Mythology Wednesday: The Hottest Fashions of Greek mythology

You can't tell your Chitons from your Peploses without a program...

Theme of the Week

The theme of the week is fashion. Like all of the articles on the Mythoversal site, this one will be revised and amended as we go. It doesn’t yet include armor. It doesn’t yet include much detail about adornments. It may never include all the monster pelts that some heroes like to wear. But it does describe the day-to-day attire of most people living in our mythological world.

In the late 940s of the 4th Age, draped, loose-fitting, free-flowing homemade garments are the hottest fashion trend in Mythoversal Thebes and across the Lands of Hellas. These styles start with standard rectangles of wool, flax linen, or silk. Garments are folded across a body and fastened with pins or brooches. 

Fabrics worn by the common folk start as off-white, their natural undyed state, and gradually take on brown and gray shades of collected dirt and grime. The priesthood is distinguished by bright white linens that denote purity and premium access to soap. The noble classes wear vibrant colors and patterns as a sign of wealth and status. 

The noble classes also wear clothing of more tightly woven linens and softer wools than the coarse fabrics of the commoners. Upper-class garments may be further decorated with embroidery, precious stones, or bits of gold…

Character of the Week

This week we introduce Alkis, the eldest daughter of her first mother, Lady Antipoine, and second mother, Lady Sidonis. Descended from one of the legendary Spartoi warriors of Thebes, Alkis is heir to all the wealth and power of Tribe Chthonius. She is exceptionally tall and physically strong, with a sense of justice that ends up costing her everything she has.

Alkis is based on the 2nd Century travelogue of Pausanias, who names her as one of two heroines interred in the sanctuary within the Theban Temple of Artemis, an honor Alkis earned by saving her city from destruction. The details of her story are unclear through this second-hand account and will need to be reconstructed from conjecture.

Setting of the Week

The Pasture of the One Tree will be the setting for the first three episodes of Becoming Hercules. This setting will introduce readers to Mythoversal Thebes, especially to those parts of the kingdom outside the city itself. This setting and the scenes set within it blend the culture, history, and beliefs of the mythological world into the larger story world.

A Project Pivot Update

Our young adult mythic fantasy serial, Becoming Hercules, will premiere exclusively through Amazon’s Kindle Vella platform…when exactly? We don’t know. Those crafty Amazons are still keeping their launch date a closely guarded secret.

Later this month to maximize summer reading time?

In July to coincide with Amazon Prime Day?

In August or September to align with back-to-school schedules?

Line up and place your bets!

Publication Plan

Other Vella authors have adopted a variety of strategies to manage this ongoing uncertainty. Here at Mythoversal, our current plan is a phased roll-out to optimize for any launch date that might pop up, even on short notice.

If we had launched in May, the first three episodes would have been pre-loaded with a growing number of queued episodes in reserve.

Under an optimistic June launch scenario, five episodes will be available right away with a weekly posting schedule for new episodes.

A Prime Day launch in July will enable weekly bonus episodes for the first five or six weeks before BH settles into its regular weekly schedule.

With a launch in August or beyond, we may be able to drop an entire season at once for your binging pleasure.

Meanwhile, beta readers are combing over every line to suggest possible improvements. So take your time, Amazons. The longer you make us wait, the better the reading experience will be.

Next Time…

Another person, place, and thing of the week. More Project Pivot news. And whatever you might request to know about Becoming Hercules.

—Greg R. Fishbone, Mythoversal Author-in-Residence

Mythoversal restores inclusion, diversity, and equity to classical texts. We broaden representation. We amplify marginalized characters. We restore traditions erased by centuries of gatekeeping.

Our entry point into the Mythoverse is the land of Mythoversal Hellas, where we disrupt and deconstruct Greek, Hellenic, Roman, and Byzantine sources to create a mythic environment that's inclusive, inviting, and relevant. The setting provides a window into the past and a mirror for today.

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