Please note: I was trying out different themes for the site and a few recent comments got deleted. My apologies for this mistake.
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis Translation by Kimon Friar Simon and Schuster, New York, 1958 They think of me as a scholar, an intellectual, a pen-pusher. And I am none of them. When I write, my fingers get covered not in ink, but in blood. I think I am nothing more than […]
Odysseus and Circe by Bartholomäus Spranger Picture source Of all the things that breathe and move along the ground, Earth does not raise anything more insignificant than man. He thinks he’ll never suffer any harm in days to come, as long as gods provide prosperity and his knees stay supple. But when blessed gods bring […]
Some stray thoughts on The Odyssey… The first thought has to do with the similarities and differences to The Iliad as well as references to the Trojan War in The Odyssey. Both works look at mortality and man’s need to accept it. Achilles, when presented with a choice of fates, initially chooses a long life. […]
Odysseus’ Palace According to Johann Heinrich Voss (1820) Let Death come down to slavish souls and craven heads with his sharp scythe and barren bones, but let him come to this lone man like a great lord to knock with shame on his five famous castle doors, and with great awe plunder whatever dregs that […]
I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but PBS’ Great Performances has King Lear available online. CastKing Lear – Ian McKellenGoneril – Frances BarberRegan – Monica DolanCordelia – Romola GaraiAlbany – Julian HarriesCornwall – Guy WilliamsGloucester – William GauntEdgar – Ben MeyjesEdmund – Philip WinchesterKent – Jonathon HydeFool – Sylvester McCoy
Aftermath of the disaster Picture sourceCurious Expeditions has a good overview of The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, as well as a little on the London Beer Flood of 1814. Highly recommended article and site. (I had previously linked their wonderful post of beautiful libraries) An excerpt from the Wikipedia article which Curious Expeditions […]
Odysseus recognized by Euryclea by Gustave Boulanger (1849) Have Ithaka always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for. But do not in the least hurry the journey. Better that it last for years, so that when you reach the island you are old, rich with all you have gained on […]
Odysseus is put ashore in Ithaca Theodor van Thulden Fair nymph! if fame or honor were To be attained with ease, Then would I come and rest with thee, And leave such toils as these. But here it dwells, and here must I With danger seek it forth : To spend the time luxuriously Becomes […]
Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse (1891) Picture source When Circe had detained me more than a year There near Gaeta, before it had that name Aeneas gave it, and I parted from her, Not fondness for my son, nor any claim Of reverence for my father, nor love I owed […]
Nausicaa by Frederick Leighton (1878) Picture source Gerty smiled assent and bit her lip. A delicate pink crept into her pretty cheek but she was determined to let them see so she just lifted her skirt a little but just enough and took good aim and gave the ball a jolly good kick and it […]
I’m not much on academic-type studies, but Brian Boyd’s On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction looks interesting. From the product description: Art is a specifically human adaptation, Boyd argues. It offers tangible advantages for human survival, and it derives from play, itself an adaptation widespread among more intelligent animals. More particularly, our […]
Penelope Unraveling Her Web Joseph Wright of Derby Picture source A god could easily bring someone home from a long way off, if he wanted to. But I’d prefer to go through many hardships and then see the day when I got back and reached my home, than to complete my trip only to be […]
For a different spin on mythology from someone reading The Iliad, check out his Top 5 GILFs (link is dead, but I’ll leave the post here). I’m still laughing at the premise. Thanks to… well, I won’t out you here. Update: I should have added my usual equations on god/human relationships: Male god / female […]
Marble seated harp player Cycladic, late Early Cycladic I–Early Cycladic II, ca. 2800–2700 B.C. Picture source While my thoughts constantly change on what direction I want this site to go, the one thing I have kept in mind of late is that I want my discussions to benefit someone approaching a work for the first […]
Odysseus’ travels Muse, speak to me now of that resourceful man who wandered far and wide after ravaging the sacred citadel of Troy. He came to see many people’s cities, where he learned their customs, while on the sea his spirit suffered many torments, as he fought to save his life and lead his comrades […]
Picture source(Archimedes: The Palimpsest Project) Last Friday, The Wall Street Journal had an article on the trove of ancient manuscripts being found or salvaged using new technologies. Also, many manuscripts are being digitized and posted online. Since I can’t find the article online, I’ll pass on the links mentioned. The British Library Key works:Mozart’s thematic […]
The Duel between Onegin and Lensky (1901) by Ilya Repin the ache/toská: No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a […]
Ball at Larins by Alexei Steipanovitch Stepanov (1911)Picture source Whatever in this rough confectionyou sought – tumultuous recolleciton,a rest from the toil and all its aches,or just grammatical mistakes,a vivid brush, a witty rattle – God grant that from this little bookfor heart’s delight, or fun, you took,for dreams, or journalistic battle,God grant you took […]
… watching Greta Garbo in The Mysterious Lady… wow… ahem… OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming…
Listen to Pushkin’s poem in the original Russian: I loved you once: perhaps that love has yet To die down thoroughly within my soul; But let it not dismay you any longer; I have no wish to cause you any sorrow. I loved you wordlessly, without a hope, By shyness tortured, or by jealousy. I […]