Christmas Greetings

 I hurt my hand and I'm run

ning late on everything but I wish you all

A Sensible Belief Thoughts on Logike

A Sensible Worship 

Thoughts on Logike's Usage Romans 12:1 

One of the few translations I do have issues with is the RSV reading of Logike in Romans 12:1 as spiritual

KJV has reasonable service 

Other versions translate logike as reasonable or rational.

The actual words in Greek are 

Logikeen latreian 

Paul asks the Romans to offer their bodies as a living offering holy and acceptable for you 

I support the use of reasonable or even sensible here for look at the next verses

12:2 the renewal of the mind nous proving the will of god 

Belief and faith as a process and result of thought ? 

Then in 3 he asks people to soophronein to think to think moderately with good common sense to be sensible about faith and he also goes on to link this to actions and gifts

Anyway read Romans 12 and I especially recommend that very useful passage Verses 9 -21 

Don't let discussing one word become a hindrance and overcome evil with good v.21.     

MIA

 #mia #classicalgreek #adjective #julievaux #wordstudy

OVER on my METOUSIA PATREON I'm posting this month about MIA the adjective meaning ONE used with feminine gender nouns . There are pdfs and pngs Mostly free Some in the $1 and $5 tiers 

Please come and pay a visit and learn more about MIA  METOUSIA _ PATREON

Two Friends or Sisters or What?

 A STELE of TWO WOMEN 

handing each other flowers

This is a stele found in Pharsalos in Thessaly in Greece and now in the Louvre

We do not know these women's names or relationship. Were they sisters lovers friends or is this a religious ritual? I found it while researching for examples of greek costume. Enjoy for the carving the clothing details or the possible story it may inspire ?

GREEK NUMBERS 1- 4

 In NOVEMBER I have NUMBERS AS A THEME 

#ARITHMOI #GREEK NUMBERS

Arithmetic is a word of Greek origins coming from the word  ἀριθμοι - numbers.

Here are the First Four Cardinal Numbers in Greek

ONE

Masculine εἱς Feminine μία Neuter ἕν

Masculine Nominative εἱς Accusative ἕνα Genitive ἑνός Dative ἑνί

Feminine Nominative μία Accusative μίαν Genitive μιᾶς Dative μιᾷ

Neuter Nominative ἕν Accusative ἕν Genitive ἑνός Dative ἑνί

TWO

There are no differences. All genders follow this declension pattern

Nominative and Accusative δύο Genitive and Dative δυοῖν

THREE

Masculine Nominative τρεῖς Accusative τρεῖς Genitive τριῶν Dative τρισί(ν)

Feminine Nominative τρεῖς Accusative τρεῖς Genitive τριῶν Dative τρισί(ν)

Neuter Nominative τρία Accusative τρία Genitive τριῶν Dative τρισί(ν)

FOUR

Masculine Nominative τέτταρες Accusative τέτταρας Genitive τεττάρων Dative τέτταρσι(ν)

τέτταρες τέτταρες τέτταρες

Feminine Nominative τέτταρες Accusative τέτταρας Genitive τεττάρων Dative τέτταρσι(ν)

Neuter Nominative τέτταρα Accusative τέτταρα Genitive τεττάρων Dative τέτταρσι(ν)

Check my  METOUSIA PATREON

 for a A4 pdf version of this later this month!

Braganza Brooch

 #Braganza Brooch Greek Brooches

What a beauty. Given the size and shape I suspect this was for pinning a heavier woolen garment and probably given the warrior holding a shield a cape for a man and maybe also a military cape  ? 

Do remember while admiring this that most people would have only been able to afford the simple style of pins I posted earlier.

Gold Hellenistic brooch

Gold Hellenistic Pediment Brooch

 

Metro Museum says this object is a brooch though the back is not shown. However I could see this working if it was one of a pair at the shoulders of a garment or for the sort of cape that pinned on both shoulders. What do you think? 

Ornate October - # Greek Brooches

 #ornateoctober

Back at the beginning of the month I suggested an alternate theme for October might be Ornate October for those not doing Inktober or Classicstober.

