Month: June 2022

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for June 18, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XIV Kal. Jul. 2775 AUC ~ 19 Skirophorion in the first year of the 700th Olympia

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Alia

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

[Saturday] If it thunders today, it portends destruction for the crops.

[Sunday] If it thunders today, it portends that pests which are destructive to crops shall perish.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for June 17, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XV Kal. Jul. 2775 AUC ~ 18 Skirophorion in the first year of the 700th Olympia

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Scot emailed us this question for Murray to answer; ‘Certain tribal confederations, like the Franks & Saxons, typically bear “namesake” weapons (e.g. the Francisca and the Sax). Is the name of the weapon thought to be derived from the name of the confederation, or is the name of the confederation derived from the weapon?’

Coins are the most enduring symbols of the Greco-Bactrian and the Indo-Greek kingdoms, considered to be invaluable tools in reconstructing their chronologies in absence of a written history. Joining our series is numismatist Dr. Frank Lee Holt, author of books such as “Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria” and “Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan”, who discusses how coins can be used (or misused) to tell the story of Hellenistic Bactria, and their vital role in preserving the threatened cultural heritage of Central Asia.

Liv speaks with Professor Karen Carr about stories of Hero and Leander, and ancient swimming practices across the world. Stories that speak to how different cultures through history saw the act of swimming and what it meant. Follow Karen Carr on Twitter for more, and pick up a copy of her new book Shifting Currents: A World History of Swimming, available now!

After centuries of Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s relationship being told and fictionalised by Plutarch and Shakespeare alike, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook uncover what history tells us about this power couple. They reveal how the rise of Octavian as a threat caused Mark Antony to turn to Cleopatra for support. It was a relationship that had less to do with romance and love, and more to do with monetary and territory gains.

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Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends days of searing heat and destruction of crops by mice, moles, and locusts. Even so, there will be abundance, but also murders of people.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for June 16, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XVI Kal. Jul. 2775 AUC ~ 17 Skirophorion in the first year of the 700th Olympia

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What does it mean to be a “free woman” in the ancient Mediterranean world? Listen in as our guest, Dr. Stephanie Budin, joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss women who lived outside of the traditional confines of the patriarchy and who were not under the direct control of a man. Dr. Budin, a historian and expert in ancient religion and sexuality, tells us about “harimatu” in ancient Mesopotamia and refutes the idea that these free women were prostitutes. This episode has it all: sex, gender-bending legal documents, and the dismantling of patriarchal assumptions about women’s freedom and the origins of prostitution.

The central Mediterranean is home to a bounty of creatures – fish, dolphins, and… mermaids? In today’s episode Dr Amelia Brown returns to the podcast to talk marine mammals and Merpeople. From iconic characters such as Thetis, mother to one of the most famous heroes in the ancient world (anyone heard of a man called Achilles?) to the role Nereids played throughout Greek Mythology – just what can we learn from these mythical creatures and do we really want to be part of their world?

In around 443 BCE Rome is navigating its relationships with its neighbours. Last time we caught up with Rome they became involved in the affairs of the nearby city of Ardea. The conflict seems to have centred around a very attractive plebeian woman whose name has not been recorded in the annals of history. It’s this meddling in Ardea which sets the scene for 442 BCE…

At the urging of mom (Venus) Aeneas finally decides to bolt from Troy, but not before encountering a cowering Helen lurking in the shadows. His instinct is for bloody vengeance, but once again Fate has other ideas and dust brooms our hero out the gates. Aeneas is able to save his dad and son (and meet other haggard Trojans by the ol’ cypress tree) but discovers his wife as a ghost. Creusa tells him her heart will go on and then gives him the “Hesperia” prophecy (for about the zillionth time). Then its on to Book 3! Aeneas now has a vague kind of destiny but where will it lead? Hey, Thrace!  Let’s offramp here!  NO. Delos? UH-UH. Oh Crete, then, right? TRY AGAIN. And is this Book killer or filler (like that 4th track on every Bon Jovi album)? As the Trojans slowly shed their past, brace yourself for the creepiest gardening you’ve ever encountered, stanky bird-women, and the culinary oddity of “eating one’s tables”. What is that, some kind of ancient bread bowl?  Dardanian Flatizza?

Who’s the queerest of the gods? It’s hard to say…but there’s a strong case to be made that it’s Dionysus. The god of wine and revolutionaries who rebelled ferociously against the gender binary, Dionysus breaks the mold in so many ways–and he does it with a sense of joy that’s irresistible.

In the second episode of our podcast series on the end of Roman Britain, David Musgrove investigates what life was like for people living in the later Roman era, in the third and fourth centuries. He speaks to Professor Will Bowden to explore the inequalities that existed between the haves and have-nots, and how far the stresses and strains that were at play in the wider empire impacted on everyday life in Britain.

