Dionysios Medley

Here's a medley of #classical #art featuring #Dionysios in chronological more or less order

XMAS BREAK IS HERE

XMAS BREAK IS HERE

I'll try to do at least one Greek font xmas card to share before Xmas Eve

please watch for that

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Ariadne and Dionysios Again

#ariadne #dionysios #wedding

Another wedding of Ariadne and Dionysios scene  this time a mosaic

The color range seems some what limited compared to Renaissance and Baroque treatments of this theme but note the use of the cool grays to contrast with the ochres yellows and reds and flesh tones!

Luke's History Mary's Story

ADVENT and time to think about the Xmas Story.
and yes links to the influence of Greek literature

So how do I explain the differences between Matthew and Luke's versions of the Xmas Events.

Matthew's descriptions suggest stories he heard from people who were in Jerusalem at the end.
He talks about the visit to Herod's court of the 3 Magi and the disturbances that caused.

Luke however ...

Luke seems to be influenced by reading Greek History.

He starts with a prologue declaring his method and intents like a Greek History writer however he needs his readers apart from Theophilos will include Hellenized Jews so he includes a genealogy like Matthew and emphasizes Mary's links to Priestly families before he gets to the Birth.

Unlike a certain Christmas carol Lukes says PLACE NOT ROOM in the inn and focuses on the Shepherds and I do wonder could he have had a relative working as a scribe or some kind of official  in Bethelhem who was an eyewitness or interviewed the shepherds?

We also have verification of a later tradition that Luke had some kind of connection to Mary.

Luke 2:19 says that Mary .."all she remembered the events these thinking about them in her heart

suneteerei and sumballoo are the verbs.

If you're teaching Greek here's a great opportunity to show how adding sun as a prefix changes the meaning of a verb!

So Mary thought about what happened and how to tell the story later.

We have Mary's version  but also someone apparently talked to the innkeeper and the shepherds hence Luke's saying he used eyewitnesses.

Your choice if you think its all fiction but what a story!

Even more Party God

#dionysios #greekart
Mid week so we're back to the Party God of the Olympians

DIONYSIOS 

This is part of an Hellenistic Mosaic which may be a copy of a painting or an original work.

Its a common theme the god reclining and like earlier paintings on ceramic vessels he's half naked and wearing a wreath however the theme's details have changed ...he's now clean shaven no beard and the use of mosaic allows the artist to show him with pale skin and include a tonal background and foreground not possible with the limited range of colors on Classical ceramics.

The Greeks and Romans did not have stoneware glazes or underglazing under clear glazes.
That gloss you see thats polished terra sigillata not glaze! Contact with glass making cultures expanded the range of colors for painting and mosaic.

The satyrs having darker skin? Why?  Drawing attention to Dionysios having pale skin like an aristo or a woman and emphasizing which figure is the god and by contrast showing the Satyrs are wild rural deities.

Two Tales of Faith and Love

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy #faith

Luke Chapter 7 opens and closes with two contrasting characters who moved Jesus because of their faith in his power but also because of their love for another.

First we have the tale of the Centurion who had a beloved young slave referred to as a pais and doulos

The local synagouge at Capernaum approached Jesus for help for this outsider who was possibly an adult convert because he loved their ethnos - nation / people and had built the synagouge

Jesus however agrees to to help the slave because of the humility and faith of the Centurion.

"not in Israel such faith I have found"

At the end of the chapter we see Jesus dining in the house of a Pharisee called Simon.

Somehow a woman described as a sinner ( the actual sin is not specified) made her way into the house and begun anointing Jesus feet
After some interchange with Simon Jesus says

" set free the sins of her which (are) many that / because she loved much

and the chapter ends with

The faith of you it has saved you Go in peace

So the power of faith and love leading to the power of forgiveness.

More Party God

#dionysios #dionysus #greekpainting #greekceramics

Another Party god image

While part of the image has been destroyed he appears from the elaborate pleating to be wearing a womens dress possibly one discarded by a maenad since he also has a leopard skin draped over one arm though it could just be a large wild cat ?

Is this a scene from the Bacchae being illustrated or proof that the idea Dionysios sometimes cross dressed was common ?

Wisdom Justified by her children

#wisdom #sophia #biblestudy #greeknewtestament

Something for you to contemplate during the week !

A verse like this may be why Christian mystics and others identify the Holy Spirit with Sophia

LUKE 7:35

kai edikaioothee hee sophia apo pantoon toon teknoon autees

And justified (passive of dikaioo) is THE (feminine) SOPHIA by all the children of her

WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED BY ALL HER CHILDREN

and after reading this perhaps go and reread the Wisdom passages in Proverbs?

preparing students

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament #gospelofluke

Yes people another one of those verse in which knowing Greek deepens insight

Luke 6:40

ouk estin matheetees huper ton didaskalov
kateertismenos de pas estai hoos ho didaskalos autou

not is student over the teacher
then we have a perfect passive participle usually translated as taught trained or perfected
when or after being trained all will be like the teacher of him

note also Hoos some versions translate this as equal but its as like how that

The verb is katartizoo note the art stem

it also means prepare make an exact fit in fact the dictionary says the meaning teach or train is secondary

... make an exact fit ... all not the gospels have this verb and it is odd Luke thinks it should be katartizoo rather than didaskoo or paideuoo ?