Greek Jewellery Ranges from the indeed "classically" severe and plain through  to very ornate objects.

Brooches - personai - for pinning clothing and capes looked more like a very simple twisted pin at use but became increasingingly ornate and there was a time when wealthy Ionian Greeks whether  Islanders or Mainlanders living in Asia Minor were noted for long flowing robes and hair and GOLD brooches on their clothing. 

Personally I think despite claims everything was pinned that there was some seams at the sides and shoulders for some garments but I base that on NOT seeing pins depicted in paintings and the way some garments draped and the fact constantly inserting metal pins into linen or wool could have lead to rips and holes in garments! 

Here's a very early pin 2200 BCE

and this is what I meant by brooches / pins looking like safety pins.

and from the Archaic era one last example.

Classicsotber

 #classicstober

Its half way through alright and due to other projects I've barely finished anything but ...

This is a png with a transperent background

I will also post this to my #metousia #patreon as an unlocked post for people to download

You can always keep it for next year ! I will have a few other things in the unlocked posts and the $1 hellenika tier 

Do visit and view ?

https://www.patron.com/Metousia

aaargh schedule change

Okay the start of my new casual job suddenly got moved forwards so only weekly posts or even a hiatus due to me replacing staff at short notice.

Yeah Im working on a Sunday which I normally avoid for religious reasons but the Divine will forgive since there was ....well Sydneys out of lockdown but ...whatever  was going to fi ish blog post peep this arvo but ... something will be posted soon ! 

Slip as Ink

Ive been thinking about Classical Greek "painting" on ceramics as a form of drawing. 

Did these painters also work in full color on murals or specialize on painting on clay with slip ? 

Let us consider for a moment there was NO drawing paper.

Yes NO Paper !

And imported papyrus would have been too expensive for rendering anything other than finished works? 

The sketch pad for artists would have been wax tablets spare clay tiles or fragments of broken ceramics or possibly strips of linen from discarded clothing ?

So perhaps we should view those masterworks of painting as also masterworks of drawing with colored clay slip being used instead of paint or rather I should say clay being used as the binder instead of gum or glue or plaster ? 

ClassicsTober 2021

A new trend in #classicstwitter is the suggestion artists into classics do items from this list inspired by the #inktober concept. 

It seems to me many of these items could be useful for word studies or class discussion topics ? 

Share the list ! 

Hieros Versus Hagios

There are various words to express the concept of something or one being holy blessed or divine in Greek. 

The two most people recall easily are adjectives derived  Hiero- or  Hagi- along with related verbs and nouns.

I was actually looking for which words Greek Classical or Koine  uses for "temple" and while looking at the usage of hieron for temple once again pondered on its New Testament usage. 

While both words are used hieron frequently means not just any temple but the one at Jerusalem with naos used for jewish n greek shrines and holy is more often hagios or hagia.

Part of the reason for hagios being a preferred usage seems to be its meaning holy and also often pure ? 

A Temple in Greek is usually a  Hieron holy thing or a Naos a dwelling place for a god separated from the mundane by a Temenos.

However other beings persons and places can be holy. 

One notes the Holy Spirit is Hagia not Hiera but yet the Jerusalem Temple is Hieron and not Hagios.

I think another factor may be Hieros was seen as being  more formal and literary than Hagios. 

Plus the need to stress while there were many temples and shrines - naos there was only one Temple at Jerusalem.

Being hagios - holy for early Christians was not simply a privilege associated with temples and the Jerusalem elite. It was something you didnt have to go to Jerusalem to experience and acquire. Othere things a d places a d actions could be hallowed - hagizoo the verb  from the hag root.

Anyway those are my opinions and thoughts on that subject. 

Hopefully they are of som ed use to you? 

The Unexamined Life - a Worksheet

Here's an example of the word sheets I post in the Hellenika tier of my Metousia patreon. 

For a $1 pledge  you can get posts dating back over several months and yes I do post some freebies ! 

