Theseus custom

Just transferring some of my posts from the old site (the Minotaur has since been upgraded to an M35 body and a couple of the scenes have been re-shot and posted in the M35 body review, HERE) since there was a question about this sort of thing. My old photos look so drab, but I suppose they still work for the purpose of illustration. Actually everything could benefit from some revisiting and redoing...

Theseus and the Minotaur

I had put together a little vignette based on ancient Greek mythology, of the Athenian hero Theseus and some of his shenanigans. Here is the first set, Theseus and the Minotaur.

I used Phicen's M33 and M34 bodies, made the outfits from microsuede cloth (with fabric markers decorations) and leather, modified some Ignite caligae, and sculpted the rest from air drying clay, painted over with acrylics. Theseus' head sculpt is a Hot Toys Superman (I think the most recent one). I sculpted the Minotaur's bull's head, flipflopping between as close to a realistic bovine as I could get and a Minoan bull's head mask/sculpture. Considering I've never sculpted anything like this before, I think it came out rather good. The clothing and weaponry reflect the ones used in the Greek Bronze Age. Some of the poses, however, are based on Classical and modern depictions of the myth in art.

Henry Cavill seemed suitable for Theseus, not least because he actually played Theseus in the ironically-named Hollywood travesty The Immortals. Apart from the occasional visually-appealing shot, the film was abysmal by even Hollywood pseudo-mythological standards (what with a sidekick named Stavros ["Cross"... in 1228 BC!], a deranged king of a modern city [Herakleion], and apparently the irresistible motivation of getting one's testicles smashed up as initiation to being enlisted to help end the world; oh yes, and mortal Greek gods? WTF!). But the casting of Cavill was perfect, arguably the only part of the film that was.

 



































 




Theseus and Peirithoos

As in the previous set, I was experimenting with 1/6 scale apparel and equipment from the Greek ("Mycenaean") Bronze Age. And since there is no shortage of Henry Cavill head sculpts, I stuck to the Theseus theme. I recreated a couple of relatively simple Mycenaean warrior looks (with tunics, daggers, baldrics, boar-tusk helmets) from some badly damaged (but ambitiously restored) frescoes from the palace at Pylos, and arranged some of them into a mini photo essay loosely inspired by part of the myth of Theseus.

It goes something like this: Theseus and his best friend Peirithoos agreed to help each other steal a pretty and noble wife. Peirithoos helped Theseus steal Helen from Sparta (the same one who later launched a thousand ships, having caused the Trojan War); in exchange, Theseus agreed to help Peirithoos steal Kore, the daughter of the Molossian king Aidoneus. Although they made their way to the Molossians and were at first received by the king, Theseus and Peirithoos were eventually imprisoned by Aidoneus. While Theseus was later freed by his cousin Herakles (Hercules), Peirithoos remained a captive or was executed. (Another version of the myth is that Aidoneus was none other than the god Hades, and Kore was Hades' wife Persephone -- scholars argue which is the original version of the story, and which is a secondary rationalization or elaboration.)

Hope you like.

(Below) Theseus, based on a Pylian spearman (compare HERE)
 




The next images are based on the "river battle" fresco from Pylos, which you can see HERE. The light and focus are substandard, as I was trying to avoid too much glare from the background.

(Below) Theseus and Peirithoos trying to sneak into Molossia across the Akheron...
 




(Below) ... when they hear something behind them...
 




(Below) ... En garde! It's scruffy fur-clad Molossians (how barbarous!)! ...
 




(Below) ... How come they wear animal furs and yet have the most advanced Bronze-Age daggers? Oh well, bring it! ...
 




(Below) ... just one more left ...
 




The Players:
Theseus and Peirithoos
 




Random fur-clad barbarians
 

Great Scenes, thanks for the entertainment. OMG ! cuted off arms and Heads, so much violence. Minotaures are under nature protection like panda bears !

I love greek mythology and fights men versus monsters !

