Hellenic Dreams

Postings and musings on all things Classical: literature; history; art; archaeology; and anything and everything in between! (All of my personal photographs are cc-by-sa)

[fishstickmonkey]

Fikellura Amphora

East Greek, ca. 525 B.C.

Ceramic 

Princeton University Art Museum

[hellenicdreams]

THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD

The publication of this amazing archaeological discovery is now Open Access, check it out here! 

While it isn’t Classical archaeology (my main did), there are some amazing objects here (garnet studded gold? yes please) and there is even a wonderfully abbreviated passage of Latin from the Vulgate bible:

[S]URGE:DNE:DISEPENTURINIMICITUIE/T

[F]UGENT QUIODERUNTTEAFACIETUA

SURGE DNE DISEPINTUR [...MIC]ITUIE/TFUGIU[N/T]QUIO DE

[R]UNTTE AF ACIE TU[..]DIUIE NOS[.R.]

“The inscribed text is a rendering of a well-known Vulgate text, which appears in the following form in Numbers 10, 35: cumque elevaretur arca dicebat Moses surge Domine et dissipentur inimici tui et fugiant qui oderunt te a facie tua, 'When he had lifted up the ark, Moses said "Rise up, Lord, and may your enemies be dispersed and those who hate you flee from your face"'.” Source.

Image source. 

[the-evil-clergyman]

Illustration from Daphnis and Chloe by John Austen (1931)

[hellenicdreams]

The Mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty 

Come, and trip it as you go, On the light fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.

[hellenicdreams]

The Echo 

“And music born of morning sound shall pass into her face.”

[fluentisonus]

shoutout to this 19th century italian painter (ettore forti) who specialized in the genre “women being sold things in ancient rome”:

[itscolossal]

Archaeologists Excavate a Stunning Roman Mosaic That’s Untarnished From an Italian Vineyard

[ziraseal]

[hellenicdreams]

Minnie Jane Hardman

Study of a Bust of Hermes (c. 1883-1889)

[hellenicdreams]

Minnie Jane Hardman

Studies of the Discophoros (1882-1883)

Submitted by Hardman for admission to the Royal Academy. She needed to produce an “undraped antique statue” despite the fact that women were still not allowed into “undraped” life drawing classes.

[hellenicdreams]

EDWARD LEAR (2 OF 2)

Greek landscapes

Mostly know for his nonsense poems (The Owl and the Pussycat), Lear was a prolific and talented watercolourist. He visited Greece in 1848-9, and, both during and after his trip, created numerous sketches and watercolours. These show a variety of Greek landscapes, including the pass of Thermopylae.

You can read more about Lear’s trip to Greece here.

[hellenicdreams]

It is easy to forget just how detailed and characterful the portraits on Greek coins could be...

[englishlitty]

The Iliad, cover illustration by husband and wife illustrator team Leo & Diane Dillon, 1969

[hellenicdreams]

EDWARD LEAR (1 of 2)

Athens: Three Views of the Acropolis (with Frankish tower still standing), and the Temple of Zeus (with later brickwork still on top).

Mostly know for his nonsense poems (The Owl and the Pussycat), Lear was a prolific and talented watercolourist. He visited Greece in 1848-9, and, both during and after his trip, created numerous sketches and watercolours. These show some views of Athens, around 15yrs after it was instated as the capital of Greece. 

You can read more about Lear’s trip to Greece here.

[hellenicdreams]

Robert Macpherson (Scottish, 1811 - 1872) [Statue of Demosthenes - Vatican Museum], 1850s, Albumen silver print 37.1 × 16.7 cm (14 5/8 × 6 9/16 in.), 84.XM.502.27 The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

[hellenicdreams]

Erica B. on Twitter

“This #thread is for those of you struggling to comprehend that the recent murders are just a fraction of racial violence in the United Stat

A harrowing but important thread.

[hildegardavon]

John McKirdy Duncan, 1866-1945

The Legend of Orpheus [Eurydice] (detail of the central and final panel), 1895, watercolor, 80x60 cm 

Private Collection

[hellenicdreams]

As Cicero said: O tempora, o mores!