Eris (mythology)
Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her name is the equivalent of Latin Discordia, which means "discord". Eris' Greek opposite is Harmonia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo; the dwarf planet Eris is named after the goddess. Eris is of uncertain etymology. R. S. P. Beekes suggested a Pre-Greek origin. In Hesiod's Works and Days 11–24, two different goddesses named Eris are distinguished: In Hesiod's Theogony, the daughter of Night, is less kindly spoken of as she brings forth other personifications as her children: And hateful Eris bore painful Ponos and Limos and the tearful Algea, Makhai and Androktasiai; the other Strife is she who appears in Homer's Iliad Book IV. She hurled down bitterness between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men's pain heavier, she has a son whom she named Strife. Enyo is mentioned in Book 5, Zeus sends Strife to rouse the Achaeans in Book 11, of the same work; the most famous tale of Eris recounts her initiating the Trojan War by causing the Judgement of Paris.
The goddesses Hera and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations. She therefore tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed Ancient Greek: τῇ καλλίστῃ, translit. Tē kallistē – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Fairest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient; the hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. The goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris' decision, attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power. While Greek culture placed a greater emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, destroyed in the war that ensued. In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, 2.356, when Typhon prepares to battle with Zeus: Eris was Typhon's escort in the melée, Nike led Zeus to battle. Another story of Eris includes Hera, the love of Polytekhnos and Aedon.
They claimed to love each other more than Zeus were in love. This angered Hera, so she sent Eris to wreak discord upon them. Polytekhnos was finishing off a chariot board, Aedon a web she had been weaving. Eris said to them, "Whosoever finishes thine task last shall have to present the other with a female servant!" Aedon won. But Polytekhnos was not happy by his defeat, so he came to Khelidon, Aedon's sister, raped her, he disguised her as a slave, presenting her to Aedon. When Aedon discovered this was indeed her sister, she chopped up Polytekhnos' son and fed him to Polytekhnos; the gods were not pleased, so they turned them all into birds. Eris has been adopted as the patron deity of the modern Discordian religion, begun in the late 1950s by Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley under the pen names of "Malaclypse the Younger" and "Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst"; the Discordian version of Eris is lighter in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original, wherein she is depicted as a positive force of chaotic creation.
A quote from the Principia Discordia, the first holy book of Discordianism, attempts to clear up the matter: One day Mal-2 consulted his Pineal Gland and asked Eris if She created all of those terrible things. She told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historic matters. "They were," She added, "victims of indigestion, you know." Suffice it to say that Eris is not hateful or malicious. But she is mischievous, does get a little bitchy at times; the story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia, is referred to as the Original Snub. The Principia Discordia states that her parents may be as described in Greek legend, or that she may be the daughter of Void, she is the Goddess of Disorder and Being, whereas her sister Aneris is the goddess of Order and Non-Being. Their brother is Spirituality. Discordian Eris is looked upon as a foil to the preoccupation of western philosophy in attempting find order in the chaos of reality, in prescribing order to be synonymous with truth.
Discordian Eris teaches us that the only truth is chaos, that order and disorder are temporary filters applied to the lenses we view the chaos through. This is known as the Aneristic Illusion. In this telling, Eris becomes something of a patron saint of chaotic creation: I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists bu
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology the Works and Days of Hesiod, is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Golden Race of humanity lived. Those living in the first Age were ruled by Kronos, after the finish of the first age was the Silver the Bronze, after this the Heroic age, with the fifth and current age being Iron. By extension "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony and prosperity. During this age peace and harmony prevailed, people did not have to work to feed themselves, for the earth provided food in abundance, they lived to a old age with a youthful appearance dying peacefully, with spirits living on as "guardians". Plato in Cratylus recounts the golden race of humans, he clarifies that Hesiod did not mean made of gold, but good and noble. In classical Greek mythology the Golden Age was presided over by the leading Titan Cronus. In some version of the myth Astraea ruled.
