Examples of Mycenean Swords We have had a discussion about the parts of armor and clothing, which did include some of the words for weapons, and Helene Emeriaud shared a gallery of images related to the subject, so now I would like to focus on the passages that describe the weapons themselves in more detail. In particular, I am interested in the passages where the weapons almost have a fame… Read more
A guest post by Myrmidon Dear Fellow HeroesX Participants, One of the out-and-out pleasures of the HeroesX project is gathering at the discussion board to exchange ideas and ask questions. During the 2014 iteration, we could always count on Professor Joel Christensen and the other supportive members of the Board of Readers to answer our questions, offer insights, and generally point us in the right direction. But there was more… Read more
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