I was pondering this and remembered the practice Joseph was a carpenter.

I suspect there is both a pun and a critique here possibly of ancient teaching methods.

Students have to be prepared to become teachers

Students will be teachers if prepared for their role not merely instructed or trained but prepared?

Also here we encouragement that we can become teachers
We do not have to be better or worse or compete than them but be ready to teach others ourselves if we are prepared to do so?

Next time its mid week so back to a secular theme!
That party god!

The Wedding of Dionysios and Ariadne

#weddign #dionysios #ariadne

There are a lot fo Renaissance and Baroque paintings on the theme of Bacchus and Ariadne and their first meeting or wedding but I came across this piece the other day and I like this

Ariadne daughter of Minos grand daughter of gods stands side by side with Dionysios the god of wine and parties as an equal playfully affectionately adjusting her spouses wreath with Poseidon on one side and Hermes on the other. 

Its one of those simple elegant images that show the beauty of Greek Classical art at its finest!

Dionysios the Party God

#dionysios #mosaic

Our next sequence of secular mid week posts will feature the Party God the infamous son of Semele and Zeus and noted cross dresser when not half nude!

This is Dionysios riding a leopard 

No that is not a woman or a maenad

Dionysios is usually depicted as a man wearing the sort of festival robes only an aristocrat could afford or being half naked and while the earliest depictions show him with a beard he starts being depicted as beardless in Hellenistic Art. He is often shown riding a leopard or being pulled in a chariot drawn by tigers and leopards or dancing with his Maenads. I'll be showing you examples of all of these over the next couple of weeks

CHOOSE VOTE

#ClassicalGreek 

#CHOOSE #VOTE 
and how to say that in Classical Greek 

Okay the American Elections are a NEWS TOPIC

Remember to Render to Caesar what is Caesars
I feel that includes the obligation and responsibility of VOTING whoever you choose.
I am not going to say who I would vote for if I was a USA citizen

In Roman ABC haireisthe pseephos the peeble used for voting and pseephisdesthe 

I will be placing designs related to this on my DeviantArt page and announcing them on my Twitter account both JVartndesign

remember phi and theta are aspirated Ps and Ts though if you prefer to pronounce them as if they were modern Greek thats okay with me 

Normal Greek New Testament Bible Study presumes next week 

Mid week topics will be Dionysios for the next few weeks.

Messene Odeion

THE #ODEION AT #MESSENE #odeion #messene

Whats left of most Greek and Roman Odeions makes them look like smaller versions of theatres however descriptions left by Pausanias and other writers suggests most of them were covered and had much more elaborate backstage structures. Instead of the well known Athenian Odeion I'm going to show you the two best photos I could find of the lesser known Odeion at Messene's ancient capital on Mt Ithome.

Some books describe this as a theatre and some experts think it was used for rituals but there is no trace of an altar and it certainly follows the standard Odeion format and placement. Near other public buildings and a fan shape with raised seating. It also has retained its tiled flooring perhaps because of the remoteness of Mt Ithome?

Perhaps as I speculated before theatres and odeions was used for a variety of events between major cultural or religious festivals. Homeric recitals? Rehearsals of new plays? Choral performances combining dance and song. Public Oratory? Oratory Training. There are many possibilities.

Be(come) Merciful

#mercy #greeknewtestament #biblestudy #ginesthe #

So just after the terrible events of the slaughter in the Tree of Live Synagouge in Philadelphi I'm flicking through pages trying to find a verse of usefulness and healing and I end up returning to the page in Luke I had tagged and rereading the passage I found myself drawn again and again to Luke 6:36

In the RSV translation BE Merciful

Going back up a few verses the passage talks about loving sinners loving your enemy and doing good EVEN when you can't expect a response.
Jesus speaks of doing this because the most high is kind to the ungrateful and evil though poneros could also be translated as wretched.

No I am not calling on people to forgive the shooter.
He's probably a psycho triggered by other people's violence
I'm not calling on you to forgive the owners and other users of the various social media platforms and sites  that allowed him to vent his hate and DID NOTHING TO STOP IT OR TELL HIM HE WAS WRONG.

But let us consider what he did was a lack of mercy or compassion !

The Greek verb translated as Be is actually a form of ginomai in this verse an aorist middle imperative GIVESTHE
Not just be but become happen make it happen

The shooter opted for violence not mercy and showed no pity that we know of ... perhaps he hestitated at the last minute and opted to show some mercy to younger members of the congregation but perhaps and probably not ...

He did not love his enemies do good or show mercy

BE MERCIFUL
We are all sinners but please strive to do good anyway !

The Thorikos Oddity

While 90 to 95 % of Greek and Roman Theatres and Odeion follow a standard design with minor tweaks to adapt to the locale the #theatre at #thorikos is oval rather than fan or circular in shape. It is also one of the oldest if not the oldest Greek Theatre.

many thanks to whoever took the drone shot !

