Translation and notes by Jack Vaughan In this passage by Nonnos, Ariadne has been deserted on Naxos by the hero Theseus. As she lies on the lonely shore sleeping, she is discovered by the god Dionysus who transfigures the human woman into the goddess that defines Ariadne. 265 Bacchus [=Dionysus] now leaving Ilissos’ honey-sweet watercourse [in Attica], comes in joyous procession with his reveling troop to the vine-clad island of… Read more
Painting of the Organizer of the sacrifice (1780 BCE), Mari Herodotus is fascinating, and I have dreamed of Mesopotamia many times while reading his chapters about it. This gallery is going to take you through the rooms dedicated to Mesopotamia in the Louvre. Herodotus writes about Babylon, and Hit, a city near the Euphrates River in his Histories. Cyrus had made all the mainland submit to him, he attacked the… Read more
Eros passed unseen through the grey mist, causing confusion …. And quickly beneath the lintel in the porch he strung his bow and took from the quiver an arrow unshot before, messenger of pain. And with swift feet unmarked he passed the threshold and keenly glanced around; and gliding close by Aeson’s son he laid the arrow-notch on the cord in the center, and drawing wide apart with both hands… Read more
Hour 25 Community Reading Medea, Euripides Thursday, July 23 2015 @11:00 a.m. EDT [Nurse] Would that the Argo had never winged its way to the land of Colchis through the dark-blue Symplegades! Would that the pine trees had never been felled in the glens of Mount Pelion and furnished oars for the hands [5] of the heroes who at Pelias’ command set forth in quest of the Golden Fleece! For… Read more
For some time now we have been exploring the key Greek terms from H24H[a] and some of the Greek Core Vocabulary terms that are tracked in HeroesX, and in the Sourcebook[b]. You can find links to these forum discussions from the list at the Core Vocab page. This month we come to aitios [αἴτιος] ‘responsible, guilty’; aitiā [αἰτία] ‘responsibility, guilt; cause, case’. Where are these terms used? How might we visualize… Read more