1.
The Bassarids
–
The Bassarids is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, after Euripidess The Bacchae. The conflict in the opera is between human rationality and emotional control, represented by the King of Thebes, Pentheus, and unbridled human passion, matthew Passion and the English Suite in D minor. Auden and Kallman wrote of changes that made to the Euripides original for the purposes of this opera. It was first performed in a German translation by Maria Basse-Sporleder in Salzburg on 6 August 1966 conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi. The first performance using the original English text, as well as the US premiere, was at Santa Fe Opera on 7 August 1968, with the composer conducting and a staging by director Bodo Igesz. The opera was given in London on 22 September 1968. Christoph von Dohnányi, who was married to Silja at the time and this same production was repeated at Carnegie Hall in November 1990 at the New York premiere of the music, which was attended by the composer. In March 1968 The Bassarids was performed at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, prior to the opera, Dionysus has stated that he intends to revenge himself upon Agave and the women of Thebes because they have denied his divinity. At the start of the opera, Cadmus, King of Thebes, has abdicated his throne in favour of his grandson Pentheus, Pentheus has learned of the cult of Dionysus, which involves wild and irrational revelry. Pentheus plans to ban the cult from his city, a stranger arrives in town and seduces the citizens into increasingly frenetic celebration of the god Dionysus. In the course of events, the spell over the citizens extends to Agave, Pentheus mother, Pentheus is killed and torn to pieces, and his city brought to ruin. Without realising it, Agave cradles the severed head of her son in her arms, the Stranger is revealed to be Dionysus himself
The Bassarids
–
Hans Werner Henze
2.
Thyrsus
–
A thyrsus or thyrsos was a wand or staff of giant fennel covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and always topped with a pine cone. The thyrsus, associated with Dionysus and his followers, the Satyrs and Maenads, is a symbol of prosperity, fertility, hedonism, and pleasure/enjoyment in general. It has been suggested that this was specifically a fertility phallus, with the representing the shaft of the penis. The thyrsus was tossed in the Bacchic dance, Pentheus, The thyrsus— in my hand shall I hold it. Or thus am I more like a Bacchanal, Dionysus, In thy right hand, and with thy right foot raise it. Sometimes the thyrsus was displayed in conjunction with a wine cup, another symbol of Dionysus, forming a male-and-female combination like that of the royal scepter. In Greek religion, the staff was carried by the votaries of Dionysus, euripides wrote that honey dripped from the thyrsos staves that the Bacchic maenads carried. The thyrsus was an instrument at religious rituals and fêtes. The fabulous history of Bacchus relates that he converted the thyrsi carried by himself and his followers into dangerous weapons, hence his thyrsus is called a spear enveloped in vine-leaves, and its point was thought to incite to madness. Euripides also writes, Theres a brute wildness in the fennel-wands—Reverence it well, for many, as they say in the mysteries, are the thyrsus bearers, but few are the mystics, --meaning, as I interpret the words, the true philosophers. The bas-relief in bronze ye promised me, /Those Pans and nymphs ye wot of, Thrysus at Encyclopædia Britannica Online Thrysus at The Ancient Library Thyrsus at Perseus Project
Thyrsus
–
Thyrsus staff tied with
taenia and topped with a
pine cone.
Thyrsus
–
A Bacchant holding a thyrsus: Malice by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1899)
Thyrsus
–
Roman
relief showing a Maenad holding a thyrsus, 120-140 AD (
Prado Museum,
Madrid).
Thyrsus
–
Bacchus Triumphant by
John Reinhard Weguelin (1882)
3.
Tondo (art)
–
A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, round, artists have created tondi since Greek antiquity. The circular paintings in the centre of painted vases of that period are known as tondi, the style was revived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, particularly in Italy, where it may have developed from the smaller desco da parto or birthing tray. Since then it has been less common, in Ford Madox Browns painting The Last of England, the ships wire railing curving round the figures helps enclose the composition within its tondo shape. The background scene is consolidated or omitted, and to an extent, unimportant. While the background may be visible in paintings, in tondo relief carvings the background is not seen. Andrea della Robbia and other members of his family created glazed terracotta tondi that were framed in a wreath of fruit and leaves. In the sixteenth century the style of istoriato decoration for maiolica wares was applied to large circular dishes. The infrequently-encountered synonym rondo much more usually refers to a musical form, adoration of the Magi Taddei Tondo Doni Tondo Pitti Tondo Severan Tondo, Roman painting of c.200 AD Roberta J. M. Olson, The Florentine Tondo, Oxford 2000. Moritz Hauptmann, Der Tondo, Ursprung, Bedeutung und Geschichte des italienischen Rundbildes in Relief und Malerei, six tondi from the National Gallery, London
Tondo (art)
–
Tondo by
Andrea della Robbia
Tondo (art)
–
Madonna of the Pomegranate c. 1487 by
Sandro Botticelli. Tempera on panel. 143.5 cm diameter (
Uffizi)
Tondo (art)
–
Taddei Tondo, a
relief sculpture by
Michelangelo in the
Royal Academy, London.
4.
Ancient Greece
–
Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
Ancient Greece
–
The
Parthenon, a temple dedicated to
Athena, located on the
Acropolis in
Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.
Ancient Greece
–
Dipylon Vase of the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period,
c. 750 BC.
Ancient Greece
–
Political geography of ancient Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods
5.
