Botticelli, Venus and the Three Graces offering presents to a young girl (1485) Louvre Greek has five words that are commonly translated uniformly by “gift.” A careful examination of their use shows that they do in fact correspond to as many different ways of envisaging a gift—from the purely verbal notion of “giving” to “a contractual prestation [benefit] imposed by the terms of a pact, an alliance, a friendship, or… Read more
Wall Painting, enthroned couple (50–40BCE)Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York A few years ago, I went to an exhibition about Augustus at the Grand Palais. Virgil, who lived during the same era, wrote the Aeneid. This epic poem tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his adventures to found a new city in Italy and to start a new generation for the beginning of Rome. Augustus is cited… Read more
Terracotta funerary plaque (520–510BCE) This gallery displays different means of transportation used by the Ancient Greeks: chariots, horses, ships. Some pictures also show other ways of traveling in myths: dolphins and rams. The photographs were taken in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In this passage from the Odyssey, Homer compares ships to horses drawing a chariot. When they [= the Phaeacian seafarers] began rowing out to sea,… Read more
Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy, Louvre I have been reading The Death of Tragedy by George Steiner (available on Kobo). At the beginning of his book, Steiner writes: The Iliad is the root of Tragedy The life of a hero is short Murders inhuman and cruel actions occur The disappearance of Troy The Fall The destruction The vulnerability of men Fatality Men are powerless in front of gods It all ends badly… In… Read more
Prince Khâemouaset, son of Ramses II This Gallery will take you to Egypt, where Helen was supposed to be during the Trojan War according to Euripides. Before the palace of Theoklymenos in Egypt. It is near the mouth of the Nile. The tomb of Proteus, the father of Theoklymenos, is visible. Helen is discovered alone before the tomb. Helen These are the lovely pure streams of the Nile, which waters the plain and… Read more