There has been much discussion in the forum about the birth of Aphrodite, taking as a starting point the account in the Hesiodic Theogony, after Kronos cuts off the genitals of his father Ouranos: But the genitals, as after first severing them with the steel, he had cast them into the heaving sea from the continent, 190 so kept drifting long time up and down the deep, and all around… Read more
To celebrate Valentine’s day, I chose Ovid for this Gallery about Love. He was the first to write about the art of love and gallantry. Ovid was born in 43 BCE. He was a talented poet. He was educated in Rome and traveled in Greece. He composed many beautiful works. Ovid’s Metamorphoses was written during the Augustan period. He lived during the same period as Virgil and Horace. He was very popular,… 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