She lived with men until the end of the Silver Age, but in the Bronze Age, when men became violent and greedy, fled to the stars, where she appears as the constellation Virgo, holding the scales of Justice, or Libra. European pastoral literary tradition depicted nymphs and shepherds as living a life of rustic innocence and peace, set in Arcadia, a region of Greece, the abode and center of worship of their tutelary deity, goat-footed Pan, who dwelt among them; the earliest attested reference to the European myth of the Ages of Man 500 BCE–350 BCE appears in the late 6th century BCE works of the Greek poet Hesiod's Works and Days. Hesiod, a deteriorationist, identifies the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Heroic Age, the Iron Age. With the exception of the Heroic Age, each succeeding age was worse than the one. Hesiod maintains that during the Golden Age, before the invention of the arts, the earth produced food in such abundance that there was no need for agriculture: lived like gods without sorrow of heart and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them.
When they died, it was as though they were overcome with sleep, they had all good things. They dwelt in peace. Plato in his Cratylus referred to an age of golden men and at some length on Ages of Man from Hesiod's Works and Days; the Roman poet Ovid simplified the concept by reducing the number of Ages to four: Gold, Bronze and Iron. Ovid's poetry, known to schoolboys from Antiquity through the Middle Ages and beyond, was a prime source for the transmission of the myth of the Golden Age during the period when Western Europe had lost direct contact with Greek literature. In Hesiod's version, the Golden Age ended when the Titan Prometheus conferred on mankind the gift of fire and all the other arts. For this, Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock in the Caucasus, where an eagle eternally ate at his liver; the gods sent the beautiful maiden Pandora to Prometheus's brother Epimetheus. The gods had entrusted Pandora with a box; the Orphic school, a mystery cult that originated in Thrace and spread to Greece in the 5th century BCE, held similar beliefs about the early days of man denominating the ages with metals.
In common with the many other mystery cults prevalent in the Graeco-Roman world, the world view of Orphism was cyclical. Initiation into its secret rites, together with ascetic practices, was supposed to guarantee the individual's soul eventual release from the grievous circle of mortality and communion with god. Orphics sometimes identified the Golden Age with the era of the god Phanes, regent over the Olympus before Cronus. In classical mythology however, the Golden Age was associated with the reign of Saturn. In the 5th century BCE, the philosopher Empedocles, like Hesiod before him, emphasized the idea of primordial innocence and harmony in all of nature, including human society, from which he maintained there had been a steady deterioration until the present. A tradition arose in Greece that the site of the original Golden Age had been Arcadia, an impoverished rural area of Greece where the herdsmen still lived on acorns and where the goat-footed god Pan had his home among the poplars on Mount Maenalus.
However, in the 3rd century BCE, the Greek poet, writing in Alexandria, set his pastoral poetry in on the lushly fertile island of Sicily, where he had been born. The protagonist of Theocritus's first Idyll, the goat herder, Daphnis, is taught to play the Syrinx by Pan himself. Writing in Latin during the turbulent period of revolutionary change at the end of the Roman Republic, the poet Virgil moved the setting for his pastoral imitations of Theocritus back to an idealized Arcadia in Greece, thus initiating a rich and resonant tradition in subsequent European literature. Virgil, introduced into his poetry the element of political allegory, absent in Theocritus intimating in his fourth Eclogue that a new Golden Age of peace and justice was about to return: Somewhat shortly before he wrote his epic poem the Aeneid, which dealt with the establishment of Roman Imperial rule, Virgil composed his Georgics, modeled directly on Hesiod's Works and Days an
Farmers' Almanac
Farmers' Almanac is an annual North American periodical, in continuous publication since 1818. Published by Geiger of Lewiston, the Farmers' Almanac provides long-range weather predictions for both the U. S. and Canada and quirky articles and valuable calendars, information on everything from the best days to garden, view planets and meteor showers, take vacations, to full moon dates and lore, ways to use natural remedies and life hacks for a healthier, less-stressful life. Each new year’s edition is released at the end of August of the previous year and contains 16 months of weather predictions broken into 7 zones for the continental US as well as seasonal weather maps for the winter and summer ahead. In addition to the U. S. version, there is a Canadian Farmers’ Almanac and a Promotional Version, sold to businesses as a marketing and public relations tool. Although the Farmer's Almanac claims its secret formula has yielded 80% historical accuracy, it is now recognized as pseudoscience. Founded in 1818, the Farmers’ Almanac mixes a blend of long-range weather predictions, fun facts, advice on gardening, fishing and other topics.