Given this predates the stone theatres in Athens scholars and archaeologists it was originally used for political events or religious festivals so I find myself wondering 

WHAT WERE THEATRES and ODEIONS used for the REST of the YEAR?

Between Major Festivals?

Possibilities include Poetry Recitals of Homeric Epics, Orations on set themes, Training of Orators, and maybe political meetings if the agora was too small? 

Possibly training Actors and Choruses or maybe reruns of winning plays from previous contests?

Cursing and Blessing

CURSING AND BLESSING
FOUR VERBS in LUKE 6:27-28

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament

But to you I say to those hearing

LOVE THE ENEMIES OF YOU
DO GOOD TO THOSE HATING YOU
BLESS THE ONES WHO CURSE YOU
PRAY FOR THOSE AROUND
MAKING CURSES (about  towards) YOU

Agapapate  LOVE Your enemies agapoo !

Kaloos Poieite  do good act "finely / beautifully to the hating

Eulogeite BLESS speak well eologeoo those who Kataroomenous kataraomai  curse

Proseukhesthe pray for proseukhomai people around you making curses epeereazooo

NOTE THE IMPERATIVE FORMS

Kataraomai Kata+ ara+omai
to pray "down" to curse to ask or invoke  the divine to perform negative actions that harm others 

Eukhomai is strengthened by pros and peri
pray or wish for vow to

Epeereazontoon Epeereazoo related to epeereia

epi plus the er stem
to put words upon in a negative way threaten or abuse insult be spiteful despise verbally

This doesnt mean we can not speak out against evil use satire or have to allow evil "free speech" or spread propaganda

We are commanded to strive to counter balance or overwhelm evil with good.

Do good not just be nice Not to curse but to bless Love instead of hate

Prayer and Action

Greek Theatres - Mantinea

While I'm on the subject of theatres here's a reminder of what one looks like

This is the remains of the theatre at Mantinea.

The original would have had a stone or wooden super structure for supporting canvas screens and of course probably no grass and perhaps outer walls but note the shape a semi circle with tiers.

JOHN THE WRITER

#INKTOBER and JOHN THE WRITER

JOHN THE WRITER

Its #inktober2018 so lets look at New Testament verses in which #paper #pen and #ink are mentioned!

Who mentions these basic writing materials? The #Apostle JOHN!

2 John 1:12

Πολλὰ ἔχων ὑμῖν γράφειν οὐκ ἐβουλήθην διὰ χάρτου καὶ μέλανος,

ἀλλὰ ἐλπίζω γενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ …

Many things having to you to write not I would by “paper” and “black”

Khartou is paper made from papyrus and melanos is the black of ink.

John goes on to say he would rather have the joy of meeting with you face to face.

It is noteworthy he mentions writing himself with ink and not having a scribe do it so this means somehow John despite probably coming from a lower class family in Galilee that primarily spoke Aramaic could read and write in Greek! Did he learn as an adult or get tutored as a child? 

In Johns Third letter he again notes that he has written himself to the church

3 John 1:9 ἔγραψά Note again the first person verb form and then

3 John 1:13

Πολλὰ εἶχον γράψαι σοι ἀλλ̓ οὐ θέλω διὰ μέλανος καὶ καλάμου σοι γράφειν

Much I had to write to you but not I wish by black (ink) and reed (pen) to you to write

Again it not because of any lack of writing skills but because he would rather speak to them in person and hopes to see them soon.

One factor though in his reluctance to write long letters may have been the cost of papyrus sheets which could only be made and obtained in Egypt.

How lucky we are to have an abundance of cheap paper and the blessing of modern technology.

I am typing on the keyboard of a laptop that will be linked to the net via a wireless modem when I upload this to the metousia blog whereas John had to hope someone would donate paper and with no regular post service wait for a courier or church member to be travelling and carry the letter.

Do something for #inktober2018 

Draw an illustration!  Do Typography or Calligraphy! Art can be Ministry !?

More Theatre Masks and some questions

#theatre masks  THEATRE MASKS

These were found  in Britain and the style suggests they are characters from GREEK DRAMA though they date from the Roman Imperial era. This presents interesting possibilities. Did touring companies of actors visit the provinces and not just the festival circuit in Greece? South Italian ceramics and art from Pompeii and Herculaneum show theatre companies and images from myths that often look like stage settings. London and the other major Roman settlements could have had supported theatre companies which suggests a high level of education in the Provinces. 

Or were these just souvenirs brought or sent from Italy or Greece to a Roman settler? 

Or the equivalent of trendy interior design? Masks as objects of art placed for decoration?

The same way one might display copies of Noh masks? 

Clean or Pure ? A Short Note on Katharos

#katharos #gospelofluke #greeknewtestament

KATHAROS 
and its various related nouns and verbs means both purify and cleanse in GREEK

This creates a dilemma for translators

Which to use?