The Unexamined Life

A quote from Socrates

From the Apology 38A

ὁ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ

Exercise –

Parse and translate each word.

Think about how they work together to create meaning.

Break ἀνεξέταστος into its morphs.

Which part is a prefix? Which a suffix. Which the radical?

Have you read The Apology?

What do you think Socrates meant?

Why is this statement so often quoted by others?

What personal insights has studying Greek and reading Plato helped you obtain?

BYZANTINE PSALTER

Just a reminder that Psalters were not just produced in Western Europe. 

Here is a Byzantine Greek manuscript. 

 

P>I>E> S to GREEK H

 

S TO H

You may have noticed some words that start with S or K or other sounds in other IndoEuropean languages start with an aspirate vowel in Classical Greek.

ἁ ἑ ἱ ἡ ὁ ὑ

Here's a list of words scholars believe started with an initial sibilant in PIE with cognates as proof:

ἅλς Salt or sea PIE seh2ls Sanskrit sara salila Latvian sals Latin sal Old English sealt

ἑλίκη Willow PIE sVlVh Welsh helyg Latin salix Irish saileog Old Englsih sealh > sallow Gaelic seileach

ἕλος marsh PIE selos Sanskrit saras

ἑνος when it means last or former may be a cognate of Latin senex old Irish sen Welsh hen Sanskrit sanas PIE senos

ἡ the Sanskrit sa Gothic sa or so

ἡδυ ἡδονη PIE sweh2dus ProtoHellenic hwadus Sanskrit svadu Latin suavis Old Englsih swete

ἥλιος from *hawelios from PIE *soh2wl sun Baltic Saule Gaelic suil Latin sol Welsh Haul

ὓπνος Gaelic suain Welsh hun Latoin Somnos Sopr Old English swefan Sanskrit svapnas

ὗς pig swine sow PIE suh Latin sus Sanskrit sukara Hindi suar Irish soc

ῶν is a contraction of – οντος *hnt honts Note Hittite asha-a-an-za ashanza if PIE is * sont

Sanskrit has sat reality being.

This does not mean All words with an initial aspirate were originally Initial – S. Some of them originally started with a “W” or or other sound.

A pdf of this will be posted to my metousia patreon. 

Ancestral S

 ANCESTRAL S -  YES S

This form from the #Egyptian #hieratic cursive #script is the ancestor or one of a small group of letter forms that were borrowed into ProtoSinatic and then Phoenician and Greek.

YES THIS IS AN S well part of  a word with an initial sibilant sound.

The first sibilant symbols keep shifting from representing s to sh and became /S/ in Greek which had no "SH" sibilant whereas Afro-Asiaitic languages like Middle Egyptian Punic and Hebrew had at least 2 and sometimes more. Then someone changed this is a zigzag shape which got rotated probably so its could not be confused with some forms of m or n and we have S our simple elegant modern S which by the way probably has nothing to do with Snakes or Serpents. 

More on this and how it became sigma  next time! 

Before Loebs - An Early Bilingual Iliad

 BEFORE there were #loebs thee were #bilingual texts of #homer. This is a #Renaissance manuscript of #Homer 's #Iliad with Greek facing Latin .

Note the different style of ornamentation and the way the page layout uses columns and architectural details rather than interlaced floral patterns.

Griffin Lebes

 GRIFFIN LEBES

This #griffin #lebes or #urn dates from the Hellenistic era probably about 350 BCE.

The griffins seem also plain compared to the florid "Corinthian" ornamentation on the base.

I wonder if perhaps the heads were using for hanging floral memorial wreaths from?

And why Griffins? 

Enjoy!

Griffin on a Seal

 #griffin #seal #intaglio 

Here's a example of Hellenistic carving on a smaller scale.  This image is larger than the original .

 

Let me know if you have found this Griffin sequence useful and enjoyable? 

GREEK LIGATURES

 #greekligatures #greektypography #palaeography #ligatures

 

Just a little something I thought would be useful to pass on ...

