Fuck Yeah, Ancient Greece and Rome

A 25 year old Master of Ancient Classics, just blogging and reblogging his love of the Greek and Roman civilisations. Posts: Greek Roman Literature Art Architecture Maps The Classical Calendar My Posts var sc_project=7742403; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="c6d55cc1";

[fuckyeahancientclassics]

I was here.

[oedipusmotherfuckingtyrannus]

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?

IT’S TIME TO BUY PRESENTS FOR PEOPLE. EVERYONE LIKES TO BE BOUGHT SHIT, AND EVERYONE SHOULD LIKE TO BE BOUGHT MYTH BOOKS. IF THEY DON’T LIKE IT YOU SHOULD CUT THEM OUT OF YOUR LIFE BECAUSE THEY ARE WEAK AND INFERIOR.

WE HAPPEN TO HAVE...

[lionofchaeronea]

Heracles/Hercules wrestles the Nemean Lion.  Relief sculpture from a Roman sarcophagus, 2nd cent. CE.  Now in the Antalya Museum, Turkey.  Photo credit: Wolfgang Sauber.

[last-of-the-romans]

Ancient Greek city of Halicarnassus

[archimaps]

The Amphitheatre of Pompeii in the 1880’s

[thegetty]

Three favorite objects selected by our new curator of antiquities.

Head of a Bearded Man, 160–150 B.C., Greek. Marble, 16 in. high. Young Woman (The Elgin Kore), about 475 B.C., Greek. Marble, 27 15/16 in. high. Gem with an Athlete Cleaning Himself with a Strigil, about 500 B.C., attributed to Epimenes. Obsidian set in a modern gold ring, 5/8 x 1/2 in. All from the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum

[domus-aurea2]

[romegreeceart]

Hermes with a winged hat :)

[thetempleofdelphi]

[ancientgreecebuildings]

Ruins of Delphi Tholos

btw - click thetempleofdelphi link above if you want to see more pics of this site.

[museum-of-artifacts]

Gladiator helmet found in Pompeii and richly decorated with scenes of mythology. 1st century AD

[last-of-the-romans]

Trajan’s Column. 113 A.D. 

[history-museum]

Roman sundial on top of an Ionic column in the Temple of Apollo, Pompeii, Italy. [375x500]

[firsttimeuser]

Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion, Greece, 1962 by Edwin Smith

[hellenismo]

"This silver disk, with gold added, which has almost disappeared, shows Persephone restored to Her heavenly family: above, Zeus; then Demeter holding a lighted torch and sitting under the olive-tree; on the left Persephone (?) and an another deity (Hekate?); in the centre Triptolemus, who is about to spread the gifts of Demeter; behind him, the chariot drawn by two serpents, which are fed by two maidens (the daughters of Celeus?); in the lower part, Gaia with an ox and the means of agriculture." (Disk of Aquileia, Museum of Vienna)

[ancientpeoples]

Terracotta Oinochoe 

c.420-410 BC

Classical Greek

The scene depicts two women in festive dress perfuming garments. A stool suspended by chords is piled with folded clothing. On the ground below, there is a pile of wood shavings and twigs from which smoke rises. One woman carefully empties an oinochoe onto the fire. The other woman surveys the “swing” and stands beside a stately chair with a footstool over which more clothes are slung. At the far left is a wreathed boy wearing a himation (cloak). The shape of the vase facilitates the association of the scene with the Anthesteria, a three-day festival held in January/February that celebrated the new wine with the special inclusion of young children, an epiphany of Dionysos, and the ritual marriage of the god with the basilinna, the wife of the chief archon of Athens. While the precise meaning of the scene is not understood, it is evident that the Meidias Painter has melded significant features of the festival into a beautiful tableau.

(Source: The Met Museum)

[ancientart]

Mirrors of the ancient world. 

These mirrors would have once been highly polished in order to provide a good reflection.

The 1st shown is Classical Greek (ca. 460 BC): Caryatid Mirror with Aphrodite. The central female figure serves as the ‘caryatid’ (human support) for the mirror. This graceful figure’s simple drapery is characteristic of the Early Classical style’s “quite elegance.” Also present are winged Eros figures (representing the god of love), which suggests that this female is perhaps Aphrodite, or a bride. Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum, via their online collections: 54.769.

Shown next is a silver Roman mirror, dating to the Early Imperial period (1st century AD). The name of the owner, Iris, is inscribed on the back. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, via their online collections: 07.286.127.

The 3rd mirror is Etruscan, made of bronze, and dates to ca. 250-200 BC. Depicted here is likely the Dioskouroi with either Aphrodite or Helen and Minerva. It is certainly worth zooming into the photograph to observe the detail of the mirror (which you can do so easier here). Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, via their online collections: X.21.86.

The final mirror selected is Egyptian, made of silver and copper alloy, and is the oldest mirror shown, dating to ca. 1478-1390 BC. The hairstyle of the female was popular during the middle 18th Dynasty. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum, via their online collections: 37.635E.

[ancientpeoples]

Marble head of an elderly woman

c.40-20 BC

Late Republic/Early Augustan 

This portrait of an elderly Roman matron conveys an air of gravitas and dignity that befits the social standing of the subject. Like most portraits of Roman women, this one can be dated closely by the hairstyle, which combines a braided bun worn high on the head and the so-called nodus, a flat braid pulled back over the top of the head.  In antiquity, all marble sculpture was painted. Here, the indication of eyelashes can still be seen on the upper lid of the right eye, and traces of pigment remain on the same eye and on the hair.

(Source: The Met Museum)

[the-mosaic-project]

Mosaics advertising services provided by the citizens of the ancient port city of Rome, Ostia.  Advertisements range from amphora potters, sail repairmen, rope makers, and scale makers. All are facing the portico where pedestrians walked, behind the theatre given by Augustus to Ostia. The use of images rather than words suggests an international code system that could be understood by the illiterate and the non-Roman traders.

[romegreeceart]

Love these ads :)

[novitas-romanitas]

From the Piazzale delle Corporazioni!