I'm currently (re)reading Luke Chapter 5 and have gotten to verse 13 in which Jesus says to the Leper

"I will Be Clean" in the RSV

The Greek is two Simple Verbs THELOO KATHARISTTHEETI

Theloo is the shortened post classical  form of ethelooo

I want this event to happen

Then An Aorist  Passive Imperative

It will happen to you the cleansing from disease

Remember this was a era without antibiotics and whether this man had Hansens or some other form of skin disease or cancer the only treatments available were bathing bandages and various ointments based on herbs or minerals and whether the cause was a fungus virus or bacteria the patient was often isolated. His condition was so serious he was described as "fully leprous" and how he got through the crowds to Jesus is not stated. Perhaps the crowds parted fearing infection as the man approached Jesus.

Not a word here about sin just a simple act of healing.

This is probably why the RSV uses CLEAN.

Greek Theatre Masks Two

#greekcomedy #thalia #theatremasks

The Muse of Comedy looking at one of the masks used  by male actors.

At least we think most actors were male however the Romans allowed female performers in what they called pantomime and given the diversity of the empire I suspect sooner or later a mosaic or fresco featuring an actress will turn up.

and perhaps the young lady used as a model for this was contemplating writing for the theatre ?

Fulfilling prophecy

What did Jesus say about fulfilling prophecies and the Scriptures

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament

LUKE 4:21 

In keeping with my prior post I want to point out that again Luke uses the perfect form of a verb and he's talking about prophecies!


4:21 and he begun to to speak to them

Today pepleerootai = it has been but note perfect form the writing / hee graphee  hautee the written this ... being a quote form Isaiah 61.1-2 into your ears en tois oosin humoon

Today fulfilled this writing in your hearing

Today you heard this writing has been fulfilled

Note that Jesus doesnt talk about scriptural inerrancy or the holiness of the Old Testament and note what he quoted from Isaiah

The Spirit holy is upon me

TO TAKE ACTION

he will preach gospel announce that prisoners and the oppressed will be ransomed and released and the blind recover sight

Prophecy is fulfilled by action!

Faith and works !

GEGRAPTAI - It is written

Luke and Matthew tend to use the word gegraptai to introduce Old Testament quotes though they are certainly not the only NT writers to do so.

This image will be made available on My DeviantArt Gallery when I have time to upload it 

Gegraptai is also one of those verb forms that are stronger in Greek.

This verb is the perfect passive form of GRAPHOO.

Why not just use the Aorist? Perhaps Luke is trying to stress the link between past and present? 

The quote is a written thing continuously in use. Remember the Aorist is a Complete Action but Perfect forms are not just used for past actions in Greek but also present actions for states.

IT IS WRITTEN appears in Luke 3.4  before a quote from the Prophet Isaiah then in 4.4 and 4.8 a quote from Dt 8.3,  and then in 4.10, a quote from the Psalms, and in 4.11 another Psalms quote and again in 4.12 a quote from Dt 6.16, then again in 4.11

While the famous quote from Jesus about fulfilling the laws and prophets appears in Matthew 5.17 Luke's opening chapters particularly cite prior prophecies as evidence of Jesus' special status and role and the use of the perfect passive and its repetition strengthens this link to the Old Testament.

Another reason I want you to be more aware of the Greek ... it sounds so much better in Greek than English. Compare GEGRAPTAI being used to rebuke the Devil  to the English it is written !

However remember also what Jesus said about AGAPE  being the core of the commandments. 

He didn't punish the Devil smiting him with divine fire he simply used a quote, words of power to deny temptation.

Now I must go as the local cockatoos are outside trying to tempt me to pay more attention to them than blogging. They're sitting on the railing where they know I can see and hear them. Yes I will refill your water bowl! Practical actions of agape ! 

Greek Theatre Masks One

#greektheatremasks #theatre #mask

My ailments flared up again so I'm still behind with blogging.

There will be a Greek NT post next weekend ... meanwhile since its mid week something #classical

Here we have a sculpture showing a a comic poet or possibly an actor contemplating the masks worn on stage a reminder of several aspects of Greek Theatre 

one actor might play multiple roles 

they wore masks not makeup 

dialogue was written around stock roles and characters

actors were male 

more masks next time 

Words of Authority

#luke #gospel #greeknewtestament #biblestudy #exousia #didache #expleessoo

LUKE 4:32 
"and they were astonished at his teaching 
for his word was with authority"

Let's look at 3 key words in this verse!

first a transliteration ...

kai eksepleessonto epi teei didakheei autou hoti en eksousiai een ho logos autou

and they were "outstruck" / struck at imperfect passive  of ekpleessoo
upon / by / after  epi plus dative
the teaching of him that in authority / power was the word / speech of him

Struck at sounds too strong in English yet that is what this verb means.

So one of the reasons Jesus' teaching had such an impact on the eyewitnesses Luke mentions at the beginning of his gospel is that his word had power, exousia which can be personal spiritual or political.

Those who heard it were struck by the teaching didakhee what you learn from teaching.
Didakhee became doctrina in Latin hence our doctrine but teaching is its meaning.
Not Luke emphasizes the TEACHING over PREACHING

We use for in English where Greek starts a secondary clause with hoti that as a clause marker and we would say with in English where Greek uses en.