These are amazing and I am not sure what else I can say about their greatness. I will say it again, but it is even more true now, that Theseus, Asterion and now Pirithous are the best customs I have ever seen. I have wanted to see the Helladic era tackled in this scale for a few decades now! I don't quite have the skills to pull it off myself - which is why I chose not to do a Mycenaean era Herakles - so it is great seeing someone else do it. The Theseus and Pirithous story is one of my favourites and partly inspired the movie 'Hercules in The Underworld', which also featured Theseus and Procrustes (an enemy in his labours) the stretcher. I have a fond memory of telling this myth to my father over the phone not too long before his death. So it is one of the last happy memories with him.

I am not sure I have seen them all before.

Pretty sure the real Minotaur was just some religious weirdo who liked to dress up as a bull and walk around some Knossos ruins, then Theseus and his gang of troublemakers ganged up on him and killed him.

Are the helmets supposed to depict helmets made of several rows of lames?

Ovy wrote:I am not sure I have seen them all before.

Pretty sure the real Minotaur was just some religious weirdo who liked to dress up as a bull and walk around some Knossos ruins, then Theseus and his gang of troublemakers ganged up on him and killed him.

Are the helmets supposed to depict helmets made of several rows of lames?

They are helmets made of boar's tusks (so many that it lead to the realisation that boars where not simply hunted but bred for the hunt):



A leather cap with tusks sewn onto it. Odysseus famously wore a helmet like this in the Ilias, given to him by, IIRC, Meriones.

Nice to see all these threads transplanted, Ian. Amazing work on the details. (And I agree about that god-awful [pun intended] movie. I despise how Hollywood of late has to take the mythology out of stories dealing with mythology

Ephiane wrote:Great Scenes, thanks for the entertainment. OMG ! cuted off arms and Heads, so much violence. Minotaures are under nature protection like panda bears !

I love greek mythology and fights men versus monsters !

Thank you very much, Ephiane, I'm delighted you liked them. I had a figure with a broken shoulder peg, hence the arm being ripped out and consumed. Well, except in the Age of Empires game, I think there was only one Minotaur.

Kynaithos wrote:These are amazing and I am not sure what else I can say about their greatness. I will say it again, but it is even more true now, that Theseus, Asterion and now Pirithous are the best customs I have ever seen. I have wanted to see the Helladic era tackled in this scale for a few decades now! I don't quite have the skills to pull it off myself - which is why I chose not to do a Mycenaean era Herakles - so it is great seeing someone else do it. The Theseus and Pirithous story is one of my favourites and partly inspired the movie 'Hercules in The Underworld', which also featured Theseus and Procrustes (an enemy in his labours) the stretcher. I have a fond memory of telling this myth to my father over the phone not too long before his death. So it is one of the last happy memories with him.

Look, you even use the Minotaur's actual name, Asteriōn! Thank you for the exceedingly kind words (I need to reshoot these so they don't look as frumpy and can't help but want to upgrade at least the helmets and weapons, which are a little naively done, to put it nicely). "Partly inspired" is the best that can be said for most movies purporting to be based on such things, unfortunately. Sorry for the loss of your father, but glad to have made you remember him sweetly.

Ovy wrote:I am not sure I have seen them all before.

Pretty sure the real Minotaur was just some religious weirdo who liked to dress up as a bull and walk around some Knossos ruins, then Theseus and his gang of troublemakers ganged up on him and killed him.

Are the helmets supposed to depict helmets made of several rows of lames?

Yes, they're pretty old. Haven't aged very well, and my photo skills were even more remedial at the time. Like I mention above, one day I'd like to revisit and improve them. Technically, at that time Knossos ought not to have been in ruins (although it might have just recently passed under new, Akhaian management). There is a notion that the Theseus and Minotaur myth has something to do with the religious/sport/entertainment spectacles involving "bull leaping" depicted in various examples of Cretan art. The Minotaur himself is supposed to be the offspring of King Minōs' wife Pasiphaē by a bull, with whom she fell madly in love (Daidalos was commissioned to make her a cow hull out of wood so they could safely "cohabit"). According to a rationalization of the myth, he was just some guy working for Minōs who was called or nicknamed "bull" (tauros), hence Minōs' bull, Minotauros.
The helmets are indeed lined with boars' tusks, as illustrated by Kynaithos.