Kylix (drinking cup)
–
In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of wine-drinking cup. It has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot, the main alternative wine-cup shape was the kantharos, with a narrower and deeper cup and high vertical handles. As the representations would be covered with wine, the scenes would only be revealed in stages as the wine was drained and they were often designed with this in mind, with scenes created so that they would surprise or titillate the drinker as they were revealed. The word comes from the Greek kylix cup, which is cognate with Latin calix, the term seems to have been rather more generally used in ancient Greece. Individual examples and the many named sub-varieties of kylix are often called names just using cup, like all other types of Greek pottery vessels, they are also covered by the general term of vase. Dionysos, the god of wine, and his satyrs or related komastic scenes, are common subjects, on the external surface sometimes, large eyes were depicted, probably also with humorous purposes. The shape of the kylix enabled the drinker to drink whilst recumbent and it also enabled them to play kottabos, a game played by flinging wine lees at targets. A typical bowl held roughly 8 oz/250ml of fluid, though this varied greatly with size and shape. There are many sub-types of kylix, variously defined by their basic shape, several of these are grouped under the term of Little-Master cup. The sub-types include, After the kylikes were formed, an artisan drew a depiction of an event from Greek mythology or everyday life with a glaze on the outer surface of the formation. Inside the drinking bowl was often a portrait of dancing and/or festive drinking, unique compositional skills were necessary for the artisans to attain due to the lack of verticals and horizontals on the surface. Onesimos, Makron, and Douris were famous painters in this field, individual kylixes with articles include, Arkesilas Cup, very unusual because it shows a living political figure, Arkesilaos II, king of Kyrene. It is dated to about 565/560 BC, and is now in Paris, dionysus Cup, famous for its painting, 540–530 BC. It is one of the masterpieces of the Attic Black-figure potter Exekias, berlin Foundry Cup, a red-figure kylix from the early 5th century BC. It is the vase of the Attic vase painter known conventionally as the Foundry Painter. Its most striking feature is the depiction of activities in an Athenian bronze workshop or foundry. It is an important source on ancient Greek metal-working technology, Brygos Cup of Würzburg, an Attic red-figure kylix from about 480 BC. It was made by the Brygos potter and painted by the man known as the Brygos Painter and its symposium scenes are some of the best-known images of Greek pottery
Kylix (drinking cup)
–
Kylix by Euergides (circa 500 BC) in the
British Museum,
London.
Kylix (drinking cup)
–
Detail of a Kylix depicting a young warrior running. The Walters Art Museum.
6.
Vulci
–
Vulci or Volci was a rich and important Etruscan city. As George Dennis wrote, Vulci is a city whose very name, was scarcely remembered, but which now, for the enormous treasures of antiquity it has yielded, is exalted above every other city of the ancient world. Many impressive remains of the city can be seen today, Vulci was located near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea about 80 km northwest of Rome, on the Fiora River, between Montalto di Castro and Canino. The Vulci, like other Etruscans, became master sculptors in bronze as acknowledged by ancient writers, although most large bronzes have been lost, there remain some magnificent examples of Etruscan bronze work such as the Chimera of Arezzo and the Monteleone chariot, possibly made in Vulci. Despite these discoveries most of these tombs were later forgotten and lost, in the Villanovan period, the wealth of metal resources in the Colline Metallifere hills was important in the development of trade especially with Sardinia. Among the funeral contents is a magnificent bronze statue of a now in the National Etruscan Museum museum in the Villa Giulia. Numerous Villanovan fibulas have also found in Sardinia. Vulcis golden age of influence and wealth was in the 6th century BC when it ruled over the cities of Orbetello, Saturnia, Sovana, Castro, Pitigliano, in return it exported its treasures throughout the Mediterranean, pottery, bronzes and wine. Originally the Etruscans were co-founders of Rome and they continued to dominate it, Vulci had some influence on early Rome, as Servius Tullius and the Vibenna brothers were from Vulci. Their names and pictures appear on a fresco in the François Tomb, after the population of Rome had become predominantly Italic, the Etruscan kings were overthrown. After a time of crisis in the 2nd half of the 5th century, the Roman–Etruscan Wars lasted many years before the Romans gained control over Etruria and the Etruscans were soundly defeated at Lake Vadimo in 310 and 283 BC. Nevertheless, Vulci was strong enough to further resist until Tiberius Coruncanius triumphed over Vulci in 280 BC, the Romans took the coast from Vulci, cutting the base of their power which seems to have led to the decline of the city. The Etruscan league splintered apart during the war and the Etruscans were soon assimilated, Vulci does not seem to have been of great importance in the remaining Roman period, even though the Romans built the Via Aurelia through it in 240 BC. However, rich and impressive buildings in the city date to this period, a surviving milestone gives the distance to Rome as 70 milia passuum. The road outside the gate was repaved probably under Trajans reign. Later Vulci became an episcopal see, the final abandonment seems to be in the 8th c. Recent excavations are discovering much more information on the history and importance of the city, the former wealth of the town was shown first by the discoveries made in its extensive necropoli starting from the 18th century - Greek vases, bronzes and other remains. From these tombs more Attic vases have been found in Vulci than at any other ancient site, many of the finds were sold by the excavators and many found their way into the major museums of the world where they can be seen today
Vulci
–
The archaeological site of Vulci
Vulci
–
Ancient Etruscan quay on the river Fiora.
Vulci
–
Bronze statue from the Isis Tomb in the
British Museum
Vulci
–
History
7.
Greek mythology
–
It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
Greek mythology
–
Bust of
Zeus,
Otricoli (Sala Rotonda,
Museo Pio-Clementino,
Vatican).
Greek mythology
–
Greek Mythology
Greek mythology
–
Prometheus (1868 by
Gustave Moreau). The myth of Prometheus first was attested by
Hesiod and then constituted the basis for a tragic trilogy of plays, possibly by Aeschylus, consisting of
Prometheus Bound,
Prometheus Unbound, and
Prometheus Pyrphoros.
Greek mythology
–
The Roman poet
Virgil, here depicted in the fifth-century manuscript, the
Vergilius Romanus, preserved details of Greek mythology in many of his writings.
8.
Ancient Greek
–
Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
Ancient Greek
–
Inscription about the construction of the statue of
Athena Parthenos in the
Parthenon, 440/439 BC
Ancient Greek
–
Ostracon bearing the name of
Cimon,
Stoa of Attalos
Ancient Greek
–
The words ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ as they are inscribed on the marble of the 1955
Leonidas Monument at
Thermopylae
9.
Dionysus
–
Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient Greek religion and myth. Wine played an important role in Greek culture, and the cult of Dionysus was the religious focus for its unrestrained consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c, 1500–1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks, traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms, some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, in some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner, in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, the god that comes and his festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a male, bearded and robed. He holds a staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth, in its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession is made up of female followers and bearded satyrs with erect penises, some are armed with the thyrsus. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers and this procession is presumed to be the cult model for the followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. He is also known as Bacchus, the adopted by the Romans. His thyrsus, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. As Eleutherios, his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care and those who partake of his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself. The cult of Dionysus is also a cult of the souls, his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings and he is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god. Some scholars believe that Dionysus is a syncretism of a local Greek nature deity, Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was a woman, Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes, and his father was Zeus. Zeus wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant, appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semeles mind, curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood
Dionysus
–
2nd-century Roman statue of Dionysus, after a
Hellenistic model (ex-coll.
