The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford's current exhibition Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality includes artworks inspired by the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, archaeological notes and illustrations, and an array of finds from the original and ongoing excavations at the site. Read more
"... Sinis used to take hold of pine trees and draw them down. All those whom he overcame in fight he used to tie to the trees, and then allow them to swing up again. Thereupon ... the bound man...was torn in two. This was the way in which Sinis himself was slain by Theseus." I looked for examples of myths, rituals, and sacred spaces associated with trees and wood. Read more
"When Thetis had got a babe by Peleus, she wished to make it immortal, and unknown to Peleus she used to hide it in the fire by night in order to destroy the mortal element which the child inherited from its father, but by day she anointed him with ambrosia. But Peleus watched her, and, seeing the child writhing on the fire, he cried out; and Thetis, thus prevented from… Read more
The myth of Theseus’ sacred journey’ continued to be re-enacted in an Athenian state festival held in honor of Apollo at Delos. The ritualized journey in which the two-times-seven Athenian youths sailed to Delos and back again to celebrate that they had been saved was called a theōriā. But what evidence is there about what this ship looked like? Read more
Join in by reading this month's Book Club selection, which features a tragedy by the Roman author, Seneca: Phaedra, which is also sometimes referred to as Hippolytus. The hangout discussion will be on Tuesday, March 28 at 11 a.m. EDT. Read more
