After the seasonal feasting of the holiday season, many of us start to think about healthier eating and drinking to start the new year. So in this post we share a selection of passages about food and drink related to health and nutrition, and we invite members to share others in the Forum. Read more
At this time of year our thoughts often turn to food and drink, so we start our exploration of the topic in Homeric and Hesiodic poetry. Where does their food come from? What kinds of foods does the poetry represent? How is it prepared and served? Read more
I wanted to look at the two short Homeric Hymns to Artemis, #9 and #27, and to think about what kind of narrative or myth might have accompanied either of these Hymns, if we take them as prooemia, and to see what key words stand out. Do they have much in common, or do they concentrate on different aspects of Artemis? Read more
"The herald came near, bringing with him a singer, very trusted, whom the Muse loved exceedingly. She gave him both a good thing and a bad thing. For she took away from him his eyes but gave him the sweetness of song." The gifts of the gods are ambiguous and double-edged. Read more
Beauty: a concept of the mind that is intangible, culturally influenced, and fluid. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, say many. The realm of beauty is as old as humanity. The topic canvasses from philosophy to religion from natural to man-made. This is a huge topic, of which I will focus on the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, and explore how people in antiquity thought about beauty. Read more
