Month: December 2022

Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for December 31, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est pr. Ian. 2775 AUC ~ 9 Poseideion II in the second year of the 700th Olympiad

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Augustine’s Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine’s Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history.

Mason sent this question in for Murray to muse over, ‘how did the language differences of auxiliary units affect armies on campaign or during battle? Were there any particular Roman generals who were multilingual’.

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Alia

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

[Saturday ~ no entry]

[Sunday] If it thunders today it portends a swift wind, but not a dangerous one.

… 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 December 30, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. III Ian. 2775 AUC ~ 8 Poseideion II in the second year of the 700th Olympiad

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[no description provided]

Revisiting the incredible conversation between Liv and author and poet Nikita Gill about reimagining women of myth, Medusa, and colonialism.

The Oxford English Dictionary chose “goblin-mode” as their word of the year but what are goblins anyway and how did they enter the culture in the first place?  Marguerite Johnson is a Professor of Classics at University of Newcastle and joins Dom Knight to uncover the various iterations of the mythical goblin through time…

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends rebellion against the kingdom and war.

… 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 December 29, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. IV Ian. 2775 AUC ~ 7 Poseideion II in the second year of the 700th Olympiad

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‘I’m Spartacus!’ In the field of epic film making, the 1960 historical drama ‘Spartacus’, is legendary. Directed by Stanley Kibrick, adapted from the Howard Fast novel by Red Scare blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, and starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Jean Simmons; it is a classic. But how much of the plot has emerged from the true story of a Thracian gladiator and slave who escaped his Roman captors and led an unsuccessful but impressive rebellion against their oppressors? How much of the film’s message was formed by the personalities involved in its creation, and the context in which it was made. In her own words, Dr Fiona Radford devoted years of her life to the man with the most memorable chin cleft in the world – Kirk Douglas, specifically as Spartacus. Her thesis traced the production history of this film, examining in particular the effect that the turbulent process had on the portrayal of female characters. Having taught at Macquarie University, ANU and the University of Sydney, she currently teaches history at secondary school level, and her conversation with Tristan in this episode is an eye-opener to 1950s film making as well as the legend of Spartacus.

Today’s counter-culture and alternative movements question mainstream norms, such as putting too much value on material possessions. The Cynics, practical philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, also rejected conventional desires to seek wealth, power and fame. They were not your usual kind of philosophers: rather than lecturing or writing about their ideas, they acted out their beliefs by denying themselves worldly possessions and tried to live as simply as possible. Their leader, Diogenes of Sinope, allegedly slept in a ceramic jar on the streets of Athens and ate raw meat like a dog, flouting convention to draw attention to his ideas. So who were the Cynics? How influential was their movement? What made it last some 900 years? And why does the term ‘cynicism’ have a different meaning today? Bridget Kendall is joined by three eminent scholars of Greek philosophy: Dr. William Desmond, Senior Lecturer in Ancient Classics at Maynooth University in Ireland and author of several books on the Cynics; Dr. Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi, Lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at University College London; and Mark Usher, Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Vermont and author of new Cynic translations into English.

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a healthy leanness for humans.

… 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 December 28, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. V Ian. 2775 AUC ~ 6 Poseideion II in the second year of the 700th Olympiad

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Ancient Apocalypse on Netflix has been watched like 25 million times and archaeologists are up in arms. It’s worlds in collision! It’s an unsolved mystery! But really, what’s the big deal? Is crazy talk about a vanished civilization dangerous or ludicrous? Our contestants disagree amusingly on many issues. THAT’S WHY THEY SHOULD HAVE A NETFLIX SERIES! With a special guest appearance by Simon McCorkingdale, as Manimal!

In this Christmas-themed episode Jeff and Dave take a break from the Aeneid to look at Luke’s Gospel, chapter 2:1-5, and the puzzling census of Quirinius. Drawing from half a dozen scholarly articles on the subject, we try to puzzle out the four major objections to Luke’s reliability as a historian on the topic of the census: “1. Apart from the gospel, history knows nothing of a general Imperial census in the time of Augustus.2. There could have been no Roman census in Palestine during the time of Herod the Great, a rex socius.3. Such a census at such a time could not have been carried out by Quirinius, for he was not governor in Syria then, nor till 10 years later, when he did make a census which gave rise to a revolt under Judas of Galilee. 4. Under a Roman census it would not have been necessary for Joseph to go to Bethlehem, or for Mary to accompany him.” – Alexander Balmain Bruce, D.D. (from Epxositor’s Greek New Testament, W. Robertson Nicoll, 1897; p. 470)Can each of these objections be met? Was Publius Sulpicius Quirinius gov. of Syria twice, before the death of Herod the Great and again in 6-7 A.D. for the census mentioned in Acts 5? What about inscriptional evidence? Is Luke reliable as a historian?

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a hatching of locusts.

… 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 December 27, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. VI Ian. 2775 AUC ~ 5 Poseideion II in the second year of the 700th Olympiad

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Revisiting one of Greek mythology’s most hilarious and wild story, the exploits of Baby Hermes.

If you know anything about Mithras, you might have the impression that he was kind of a proto-Jesus. Turns out that’s wrong. Think of this as less of a seasonal episode, and more of a seasonal myth-busting episode. Get ready for the epic story of a bull-slaughtering, mushroom-tripping, light-bringing, Emperor-pee-drinking, hierarchy-maintaining, Smurf-hat-wearing cosmic warrior.

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends the king helping many 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)