Assorted Contacts Between Classics and Pop Culture

I think this is one of the reasons my mailbox is so full at times … so many news items try to make some tangential connection between some pop culture phenomenon of the moment and the ancient world. So I think I’ll just wade through them all and let y’all pick and choose for yourself which ones are worth your time:

At the outset, I once pondered a post expressing my growing weariness with anyone vaguely looking Cleopatraish being labelled as “channelling Cleopatra” … most recently it was Lindsay Lohan:

Lindsay Lohan Channels Cleopatra for Elizabeth Taylor Biopic (Aces Show Biz)
Lindsay Lohan Channels Cleopatra for ‘Liz & Dick’ (First Coast News)

… and a tip o’ the pileus to Dorothy King for pointing out Lohan wasn’t the only one doing the “channelling” thing:

Nancy Dell’Olio Commits Fashion Faux Pas In Cleopatra-Inspired Outfit (Entertainmentwise)
Cleopatra Comin’ Atcha? No, it’s Nancy Dell’Olio (Telegraph)
Cleopatra Comin’ Atcha? No, it’s Nancy Dell’Olio (Independent)

Then there was Demi Lovato’s revealing garb at the Teens Choice Awards, which was supposedly ‘gladiator-inspired’:

Lovato gets Dem out in dodgy mesh dress (Sun)

… and it wasn’t just women’s fashion trying to connect:

Versace Menswear Celebrates Its Return to Underwear With a Naked Gladiator/’Mr. T’ Themed Runway Show (Fashionista)

… and we appear to have gone from gladiator sandals to greek ones:

Fashion: Ancient Greek Sandals (Callixto)

And also on the fashion front, someone was putting clothes on statuary (all designated ‘ancient Greek’, although only a couple are):

Ancient Greek statues modeling today’s menswear fashion (Death and Taxes)

… and for some reason, there has been a mini-interest in smutty Pompeiian graffiti as if this ‘suddenly’ burst onto the web, even though the ultimate source is the Pompeiiana page which is at least a decade (if not more) old:

Someone was playing with Roman numerals: