Day: May 8, 2010

Also seen: Chanticleer

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

A review of a performance by the 12-person all-male choir known as Chanticleer:

The most engaging piece of the remainder of the program was by the young San Francisco composer and DJ Mason Bates. The ensemble performed three movements from his larger work “Sirens,” the first of which was especially musically fresh. Using Greek text drawn from “The Odyssey,” the excerpt opened with numerous repetitions of the name “Odysseus” in pulses, echoes, and rhythmically sophisticated patterns. Following this richly textured section, it was fantastically sensual to hear this group of male voices as the sirens calling out to Odysseus.

via Chanticleer presents unfamiliar music in an accessible, human way.

… here’s their website …

The Little Mermaid — The Greek Version

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment
DSC00545, Little Mermaid, Copenhagen, Denmark....
Image by lyng883 via Flickr

Folks might be aware that the ‘Little Mermaid’ from Copenhagen’s harbour is temporarily residing at the Shanghai World Expo. Some press coverage includes this little tidbit:

“Different cultures have different interpretations of the Mermaid. We have another story of the Mermaid,” said Flora Kotzia, a visitor from Greece.

According to the Greek story, the Mermaid was the sister of Alexander the Great. She was broken-hearted when Alexander died and killed herself by throwing herself into the sea. The gods pitied her and give her life again, but made her half woman and half fish. So she lived in the water and since then she had searched for her brother, asking the crews of passing ships, “Have you seen Alexander the Great?”

via The Little Mermaid — To travel is to live | Xinhua.

Citanda: Oxford DNB: Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (Liddell)

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
Julia Margaret Cameron's "Alice Liddell a...
Image via Wikipedia

I twittered this one a few days ago … not sure how much longer it will be available (Alice, of course, is the Alice of Alice in Wonderland fame and daughter of Henry George Liddell of Greek lexicon fame):

Oxford DNB: Lives of the week = Alice Pleasance Hargreaves .

Iris (Summer 2010) is Available!

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

The Summer 2010 edition of Iris is out this month, and the theme of this issue is crime and punishment in the ancient world. Contents include:

* Romans behaving badly: crime and punishment in Rome
* Iris chat: Andrew Irvine, author of ‘Socrates on Trial’
* CSI Athens: the crime scene in ancient Greece
* Rules and rulers: law making and breaking in ancient world
* What lies beneath: off the beaten track in Northamptonshire
* Redemption and revenge: the story of Philoctetes

It also includes articles and features on outreach projects, news and reviews, puzzles, a what’s on section, translations, fiction, advice and more.

Iris magazine is part of The Iris Project, an educational charity which promotes access to Classics in inner city state schools and deprived urban areas. The magazine is sent free to state schools which don’t yet offer Classical subjects, and this is funded solely by subscriptions and advertisements in the magazine.

You can order a subscription at http://www.irismagazine.org/order.htm or by emailing editor  AT irismagazine.org. For more information on how you can help support the outreach work of the project or if you would like to make a donation, please get in touch at with us through our website.

John Hale Lecture on the Delphic Oracle

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
Delphi, Greece
Image by Rgtmum via Flickr

Tip o’ the pileus to Doug Johnson for drawing my attention to this one … back in April we mentioned a talk by John Hale at the Toledo Museum of Art and it’s now available online (I tried to embed it here, but WordPress doesn’t like the code):

Dr. John Hale | “The Delphic Oracle” | April 16, 2010 | Toledo Museum of Art.

[there’s more items of interest at the knowledgestream site; you might want to poke around there yourself until I cull the items within our purview]