Yet MORE GRIFFINS

 GRIFFINS ON A SACROPHAGUS

#delphi  #sacrophagus #Griffins

 

These two seem to be protecting a sacred flame. The style suggests the Hellenisitc era.

BYZANTINE GRIFFIN

 #griffin #byzantine #sculpture 

GREEK ART DOES NOT JUST MAGICALLY

 STOP AND START AT THE CLASSICAL ERA. 

It is a continuum.

Jumping forwards a few centuries here is an example that shows how Byzantine art may have influenced Islamic art and how the ancient griffin carvings of Mesopotamia influenced both.

Note the interlacing and the stylised plants and vines forming frames within frames emphasizing the griffin by filling in the background. This very leonine griffin has a birds talons on its forelegs but leonine rear paw and haunches and a mane plus the now traditional raptors beak and ears pointing forwards.

Let me know if you are finding this collection of images useful or enjoyable whether you are an illustrator seeking references or a scholar. Most of my collection came from Wikimedia Commons if you need large sizes go there!

HELLAS WILL ABIDE

Normally I would be continuing a series (such as the current one on griffins) but its time and timely to do a brief interruption.

Some of you may have seen news reports about recent FIRES in GREECE wild fires forest fires bushfires whatever you call them they are bringing death and destruction!

So a word of support! 

Well several ...

HELLAS WILL ABIDE 

Greece has endured earthquakes floods droughts invasions 

May it abide as the first European shore to be touched by "rosy fingered Dawn" ! 

Writing from a land also frequently effected by wild or arson caused fires remember the green will return and yes there will be a lot of unproductive finger pointing and people trying to exploit the situation.

Rebuild replant trees just maybe a lot less fast growing conifers and more slower growing elms cypress oak and please consider buying up burnt out properties to create a green belt of say playing or sports fields or public parks  to act as a fire barrier between housing and coastal scrub 

These work ! 

Unblock old stone cisterns 

Clear springs and waterways

Even a few degrees of coolness made a difference.  

Create more open space and public beach parks 

But most of all 

ABIDE 

Meine 

And know I'm seeing a lot of Australians not just of Greek descent working on ways to help you all ! 

MORE GRIFFINS

 MORE GRIFFINS

Whether the Griffin is depicted in Near Eastern Greek Roman or later art it is consistently shown with a slender feline body often described as leonine though some look more feline and whether or not it has wings a raptors head BUT WITH A CREST . 

One theory is that someone saw a fossil of a crested dinosaur or perhaps a bone deposit of several fossils tangled together but whatever started the stories the griffin is certainly one of the most striking creatures we have legends about and artistic depictions!

Here's some more Griffin art!

Here's a Persian frieze in which the Griffin has horns and a lions face rather than a crest.

More typical of Middle Eastern art was this ivory fragment.

Finally something Hellenic.

This griffin has a rather dragonish crest but the distinctive erect ears and beak and the artist has also included a sphinx and a leopard for contrast or as a complement.

 

Near Eastern Griffin

GRIFFIN IN IVORY  

The images of griffins in Mycenaean Greek Persian and other art had prototypes in works like this.

This is a fragment of a larger item but we can see the leonine or feline tail the avian beak and crest and the plumage of the wings. Check my prior post and wait for the next ones to see other Griffins. 

A MINOAN GRIFFIN

A MINOAN GRIFFIN 

#griffin #minoan #Larnax 

The Griffins from the Knossos Throne room for various pieces of century or seal rings are better known than this work which is somewhat less refined.

 It makes me think of some later Protgeometric and Geometric period art. The wings however instead of being furled or seen in profile are spread up and down across the clay panel which is one side of an larnax. The idea of the griffin being near a plant in bloom is very Minoan and we can see an avian crest and a tapered beak plus a leonine tail. This shows us how far back stories about griffins existed. 

THREE SPHINXES

 THREE SPHINXES

I've arranged these in chronological order to illustrate style changes 

Archaic

CLASSICAL 

Roman Empire 120 AD

Greek Alphabet on a Bowl

 GREEK ALPHABET ON A BOWL 

#greekalphabet #ceramics 

I was actually looking for examples of early Greek inscriptions and came across this.

