“Herodotus sometimes writes for children and sometimes for philosophers” – Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Herodotus has generated responses, positive and negative, over the years. Here is the opening of “Herodotus” by Lucian of Samosata (translated by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler): I devoutly wish […]
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Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed by William Etty 1787-1849 Herodotus of Halicarnassus here presents his research so that human events do not fade with time. May the great and wonderful deeds—some brought forth by the Hellenes, others by the barbarians—not […]
(I expect this post to be updated as I find more helpful links—there are more resources on the web for this work than I thought possible.) For someone that loved books, my reading habits have always been very random and I realized I could not remember important details of works I read. Understanding that I […]
The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peakby Albert Bierstadt (1863)Picture source Trevor at The Mookse and the Gripes recently reviewed John Williams’ Butcher’s Crossing, prodding me to look for the book in our library system. Fortunately they had one copy available and it is everything he claims. Trevor covers many of the parts I wanted to address […]
Someone put this up at a bus stop near where I work. I hope they know it causes a smile every day: Bus StopSanta Clara, California
Last month I linked to Pushkin’s Scene from Faust translated by Alan Shaw. He was kind enough to send me a link to his YouTube page that has From the 1979 TV film, Malenkie tragedii (Little Tragedies–Mozart and Salieri). dir. Mikhail Shveitser. Salieri: Innokenty Smoktunovsky. Mozart: Valery Zolotukhin. Subtitles adapted from A. Shaw’s translation of […]
Thanks to The Little Professor‘s post At the dawn of time…(I can’t find the link now, although the blog is still active), I went back to check out my first order in 1998 at Amazon. Has it been that long since I read these? Over thirteen years ago I received in the mail Paris in […]
This may be old news for some, but I’ve only started to explore what’s available at YouTube and CSPAN Video. Here is a two parter of Vladimir Nabokov and Lionel Trilling discussing Lolita on the Canadian television show “Close Up”. Part 1 Part 2
Picture source This, Tietjens thought, is England! A man and a maid walk through Kentish grass-fields: the grass ripe for the scythe. The man honourable, clean, upright; the maid virtuous, clean, vigorous: he of good birth; she of birth quite as good; each filled with a too good breakfast that each could yet capably digest. […]
Last Post bugle callPicture source Sadly they whispered awayAs I played the last post on the bugleI heard them sayOh that boy’s no different todayExcept in every single way — from “Last Post on the Bugle” by The Libertines It had been obvious to her for a long time that God would one day step […]