Fresh Youtubery

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Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a shortage of the necessities of life and the outbreak of war, while a prominent many will disappear from public life.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for June 14, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XVIII Kal. Jul. 2775 AUC ~ 15 Skirophorion in the first year of the 700th Olympia

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Find out about my visit to the Podcast Show 2022 in London this past May, and we fondly remember our good friend Nick Barksdale who sadly passed away this month.

The story of Hero and Leander is one of the most widely known myths of ancient Greece, except, we have no ancient Greek text sources. But that just makes it all the more interesting…

What does it mean to be a “free woman” in the ancient Mediterranean world? Listen in as our guest, Dr. Stephanie Budin, joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss women who lived outside of the traditional confines of the patriarchy and who were not under the direct control of a man. Dr. Budin, a historian and expert in ancient religion and sexuality, tells us about “harimatu” in ancient Mesopotamia and refutes the idea that these free women were prostitutes. This episode has it all: sex, gender-bending legal documents, and the dismantling of patriarchal assumptions about women’s freedom and the origins of prostitution.

In episode 1 of this four part mini-series on Cleopatra, Tom and Dominic discuss the incredible story of ‘Young Cleopatra’ and her early life in Ptolemaic Egypt.

Join Tom and Dominic for the second episode of this four part mini-series on Cleopatra, where they discuss her relationship with Julius Caesar and the role this relationship played in the politics of Rome.

Fresh Youtubery

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Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a very arid climate but there will be an abundant harvest and a reasonable quantity of river fish. People, however, will suffer from weakness.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for June 13, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est Id. Iun. 2775 AUC ~ 14 Skirophorion in the first year of the 700th Olympia

In the News

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Classicists and Classics in the News

Greek/Latin News

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Association/Departmental Blogs and News

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xxx

Fresh Podcasts

In this podcast episode, our guest Joseph E. Sanzo discusses the intersection between Christian and Jewish magic. Joseph Sanzo is Associate Professor of the History of Religions at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Joseph Sanzo obtained his PhD degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2012 and his thesis was published in 2014 in a volume called Scriptural Incipits on Amulets from Late Antique Egypt: Text, Typology, and Theory. Since then, he has held various positions; after his PhD, he was a lecturer at UCLA and a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Jerusalem, between 2015 and 2018 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Munich and between 2018 and 2020 he was the WIRL Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on ancient Mediterranean religion, with a particular focus on ritual practices during late antiquity, and he is the author of numerous publications on the topic. His current European Research Council Starting Grant project running from 2020 investigates late-antique Jewish and Christian magical objects, such as amulets and incantation bowls, as sites for thinking about early Jewish-Christian relations. 

As Dave and Jeff plow deeper into Book 2 it is clearly getting worse for the Trojans. They didn’t Sinon for this! Those wily Greeks have set the trap and now it begins to spring. First, coiled, creepy snakes come writhing out of the sea to put Laocoon and his two unlucky sons into a suplex and drag them to watery graves. The Trojans read this omen in exactly the wrong way, and think that this is the perfect time to slap some roller skates on that huge wooden equine  and surf it into the city. And, well, we all know what happens next. Greeks storm the citadel, horrors multiply. Pyrrhus murders old Priam at Minerva’s altar. Aeneas is frozen in indecision—what should he do? Go down swinging? Run for it? Take Dave to task for his irrational opposition to R.E.M. and Michael Stipe?

Alexander the Great’s untimely death at Babylon in 323 BC triggered an unprecedented crisis across his continent-spanning empire. Within a couple of days, the very chamber in which he died witnessed a gore-soaked showdown between his previously united commanders and soldiers. Within a fortnight, Babylon saw the first siege of the post-Alexander age. In this special explainer episode to mark the anniversary of Alexander’s death, Tristan brings to life the imperial implosion that was the immediate aftermath of the Macedonian king’s death – a subject he knows one or two things about, seeing as he’s written a book on it! Tristan’s book The Perdiccas Years, 323-320 BC (Alexander’s Successors at War) is available on Amazon here.

When Valerian became emperor in 253CE Rome was fighting on all fronts. With Shapur and the Syrians taking territory in the east, and Germanic tribes to the west and the north, the empire was going to get messy for Valerian and his newly established dynasty. Guest: Associate Professor Caillan Davenport (Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University).

You’ve seen a pike phalanx in action in films, but what are they doing, and why? Christopher Matthew joins us for a masterclass on ancient warfare.

Host of Comcompod, acclaimed stand up, and all round excellent person Stuart Goldsmith joins Jasmine today to find out whether what makes us laugh today is the same as that which tickled audiences in the Greco Roman period. Are we in a new age of comedy censorship, or have there always been limits to what we could joke about?

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Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends the downfall of a ruler.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)