The power was within him and coming out of him as expressed as speech.

LUKE not Skywalker the Evangelist

While I was "convalescing" from a nasty bout of sinusitis and its usual side effects and symptoms I was translating the preface of Luke's Gospel and let me tell you ... its even wierder in Greek!

#NTgreek #newtestamentgreek #luke #gospel

Matthew starts his Gospel with over a dozen verses listing Jesus' ancestors from Abraham to Joseph.

Mark starts with the source of the goodnews of ... cites one of Isiah's prophecies and then its straight to the action of the Baptism.

John is in the beginning was the word ...

Luke however is SO VERY HELLENIC YET STILL JEWISH !

Legend has it that Luke was a physician but Jewish or Hellenic ?

I think both !

He opens with a very greek epeideeper epei+dee+per ..since indeed or in asmuch as  or
I'll stick to the simplest translation since ... since many things I did attempt to arrange (in) a narrative about the and here's a Perfect Passive Participle of all things! ... not even a common term in Hellenisitic greek pepleerophoreemenoon his narrative is about matters pragmatoon that amongst us have been fullfilled events that happened.

He's saying this is history not a story or essay a narration based on ... verse 2 eyewitnesses those who saw the events themselves and "attendants" people who were nearby at the time 

Like Herodotus and other historians he did an enquiry before he wrote a report

Like a doctor he's asked about what happened and taken notes.

Luke also tells us and Theophilos at the beginning of Acts that his previous writings or first words were made about all the things which Jesus began to both do and teach.

Getting back to that wierd perfect passive the things and events and actions he wrote about needed to be expressed in the Perfect tense rather than Aorist because they to him were a sequence of events not one single action.

I should note some translate pepleerophorew as fully believe but note it is a compound of pleerow and phorew something fully carried out FULFILLED

Its as if he's both referring to prophecies being fulfilled but wants to stress they were actions that have consequences and are still having results.

His target audience apart from Theophilos seems to be Greek speaking Literate Jews similar to both Historical literature and the Old Testament and he is said to have come from Antioch a Greek colony.

Unlike the other apostles he feels to the need to emphasize this is history.

and this formal declaration's strength comes across in English and Greek

Next time I may look at some other prefaces ... if my wretched sinusitis finished clearing up and I don't have another relapse into being surrounded by tissue boxes and alternating coughing with sneezing.

Apollo the Archer and Heracles

APOLLO THE ARCHER AND HERACLES

In #Homer and #Hesiod #Apollo is usually described as the Farshooter or as Phoibos the Shining One and on Athenian ceramics he is also shown as an Archer rather than a Sun God.

Here he is disputing with his half brother Heracles who having been refused an oracle at Delphi had taken the tripod used there from the shrine and was threatening to remove it and start his own oracular shrine elsewhere. 

Apollo is depicted as a young aristocrat with fancy boots and long flowing hair and a quiver on his back with his sisters Athena and Artemis watching.

There's another and for me rather amusing version of this by a different potter / painter version in which the Mighty Heracles is shown running away from his brother !

Apollo is also shown as a musician but that will be the topic for the next post.

Starting Luke and a little sociolinguistic mystery

While the next mid week post will feature Apollo our Sunday posts will be on the Gospel of Luke and New Testament Greek therein.

LOUKAS seems to be an attempt to write a Latin name in Greek as the Greeks wrote the Roman U and V with the two letters OU as U in Greek at that time was a different vowel sound.

Its not Lucius the Greeks would have spelt that as Loukios !

A lot of scholars think its a shortened form of Lucanus? 

Eusebius the historian claims Luke was a physician and a Syrian from Antioch.
But a Syrian Greek or Jew ? Perhaps the answer is that local Syrian Greeks and Jews had a usage of spelling Lukios and Lucanus and similar names as Loukas or of changing i to a and vice versa.
There is no other record of such a practice but it would explain why Loukas in its Greek Latin and Aramaic forms rapidly became a popular name. I could see people using the well known gospel writer's name as a support for using a colloquial form and it than spreading beyond Antioch to other parts of the empire.

It also shows how much interchange there was between various ethnic and language groups,

This is reflected in Luke's writings.

While I usually focus in what Jesus said the Preface to Luke's Gospel is worth a close look as an example of that cultural exchange I mentioned. 

So coming up next Apollo midweek  then Luke !

Join me!

Helios the Sun God

#Helios #sungod #greekmythology

People tend to think of Apollo as the Sun god but he actual Charioteer of the Solar Chariot was Helios son of Hyperion. Apollo seems to have taken over his role or been (con)fused with him in the Hellenistic era as people shared stories and encountered other solar cults and tried to make some sense of whether there was one sun god or several, Apollo, Helios, Shams, Horus, Ra, Mithras and others like Lugh of the Gauls and Sol Invictus.

If you see an image in Greek or Roman art wearing the radiate crown without a bow and with or without a chariot it may well be Helios rather than Apollo.

I have picked images from 4 different media ceramics, relief sculpture, mosaic , and a bronze to show its a consistent motif and theme.