Kynaithos wrote:They are helmets made of boar's tusks (so many that it lead to the realisation that boars where not simply hunted but bred for the hunt):



A leather cap with tusks sewn onto it. Odysseus famously wore a helmet like this in the Ilias, given to him by, IIRC, Meriones.

That makes very good sense, I didn't think of it (breeding boars to have more boar tusks). And nice example of this type of quintessentially Aegean helmet.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice to see all these threads transplanted, Ian. Amazing work on the details. (And I agree about that god-awful [pun intended] movie. I despise how Hollywood of late has to take the mythology out of stories dealing with mythology

Thank you very much, Mark, I'm glad you still like them. Yes, with such a diminished role, that stupid film might as well have just omitted the Minotaur altogether. What a waste of such great actors and such stunning visuals!

These are still nice even if old, and a source of inspiration.

Theboo-bomb wrote:These are still nice even if old, and a source of inspiration.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked them. Now that you are doing ancient stuff, maybe you can get some extra ideas (or ideas of what not to do LOL).

GubernatorFan wrote:
Look, you even use the Minotaur's actual name, Asteriōn! Thank you for the exceedingly kind words (I need to reshoot these so they don't look as frumpy and can't help but want to upgrade at least the helmets and weapons, which are a little naively done, to put it nicely).

They look wonderful to me! If you are replacing the stuff they wear completely and not just modding them, I'd happily take them off your hands. ;-) I think you did great work here and should be proud. In the 1990s when I first got into this hobby - and you had to use Action Men/GI Joes mostly! - I wanted to do a Mycenaean era fight between Theseus and the minotaur but lacked the skill, so it is nice to see someone has actually done it.

The Mycenaean era is underrated and full of lovely fashion and weaponry and armour (just look at the Dendra panopoly!) and should be ripe for 1/6 figures.

GubernatorFan wrote:"Partly inspired" is the best that can be said for most movies purporting to be based on such things, unfortunately. Sorry for the loss of your father, but glad to have made you remember him sweetly.

Thank you for your kind words.  

Kynaithos Homerides wrote:
They look wonderful to me! If you are replacing the stuff they wear completely and not just modding them, I'd happily take them off your hands. ;-) I think you did great work here and should be proud. In the 1990s when I first got into this hobby - and you had to use Action Men/GI Joes mostly! - I wanted to do a Mycenaean era fight between Theseus and the minotaur but lacked the skill, so it is nice to see someone has actually done it.

The Mycenaean era is underrated and full of lovely fashion and weaponry and armour (just look at the Dendra panopoly!) and should be ripe for 1/6 figures.

Thank you again, that is very flattering. If I replace something rather than modify it, I'll let you know.
I'd love to see more Bronze Age stuff in our scale, but with the possible exception of the odd sword, there is nothing. You see, they have to make a historically-accurate movie first, it has to be popular, and maybe then we'll get some figures out of that. Or we can hope someone makes 3D designs we can download and print (or commission).
Egyptians get some coverage -- usually twisted up by flights of fancy or outright fantasy, but no other society from this period gets any love.

GubernatorFan wrote:

Kynaithos Homerides wrote:
They look wonderful to me! If you are replacing the stuff they wear completely and not just modding them, I'd happily take them off your hands. ;-) I think you did great work here and should be proud. In the 1990s when I first got into this hobby - and you had to use Action Men/GI Joes mostly! - I wanted to do a Mycenaean era fight between Theseus and the minotaur but lacked the skill, so it is nice to see someone has actually done it.

The Mycenaean era is underrated and full of lovely fashion and weaponry and armour (just look at the Dendra panopoly!) and should be ripe for 1/6 figures.

Thank you again, that is very flattering. If I replace something rather than modify it, I'll let you know.
I'd love to see more Bronze Age stuff in our scale, but with the possible exception of the odd sword, there is nothing. You see, they have to make a historically-accurate movie first, it has to be popular, and maybe then we'll get some figures out of that. Or we can hope someone makes 3D designs we can download and print (or commission).
Egyptians get some coverage -- usually twisted up by flights of fancy or outright fantasy, but no other society from this period gets any love.

