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Gary Devore

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Gary Devore

Category Archives: Aphrodite

The Straight Characters in Pantheon

18 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Gary Devore in Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Demeter, Hera, Hermes, Pantheon, Poseidon

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pantheon, sexuality, straight characters

See also part one – The Gay Characters in Pantheon

As I mentioned in the previous post, it is anachronistic to apply the terms “gay” and “straight” to the ancient world, so the god characters of Pantheon mostly seem highly bisexual to us.  When gods of different genders have sex together, or when they have sex with a human of a different gender, they reflect one half of the wide spectrum of sexuality.

Unsurprisingly, many of the gods have had sex with each other…

In his recording, Ares bragged to Mark that he had bedded “some of the other immortals”, but did not provide any details.  His chapter suggests a vibrant sexual relationship with the mysterious human Sylvia, although he also illustrates his deeply ingrained misogyny in his Viking flashback.  That was one of the most difficult sections I ever had to write, but it shows how calmly masculine violence and sexual cruelty go hand-in-hand.

Poseidon seems to have had the most divine action.  At the Grand Olympic Hotel Conclave, he and Aphrodite slept together on the eve of the decision.  After the destruction of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, he used his powers to excite the private parts of Demeter.  He had even once tried to force himself on Hera “in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius”, but apparently failed.  He is linked sexually to at least two mortal women as well, Cecíle, the former spy, and Nadia, the young Greek on Mathraki.

These two women come from the Odyssey.  Nadia is based on Nausicaa, and the character of Cecíle was based on the sorceress Circe.  The latter had a long-standing relationship with Zeus and a few fiery flings with Poseidon.  When she watched the Olympic Stadium Parousia on TV:

…she began to wonder at the fact that she had been intimate with two creatures that were now in the process of declaring themselves universal gods.  Not even the Blessed Virgin had accomplished that, and she felt a small degree of satisfaction.

A few characters possess a curious relationship with sexuality in general, and heterosexuality in particular.  The Baptist from the Poseidon chapter expresses the standard fundamentalist Christian revulsion at sexuality.  He reaches for invective and grim curses when confronted with it in the dingy hotel room and upon seeing a teen girl on the street wearing a short skirt.  In the same chapter, his ancestor Reuben experiences many emotions when he meets the man who raped his mother.

In a similar vein, I wanted to express many facets to the role of “mother” with Hera.  One of these was exploring how a maternal figure could keep her sexuality.  This is why Hera seduces Blake on the train (and then calmly walks away… echoing both how she walked away from Robert when he was a child and is walking away from her old life at the start of the novel).

In her story, Athena considers having sex with a human for the first time.  Ever logical and overly analytical, she is suspicious of suspending her logic in favor of what she sees as illogical emotional attachment to a man.  Ironically, it is her and Eric’s exploration of homosexuality that allows her to approach sex methodologically and convinces her to seduce him.

Finally, I think of Hermes and Anniballa as the “straight” counterpart to the romantic coupling of Apollo and David.  Right now, their long affair is left mostly untold (except for some hints dropped here and there), but this will be, pardon the pun, fleshed out further in Gigantomachy.  However, I do find the scene on the porch where they reminisce about their god/mortal romance very touching.  That reconciliation ends in sex as Hermes “lost himself in her body, and his memories of many past nights long ago spent at her bosom.”

The Gay Characters in Pantheon

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Gary Devore in Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Gigantomachy, Hera, Hermes, Pantheon, Uncategorized

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gay characters, pantheon, sexuality

When I started writing Pantheon, I knew I wanted to give equal time to a variety of sexual expressions.  The ancient world operated under different sexual constructions than we do today, and most of the gods of myth had same-sex encounters:

In contemporary Western society, we base our division of sexual categories on the axis of same versus other.  Our primary division rests on the genders of the people involved…  The ancient world, both Greek and Roman, did not base its classification on gender, but on a completely different axis, that of active versus passive…  Simply put, there was no such emic, cultural abstraction as “homosexuality” in the ancient world.  The fact that a man had sex with other men did not determine his sexual category.  Equally, it must be emphasized, there was no such concept as “heterosexuality.”  The application of these terms to the ancient world is anachronistic…

– The Teratogenic Grid, by Holt N. Parker

Therefore, when importing the gods of the ancient world into the modern era, their actions and attractions often seem downright bisexual to our modern constructs.

In Pantheon, the clearest illustration of this is Dionysus’ activity with both Peter and Anna.  Both members of that couple are able to freely enjoy Dionysus’ stunning body, albeit in different ways reflecting their own personalities.  While this ultimately backfires on the former god, it illustrates his egalitarian approach to bodily pleasure.