The Farmers’ Almanac has had seven editors. Poet and teacher David Young, Philom. held the post for 34 years from the day he and publisher Jacob Mann first founded The Almanac Publishing Company in Morristown, New Jersey. Following Young’s death in 1852, a string of successors took the helm, beginning with astronomer Samuel Hart Wright. In 1933 Ray Geiger took over as the sixth editor of the Farmers’ Almanac and began what became the longest-running editorship in Farmers’ Almanac history. In 1994, upon completion of his 60th consecutive edition, Ray passed the editorial reins onto his son, serving as Associate Editor for 15 years. Peter, who serves as Executive Vice President of Geiger, hired Sandi Duncan to serve as Managing Editor with him. Sandi was the first woman editor in 178 years to hold an editorial position. Predictions for each edition are made as far as two years in advance; the U. S. retail edition of the Farmers' Almanac contains weather predictions for 7 U. S. climatic zones, defined by the publishers, in the continental United States, broken into 3-day intervals.
Seasonal maps and summaries for each season are shared in each new edition, as are forecasts for annual sporting events. Predictions cover 16 months, from the previous September; the Farmers' Almanac will only state publicly that their method is an “exclusive mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action, planetary position and many other factors." The Almanac's forecaster is referred to by the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee. According to the publishers, the true identity of the forecaster is kept secret to prevent him or her from being "badgered." Publishers point to "many longtime Almanac followers claim that their forecasts are 80% to 85% accurate" on their website. Their website contains a list of the many more "famous" weather predictions they have forewarned of and like to point out that they’ve been predicting the weather longer than the National Weather Service. Most scientific analyses of the accuracy of Farmers' Almanac forecasts have shown a 50% rate of accuracy, no greater than random chance, but higher than that of groundhog prognostication, another folklore method of forecasting.
The almanac's admitted longstanding use of astrology in their formula is a debunked pseudoscience. In addition to the popular U. S. version, there is the Canadian Farmers' Almanac and a branded promotional version that businesses can personalize and distribute to customers. The total annual distribution of all Farmers' Almanac editions is more than 2 million copies. In 1997, FarmersAlmanac.com was created as a way to share the Almanac’s content digitally. Today it is used to access supposed long-range weather predictions, learn when the best days are to plant your garden, go fishing, find the date of the full moon, or quit a habit; the Farmers’ Almanac’s popularity continues to grow digitally. The Almanac has over 1.2 million followers on Facebook, a strong following on Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites. Most editions of the Farmers' Almanac include a "human crusade," advocating for a change in some accepted social practice or custom. Previous crusades have included: "How Much Daylight Are We Really Saving," a recommendation for a revised Daylight Saving Time schedule.
Other pieces that have attracted attention over the years include: Farmers' Almanac's 2010 list of the "5 Worst Weather Cities", which elicited a call for retraction from syracuse.com after naming Syracuse, New York as the worst winter weather city. The 2014 Winter Outlook, which called for a winter storm to hit just about the time Super Bowl XLVIII was to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey; the 2001 campaign to name an official National Dessert (readers resoundingly responded in favor of
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books published by Heinemann in Londen, today by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each left-hand page, a literal translation on the facing page. The General Editor is Jeffrey Henderson, holder of the William Goodwin Aurelio Professorship of Greek Language and Literature at Boston University; the Loeb Classical Library was conceived and funded by the Jewish-German-American banker and philanthropist James Loeb. The first volumes were edited by T. E. Page, W. H. D. Rouse, Edward Capps, published by William Heinemann, Ltd. in 1912 in their distinctive green and red hardcover bindings. Since scores of new titles have been added, the earliest translations have been revised several times. In recent years, this has included the removal of earlier editions' bowdlerization, which habitually extended to reversal of gender to disguise homosexual references or translated sexually explicit passages into Latin, rather than English.