Cardinal Richelieu,
Louvre)
Dionysus
–
Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons. Roman ca. AD 260–270
Dionysus
–
Birth of Dionysus, on a small sarcophagus that may have been made for a child (
Walters Art Museum)
Dionysus
–
Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by
Praxiteles, (
Archaeological Museum of Olympia).
10.
Thiasus
–
In Greek mythology and religion, the thiasus, was the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus, often pictured as inebriated revelers. Many of the myths of Dionysus are connected with his arrival in the form of a procession, the grandest such version was his triumphant return from India, which influenced symbolic conceptions of the Roman triumph and was narrated in rapturous detail in Nonnus Dionysiaca. In this procession, Dionysus rides a chariot, often drawn by big cats such as tigers, leopards, the thiasos of the sea god Poseidon is depicted as a triumphal wedding procession with Amphitrite, attended by figures such as sea nymphs and hippocamps. In historical Greek society, thiasoi were religious organizations whose existence was protected by law, the most significant members of the thiasus were the human female devotees, the maenads, who gradually replaced immortal nymphs. In Greek vase-paintings or bas-reliefs, lone female figures can be recognized as belonging to the thiasus by their brandishing the thyrsos, other regulars of the retinue were various nature spirits, including the sileni, phalluses much in evidence, satyrs, and Pan. The ithyphallic sileni are often shown dancing on vase paintings, the tutor of Dionysus is represented by a single aged Silenus. The retinue is sometimes shown being brought before a recipient, the tragic human welcomer of the gift of wine, Ikarios or Semachos. In the triumphal form of procession, Ariadne sometimes rides with Dionysus as his consort, heracles followed the thiasus for a short while following his loss of a drinking contest to Dionysus. On the 6th-century BC François Vase, Dionysus is accompanied in procession by the three Horae, other notable depictions in art include the silver Great Dish from the Mildenhall Treasure, the Lycurgus Cup, and in the Renaissance Titians Bacchus and Ariadne. The Dionysian retinue was a subject for Roman art, especially bas-reliefs. The marine or sea thiasos depicted Poseidon and his retinue, an original work of Skopas on this theme was taken to Rome and lost, but the scene is well represented in Roman art, from tiny decorative reliefs and large sarcophagus panels to extensive mosaics
Thiasus
–
Dionysus and members of his thiasos on an
Attic black-figure krater -
psykter (525–500 BCE,
Louvre Museum)
Thiasus
–
Triumph of Dionysus on a fragmentary Roman
mosaic (3rd century,
Sousse Archaeological Museum)
Thiasus
–
Sea thiasos depicting the wedding of Poseidon and
Amphitrite (2nd century BCE)
11.
Roman mythology
–
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may also refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends also have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, however, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period, history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date. By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, lucretia, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
Roman mythology
–
Romulus and Remus, the
Lupercal,
Father Tiber, and the
Palatine on a
relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of
Trajan (AD 98–117)
Roman mythology
–
In this wall painting from
Pompeii,
Venus looks on while the physician
Iapyx tends to the wound of her son,
Aeneas; the tearful boy is her grandson
Ascanius, also known as Iulus, legendary ancestor [
citation needed] of
Julius Caesar and the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Roman mythology
–
Mucius Scaevola in the Presence of Lars Porsenna (early 1640s) by
Matthias Stom
Roman mythology
–
Capitoline Triad
12.
Bacchus
–
Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient Greek religion and myth. Wine played an important role in Greek culture, and the cult of Dionysus was the religious focus for its unrestrained consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c, 1500–1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks, traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms, some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, in some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner, in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, the god that comes and his festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a male, bearded and robed. He holds a staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth, in its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession is made up of female followers and bearded satyrs with erect penises, some are armed with the thyrsus. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers and this procession is presumed to be the cult model for the followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. He is also known as Bacchus, the adopted by the Romans. His thyrsus, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. As Eleutherios, his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care and those who partake of his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself. The cult of Dionysus is also a cult of the souls, his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings and he is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god. Some scholars believe that Dionysus is a syncretism of a local Greek nature deity, Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was a woman, Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes, and his father was Zeus. Zeus wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant, appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semeles mind, curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood
Bacchus
–
2nd-century Roman statue of Dionysus, after a
Hellenistic model (ex-coll.
Cardinal Richelieu,
Louvre)
Bacchus
–
Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons. Roman ca. AD 260–270
Bacchus
–
Birth of Dionysus, on a small sarcophagus that may have been made for a child (
Walters Art Museum)
Bacchus
–
Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by
Praxiteles, (
Archaeological Museum of Olympia).
13.
Fox
–
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes are slightly smaller than a domestic dog, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout. Twelve species belong to the group of Vulpes genus of true foxes. Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica, by far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, the word fox comes from Old English, which derived from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. This in turn derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ-, meaning ’thick-haired, tail’. Male foxes are known as dogs, tods or reynards, females as vixens, a group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, or earth. Foxes are generally smaller than members of the family Canidae such as wolves, jackals. For example, in the largest species, the red fox, males weigh on average between 4.1 and 8.7 kg, while the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs just 0.7 to 1.6 kg. Fox-like features typically include a face, pointed ears, an elongated rostrum. Foxes are digitigrade, and thus, walk on their toes, unlike their dog relatives, foxes have partially retractable claws. Fox vibrissae, or whiskers, are black, the whiskers on the muzzle, mystaciae vibrissae, average 100-110mm long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers are also on the forelimbs and average 40mm long, pointing downward and backward, other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance. Fox species differ in fur color, length, and density, coat colors range from pearly white to black and white to black flecked with white or grey on the underside. Fennec foxes, for example, have ears and short fur to aid in keeping the body cool. Arctic foxes, on the hand, have tiny ears and short limbs as well as thick, insulating fur. Red foxes, by contrast, have a typical auburn pelt, a foxs coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons, fox pelts are richer and denser in the colder months and lighter in the warmer months
Fox
–
Fox
Fox
–
Arctic fox curled up in snow
Fox
–
Ethiopian wolf, native to the Ethiopian highlands
Fox
–
Crab-eating fox, a South American species
14.
