Mesperyian

Character
Name:	Mesperyian
Occupation:
Relationships:	Hades (father)
Fandom:	Greek Mythology, Tumblr
Other:
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Mesperyian is an alleged Greek god popularized by Tumblr.

Canon Overview

So it all started with this tumblr post, right?

[Screenshot of a history quiz question: "What Greek goddess is known for being the most beautiful?"]

[Screenshot of a tumblr post by smurflewis saying "DON'T ASK ME THIS, THIS IS HOW THE TROJAN WAR STARTED, I DONT WANT THIS MAN"]

And obviously people mentioned the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone, and the benefits of answering such goddesses as the most beautiful. But then Tumblr user 28weekslaterhater mentioned to answer the goddess Mesperyian (most beloved daughter of Hades) as the most beautiful. According to them, “jealous ho” Aphrodite burnt half of Mesperyian’s face off in a blind rage for being more beautiful than her.

This post began to spread to the fact-check-less masses of Tumblr, and more mythology sprouted up about this so-called “Mesperyian”, how she was the goddess of torture and punishment (even though a goddess of punishment already existed) and had to wear a cool mask because of the aforementioned face burning.

Everyone took it as gospel for years until various Tumblr users pointed out “hey if you happen to just… look up this goddess, the only thing you’ll find is this Tumblr post”. After that, it had been exposed that Mesperyian never fucking existed and that Tumblr user just completely made them up on the fly.

And that’s how Tumblr invented a Greek goddess

one-in-lemillion on Tumblr 

• Screenshot of the full original tumblr post, ^{Archived version}

Background

Mesperyian was introduced in a 2009 short story by SarahRenee titled "Mesperyian: Goddess of torture and punishment." Despite this, she is frequently misattributed to an unknown 2015 Wattpad writer.

Fandom

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Mesperyian occasionally appears in Percy Jackson fanfiction, often to the confusion of readers.

Early-Mid-2010s

A 2012 Percy Jackson fanfic featured a daughter of Mesperyian. She was also featured in a 2014 Supernatural fic.

The more popular 2015-2018 Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossover fic "Sliver of Shadow," which was posted to Fanfiction.net and had hundreds of followers, featured Mesperyian as a major character who was introduced partway into the story as Nico di Angelo's sadistic sister. For some fans, this was their confusing first introduction to the character.

Late-2010s and early 2020s

Later, the character became emblematic of Tumblr's general credulity and disinclination to fact-check posts. See also "net zero information" meme (alt link, example of how it's used).

Some Goncharov fans incorporated her into their canons.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

• The War Begins by Justin2112 (Percy Jackson, 2012)
• No Goodbyes, Please by Reading Is Smexy (Supernatural, 2014)
• Kid Icarus: Revival by MageofHeart88 (Kid Icarus, 2015)
• Sliver of Shadow by qZhao (2015 - 2018), adopted by UnleashTheKnightmare (Percy Jackson x Harry Potter, 2018)
• I'm Here: The Reboot by Oneshot Agency (Percy Jackson, 2018–2020)

Fictional Meta

• Tumblr University Symposium on the Mysteries of Mesperyian by blorbuscon (2022)

Poetry

• Hymn to Mesperyian, Goddess of Wild Claims Made On The Internet by kneelingbeforeclefairy (2021)

Fanart

• mespebony doodle by noctilionoid (2023)

Links and Resources

• Mesperyian discussion on r/mythology (2019)
• Flashback Friday – That Time We (Almost) Made a New Goddess by Chràbhaidh a Andred (2020)
• That Time Tumblr Invented A New Greek Goddess by STRANGE ÆONS (2021)