In January 2024, I went back to the Department of Prints and Drawings in the Louvre to access some paintings and drawings which are not shown in the Museum. I followed the same procedure to have the authorization to look at, consult and take pictures of the specific artworks kept at the Louvre. I wanted to see a painting, which was acquired by the Louvre a few years before the… Read more
First I shall draw you a word-picture of the man himself, making as close a likeness as I can, although I am not particularly good at drawing. As regards his person—in order that I may exhibit this also to you—he was tall and handsome in appearance, and really godlike; his skin was fair, his beard not very thick; his long hair was in part natural, in part false, but very… Read more
This post has been inspired by recent posts regarding the Olympic Games. It consists of some thoughts that occurred to me when reading the posts, and various other musings from reading a number of sources over the years. What struck me most was the relative absence of women in the written and pictorial record of ancient sports. This is reflected, too, in the absence of women in the early modern… Read more
Plato’s Meno (or Menon): “Can Virtue Be Taught?” “If the Phaedon and the Gorgias are noble statues, the Menon is a gem.” [1] Meno’s, or the Learner’s Paradox: [A] man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to enquire; and if not, he cannot; for he does not know the very subject about… Read more
Water is best, and gold, like a blazing fire in the night, stands out supreme of all lordly wealth. But if, my heart, you wish to sing of contests, [5] look no further for any star warmer than the sun, shining by day through the lonely sky, and let us not proclaim any contest greater than Olympia. Pindar, Olympian 1, 1–7, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien[1] The ancient Olympic Games… Read more
A screen of foliage filters out the sun. Boughs keep it shaded, and the dewy ground puts forth assorted blooms. It’s always spring. Inside this grove, Proserpina is playing as she picks violets or bright white lilies. With girlish eagerness she fills her baskets and skirt, eager to beat her friends at picking. Almost at once, Dis sees her, wants her, steals her. So quick is love. The terror-stricken goddess calls sadly for her mother and her friends — her… Read more
The Ancient Olympic Games were not the first occurrence of organized sport in the ancient world. There were funeral games, ancient Egyptian sports during the reign of the Pharaohs, and other ancient civilizations (Sumer, Hittite, Chinese etc.) most probably had forms of organized sport. It may be safe to say that the first organized sport originated long ago with whoever could launch a projectile (rock, spear, archery, or sling to… Read more
A few weeks ago our Iliad reading/translation group translated the passage detailing the catalog of prizes for the best participants in the Funeral Games before the burial of Patroklos, Achilles’s best companion. These games evoke the Olympic Games which will take place soon in France and which will once again ignite hearts and minds. The Olympic games in Paris are going to be quite an event in July and August… Read more
He flees through places where he’d often chasedHe flees from his own pets! He yearned to shout,“I am Actaeon‒recognize your master!”The longed–for words won’t come. Barks fill the air.Blackfur is first to gash his back with wounds,Beast–tamer next. Highlander bites his shoulder;he’s set out last but took a mountain shortcutand got there first. As they hold down their master,the whole pack gathers round and bites his fleshuntil there’s no room… Read more
And now she is back with the old dilemma – who caused the war? She has been blamed, Paris has been blamed but, fundamentally, it was the fault of Thetis, mother of Achilles. There is the old argument regarding Mésalliance, a goddess marries a mortal, some social discord is sure to arise[1] Some social disruption! The destruction of Troy, the wasting of a generation of men on both sides of… Read more
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