Writing: Need a divine judge/arbitrator

[ehbowen]

Well, one option is always Minos. He's not a deity, but he does serve as a judge in Greek mythology, and is a common figure in Christian fiction as well, and he was hardly a moral paragon. I could see him pushing the scales in Satan's favor, if he had sufficient incentive to do so.

That's a very good suggestion. Know where I can look up some background information on him, aside from Wikipedia?

[Hariti]

That's a very good suggestion. Know where I can look up some background information on him, aside from Wikipedia?

Well, since I'm not a Hellenist nor a Christian, I'm at a bit of a handicap as far as sources go, but Britannica has an article about him, as does Encyclopedia Mythica, but both are pretty bare-bones. There are a few references to him in various New Advent articles as well, mostly discussing the Chruch fathers' views on classical religion.

However, your best bet is probably just googling him. He's a very popular character in both Classical and Renaissance literature; he appears in Dante's Inferno, for example, and in the Aeneid, as well as many modern pop cultural books like the "Percy Jackson" series.

He's almost as well known as Hercules, or Ulysses, and was even more well known in the early modern era than he is today. Finding general information about him shouldn't be hard.

[Aster Breo]

Well, one option is always Minos. He's not a deity, but he does serve as a judge in Greek mythology,

LOL!  I read this and thought, "I think I mentioned him a couple of posts above." So, I scrolled up to make sure I hadn't hallucinated that and discovered my phone had autocorrected "Minos" to "Midas".

Damn you, autocorrect!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

(Edited by Darkhawk to fix quote code)

[Hariti]

my phone had autocorrected "Minos" to "Midas".

Ah, yes, the other King "M" that's moderately well known and associated with fables.

[Ashmire]

Ah, yes, the other King "M" that's moderately well known and associated with fables.

And there actually is another story besides the "Golden Touch" one where Midas *does* get talked into being a judge between gods.  It doesn't sound like the sort of experience he'd care to repeat, really,  but then he seems not to be the wisest fellow around...

[SunflowerP]

... Britannica has an article about him, as does Encyclopedia Mythica, but both are pretty bare-bones.

Here is what Theoi.com has on the subject.

Theoi.com is also the 'comprehensive reference' - or close enough to comprehensive - you mentioned, Eric, on Greek deities and mythology. I agree with - no, make that 'verify, based on my own experiences with researching deities' -  what Ashmire said about it working better to do it by pantheon/culture; resources that are more comprehensive in breadth are inevitably far less comprehensive in depth (Wikipedia, because of its 'anyone can edit' stance, is about as good as it gets for comprehensiveness in both dimensions, but the tradeoff there is that reliability can be compromised).

On the same note, my go-to for Celtic info is Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia (mirror site; maryjones.us appears to be down or expired ).

Sunflower

[ehbowen]

I have written the scene; you can look at it. Feel free to make comments if you think I'm not being fair to any of the personalities mentioned.

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