Ecstasy (emotion)
–
Ecstasy is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of his or her awareness. In classical Greek literature it refers to removal of the mind or body from its place of function. The word is used to refer to any heightened state of consciousness or intensely pleasant experience. It is also used specifically to denote states of awareness of non-ordinary mental spaces. For the duration of the ecstasy the ecstatic is out of touch with life and is capable neither of communication with other people nor of undertaking normal actions. The experience can be brief in time, or it can go on for hours. Subjective perception of time, space or self may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy, for instance, if one is concentrating on a physical task, then any intellectual thoughts may cease. On the other hand, making a journey in an ecstatic trance involves the cessation of voluntary bodily movement. The particular technique that an individual uses to induce ecstasy is usually associated with that individuals particular religious. Sometimes an ecstatic experience takes place due to contact with something or somebody perceived as extremely beautiful or holy. In some cases, a person might obtain an ecstatic experience by mistake, maybe the person unintentionally triggers one of the, probably many, physiological mechanisms through which such an experience can be reached. In such cases, it is not rare to find that the later, by reading, looks for an interpretation. People interpret the experience afterward according to their culture and beliefs, when a person is using an ecstasy technique, he usually does so within a tradition. When he reaches an experience, an interpretation of it already exists. The experience together with its subsequent interpretation may strongly and permanently change the value system, in 1925, James Leuba wrote, Among most uncivilized populations, as among civilized peoples, certain ecstatic conditions are regarded as divine possession or as union with the Divine. These states are induced by means of drugs, by physical excitement, but, however produced and at whatever level of culture they may be found, they possess certain common features which suggest even to the superficial observer some profound connection. Always described as delightful beyond expression, these awesome ecstatic experiences end commonly in mental quiescence or even in total unconsciousness. To recognize a continuity of impulse, of purpose, of form, in everyday language, the word ecstasy denotes an intense, euphoric experience
Ecstasy (emotion)
–
The Ecstasy of
St. Theresa by
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1652). Left transept of Santa Maria della Vittoria (17th century) in Rome.
Ecstasy (emotion)
–
St Filippo Neri in Ecstasy
Ecstasy (emotion)
–
Ecstasy, by
Jean Benner (
Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art)
15.
Fawn
–
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the deer and the chital, and the Capreolinae, including the elk, reindeer, the Western roe deer. Female reindeer, and male deer of all species, grow, in this they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are in the same order, Artiodactyla. The musk deer of Asia and water chevrotain of tropical African and Asian forests are not usually regarded as true deer and form their own families, Moschidae and Tragulidae, respectively. Deer appear in art from Palaeolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played a role in mythology, religion and their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin, and their antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a sport since at least the Middle Ages. Deer live in a variety of biomes, ranging from tundra to the tropical rainforest, while often associated with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and thickets and prairie and savanna. The majority of deer species inhabit temperate mixed deciduous forest, mountain mixed coniferous forest, tropical seasonal/dry forest. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may actually benefit deer populations by exposing the understory and allowing the types of grasses, weeds, additionally, access to adjacent croplands may also benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to grow, however, fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. There are also species of deer that are highly specialized, and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, swamps. Some deer have a distribution in both North America and Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga and moose that inhabit taiga, huemul deer of South Americas Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fawns behaving more like goat kids. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed forested habitats to dry forests with alpine meadows higher up. The foothills and river valleys between the mountain provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at altitudes in the subalpine meadows. Elk and mule deer both migrate between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this region, elk also inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with White-tailed deer. They also live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, the adjacent Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of elk, American bison, and pronghorn antelope
Fawn
Fawn
–
Sambar in Bangalore
Fawn
–
Fallow deer in the United States
Fawn
–
White-tailed deer in Toronto, Canada
16.
Pine cone
–
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous, the name cone derives from the fact that the shape in some species resembles a geometric cone. The individual plates of a cone are known as scales, the male cone is structurally similar across all conifers, differing only in small ways from species to species. Extending out from an axis are microsporophylls. Under each microsporophyll is one or several microsporangia, the female cone contains ovules which, when fertilized by pollen, become seeds. The female cone structure varies more markedly between the different conifer families, and is crucial for the identification of many species of conifers. The members of the family have cones that are imbricate. The scales are arranged in fibonacci number ratios. The female cone has two types of scale, the scales, derived from a modified leaf, and the seed scales, one subtended by each bract scale. On the upper-side base of each seed scale are two ovules that develop into seeds after fertilization by pollen grains. The bract scales develop first, and are conspicuous at the time of pollination, the scales open temporarily to receive gametophytes, then close during fertilization and maturation, and then re-open again at maturity to allow the seed to escape. Maturation takes 6–8 months from pollination in most Pinaceae genera, but 12 months in cedars, the cones open either by the seed scales flexing back when they dry out, or by the cones disintegrating with the seed scales falling off. The cones are conic, cylindrical or ovoid, and small to large, from 2–60 cm long. After ripening, the opening of non-serotinous pine cones is associated with their moisture content—cones are open when dry and this assures that the small, wind disseminated seeds will be dispersed during relatively dry weather, and thus, the distance traveled from the parent tree will be enhanced. A pine cone will go through cycles of opening and closing during its life span. This process occurs with older cones while attached to branches and even after the cones have fallen to the forest floor. The condition of fallen pine cones is an indication of the forest floors moisture content. Closed cones indicate damp conditions while open cones indicate the forest floor is dry, members of the Araucariaceae have the bract and seed scales fully fused, and have only one ovule on each scale
Pine cone
–
Mature female
Pinus coulteri cone
Pine cone
–
An
Aleppo Pine cone
Pine cone
–
Intact and disintegrated fir cones
Pine cone
–
Young cones of a
Colorado Blue Spruce
17.
