So, a true story about one of my favorite teachers in high school.

He taught Latin and was known to be a bit of a rabble-rouser. He got in trouble for making a song of "hic haec hoc" and leading us in parading it about the hall. https://twitter.com/HxOvAx/status/1260219772576370690

And for having us write Latin graffiti on the brick exterior walls of the school (and defending it by saying Thomas Jefferson, for whom the school was named, would have approved).

Naturally, we all adored him.

One year he taught a mythology elective, in addition to his usual slate of Latin classes.

One of our projects was creating an enormous mural of the family tree of the gods.

And I do mean enormous. I feel like it was, like, 4x4 poster boards.

Now, if you know the Greek gods, you know there are some interesting quirks in that family tree. Not so much a tree as a thicket, really.

And then there's Aphrodite.

Who is born from sea foam.

Well. Sea foam and... the severed genitals of Ouranos.

So on our family tree, we had Ouranos, drawn as best our class artists could manage. And a line to the word "testicles". And then a line to Aphrodite, shown rising from the sea with strategically-placed foam.

One day, the director of the school came by. And, well, he inquired about the perhaps-inappropriate word emblazoned on our proudly-displayed project.

And my teacher, bless him, answered with a completely straight face, "Why, that's the great Greek hero Testicles". (Pronounced TESS-ti-clees).

If memory serves me, he proceeded to improv an entire myth about Testicles.

The director cannot possibly have bought this, but was so entertained he let it slide.

That message perhaps taught me and many of my classmates more than was intended.

Anyway, if you ever need inspiration, I encourage you to think of the fortitude, flexibility, and generosity of the great Greek hero Testicles.