Since 1934, it has been co-published with Harvard University. Profit from the editions continues to fund graduate student fellowships at Harvard University; the Loebs have only a minimal critical apparatus. They are intended for the amateur reader of Greek or Latin, are so nearly ubiquitous as to be recognizable. In 1917 Virginia Woolf wrote: The Loeb Library, with its Greek or Latin on one side of the page and its English on the other, came as a gift of freedom.... The existence of the amateur was recognised by the publication of this Library, to a great extent made respectable.... The difficulty of Greek is not sufficiently dwelt upon, chiefly because the sirens who lure us to these perilous waters are scholars have forgotten... What those difficulties are, but for the ordinary amateur they are real and great. Harvard University assumed complete responsibility for the series in 1989 and in recent years four or five new or re-edited volumes have been published annually. In 2001, Harvard University Press began issuing a second series of books with a similar format.
The I Tatti Renaissance Library presents key Renaissance works in Latin with a facing English translation. A third series, the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, was introduced in 2010 covering works in Byzantine Greek, Medieval Latin, Old English. Volumes with a brown cover; the Clay Sanskrit Library, bound in teal cloth, was modeled on the Loeb Classical Library. As the command of Latin among generalist historians and archaeologists shrank in the course of the 20th century, professionals came to rely on these texts designed for amateurs; as Birgitta Hoffmann remarked in 2001 of Tacitus' Agricola, "Unfortunately the first thing that happens in bilingual versions like the Loebs is that most of this apparatus vanishes and, if you use a translation, there is no way of knowing that there were problems with the text in the first place."In 2014, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation and Harvard University Press launched the digital Loeb Classical Library, described as "an interconnected searchable, perpetually growing, virtual library of all, important in Greek and Latin literature."
The listings of Loeb volumes at online bookstores and library catalogues vary and are best navigated via ISBN numbers. L170N) Iliad, Second Edition: Volume I. Books 1–12 L171N) Iliad: Volume II. Books 13–24 L104) Odyssey: Volume I. Books 1–12 L105) Odyssey: Volume II. Books 13–24 L057N) Volume I. Theogony. Works and Days. Testimonia L503) Volume II; the Shield. Catalogue of Women. Other Fragments L344) Dionysiaca: Volume I. Books 1–15 L354) Dionysiaca: Volume II. Books 16–35 L356) Dionysiaca: Volume III. Books 36–48 L496) Homeric Hymns. Homeric Apocrypha. Lives of Homer L497) Greek Epic Fragments L001) Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica L019N) Quintus Smyrnaeus: Posthomerica L219) Oppian and Tryphiodorus L142) Greek Lyric Poetry: Volume I. Sappho and Alcaeus L143) Greek Lyric Poetry: Volume II. Anacreon, Choral Lyric from Olympus to Alcman L476) Greek Lyric Poetry: Volume III. Stesichorus, Ibycus and Others L461) Greek Lyric Poetry: Volume IV. Bacchylides and Others L144) Greek Lyric Poetry: Volume V; the New School of Poetry and Anonymous Songs and Hymns L258N) Greek Elegiac Poetry: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC.
