Rambling Readers

The Wild Hunt News

Archeologists have discovered a 4,000 year old structure believed to be from the Minoan civilization while surveying a hilltop in Crete intended to serve as the site of a new airport’s radar tower.

https://wildhunt.org/2024/06/airport-survey-uncovers-a-4000-year-old-structure-on-crete.html

#archaeology #ancientgreece #crete #knossos #minoan #pagan

The Partial Historians

Greek bronze statue of an athlete ~ c. 330 BCE

This bronze was discovered in fragments in 1896. The pieces revealed a classic pose of scraping off the sweat after a heavy session at the palaestra!

📍Ephesus
🏛 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

#AncientGreece #History

Description from the museum: “It depicts an athlete who, after completing his workout in the gymnasium’s palaestra, is shown scraping off sweat, sand and the oil he had slathered himself with with a στλεγγίς (strigilis). We see him running his left thumb over the (now lost) scraper to clean it. Both the apparently spontaneous “snapshot” of someone lost in thought, and stylistic details point to a 4th-century BC model. Recently it has been suggested that the statue is a copy of Lysippos’ celebrated “Apoxymenos” (the scraper).”

Priapos isn't just a god of dicks, bees, and abundant orchards. He was also a patron god for navigators on the sea, of merchant sailors in #ancientGreece and Rome. Apotropaic items carried on board by mariners in the forms of a terracotta phallus and a wooden #Priapos figure were found in shipwrecks, coinciding with the use of wooden Priapic markers erected in areas of dangerous passage or particular landing areas for sailors.

#PhallusThursday #MerMay
@phistorians @antiquidons

A terracotta statuette of the god Priapos with a huge erection. He is depicted with a full beard and seems fully dressed, the phallus emerging from below his chiton.

The Partial Historians

#WorldBeeDay

We’re celebrating the amazingness of bees with this beautiful golden bee thought to date to the Hellenistic period of Greece. At only 1.5 cm in length, it’s about the size of a bee as well!

🏛 Yale University Art Gallery

#AncientGreece #History

A small gold bee ornament. It’s not clear whether it was part of a wreath of another larger jewellery set.

The Partial Historians

#ReliefWednesday

Greek Grave Stele of Melisto, a young girl ~ c. 340 BCE

This is a commemoration of a young girl lost too young. She holds a small bird, a votive figurine, and seems to be attended by her pet dog. The mourning is palpable.

🏛 Harvard Art Museum

#AncientGreece #History @histodons @antiquidons

Description from museum: “An inscription written on a narrow architrave below the pediment reads: MEΛIΣTΩ KTHΣIKPATOYΣ ΠOTAMIOY, “Melisto, daughter of Ktesikrates, from the Demos of Potamos”. Melisto, daughter of Ktesikrates, holds a doll in her left hand and a bird in the right, and looks down toward the furry little dog springing up at her from the right. She wears a simple girt chiton, like a nightgown.”

Atlas Obscura

Aphrodite's Rock in Kouklia, Cyprus

This sea stack in Cyprus is traditionally seen as the birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite.#beaches #love #rocks #goddess #mythology #ancientgreece #section-Atlas
Aphrodite's Rock

The Partial Historians

Marble head of an athlete ~ c. 138–192 CE

Although we don’t have this youth’s body, their identification as an athlete is suggested by the fillet, an adornment associated with athletic victory. This Roman statue is a reimagining of a Greek statue from the C5th BCE.

But just revel in the curls! There’s a beautiful lush texture to them. The artistry on display is phenomenal.

🏛 The Met

#AncientRome #AncientGreece #History

Description from the museum: “This head of a youth wearing a fillet (band) must have belonged to the statue of a victorious athlete. He probably rested one arm lightly on his head; the remains of a rectangular support can still be seen among his curls. Roman copies often conformed to contemporary taste, and the contrast between polished flesh and deeply drilled hair on this head would have held special appeal for clients in the second century A.D.”

The Partial Historians

Marble of an athlete in the act of scraping oil ~ C1st CE

This sculpture is Roman but it is thought to emulate the work of Lysippos of Sikyon who flourished c. 370–315 BCE. The finely defined physique places the athlete in the realm of heroes.