Mythology
–
Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people or to the study of such myths. Myths are the people tell to explain nature, history. Myth is a feature of every culture, mythologizing continues, as shown in contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and comics. A cultures collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, the study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists, the nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as a primitive and failed counterpart of science, a disease of language, or a misinterpretation of magical ritual. Recent approaches often view myths as manifestations of psychological, cultural, or societal truths, the term mythology predates the word myth by centuries. It first appeared in the fifteenth-century, borrowed from the Middle French term mythologie, the word mythology, comes from Middle French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek μυθολογία mythología from μῦθος mythos and -λογία -logia. The word mythología appears in Plato, but was used as a term for fiction or story-telling of any kind, combining mỹthos. From Lydgate until the seventeenth or eighteenth-century, mythology was similarly used to mean a moral, fable, from its earliest use in reference to a collection of traditional stories or beliefs, mythology implied the falsehood of the stories being described. It came to be applied by analogy with similar bodies of traditional stories among other cultures around the world. The Greek loanword mythos and Latinate mythus both appeared in English before the first example of myth in 1830, in present use, mythology usually refers to the collected myths of a group of people, but may also mean the study of such myths. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures, dundes defined myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form. Lincoln defined myth as ideology in narrative form, scholars in other fields use the term myth in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, due to this pejorative sense, some scholars opted for the term mythos. Its use was similarly pejorative and now commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a plot point or to a collective mythology. The term is distinguished from didactic literature such as fables. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, however, many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and are linked to religion or spirituality
Mythology
–
Prometheus (1868) by
Gustave Moreau. In the mythos of
Hesiodus and possibly
Aeschylus (the
Greek trilogy
Prometheus Bound,
Prometheus Unbound and
Prometheus Pyrphoros), Prometheus is bound and tortured for giving fire to humanity at its creation.
Mythology
–
1929
Belgian banknote, depicting
Ceres,
Neptune and
caduceus.
Mythology
–
Fu Xi and
Nüwa represented as half-snake, half-human creatures
18.
Lycurgus of Thrace
–
In Greek mythology, Lycurgus was the king of the Edoni in Thrace, son of Dryas, the oak, and father of a son whose name was also Dryas. He banned the cult of Dionysus, when Lycurgus heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned Dionysuss followers, the Maenads, or drove them and Dionysus out of Thrace with an ox-goad. Dionysus fled, taking refuge in the grotto of Thetis the sea nymph. The compiler of Bibliotheke says that as punishment, Dionysus drove Lycurgus insane, in his madness, Lycurgus mistook his son for a mature trunk of ivy, which is holy to Dionysus, and killed him, pruning away his nose and ears, fingers and toes. Consequently, the land of Thrace dried up in horror, Dionysus decreed that the land would stay dry and barren as long as Lycurgus was left unpunished for his injustice, so his people bound him and flung him to man-eating horses on Mount Pangaeüs. With Lycurgus dead, Dionysus lifted the curse, also according to Hyginus, Lycurgus tried to rape his mother after imbibing wine. When he discovered what he had done, he attempted to cut down the grapevines, Dionysus drove him mad as a punishment, causing him to kill both his wife and his son, and threw him to the panthers on Mount Rhodope. Diodorus Siculus relates that, centuries before the Trojan war, King Lycurgus of Thrace exiled one of his commanders, Mopsus, in some versions the story of Lycurgus and his punishment by Dionysus is placed in Arabia rather than in Thrace. The tragedian Aeschylus, in a lost play, depicted Lycurgus as a beer-drinker, there is a further reference to Lycurgus in Sophocles Antigone in the Choruss ode after Antigone is taken away. In Homers Iliad, a source than Aeschylus, Lycurguss punishment for his disrespect towards the gods. According to Sophocles, the frenzied Lycurgus mocked at Dionysus and as punishment was shut in a prison of stone until his madness went away
Lycurgus of Thrace
–
Lycurgus, driven mad by Dionysus, attacks his wife. Name-piece of the Lycurgus Painter, 350-340 BC.
British Museum.
19.
Plutarch
–
Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist, Plutarchs surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers. Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the town of Chaeronea, about 80 km east of Delphi. The name of Plutarchs father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, the name of Plutarchs grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are mentioned in his essays and dialogues. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarchs wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. The exact number of his sons is not certain, although two of them, Autobulus and the second Plutarch, are often mentioned. Plutarchs treatise De animae procreatione in Timaeo is dedicated to them, another person, Soklarus, is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that he was Plutarchs son, but this is nowhere definitely stated. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens under Ammonius from 66 to 67, at some point, Plutarch took Roman citizenship. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. For many years Plutarch served as one of the two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, twenty miles from his home. By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire, yet he continued to reside where he was born, at his country estate, guests from all over the empire congregated for serious conversation, presided over by Plutarch in his marble chair. Many of these dialogues were recorded and published, and the 78 essays, Plutarch held the office of archon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once. He busied himself with all the matters of the town. The Suda, a medieval Greek encyclopedia, states that Emperor Trajan made Plutarch procurator of Illyria, however, most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province, and Plutarch probably did not speak Illyrian. Plutarch spent the last thirty years of his serving as a priest in Delphi. He thus connected part of his work with the sanctuary of Apollo, the processes of oracle-giving
Plutarch
–
Ruins of the Temple of
Apollo at
Delphi, where Plutarch served as one of the priests responsible for interpreting the predictions of the
oracle.
Plutarch
–
Parallel Lives,
Amyot translation, 1565
Plutarch
–
Plutarch's bust at
Chaeronea, his home town.
Plutarch
–
A page from the 1470 Ulrich Han printing of Plutarch's
Parallel Lives.
20.