Tyrtaeus, Solon and Others L259N) Greek Iambic Poetry: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC. Archilochus, Semonides and Others L056) Pindar: Volume I. Olympian Odes. Pythian Odes L485) Pindar: Volume II. Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments L129) Callimachus: Hymns, Epigrams. Phaenomena. Alexandra L421) Callimachus: Aetia, Iambi and Other Fragments. Hero and Leander L028) Greek Bucolic Poets: Theocritus. Bion. Moschus L508) Hellenistic Collection: Philitas. Alexander of Aetolia. Hermesianax. Euphorion. Parthenius L067) Volume I. Book 1: Christian Epigrams. Book 2: Christodorus of Thebes in Egypt. Book 3: The Cyzicene Epigrams. Book 4: The Proems of the Different Anthologies. Book 5: The Amatory Epigrams. Book 6: The Dedicatory Epigrams L068
Agora
The agora was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly"; the agora was the center of the athletic, artistic and political life of the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example. Early in Greek history, free-born citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council; the agora served as a marketplace, where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid colonnades. This attracted artisans. From these twin functions of the agora as a political and a commercial space came the two Greek verbs ἀγοράζω, agorázō, "I shop", ἀγορεύω, agoreúō, "I speak in public"; the term agoraphobia denotes a phobic condition in which the sufferer becomes anxious in environments that are unfamiliar–for instance, places where he or she perceives that they have little control. Such anxiety may be triggered by wide-open spaces, by crowds, or by some public situations, the psychological term derives from the agora as a large and open gathering place.
Agorism Platonic Academy Media related to Agoras at Wikimedia Commons Official Athenian agora excavations Agora in Athens: photos
Bribery
Bribery is the act of giving or receiving something of value in exchange for some kind of influence or action in return, that the recipient would otherwise not offer. Bribery is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty. Bribery is offering to do something for someone for the expressed purpose of receiving something in exchange. Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. Giving the rebate to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications, would be considered bribery.
A bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be money, rights in action, preferment, emolument, objects of value, advantage, or a promise to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity. Many types of payments or favors can constitute bribes: tip, sop, skim, discount, waived fee/ticket, free food, free ad, free trip, free tickets, sweetheart deal, kickback/payback, inflated sale of an object or property, lucrative contract, campaign contribution, sponsorship/backing, higher paying job, stock options, secret commission, or promotion. One must be careful of differing cultural norms when examining bribery. Expectations of when a monetary transaction is appropriate can differ from place to place. Political campaign contributions in the form of cash, for example, are considered criminal acts of bribery in some countries, while in the United States, provided they adhere to election law, are legal. Tipping, for example, is considered bribery in some societies, while in others the two concepts may not be interchangeable.
In some Spanish-speaking countries, bribes are referred to as "mordida". In Arab countries, bribes may be called baksheesh or "shay". French-speaking countries use the expressions "dessous-de-table", "pot-de-vin", or "commission occulte". While the last two expressions contain inherently a negative connotation, the expression "dessous-de-table" can be understood as a accepted business practice. In German, the common term is Schmiergeld; the offence may be divided into two great classes: the one, where a person invested with power is induced by payment to use it unjustly. The briber might hold a powerful role and control the transaction; the forms that bribery take are numerous. For example, a motorist might bribe a police officer not to issue a ticket for speeding, a citizen seeking paperwork or utility line connections might bribe a functionary for faster service. Bribery may take the form of a secret commission, a profit made by an agent, in the course of his employment, without the knowledge of his principal.
Euphemisms abound for this Bribers and recipients of bribery are numerous although bribers have one common denominator and, the financial ability to bribe. According to BBC news U. K, "bribery around the world is estimated at about $1 trillion"; as indicated on the pages devoted to political corruption, efforts have been made in recent years by the international community to encourage countries to dissociate and incriminate as separate offences and passive bribery. From a legal point of view, active bribery can be defined for instance as the promising, offering or giving by any person, directly or indirectly, of any undue advantage, for himself or herself or for anyone else, for him or her to act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her functions.. Passive bribery can be defined as the request or receipt, directly or indirectly, of any undue advantage, for himself or herself or for anyone else, or the acceptance of an offer or a promise of such an advantage, to act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her functions.