Our modern "Classical" forms took an while to become the standard forms of written Greek!

That Archaic Smile

 THAT ARCHAIC SMILE 

doesnt appear only on freestanding statues.

This youth's image is carved onto the side of a memorial stele.

 Scroll down for further close-ups and zoom in for a view of the small girl who accompanies him.

He seems to be holding a flower and definitely is carrying a small container perhaps of oil slung from one wrist.

Notice how the rough strokes of carving still visible in the background bring further emphasis to the polished smoothed facial features?  There does not seem to be any traces of painting though apart from the pupil of the eye and that could simply be texture or grain of the stone? 

I hope you have enjoyed this Archaic Smile series? 

The Smile of a Sphinx

 THE SMILE OF A SPHINX 

#sphinx #archaicsculpture #greeksculpture #archaicgreekart 

Its Not only Maidens and Youths who have THAT smile in Archaic Greek ART.

This statue is the top part of an Archaic Attic Stele (I'll show you the lower part in the next post) and the slender feline proportions and pose of the lower body suggest the  sculptor seems to have seen a cat (then an exotic import) about to bring upwards. Note the distinctive Archaic Smile. The lack of plumage yet detailed carving of the face suggests also the sculptor wanted onlookers looking upwards to notice the smile ? Such elegant refined curves!

The stele was discovered broken into pieces and this is a museum reconstruction.

Next post will include closeups of the youth below.

The Archaic Smile - FOUR

 The Archaic Smile - Four 

The notes to this museum image clim its though to be the head of a sphinx but does not say why?

Sphinx woman or goddess she has that Archaic Smile. 

THE ARCHAIC SMILE -THREE

 The ARCHAIC SMILE - THREE

This  time one of the boys 

A #Kouros from Southern Italy from a time when Reggio in modern Calabria was a Hellenic city.

The Archaic Smile Two

 The Archaic Smile

#Greeksculpture #kore #chios 

The Chios Kore is one of those sculpture that retained traces of the original coloring and inspire debates about the painting of ancient sculptures.

Personally I think any tinting would have been a bit more delicate but look at the faded original and compare the reconstruction and decide for yourself and enjoy that fabulous archaic smile !

The Archaic Smile - One

 THE ARCHAIC SMILE - ONE 

If there's one thing that particularly stands out about Archaic Greek Sculptures its the SMILE !

Assyrian sculptures tend to have rulers and courtiers who seem to be almost sneering and with Egyptian sculpture the smile seems to say I a powerful mortal have ascended to become a god but human or mortal the first large Hellenic statues SMILE.

This first example is from Cyprus and while her head-dress and choker style necklace show the influence of the Near art probably Phoenician art she has that look that distinct upturn of the lips that shows both confidence and happiness.

My first theme this month will be the archaic smile. Join and follow me as I seek for more images to share with you.

birthday break 2021

Please visit older posts or my  metousia Patreon while I take a short birthday break 

The Unswept Floor Mosaic

 The Unswept Floor. 

A #mosaic #masterpiece that reminds us yes the Greeks could do detailed still lifes not just gods warriors and heroes. My favorite detail every time I see this is the mouse sniffing. 

A note on the Medousa Tile

 MEDOUSA #medousa #medusa 

This is thought to be a roof tile and illustrates the strange ambiguity of Medusa half woman half monster with her elaborate curls and long thin braids carefully rendered eyebrows elegantly arched yet bulging eyes and tongue and fangs and an arch of sakes around her 

My suspicions are that these images originated with Perseus bringing back some kind of statue or mask from North Africa or Egypt as a later part of one version of the story says he buried the head in or near Argos. If a very strange non Mycenaean art work ever gets exposed by a dig in that area in a strata with early helladic arttfacts ...

Watch for my next blog ... theres something I want to point out about her name and other names using the root of the medomai verb.

