Detail showing Hecuba finding the body of her son I am starting to look back at some photos that I took during the six weeks I spent in Europe, just before the confinement. During several days, the Louvre was closed, because of the pandemic, but not the Louvre Collection in the Inventory of the Department of Prints and Drawings. This amazing place is open to the general public. You just… Read more
In recent posts, Rhodes: the isle of Helios and Thera: the island of many names, we visited two Greek islands on the Aegean Sea. In this post, we will be sailing towards the sunset, to a mountainous island that was home to a famous trickster. 19 I am Odysseus son of Laertes, and I, with all [pāsi] my acts of trickery, [20] I-am-on-the-minds-of [melō] all [pāsi] humans, and my glory… Read more
My trip to Naples—planned months ago—had not been cancelled; I could hardly believe it. Up to the last minute I was not sure whether the Foreign Office would advise against trips to Italy or not. But there I was in the Parthenopean city, and thinking of how to get from Naples to Paestum (pronounced [pestum] in Italian), which I had not visited before. On the appointed day, Domenico, my driver,… Read more
Head of Helios In this post, following the one on Thera, I offer you a safe and virtual journey through time to another Greek island of the Aegean Sea. Rhodes is well known for its famous statue of the Kolossos of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but the Kolossos (the god Helios) was destroyed during an earthquake in c226BCE, and it was not rebuilt according… Read more
The year 2020 may not be the best time to travel with the pandemic. And yet, who does not want to discover the islands of the Aegean Sea? I offer you a safe and virtual journey through time to an island with many names and a tumultuous past. The name by which this magical place is often mentioned in ancient Greek literature is Thera. Pindar, who takes so many ancient… Read more