The reason for this dissociation is to make the early steps of a corrupt deal an offence and, thus, to give a clear signal that bribery is not acceptable. Besides, such a dissociation makes the prosecution of bribery offences easier since it can be difficult to prove that two parties have formally agreed upon a corrupt deal. Besides, there is no such formal deal but only a mutual understanding, for instance when it is common knowledge in a municipality that to obtain a building permit one has to pay a "fee" to the decision maker to obtain a favourable decision. A grey area may exist. United States law is strict in li
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm, he was a close friend of Martin Luther. Cranach painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art, he continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from religion. Cranach had a large workshop and many of his works exist in different versions, he has been considered the most successful German artist of his time. He is commemorated in the liturgical calendars of the Lutheran churches, he was born at Kronach in upper Franconia in 1472. His exact date of birth is unknown, he learned the art of drawing from his father Hans Maler. His mother, with surname Hübner, died in 1491; the name of his birthplace was used for his surname, another custom of the times.
How Cranach was trained is not known, but it was with local south German masters, as with his contemporary Matthias Grünewald, who worked at Bamberg and Aschaffenburg. There are suggestions that Cranach spent some time in Vienna around 1500. According to Gunderam Cranach demonstrated his talents as a painter before the close of the 15th century, his work drew the attention of Duke Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, known as Frederick the Wise, who attached Cranach to his court in 1504. The records of Wittenberg confirm Gunderam's statement to this extent that Cranach's name appears for the first time in the public accounts on the 24 June 1504, when he drew 50 gulden for the salary of half a year, as pictor ducalis. Cranach was to remain in the service of the Elector and his successors for the rest of his life, although he was able to undertake other work. Cranach married Barbara Brengbier, the daughter of a burgher of Gotha and born there. Cranach owned a house at Gotha, but most he got to know Barbara near Wittenberg, where her family owned a house, that also belonged to Cranach.
The first evidence of Cranach's skill as an artist comes in a picture dated 1504. Early in his career he was active in several branches of his profession: sometimes a decorative painter, more producing portraits and altarpieces, woodcuts and designing the coins for the electorate. Early in the days of his official employment he startled his master's courtiers by the realism with which he painted still life and antlers on the walls of the country palaces at Coburg and Locha. Before 1508 he had painted several altar-pieces for the Castle Church at Wittenberg in competition with Albrecht Dürer, Hans Burgkmair and others. In 1509 Cranach went to the Netherlands, painted the Emperor Maximilian and the boy who afterwards became Emperor Charles V; until 1508 Cranach signed his works with his initials. In that year the elector gave him the winged snake as an emblem, or Kleinod, which superseded the initials on his pictures after that date. Cranach was the court painter to the electors of Saxony in Wittenberg, an area in the heart of the emerging Protestant faith.
His patrons were powerful supporters of Martin Luther, Cranach used his art as a symbol of the new faith. Cranach made numerous portraits of Luther, provided woodcut illustrations for Luther's German translation of the Bible. Somewhat the duke conferred on him the monopoly of the sale of medicines at Wittenberg, a printer's patent with exclusive privileges as to copyright in Bibles. Cranach's presses were used by Martin Luther, his apothecary shop was open for centuries, was only lost by fire in 1871. Cranach, like his patron, was friendly with the Protestant Reformers at a early stage; the oldest reference to Cranach in Luther's correspondence dates from 1520. In a letter written from Worms in 1521, Luther calls him his "gossip", warmly alluding to his "Gevatterin", the artist's wife. Cranach first made an engraving of Luther in 1520, he was godfather to their first child, Johannes "Hans" Luther, born 1526. In 1530 Luther lived at the citadel of Veste Coburg under the protection of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and his room is preserved there along with a painting of him.
The Dukes became noted collectors of Cranach's work, some of which remains in the family collection at Callenberg Castle. The death in 1525 of the Elector Frederick the Wise and Elector John's in 1532 brought no change in Cranach's position.
Works and Days public domain audiobook at LibriVox