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
–
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and at first ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, the reign of Philip II saw the rise of Macedonia, during which the kingdom rose to control the entire Greek world. With a reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, Philip II defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the decisive Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Sparta was kept isolated and was occupied a century later by Antigonus III Doson. Alexander then led a roughly decade-long campaign of conquest against the Achaemenid Empire, in the ensuing wars of Alexander the Great, he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered a territory that stretched as far as the Indus River. For a brief period, his Macedonian empire was the most powerful in the world – the definitive Hellenistic state, Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy, engineering, and science were spread throughout much of the ancient world. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle, who had been imported as tutor to Alexander, important cities such as Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander, Macedonias decline began with the Macedonian Wars and the rise of Rome as the leading Mediterranean power. At the end of the Second Macedonian War in 168 BC, a short-lived revival of the monarchy during the Third Macedonian War in 150–148 BC ended with the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia. The name Macedonia comes from the ethnonym Μακεδόνες, which itself is derived from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός, meaning tall and it also shares the same root as the noun μάκρος, meaning length in both ancient and modern Greek. The name is believed to have meant either highlanders, the tall ones. Robert S. P. Beekes supports that both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology. Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, the kingdom of Macedonia was situated along the Haliacmon and Axius rivers in Lower Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus. Historian Malcolm Errington posits the theory one of the earliest Argead kings must have established Aigai as their capital in the mid-7th century BC. Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region corresponding to the western. Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt, although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army. Following the Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BC, Alexander I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to strike a treaty and alliance with Athens. Soon afterwards the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe, although initially a Persian vassal, Alexander I of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian and Spartan-led coalition of Greek city-states. Two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431 BC, spurred by an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of Perdiccas II who had rebelled against him
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
–
The entrance to one of the royal tombs at Vergina, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
–
The Kingdom of Macedonia in 336 BC.
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
–
Philip II, king of Macedon
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
–
The expansion of ancient Macedon up to the death of Philip II (r. 359–336 BC).
21.
Paestum
–
Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, the city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a national museum within it. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia it was conquered by the local Lucanians. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name, as Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric, but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century. Today the remains of the city are found in the frazione of Paestum. The modern settlement, directly to the south of the site, is a popular seaside resort. Much the most celebrated features of the site today are the three temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a pronounced entasis. Above the columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature, the two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well-preserved, Paestum is far from any sources of good marble. The three main temples had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead, painted terracotta was for some detailed parts of the structure. The large pieces of terracotta that have survived are in the museum, the whole ancient city of Paestum covers an area of approximately 120 hectares. It is only the 25 hectares that contain the three temples and the other main buildings that have been excavated. The other 95 hectares remain on land and have not been excavated. The city is surrounded by walls that still stand. The walls are approximately 4750 m long,5 –7 m thick and 15 m high, positioned along the wall are 24 square and round towers. There may have been as many as 28, but some of them were destroyed during the construction of a highway during the century that effectively cut the site in two
Paestum
–
Paestum contains some of the most well-preserved ancient Greek temples in the world.
Paestum
–
Nomos of Poseidonia, c. 530–500 BC.
Poseidon is seen wielding a
trident with a
chlamys draped over his arms.
Paestum
–
The temples of Hera in Paestum, by Y. Gianni 1898
Paestum
–
Map of Paestum by Costantino Gatta, 1732.
22.
Red-figure pottery
–
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC and it replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure vase painting within a few decades. Its modern name is based on the depictions in red colour on a black background. The most important areas of production, apart from Attica, were in Southern Italy, the style was also adopted in other parts of Greece. Etruria became an important centre of production outside the Greek World, Attic red-figure vases were exported throughout Greece and beyond. For a long time, they dominated the market for fine ceramics, only few centres of pottery production could compete with Athens in terms of innovation, quality and production capacity. Of the red figure vases produced in Athens alone, more than 40,000 specimens, from the second most important production centre, Southern Italy, more than 20,000 vases and fragments are preserved. Starting with the studies by John D. Beazley and Arthur Dale Trendall, some vases can be ascribed to individual artists or schools. The images provide evidence for the exploration of Greek cultural history, everyday life, iconography, red figure is, put simply, the reverse of the black figure technique. Both were achieved by using the three-phase firing technique, the paintings were applied to the shaped but unfired vessels after they had dried to a leathery, near-brittle texture. In Attica, the normal unburnt clay was of orange colour at this stage, the outlines of the intended figures were drawn either with a blunt scraper, leaving a slight groove, or with charcoal, which would disappear entirely during firing. Then the contours were redrawn with a brush, using a clay slip. Occasionally, the decided to somewhat change the figural scene. In such cases the grooves from the original sketch sometimes remain visible, important contours were often drawn with a thicker slip, leading to a slightly protruding outline, less important lines and internal details were drawn with diluted glossy clay. Detail in other colours, like white or red, were applied at this point, the relief line was probably drawn with a bristle brush or a hair, dipped in thick paint. The suggestion of a hollow needle seems somewhat unlikely, the application of relief outlines was necessary, as the rather liquid glossy clay would otherwise have turned out too dull. After the techniques initial phase of development, both alternatives were used, so as to differentiate gradations and details more clearly, the space between figures was filled with a glossy grey clay slip. Then, the vases underwent triple-phase firing, during which the glossy clay reached its characteristic black or black-brown colour through reduction, the new technique had the primary advantage of permitting a far better execution of internal detail
Red-figure pottery
–
Procession of men,
kylix by the
Triptolemos Painter, circa 480 BCE.
Paris:
Louvre
Red-figure pottery
–
The wedding of
Thetis,
pyxis by the
Wedding Painter, circa 470/460 BCE.
Paris:
Louvre
Red-figure pottery
–
black-figure scene on the
Belly Amphora by the Andokides Painter (Munich 2301).
Munich:
Staatliche Antikensammlungen
Red-figure pottery
–
Red-figure scene on the
Belly Amphora by the Andokides Painter (Munich 2301).
Munich:
Staatliche Antikensammlungen
23.
Skyphos
–
A skyphos is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim, Skyphoi of the type called glaux have one horizontal and one vertical thumbhold handle. Early skyphoi were made during the Geometric period, corinth set the conventions that Athens followed. Over a long period the shape remained the same while the style of decoration changed, Skyphoi were also made of precious metals, generally silver and gold leaf, many examples exist. One possible, well-preserved example is the Warren cup, an ovoid scyphus made of silver, a Roman skyphos of cameo glass can be seen at the Getty Museum. Comparable forms of a drinking cup on a base included, Kotyle. Black-figure pottery Red-figure pottery Boscoreale Treasure Skyphoi Perseus Encyclopedia, skyphos
Skyphos
–
Emperor Tiberius's triumph. Silver skyphos with repoussé decoration, late 1st century BC–early 1st century AD. From the villa della Pisanella at Boscoreale, 1895. Below: Attic skyphos depicting a
hoplite, ca. 490-480 BC.