To finish a coin of Emperor Probus who supported solar cults.

Note also the four horse RACING chariot !

Next time since its Summer for some of you Apollo.

Partiality and Faces

There's a word only used in the #NewTestament in #Greek that gets translated as favoritism respect bias or partiality. #prosoopolee(m)psia.

It appears in Romans 2:11, (RSV) "For God shows no partiality."
It is also used in Acts 10:34, Galatians 2:6, Ephesians 6:9, and Colossians 3:25.

It appears to have been created to translate Hebrew verbs expressing the same idea such as those used in Deut 10:17. and other verses. Google partiality in the Bible and you'll see a wide variety of terms in the Old Testament but words used in the Greek Testament are a smaller group?

Now the Greek is face/ appearance prosoopon plus le(m)psia which derives from lambano.
Literally its face taking so it appears  that for Paul and Peters congregations bias and favoritism was having your respect for a person or giving a person respect or privilege based on their OUTwards appearance or social persona, rank, ethnicity, or religious.

God does not make binary or other distinctions between Hebrews and Sojourners, Jews and Greeks, slave and free, rich and poor, a convert like Cornelius the centurion or Jew by birth like Paul.

Divine and human justice is not based on privilege or who you are but what you have done.

Solar Crowns

Last week and the week before  I showed you a variety of headgear worn by monarchs on coins and other art and showed you how UNLIKE modern crowns they were.

So why did later European monarchs start wearing spiked crowns rather than jewelled headbands?

One reason might have been the radiate solar crown used by some Hellenistic monarchs and LATE Empire Caesars.

The god Helios was traditionally shown wearing a crown of rays.

Hellenistic and Roman SYNCRETISM lead to people identifying Apollo or Helios with various Near Eastern and Egyptian Solar Deities. 

I suspect an attempt to identify with Horus lead to the Ptolemies using a radiate crown.

The First Caesars however did not wear crowns but the revival and spread of various Solar deities from Syria and Persia, the cults of Sol Invictus, Mithras, and Shams, and others lead to a brief revival of the radiate crown started by Aurelianus who had coins issued showing Helios on one side and his image with a radiate crown on the other.

I'm thinking also that perhaps some later jewellers were given Roman coins to melt down and remove the "pagan" imagery and were asked to recycle the coins into crowns but seing the coins and perhaps survivng mosaics or statutes of Helios got ideas.

I have more Helios art I'll share soon.

Strolling Scribes

#bible study #scribes #gospelofmark #mark  #newtestamentgreek

STROLLING SCRIBES 

Mark 12:38-40 
(see also Luke 20:45-47 and Matthew 23: 5-7)
Literal word for word translation follows

Verse 38
and in the teaching of him he was saying
note the use of  elegen in Greek not said but saying perhaps because he said this several times?

Blepete apo look about (at) consider regard the scribes (and their actions)

 theloo is the verb liking / wanting
in stoles (perhaps not just fringed shawls but long over-robes in contrast to the shorter everyday wear and tunics of workers
peripatein to walk about to stroll casually
and (liking) aspasmos greetings  in the market place / town centre
The agora was the town centre for markets and business with major admin buildings nearby

Socializing when they should be teaching?

Verse 39

and first chairs (places of honor special seating in the "front row" in the synagouges
and firstcouches in meals = at dinners possibly even Greek or Roman style dinners or feasts
if they were reclining on couches.

Verse 40 (the scribes are) those who eat down  - we would say eat up or consume -
the house(hold)s of widows and clearly he means money not just food
as an excuse praying

like some modern preachers who say they'll pray for you if you send money or any priest or shaman or guru or cult leader  in any religion who wants money not just to cover expenses but to make a profit from prayers or rituals

Note he is not saying pastors and priests can't ask for donations or charge to cover expenses from those who can afford to and have money but he is condemning those who take money from the poor and ... widows were supposed to be protected and helped not prey for the greedy.

they will receive leempsontai is the future of lambano a  more (severe) perissoteron  punishment krima

Do I need to name examples of modern preachers or priests or pastors who do this?

The ones who are always seen wearing makeup and hand tailored clothes and not just to cover blemishes or because they look bad in readymade suits.

The ones who want to be seen with celebrities or politicians at prayer breakfasts or sporting events or rallies.

Don't be a strolling scribe! Be a teacher and expert who uses their knowledge to help others.

Coins NOT Crowns

#coins #ancient coins #crowns #wreaths #coinage #hellenistic monarchs
In several countries with monarchs rulers are often shown on coins wearing crowns.
However Hellenistic monarchs are more likely to be shown wearing a stephanos or wreath or a hat !

Here are some examples:

Queen Arsinoe 1 wearing a diadem or a modified polos perhaps

A Macedonian monarch wearing a headband 

note the headbands or wreaths

finally the one image I found showing something like a crown

however the spikes on this probably represent the rays of the sun

Crowns as we know them developed later

Soophron in Titus

#titus #epistles #soophron #newtestamentgreek.

