Menelaos

Topic for Discussion,  Word Study

Hair, part 1 | Male hair: descriptions

How did the ancient Greeks view hair? There are many passages in which it is mentioned or described, and this series of blog posts will explore different aspects of how it is featured in some of the texts. In this first post, we are looking at physical descriptions of men’s hair. Right from the beginning of the Iliad we see the hair of Achilles featured as part of the action… Read more

Topic for Discussion

Ivory for the ancient Greeks

Trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 to conserve elephants[1]. However, in the ancient world they made use of ivory. How did the ancient Greeks perceive it and use it? I assumed it would be for ornamental purposes, and would have been carefully carved, but what do the texts and artifacts tell us? Its sheen is mentioned in an aside Telemachus makes to Peisistratos about the materials and decoration… Read more