One bad apple

Kallisti print by surrealitee
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At first glance, the subject is mythology. Goddess Eris, angry for not being invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, tossed a golden apple at the party. The Apple of Discord. On it was the inscription “ti kallisti” (pronounced “tee kalleestee” and written in ancient Greek as seen on the design above). This means “to the fairest one” and, as it was to be expected, three great goddesses –Hera, Athena and Aphrodite- quarreled about which one of them was the unparalleled beauty.

They decided that a mortal man, Paris (the prince of Troy) should choose the one. Since bribery is an old habit, each goddess tempted him with a gift. He chose Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, the wife of king Menelaus. Paris seduced Helen, they eloped to Troy, Menelaus called on Greeks to start the Trojan War and things turned ugly.

Kallisti t-shirt by surrealitee
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Beneath that story lies a more recent one. Goddess Eris, known in Latin as Discordia, became the focus of Discordianism, a parody religion, half-satire and half-philosophical. Its foundation is the document Principia Discordia (first published in 1965), written by Greg Hill (aka Malaclypse the Younger) and Kerry Thornley (aka Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst). Many picked up on the joke (which, in a sense, might be not be a joke at all), including the famous Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea –aptly advertised as “a fairy tale for paranoids”.
So, these are the facts, here are some discordian designs, all Hail Eris and don’t say I didn’t warn you! The time is nigh and fnords are all around us.

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