Indeed! It is very sad that the hobby is now so dependant on what movies are being made and most "historical" stuff is fantasy anyway. At least in the past you had companies like Ignite/Crazy Owners who at least tried.

It may be frustrating to not have 'official' historical figures being put out that frequently (and them not necessarily being very accurate even when they are available), but personally I see that as a challenge to create some interesting custom figures.

While I have no plans for Greek customs (my interests lie in other areas in the ancient and medieval world), I do hope to eventually create some historically-based custom figures in future. I used to do Viking reenactment, for instance, and I've always wanted to create a 'mini-me' of myself and my husband from that era. The 1:1 hobby became too expensive for us after while -- ironically, even as costly as this hobby is, it is still nowhere near as expensive as recreating museum quality replicas in 1:1 scale! ;p

Great work, Ian! I didn't know Cavill was dropping his role as Witcher to play Theseus next...

Kynaithos Homerides wrote:
Indeed! It is very sad that the hobby is now so dependant on what movies are being made and most "historical" stuff is fantasy anyway. At least in the past you had companies like Ignite/Crazy Owners who at least tried.

So true. I still use some Ignite parts -- for example for those early Roman infantry figures. They are actually quite good, although they could use a bit of weathering. Kaustic Plastik tried to be historically accurate, although there was some dispute from time to time regarding the historical interpretation (leather armor, etc.). But these were all mostly Roman, with a bit of Greek. ACI, which I'm not sure still exists, did some nice figures of both kinds. Now it is mostly CM (Coo Model) and HY (HaoYu) and HH (Heng), the latter two usually collaborating. And they are definitely more fantasy.

skywalkersaga wrote:It may be frustrating to not have 'official' historical figures being put out that frequently (and them not necessarily being very accurate even when they are available), but personally I see that as a challenge to create some interesting custom figures.

While I have no plans for Greek customs (my interests lie in other areas in the ancient and medieval world), I do hope to eventually create some historically-based custom figures in future. I used to do Viking reenactment, for instance, and I've always wanted to create a 'mini-me' of myself and my husband from that era. The 1:1 hobby became too expensive for us after while -- ironically, even as costly as this hobby is, it is still nowhere near as expensive as recreating museum quality replicas in 1:1 scale! ;p

Interesting. I've often wondered about the price difference and difficulty difference between working in 1:6 and 1:1. I suppose there is plenty of trade-off.

Randam Hajile wrote:Great work, Ian! I didn't know Cavill was dropping his role as Witcher to play Theseus next...

Thank you very much, Ralf! Glad you liked this old stuff (and hope you see the slightly improved versions I linked). Cavill already played Theseus, but I suppose it is totally worth doing so again, because that movie (Immortals) was a visually impressive piece of equine detritus.

GubernatorFan wrote:

Interesting. I've often wondered about the price difference and difficulty difference between working in 1:6 and 1:1. I suppose there is plenty of trade-off.

Well, I guess it depends on just *how* accurate one wants to go. You can do budget recreations of basic costumes, but  once you start adding a few 'accessories' (any kind of metalwork, leatherwork, jewelry, etc), even the basics can add up, quick. And if you want to go extremely accurate aka 'museum replica' quality, then a full costume can easily cost hundreds or even thousands of ££££.

Of course, this is just my experience with Migration era, Anglo-Saxon, and Viking era reenacment and living history, so it might not be the same across all time periods. But if you think about the cost of authentically woven fabrics like silks, linens, and wool, the dyeing, the weaving, the embroidery, the metalworking, the handmade glass beads, the leatherworking, and then the extremely pricey stuff like helms, chainmail, and weapons.... you can understand why it would become quite the expensive venture. For most people, they tend to build up their kit grandually over time, so it is doable for those who wish to invest in such things. But even if one makes all of the above themselves, the raw materials themselves can still be very costly. Making a 1/6 scale costume can be expensive, too, simply due to the skill and time involved, but one only needs a tiny amount of fabric and materials in comparison.

skywalkersaga wrote:Well, I guess it depends on just *how* accurate one wants to go. You can do budget recreations of basic costumes, but  once you start adding a few 'accessories' (any kind of metalwork, leatherwork, jewelry, etc), even the basics can add up, quick. And if you want to go extremely accurate aka 'museum replica' quality, then a full costume can easily cost hundreds or even thousands of ££££.