For one reason Paul left a bit overboard with using words derived from the #Soophron stem in his Letter to Titus. This however gives us examples all clustered together to study and also serves to remember us the words we see in Classical literature were part of a living language.

Titus 1:8 A church overseer must be hospitable, literally philoxenon , a friendhost, and philagathon, lovinggood, and SOOPHRONA, sober temperate or sensible, reinforced by egkratee.

Titus 2

Verse 1 Church Elders (male) must be amongst other virtues soophronas

Verse 4 Female elders should SOOPHRONIZOOSIN the young women, make them be sensible or have common sense or practical wisdom even, not I think just be modest, given its usage elswhere in this letter.

Verse 5 has soophronas again could be modest or sensible

Verse 6 soophronein the younger (single men / husbands ) likewise encourage to be sensible / moderate

Verse 12 instead of worldly desires or passions kosmikas epithumias people are to live soophronoos and dikaioos and euseboos, sensibly, justly and reverently.

One wonders just how silly or cheeky some of the Cretan church members were that Paul needed to stress this particular virtue?

However my major point is that since Paul uses soophronos about both sexes sensible is probably the best translation into current 21ST century English?

Thoughts on Soophronein and a freebie

#soophronein #deviantart #wordstudy

First an Announcement you can download the file below and other experiments with greek typography from my DEVIANT ART GALLERY

www.deviantart.com/JVartndesign/gallery

Since these are freebies please consider using the paypal link above right or supporting me via Patreon or a visit to my Amazon wishlists ? 

Okay back to the word study.

Soophronein / soophroneoo  is a fairly common verb used by the major and minor dramatists historians orators and philosophers in Classical and Hellenistic Greek literature and appears also in the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament.

However NT translators use a variety of expressions to translate it into modern English.

think soberly think sensibly think / be modest 

however it actually literally means means to be safe minded soo + phron so why the modern translations.  The Greeks used this and related words to express also ideas about modesty as a virtue but the word(s) as much mean keeping yourself safe by being moderate and sensible avoiding excess.

Its moderation or commonsense expressed as sensible behaviour and thinking. 

Pauls usage of soophronein in Romans 2:3 is a good example of this as he contrasts thinking and thinkly safely / sensibly with hyperphronein.

He also uses it in his letters to Titus in chapter 2 and to Timothy 1 Tim 2:9 and 2:15.

Its wide usage I hope supports my belief NT scholars should read the Classics and vice versa!?

soophronein

#soophronein 

This weeks theme is Soophronein ... look up Romans 12:3 and come be for the next post !

Hera the Crowned Goddess

HERA the CROWNED GODDESS

#Hera #goddess #poloscrown

One of the distinguishing features of Hera in many Classical Greek artworks is the "polos" crown.

It seems to have been some kind of cap or hat imitating images from Near Eastern art or possibly some kind of flat band or ring probably made of felt or leather since no metal versions survive?

However looking at this example on a coin perhaps they were metal and simply havn't survived because they were melted down?

Here's another example

Roman era copies of Greek works also suggest they were metal and perhaps the precursors of diadems?  

Yet actual human queens are not depicted wearing them ! 

A topic for the near future !

Covenants and Communion

#wordstudy #biblestudy diatheekee #covenant #koinegreek

What do you think of when you see the word covenant?

Mark 14:24 
and he said to them 
"this is the blood of me of the DIATHEEKEE which is being poured out for many"

 Mark 14:22-26 and parallel passages in Luke and Matthew about the Last Supper are part of the foundation and support for various teachings and practices for Holy Communion or Mass or whatever your church calls it?

Let use consider the word diatheekee usually translated as covenant.

It also means will or testament or a placing of property based on an arrangement between individuals.

The verbal root is diatitheemi.

Consider alternative translations
this is mine blood of inheritance
this is the blood mine for inheritance
this is the blood of me the property which is being poured out for the many

Summing all of that up as a covenant makes senses but it is also a promise to the disciples present of an inheritance to be shared by many?
And  perhaps given the preset Perfect Passive form a prophecy of a VERY NEAR future event
A phrase more exactly meaning a very soon to be event involving bloodshed is about to occur reads equally awkwardly in Greek or English.

I do wish there was some way to place more emphasis on DIATHEEKEE in English?

I hope I've shown you again why knowing even a little greek or using a commentary that refers to the greek text is important and useful?

Romans 12 mostly

#bible study #wordstudy #antitassomai #philoxenia #soophronein #greeknewtestament
ROMANS 12 and one comment on 13

While people are focusing on #romans13 I'ld to point out some #christian #virtues Paul mentions in the previous chapter

Verse3

alla phronein eis to soophronein but think with/in safethinking

THINK SENSIBLY USE REASON

Verse 13 teen philoxenian diwkontes for friendguest + hospitality to strangers be pursuing

Strive for Hospitality towards Strangers

Verse 16 tois tapeinois suvapagomenoi with the lowly/ humble lower classes associate or even socialize with and politicians that means being with not just for a few minutes on a platform at some rahrah rally ?

and oh a word about #Romans13

that verbal participle translated as resist or oppose in the RSV in English is a form of #antitassomai

Paul isn't talking about demonstrations or protests he's probably (well in my view)  talking about people who were calling for the VIOLENT THROUGH ARMED REBELLION rejection of the Roman Empire.

