuade to your love? Sappho, who is doing you wrong? For even if she flees, soon she shall pursue, and if she refuses gifts, soon she shall give them. If she doesn't love you, soon she shall love, even if she's unwilling. Come to me now once again and release me from my grueling anxiety, all that my heart longs for, fulfill, and be yourself my ally in love's battle. And there's a fragment that I've always loved, that I first read in a wholly unrelated book, and here it is The moon is set, and the Pleiades It's the middle of the night. Time passes. But I sleep alone. Agus Cheney, that's it. Happy pride, y'all.