Of course, this is just my experience with Migration era, Anglo-Saxon, and Viking era reenacment and living history, so it might not be the same across all time periods. But if you think about the cost of authentically woven fabrics like silks, linens, and wool, the dyeing, the weaving, the embroidery, the metalworking, the handmade glass beads, the leatherworking, and then the extremely pricey stuff like helms, chainmail, and weapons.... you can understand why it would become quite the expensive venture. For most people, they tend to build up their kit grandually over time, so it is doable for those who wish to invest in such things. But even if one makes all of the above themselves, the raw materials themselves can still be very costly. Making a 1/6 scale costume can be expensive, too, simply due to the skill and time involved, but one only needs a tiny amount of fabric and materials in comparison.

Thank you for expanding on this. Yes, of course, I didn't think of the authentic materials and authentic processes aspect of this. And, besides, there is just more material to be used. I suppose there is a very palpable difference between mass produced cheap clothing items for modern casual clothing and such historical reconstructions, creating a disparate effect in their sixth-scale versions. Because, as we have sometimes remarked, some sixth-scale items are more expensive than the cheaper 1:1 items they replicate.

Kynaithos Homerides wrote:

Ovy wrote:I am not sure I have seen them all before.

Pretty sure the real Minotaur was just some religious weirdo who liked to dress up as a bull and walk around some Knossos ruins, then Theseus and his gang of troublemakers ganged up on him and killed him.

Are the helmets supposed to depict helmets made of several rows of lames?

They are helmets made of boar's tusks (so many that it lead to the realisation that boars where not simply hunted but bred for the hunt):



A leather cap with tusks sewn onto it. Odysseus famously wore a helmet like this in the Ilias, given to him by, IIRC, Meriones.

Thanks so much, had no idea, thanks for teaching!

Ovy wrote:Thanks so much, had no idea, thanks for teaching!

They are my favorite, actually. I probably should have given mine a wash, so that the tusks would stand out. But then they might be more visibly crude...

This was fun. I am a casual fan of mythology but not too knowledgeable into all of the details of the folklore and such. I guess most film adaptations of the subject matter have not been well received, but I loved what the God of War game series did with the whole Greek mythological universe - even if some of the stories were altered, it was still a fun ride and well executed. Awesome figures and accessories, simple but effective attire to show off those TBLeague bodies. In that last photo of The Players I thought Theseus was holding a slice of pizza at first glance. I really like how you laid out those rocks to merge seamlessly with the background, that whole scene looks great.

AlKelAstra91 wrote:This was fun. I am a casual fan of mythology but not too knowledgeable into all of the details of the folklore and such. I guess most film adaptations of the subject matter have not been well received, but I loved what the God of War game series did with the whole Greek mythological universe - even if some of the stories were altered, it was still a fun ride and well executed. Awesome figures and accessories, simple but effective attire to show off those TBLeague bodies. In that last photo of The Players I thought Theseus was holding a slice of pizza at first glance. I really like how you laid out those rocks to merge seamlessly with the background, that whole scene looks great.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Is God of War the one with Kratos (who is largely made up, apart for being an allegory for "power"). And yes, some of these were inspired by the needs of body reviews, although I've always meant to make myself an array of historical and mythological figures -- and those Greeks showed a lot of elbows and knees (or more) LOL. Pizza? Now I hunger for it... But, yes, my weapon sculpting abilities are remedial. Mind you, the overall shape of the sword is correct. If I had shazzdan's skill and patience, I might have made it out of metal, and there would be no confusion with pizza. I'd muse more on this, but I need to go get a snack. See what you do to me?