Read up on the revolt that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Disapora ?

He's not saying you can't criticize or demand changes in government policy !

Please go and reread Romans 12 and 13 in English or Greek and "soophronein"

Hera a Late Classical depiction

#hera #greekceramics

Most of our surviving images of Hera are Roman era statues of regal matrons but I rather this quieter more elegant Greek work. Why because she looks like she's contemplating action.

Dunasthe

#Markchapter14verse7 #dunasthe  #wordstudy #koinegreek

Mark Chapter 14 Verse 7 is definiteky one of those verses where a knowledge of Greek helps.

Pantote gar tous ptookhous ekhete meth' heautoon 

kai hotan theleete dunasthe autois eu poieesai, 

eme de ou pantote ekhete

I want to draw your attention to the words hotan theleete dunasthe !

whenever you will / wish want to note the SUBJUNCTIVE PRESENT

then the Middle of dunamai ... most translations use can or may but this is a  bit weak 

dunamai I am able I have the power to do something 

whenever you are willing to 

you have the power or possiblity to do good 

some of us have the desire and not the power or vice versa

ideally we would have both ?

A Hellenistic Greek Tomb Painting

#hellenisticGreek #tomb #painting

I wanted to show you these before but had trouble finding open source images due to some tagging and metadata that could have been more detailed ...

Here is an example of what those pigments I've been describing looked like !
This is from the #AgiosAthanasios tomb probably that of a Macedonian general as armour was found and looted from it. Fortunately the looters didn't get to the walls.

Its not all "garish colors" While there  are strong vivid blues and reds these contrast with tonal areas leading one's eyes across the work though the case may simply be some of the colors have faded ? 

Enjoy and scroll back to read the rest of the series !

Homer Koine Greek and the Verb Greegoreoo

This post is as much a #wordstudy as #biblestudy discussing how a verb used by #Homer was transformed in #KoineGreek usage.

Mark 13 32-37 features the verb Greegoreoo three times first as a Present Subjunctive and then twice as a Present Imperative with a meaning of WATCH BE ALERT AWARE AWAKE

I was looking at related forms to study its meaning and discovered its related to egeiroo and here's the odd thing. The #Koine form that split off from Egeiroo derives from Homeric Perfect usages.

Somehow over the centuries the Perfect / Pluperfect used as Present  Egreegora  e+gree+gor+a got regularized and standardized to follow the -O pattern for the present.

Some users maybe hearing Homeric forms like Egreegoraww seem to have thought Egreegora was perhaps an Aorist and dropped the E.

That these forms appear in Koine perhaps also shows that people was listening to Homeric recitations or reading Homer without an adequate commentary or a teacher to guide them?

It is also an example of the disappearance of perfect forms discussed in Browning's Medieval and Modern Greek.

So why did Mark choose to use this word ? And where did he hear or learn it used in the Koine form rather than using Egeiroo?

Frankly I can't do more than speculate but I suspect he choose it for impact ?

Garish Colors - Orpiment Yellow

The major source for bright yellow in ancient Greek and Roman painting was #Orpiment another sulphate mineral ore pigment

This is how experts think it looked painted onto statues.

and here is a fresco example from Pompeii 

with your whole mind

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy
Mark 12:29-30

"and you will love the the lord god  of you from whole of the heart
and from whole of the soul of you

and from the whole of the mind of you 

yes the greek is ex holees and genitive 

Points of interest in the parallel Two Commandments verse

see Luke 10:27 and Matthew 22:37

ONE Matthew and Luke use Dative plus EN  with in equalling with cos of dative of agent
however the basic idea is the same you use the whole of your self to love
heart soul mind strength
and note its holos not pas used here

TWO with your mind is NOT in the verse from Leviticus 19:18 being quoted
Jesus adds you must use your capacity for dianoia - thought

Also note Jesus approval of the scribe's answer in 33
and with all the understanding in the RSV translation
the greek there is suneseoos from sunesis

We're being asked to understand and think about our relationship with the Divine.

To love but love with our entire mind but not simply focused and thinking and understanding or trying to WHY WE LOVE

Garish Colors - Lapis Lazuli Blue

#lapislazuli #blue #pigment #ancientpainting.

The strongest pigment in the ancient palette was probably lapislazuli or ultramarine blue.
It was also the most expensive having to be imported from what is now Afghanistan.

Blue could also be obtained from smalt ot azurite but the peculiar porous structure of this mineral makes it work better as a pigment than as a gemstone.

So if you're thinking bright blue appeared on buildings and artworks.

Probably not unless blended with other pigments to make it go further.

The unprocessed mineral form.

Due to it being so expensive I have not have found any pre byzantine mosaics or frescos or encaustic painting  that seem to be using blue that clearly derives from ultramarine.

Sometimes I've seen dark or light blues but these could be smalt or azurite blended with other pigments.

S bright garish blues ... maybe not ?