Skyphos
–
Skyphos
24.
British Museum
–
The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
British Museum
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British Museum
British Museum
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The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2001 to become the
Great Court, surrounding the original
Reading Room.
British Museum
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Sir
Hans Sloane
British Museum
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Montagu House, c. 1715
25.
Euripides
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Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens. He is one of the few plays have survived, with the others being Aeschylus, Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed 95 plays to him but according to the Suda it was 92 at most, of these,18 or 19 have survived more or less complete and there are also fragments, some substantial, of most of the other plays. This new approach led him to pioneer developments that later writers adapted to comedy, yet he also became the most tragic of poets, focusing on the inner lives and motives of his characters in a way previously unknown. He was also unique among the writers of ancient Athens for the sympathy he demonstrated towards all victims of society and his contemporaries associated him with Socrates as a leader of a decadent intellectualism, both of them being frequently lampooned by comic poets such as Aristophanes. Whereas Socrates was eventually put on trial and executed as an influence, Euripides chose a voluntary exile in old age. Recent scholarship casts doubt on ancient biographies of Euripides, for example, it is possible that he never visited Macedonia at all, or, if he did, he might have been drawn there by King Archelaus with incentives that were also offered to other artists. Upon the receipt of a saying that his son was fated to win crowns of victory. In fact the boy was destined for a career on the stage and he served for a short time as both dancer and torch-bearer at the rites of Apollo Zosterius. His education was not confined to athletics, he studied painting and philosophy under the masters Prodicus. He had two marriages and both his wives—Melite and Choerine —were unfaithful. He became a recluse, making a home for himself in a cave on Salamis, there he built an impressive library and pursued daily communion with the sea and sky. Eventually he retired to the court of King Archelaus in Macedonia. However, as mentioned in the introduction, biographical details such as these should be regarded with scepticism and this biography is divided into three sections corresponding to the three kinds of sources. The apocryphal account that he composed his works in a cave on Salamis island was a late tradition, much of his life and his whole career coincided with the struggle between Athens and Sparta for hegemony in Greece but he didnt live to see the final defeat of his city. In an account by Plutarch, the failure of the Sicilian expedition led Athenians to trade renditions of Euripides lyrics to their enemies in return for food. Tragic poets were often mocked by comic poets during the dramatic festivals Dionysia and Lenaia, Aristophanes scripted him as a character in at least three plays, The Acharnians, Thesmophoriazusae and The Frogs. Yet Aristophanes borrowed rather than just satirized some of the methods, he was once ridiculed by a colleague, Cratinus, as a hair-splitting master of niceties
Euripides
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Bust of Euripides: Roman marble copy of a 4th-century BC Greek original (
Museo Pio-Clementino, Rome)
Euripides
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A statue of Euripides,
Louvre,
Paris.
26.
The Bacchae
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The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It won first prize in the City Dionysia festival competition and this side is sensual without analysis, it feels a connection between man and beast, and it is a potential source of divinity and spiritual power. In Euripides’ plays the gods represent various qualities, allowing the audience to grapple with considerations of the human condition. The tragedy is based on the Greek myth of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave, and their punishment by the god Dionysus. The god Dionysus appears at the beginning of the play and proclaims that he has arrived in Thebes to avenge the slander, which has been repeated by his aunts, that he is not the son of Zeus. In response, he intends to introduce Dionysian rites into the city, and he intends to demonstrate to the king, Pentheus, and to Thebes that he was indeed born a god. However, as the play proceeds Dionysus encounters what he considers newly occurring reasons to be angry, and in his capriciousness, the audience watches his revenge grow out of proportion. By the end of the play, there is the horrible and gruesome death of the king, Dionysus will further cause the plundering of a number of other cities. In The Bacchae there are two different versions of Dionysus. First there is the god as he is described by the chorus, however, Dionysus also appears as a character on the stage, has come for revenge, and is never like this. He is instead deliberate, plotting, angry and vengeful, the Bacchae is considered to be not only Euripides greatest tragedy, but one of the greatest ever written, modern or ancient. The Bacchae is distinctive for the facts that the chorus is integrated into the plot and the god is not a distant presence, but a character in the play, indeed, the protagonist. The Bacchae has been the subject of varying interpretations regarding what the play as a whole means. The extraordinary beauty and passion of the poetic choral descriptions indicate that the author certainly knew what attracted those who followed Dionysus, and the vivid gruesomeness of the punishment of Pentheus suggests that he could also understand those who were troubled by the religion. The Dionysus in Euripides tale is a god, angry that his mortal family. His mortal mother, Semele, was a mistress of Zeus, while pregnant she was killed, through trickery, by Hera, who was jealous of her husbands affair. When Semele died, her sisters said it was Zeus will and accused her of lying, they accused their father, Cadmus. Most of Semeles family refuse to believe Dionysus is the son of Zeus, and he has traveled throughout Asia and other foreign lands, gathering a cult of female worshipers
The Bacchae
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Pentheus being torn apart by Agave and Ino, Attic red-figure vase.
The Bacchae
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Ramona Reeves and Lynn Odell in director Brad Mays' stage production of
Euripides ' The Bacchae, 1997, Los Angeles.
27.
