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Jacques-Louis David, “Leonidas at Thermopylae” (1814) Picture and poem shamelessly lifted from Stephen Pentz Thermopylae Honor to those who in the life they lead define and guard a Thermopylae. Never betraying what is right, consistent and just in all they do but showing pity also, and compassion; generous when they are rich, and when they […]
Priestess of Delphi, John Collier (1891)Picture source For the Athenians had prepared to consult the oracle by sending sacred delegates to Delphi, who, after performing the usual preliminaries at the sanctuary, entered the inner shrine and took their seats. The Pythia, whose name was Aristonike, gave them the following oracular response: Why sit so idle, […]
I have now reached a point at which I am compelled to declare an opinion that will cause offense to many people, but which nevertheless appears to me to be true, so I shall not restrain myself. If the Athenians had evacuated their land in terror of the danger approaching them, or if they had […]
“I’m feeling thankful for the small things today” While I was gone from home the boys developed colds, the dog tried to have puppies, and I am overwhelmed by the emails and voice mails that are piled up at work. Be that as it may, I will still celebrate the start of my 50th year […]
Internet access will be uncertain for the next week. Hopefully I’ll find a nice sea-wet rock where I can comb (what’s left of) my hair…hopefully with better terms than the Spartans (and others) had to deal with. THE ORACLES A. E. Housman ‘Tis mute, the word they went to hear on high Dodona mountain When winds […]
(enlarge for detail) I saw Marathon: The Battle That Changed Western Civilization by Richard A. Billows was released last month and I wanted to find out more about it. I’m not sure if the typo in the attached screen-grab of the Amazon.com page came from the original review or not, but I wanted to share […]
But at this time [490 BC], Nikodromos led the common people in an attempted revolt, which was put down by the affluent Aeginetans [Aegina is an island southwest of Athens]. The victors led out the captive rebels in order to execute them, and because of what happened next, they came under a curse that they […]
The burial mound (Soros) and grave stela at Marathon Picture source: courtesy of www.traveladventures.orgThe Athenians, as defenders of the Hellenes, in Marathon destroyed the might of the golden-dressed Medes – composed by Simonides The Soros, the extraordinary burial mound built over the graves of the Athenian troops who died at Marathon. The bones of Athenian […]
The Alkmeonids were illustrious among the Athenians from their very beginnings, but became even more so because of Alkmeon and later Megakles. For Alkmeon son of Megakles enthusiastically assisted and proved himself an avid supporter of those Lydians who used to come from Sardis, being sent by Croesus to the oracle at Delphi. When Croesus […]
click to enlarge From Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, a lighthearted look at the attribution and problems with the title “The Father of History”. Click through to the archives for more comics, including quite a few on history and literature.