Marginalia of Herodotus

MARGINALIA 

 This is a #renaissance #manuscript of #Herodotus 

The #marginalia were added by scholar called VALLA 

While many scholaras might have added notes in Latin Valla  has chosen to add them in Greek.

Yes it doesnt look like modern Greek or a printed Greek font but remember refugees from the Fall of Byzantium were teaching in Italy. so this style of writing is not the same as that seen on earlier manuscripts or the fonts we use in modern books.

The Kamares Krater

 May is early summer a time of Flowers so here's a Minoan Krater.

KAMARES KRATER

#kamares #krater #minoan 

We can see elements on this that appear in later Greek art though it was long centuries before Greek potters regained the skills of the Minoans.

May and Maia

 MAY and MAIA

I've always thought it strange there are so few depictions of Hermes' mother MAIA

The one below is part of a painting on a vase dated to about 500 BCE 

I love the way the position of her hands suggest she's having a lively discussion and you can just make out in this closeup traces of a hair ribbon binding up her undeniablely thick wavy less than perfectly orderly maybe even frizzly hair also suggesting a busy mum!

Old Piraeus Map

 Old #MAP of #PIRAEUS 

I was reading Xenophons description of the revolt against the Oligarchs and how it started at Munychia spread across Piraeus and then up into Athens. The northern larger harbor is much more important now so much more suitable for larger modern shipping. The two smaller ports facing seawards would have been even more useful at ancient times for ships powered as much by oar as sail. 

Sicyon Phlius and Xenophon

 I've been thinking about Sicyon and Phlius and other names on this map because I recently reread Xenophons History of my Times also called the Hellenika. 

Sicyon and Phlius are shown in large print on this old map like Corinth and Argos but today they're the sort of ruins that need a map if you are exploring onsite and theres not much to see using Google Earth or other photos either. Yet Sicyon and Phlius were much more important in the past.

Xenophon writes about Phlius because he was impressed by their warriors valor and skills and Sicyon was the home of famous artists art schools craftsmen sculptors and Aratus and others but today they are both rubble and ruin though one thing remains the Asopus river still flows past both of the sites. 

Corinth is still a major city though all this time because to control and build at Corinth is to control the Isthmus, the canal, the ports on both sides, the roads that cross the Isthmus and the high and low city. 

I'm also sharing this cos I love those old maps that show the topography! 

Orpheus Mosaic

 ORPHEUS MOSAIC #Orpheus #mosaic

While this is from the Roman era the style strongly suggests it may be a copy of an older painting and the location is a city in the part of whats now Turkey that had been settled by colonized and lived in by Greeks for several centuries. The use of tone also suggests a Greek artist to me.

Orpheus amongst the Thracians

 Orpheus Amongst the Thracians

#orpheus #thracians #greekceramics #painting

Orpheus amongst the Thracians is one of those simple yet elegant classical greek paintings that capture a surprising amount of detail on a very small scale .The artist has carefully rendered the lyre and details such as the lacing of the Thracian's boots and the way his cape and robes drape differently from the Greek costume of Orpheus.  The one raised foot of the woman holding the scythe and her eyes looking at both men the raised open hand of the male speaking the more relaxed pose of Orpheus himself show a skilled artist. 

Dionysius and Ariadne

 Dionysius and Ariadne 

#dionysius #ariadne #bronze #relief

Here is an excellent example of the sort of ancient art work that influenced not just Renaissance art but also Baroque with its fluid curves and emotional expression.

The composition is both simple yet complex as the longer one studies it the more and more of the details there are to delight in such as the bending of the knees or the drapes or their stance mirrored in each figure  ! 

A small exquisite masterwork !

Easter Sunday - Anastasis

 

For #eastersunday here's the famous #Anastasis #fresco from the #Chora church in #istanbul

Byzantine Art is Greek art too!  

Back to our normal Classics posts next Week !

Sphinxes Griffins and More

A #Mosaic from a #Hellenistic era Greek house with #sphinxes #griggins #lions a #hippocampus and a glorious meander pattern for your viewing pleasure.