Thebes, Greece
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Thebes is a city in Boeotia, central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas, the Sacred Band of Thebes famously fell at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was a force in Greek history. During the Byzantine period, the city was famous for its silks, the modern city contains an Archaeological Museum, the remains of the Cadmea, and scattered ancient remains. Modern Thebes is the largest town of the unit of Boeotia. Thebes is situated in a plain, between Lake Yliki to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica and its elevation is 215 metres above mean sea level. It is about 50 kilometres northwest of Athens, and 100 kilometres southeast of Lamia, motorway 1 and the Athens–Thessaloniki railway connect Thebes with Athens and northern Greece. The municipality of Thebes covers an area of 830.112 square kilometres, the unit of Thebes 321.015 square kilometres. In 2011, as a consequence of the Kallikratis reform, Thebes was merged with Plataies, Thisvi, and Vagia to form a larger municipality, the other three become units of the larger municipality. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished, The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, the building of a seven-gated wall by Amphion, and the cognate stories of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce. See Theban pederasty and Pederasty in ancient Greece for detailed discussion, the immolation of Semele and the advent of Dionysus. The Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre, Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor and was an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, *Tʰēgʷai in LHIIIB lost contact with Egypt but gained it with Miletus and Cyprus. In the late LHIIIB, according to Palaima, *Tʰēgʷai was able to pull resources from Lamos near Mount Helicon, and from Karystos and Amarynthos on the Greek side of the isle of Euboia. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading Dorians, and this centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia
Thebes, Greece
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Remains of the Cadmea, the central fortress of ancient Thebes
Thebes, Greece
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Theban workshop (Oinochoe type), 7th century BC.
Thebes, Greece
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Map of the Topography of Ancient Thebes.
Thebes, Greece
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Silver
stater of Thebes (405-395 BC). Obverse: Boeotian shield, reverse: Head of bearded
Dionysus.
28.
Pentheus
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In Greek mythology, Pentheus was a king of Thebes. His father was Echion, the wisest of the Spartoi and his mother was Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia. Much of what is known about the character comes from the interpretation of the myth in Euripides tragic play, the story of Pentheus resistance to Dionysus and his subsequent punishment is presented by Euripides as follows. Cadmus, the king of Thebes, abdicated due to his old age in favor of his grandson Pentheus. Pentheus soon banned the worship of the god Dionysus, who was the son of his aunt Semele, an angered Dionysus caused Pentheus mother Agave and his aunts Ino and Autonoë, along with all the other women of Thebes, to rush to Mount Cithaeron in a Bacchic frenzy. Because of this, Pentheus imprisoned Dionysus, thinking the man simply a follower, but his chains fell off, Dionysus lured Pentheus out to spy on the Bacchic rites disguised as a woman, and Pentheus expected to see sexual activities. The daughters of Cadmus saw him in a tree and thought him to be a wild animal and they pulled Pentheus down and tore him limb from limb. When his true identity was discovered, officials exiled the women from Thebes. Some say that his own mother was the first to him, tearing his arm off. She placed the head on a stick and took it back to Thebes, but only realized whose head it was after meeting her father Cadmus. The name Pentheus, as Dionysus and Tiresias both point out, means Man of Sorrows and derives from πένθος, pénthos, sorrow or grief and his name appeared to mark him for tragedy. Pentheus was succeeded by his uncle Polydorus, before or possibly after Pentheus was killed, his wife gave birth to a son named Menoeceus, who became the father of Creon and Jocasta. He became the grandfather of Oedipus, the story of Pentheus is also discussed by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. Ovids version diverges from Euripides work in several areas, in Ovids Metamorphoses, King Pentheus is warned by the blind seer Tiresias to welcome Bacchus or else Your blood poured out and defile the woods and your mother and her sisters. Pentheus dismisses Tiresias and ignores his warnings, as Thebes succumbs to the dementia and the delirium of the new god, Pentheus laments the fall of his kingdom and demands the arrest of Bacchus. Pentheus, convinced that Acoetes is lying, tries to him in jail. But when the try to shackle Acoetes, the chains fall off. When Pentheus heard this it caused something insane behind his eyes tear off its straightjacket, in a rage, Pentheus ran to deal with Bacchus himself
Pentheus
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Pentheus torn apart by
Ino and
Agave, lekanis lid, ca. 450-450 BC,
Louvre.
29.
Orpheus
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Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. For the Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called Orphic mysteries and he was credited with the composition of the Orphic Hymns, a collection of which only two have survived. Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles, some ancient Greek sources note Orpheus Thracian origins. The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a fragment of the sixth-century BC lyric poet Ibycus. He is not mentioned in Homer or Hesiod, most ancient sources accept his historical existence, Aristotle is an exception. Pindar calls Orpheus the father of songs and identifies him as a son of the Thracian king Oeagrus, Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians, it was said that while Hermes had invented the lyre, Orpheus had perfected it. Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the Underworld and return, his music, Orpheus was an augur and seer, he practiced magical arts and astrology, founded cults to Apollo and Dionysus and prescribed the mystery rites preserved in Orphic texts. Pindar and Apollonius of Rhodes place Orpheus as the harpist and companion of Jason, Orpheus had a brother named Linus, who went to Thebes and became a Theban. He is claimed by Aristophanes and Horace to have taught cannibals to subsist on fruit, Horace believed, however, that Orpheus had only introduced order and civilization to savages. Bertrand Russell noted, The Orphics were a sect, wine, to them, was only a symbol, as, later. The intoxication that they sought was that of enthusiasm, of union with the god and they believed themselves, in this way, to acquire mystic knowledge not obtainable by ordinary means. This mystical element entered into Greek philosophy with Pythagoras, who was a reformer of Orphism as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of Dionysus, from Pythagoras Orphic elements entered into the philosophy of Plato, and from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious. Strabo presents Orpheus as a mortal, who lived and died in a close to Olympus. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. He made money as a musician and wizard – Strabo uses agurteúonta, agúrtēs most often meant charlatan and always had a negative connotation. Pausanias writes of an unnamed Egyptian who considered Orpheus a mágeuse, according to Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus father was Oeagrus, a Thracian king, or, according to another version of the story, the god Apollo. His mother was the muse Calliope, or, a daughter of Pierus and his birthplace and place of residence was in Pimpleia, Olympus
Orpheus
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Roman mosaic depicting Orpheus, wearing a
Phrygian cap and surrounded by the beasts charmed by the music of his
lyre
Orpheus
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Orpheus (left, with lyre) among the Thracians, from an
Attic red-figure bell-krater (ca. 440 BC)
Orpheus
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Orpheus with the lyre and surrounded by beasts (
Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens)
Orpheus
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Thracian Girl Carrying the Head of Orpheus on His Lyre by
Gustave Moreau (1865)
,_oil_on_canvas,_73_x_54_cm_DSC05359...jpg)
_-_Bacchante_(1894).jpg)
Media related to Maenads at Wikimedia Commons
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Maenads". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