Additionally, the guests of Aphrodite’s party/orgy in Rome experience a disregard for gender akin more to their position along an invisible Kinsey spectrum.  Thomas remains interested only in Massimo, while Massimo is able to enjoy both him and Contina.  Anne is able to incorporate another woman, but is mainly focused upon her sexy waiter.  Beatrice is only concerned about the other men, while Sashi is focused primarily upon his goddess (although attention from a rogue male brings up a connection to the “Virgil of the seminary”, a play upon the suspected sexuality of that ancient author).

It is Apollo and Artemis who represent the divine characters most oriented toward their own gender in the novel.

In the Apollo chapter, I wanted to write a romantic same-sex story loosely based on a few of Apollo’s myths (especially Cyparissus, who of course became David, the “beloved”).  It took on some tropes of gay-themed fiction, including the Drag Queen with the heart of gold (Diva), which I tried to push in new directions.  However, I also did not want to disregard some of the issues modern American gay people have to navigate (especially in the south).

While Artemis does not spend much time among humans, much preferring the solitary wilds of Africa, when she does, her nymphs always attend her.  During their duel, Poseidon attempts to use this against her in the strip club, but she eventually has the last laugh by throwing his sexuality back at him.

As for the humans not involved in relationships with the gods, Robert’s sexuality will be most important in the second novel in the series, Gigantomachy.  In Pantheon he asks his mother Hera:

“You know I’m gay, don’t you?”

“You mean that you sleep only with men?”

Robert chuckled once.  “That’s one way to put it.”

Hera nodded.  “Yes, I know.  I have known that for a very long time.”

“And you’re not upset?”

“Of course not.”

Robert sighed.  “Figures.  I couldn’t even rebel against you with that.”

Henry and Allan, the priest and his boyfriend from the Athena story, are forced to deal with the modern religious baggage that attends homosexuality today.  In fact, Athena uses her skills of logical argument to make mincemeat of all of these religious objections that are usually trotted out by uninformed Christians.  Henry and Allan are ultimately able to find peace together through their love.

And then there is Malcolm.  Poor Malcolm, who just wants to be swept off his feet into a serious romance, but has the misfortune to fall for the very un-serious Hermes.  It doesn’t help matters that the former god manipulated Malcolm’s same-sex attraction for his own purposes.  Of all of the gay characters, he is the most insecure.

Finally, Gruag the lesbian poetess has a minor role in Pantheon, but will also have a larger part in Gigantomachy.  After she parted with Hermes, she had an interesting experience that the second book in the series will explore in more detail.

(Some readers have asked me if Nikolaus from the Ares chapter was gay.  I think he probably was (like a German Wilfred Owen).  It can be argued that with Nikolaus, Ares finally had the ability to develop an emotional connection with a human, however he refused.  Ares does not have much depth.)

Next up:  The Straight Characters in Pantheon

Eurovision 2012 Post Mortem

26 Saturday May 2012

Posted by Gary Devore in Aphrodite, Eurovision, Misc, Music, Pantheon

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eurovision, music

We all know the Eurovision contest is not a contest.  It’s an international variety show where acts perform and countries vote for their neighbors, unfortunately forcing great performances and songs to languish at the bottom of the ranking.  This year we had the added bonus of glorifying an oppressive regime with the host country of Azerbaijan.

There were some good entries this year.  I particularly liked France‘s Anggun singing “Echo (You And I)”, Cyprus‘ Ivi Adamou singing “La La Love”, and especially Ukraine‘s “Be My Guest” by Gaitana. Moldova‘s Pasha Parfeny singing “Lăutar” grew on me (and yes he looks like Edward Norton). Even Norway‘s last place “Stay” by Tooji wasn’t that bad (especially compared to the dreadful Albanian screaming Bjork clone, who got fifth place). And the Russian grannies did nothing for me.

The stand-out for me however was Greece’s Eleftheria Eleftheriou (say that five times fast) singing “Aphrodisiac”. Dressed as Aphrodite. Before a huge half shell. It was fantastic!

The only act I wanted to physically hurt was Jedward, but that goes without saying. Congrats Sweden. You weren’t the best but hey, you passed. At least your government is not as horrible as Azerbaijan’s.

Pantheon Soundtrack: Aphrodite’s Party

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Gary Devore in Aphrodite, Pantheon, Pantheon Soundtrack

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aphrodite, pantheon, soundtrack

Pantheon Soundtrack, track 6

“Pretty (Pret A Porter Mix)” by the Cranberries

I was introduced to this song during a brilliant moment in a non-brilliant Robert Altman movie called Pret a Porter.  In the film, the superficial fashion industry gets its comeuppance in a totally nude runway show.

I felt the song applied to the Aphrodite’s party for several reasons.  Its rhythmic building spoke to the building tension and emotion in the story.  Also the common ground that each of the characters possess is that through sex and eroticism they experience attraction.  They each feel “pretty” to another (or several others).  “You’re so pretty the way you are.”  In their moments of passion they are desired, as well as desiring.  Rather than some bump and grind song, this song hit the proper note of eroticism I was aiming at with the text.

(the fan video is a bit weird but it is the only version of this mix I could find)

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