🏛 The Getty

#AncientRome #AncientGreece #History

Front view of the sculpture. Description from the museum: “An over-life-size statue missing both arms just below the shoulder, as well as the lower parts of each leg. The remains of marble struts are preserved in the center of the chest and along the lower right ribs. The figure’s elongated body and soft facial features displays the proportions and style developed by the Greek sculptor Lysippos of Sikyon (active about 370–315 B.C.). According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer of the first century A.D., Lysippos made “the heads of his figures smaller… and the bodies slenderer and leaner, to give his statues the appearance of great height.” This fragmentary figure is in the pose of an athlete scraping oil from his back after a competition.”

Three quarters rear of the same sculpture with the spine and bottom clearly defined. The sculpture is missing one leg from the thigh and the other from below the knee.

Erotic Mythology 🧜‍♀️

This short #nonfiction article about #Easter was the first article on my Patreon. Now you can read it on my own website 🙂

https://eroticmythology.com/ancient-culture-today-the-ancient-origins-of-easter/

@antiquidons
#ancientGreece #mythology

The Partial Historians

The Kritonios Crown ~ C4th BCE.

This beautifully intricate crown embodies a variety of flora including oak, myrtle, ivy, and rose culminating in several figures including a winged goddess.

📍The tomb of Kritonios, Armento
🏛Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich

#AncientRome #AncientGreece #History

The crown is made of gold with an intricate design of a twig of oaks with intertwined patterns variety plants including narcissus, ivy, roses and myrtle. Topped by a winged goddess.

The Partial Historians

Wandering the oceans vast are the dolphins who must be resisted for they have pointy teeth and seem to be looking for trouble.

📍House of the Dolphins, Delos

#MosaicMonday #AncientGreece #History

Two evil-looking dolphins, one being ridden by Eros form the border motif between a circular border and a square border of a larger mosaic.

The Partial Historians

Greek armband ~ C3rd–C2nd BCE

Show-stopping doesn’t begin to capture just how gorgeous this Hellenistic armband is. Gold flowers complement garnets, emeralds, and enamel decoration. Bonus: ward off the evil eye with a Herakles knot!

🏛 The Met
#AncientGreece #History

Description from the museum: “The Herakles knot on this sumptuous armband is enriched with floral decoration and inlaid with garnets, emeralds, and enamel. According to the Roman writer Pliny, the decorative device of the Herakles knot could cure wounds, and its popularity in Hellenistic jewelry suggests that it was thought to have the power to avert evil.”

Erotic Mythology 🧜‍♀️

#WordWeavers 14 March: What role does ethnicity play in your world?

My works are set in (mythical) #ancientGreece for the most part, so I try to reflect ancient attitudes on ethnicity. Three of my stories are set in Asgard, with the Greek gods Hermes and Dionysos visiting the Norse gods. It was fun showcasing their differences and common ground.

For thos interested, the first part of the "Adventures in Asgard" is free to read here:
https://eroticmythology.com/free-short-story-hermes-dionysos/

The Partial Historians

#PhallusThursday

Achilles tends to the wounded Patroclus on the tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix. But look closely for more details!

📸 Bibi Saint-Pol

#AncientGreece #History @AimeeMaroux

Achilles tends to the wounded Patroclus on the tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix. Achilles is keeling to bind a wound on Patroclus’ left arm. Patroclus is sitting and his genitalia is visible.

Flavia Frisone 🎓 Greek History

🗣️ A new tale of Greek colonisation

🌊 SICILY GRECE/MAGNA GRAECIA: how to tell the story of a seminal relationship, that built the #AncientMediterranean giving shape to our cultural imaginary. An exhibition of extraordinary artefacts from various #museums of #Sicily, southern Italy and from Athens at the Salinas Archaeological #Museum of Palermo
#Exhibition curated by F. Frisone,
C. Greco

@antiquidons
#ancientgreece @archaeodons @AimeeMaroux @phistorians #GreekHistory #archaeology #storiagreca