Thoughts on Ktisis

Some thoughts on Ktisis in late roman mosaics 

The earliest Ktisis found and dated so far comes from Antioch a city that is prone to earthquakes and geologists think from the 350s to the 550s there were an increased frequency of quakes. 

Ktisis doesny seem to be a Platonist Stoic or Christian concept yet suddenly for 2 centuries we see figures of women of high rank in public buildings or the public reception areas of large homes. 

The Villa Constantius the House of the 4 seasons in a church in a rebuilt Greek colony in Libya another site in Cyrenica and the House of Eustolis in Kourion on Cyprus all then parts of thr Eastern Empire and all in areas effected by eathquakes with particularly several quakes in 363 365 536 551.

I am thinking what we are seeing is an expression of Imperial Ideology in response to physical diasters ? 

Yes there is no textual evidence but I can see this being a way of saying WE WILL BUILD and renew and make things beautiful again. 

I will not be surprised if more Ltisis mosaics turn up limited to this time period perhaps hopefully with nearby dedications or inscriptions. 

Why Ktisis as a woman? 

Perhaps the idea was suggested by one of those many Byzantine princesses or Empresses who commissioned or repaired building and the inclusion in designs was a sign of an unrecorded political faction?

Yes its speculation but ...

Ill type up more details into a fuller article soon.

Welcome to Sophoklea's Garden

 NEWS

 I have added something new to my METOUSIA  #patreon

Its called 

SOPHOKLEA'S GARDEN

Lessons in Classical Greek 

These will be aimed at Absolute Beginners  who might not have any knowledge of other languages or grammar or linguistics.

Come and visit and review or make suggestions 

There will be still be separate pdfs you can use for yourself or students

Meanwhile I will be doing more Reverse Greek texts on this blog .

homonyms and homophones

Compared to English Classical Greek has far less homophones and homonyms. Moden Demotic Greek due to Iotacism is a whole other problem but Ancient Greek ... 

However there are a great many NEAR homonyms and homophones, words so similar the shift of an accent from one syllable to a following one can change the meaning.

The best known example is probably TI / tinos /tina 

meaning either any or some or an but also who or what .

There are others 

Words where aspirating an initial consonant is far more important than it is in English or a change of sound in a word shows it is  a different dialect or an older form.

Im compiling a list I will share on my Metousia Patreon soon 

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.     

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!

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

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!

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.

Diadem Crowns

 #Diadem #crown

Diadems and Crowns

The word diadem is often translated as crown into English from Greek however they were cloth or metal bands often decorated like this one. Notice the two holes for inserting ribbons or perhaps adjustable closures.Being gold the metal could be bent around a head 

This coin depicting Antiochus the 3rd shows a diadem actually being worn.

This last example is Phillip the 3rd wearing a very plain version of a diadem which may be an actual ribbon of cloth.

Heracles had that bull First

 #Heracles #cretanbull #greekceramics 

The Bull Theseus caught at Marathon was supposedly the same one Heracles caught in Crete and shipped to Tiryns. It allegedly escaped and somehow wandered north all the way to Attica possibly because it had been dedicated to Poseidon and no one dared to kill it expect Theseus who offered it up as a sacrifice to dear maybe dad Poseidon or maybe just to annoy the Minoans who were supposed to give sacrificed it earlier. 

  

We know this is Heracles and not Theseus as he is bearded and has tied his archers quiver to the branch of a nearby tree. Heracles favorite weapon apart from his club was his bow.

You might want to compare this to the famous Vaphio cup.

Note the bull is lassoed and bound by the hind legs not the horns or neck. 

This black figure vessel has been dated to about 510 BCE so early Classical

The Athena Painter and what else this year 2021

 Okay Happy Epiphany and New year Greetings 

Google Blogger Stats tells you that many of you like a previous post featuring an artist known as the #AthenaPainter so I will try to find more works by him to share 

What else do I have planned? 

In the Asian calendar it the year of the metal Bull so I may do some posts of Bovines in Greek Art 

Going through my files I have found some almost but not yet finished poetry translations with notes to share plus more word studies plus there will be updates on what longer pieces I am going to post to my Metousia Patreon

Comment if you have more suggestions?

SIDE SADDLE SIRENS

 #nereids #thetis 

Reviewing my collection of images of Nereids and Thetis it suddenly occurred to me how odd it is that they are shown riding "sidesaddle".

 The Nereids are usually the only examples we see of females swimming and yet they do not ! 

They cling to or ride seahorses or tritons! 

Yet other goddesses and women on land or sea are not shown riding any form of mount except for some Amazons. 

So why the side saddle position perhaps  to show they had feet rather than fins unlike their male cousins the Tritons?

This selection of images covers several centuries and areas of Greek art.

I have never yet seen an image of a nereid on a seahorse or Triton in which they are in an actual riding position. Okay so goddesses have perfect balance but the artists would have seen male riders on cavalry and surely known how impossible the positions they depicted were?

Unless they had seen some women riding side saddle perhaps sitting in a white horse in some kind of procession of priestesses or royalty? I note also hippocampi are rarely dark or speckled usually white.

These may all just be matters of style but possibly what else?

Ideas anyone ? 

Athena the Warrior

 #Athena the Warrior 

No Comments Just Athena on a particularly elegant oil flask sharing so you can admire the beauty.

ATHENA as a Warrior

 #Athena 

A series of posts featuring Images of Athena in Classical Greek Art 

Here we see Athena as a warrior defeating Encelados the Giant a child of Gaia who is said to be buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

We can see the shield straps telling us something about how the Greeks used and carried round shields.

She has the elaborate embroidered robe of an upper class woman but the helmet of a warrior.

The battle of Athena and Encelados is depicted on various ceramics and is mentioned by Euripides in his ION, and also Callimachus, Apollodoros, Pausanias, Nonnos,  and the Latin poets Virigil, Statius,Horace, and Claudian, though some writers attribute his defeat to Dionysios or Zeus.

Gold Hellenistic Coin

While some Greek coins were clearly impressed onto metal from old worn out dies the only technical flaw on this fine piece is that some one didn't quite centre the die and punch properly. 

Its an exquisite piece though ! 

THEBES and the KADMEIA

#Thebes #mycenaeancitadels #Kadmeia

THEBES and the KADMEIA

THEBES did have Mycenaean walls and a rough outline can be seen if you look at aerial shots of the modern city but the Kadmeia has been reduced to a few walls and corners and odd remains of rooms or workshops that show up now and then when older buildings are torn down.

It may have been the leading power in Boeotia once but now its basically a country town.

It retains one Mycenaean feature the love of designers for adding walls to oval or triangular shaped sites often preexisting in the Helladic or even Neolithic

Here is an old map made by some one who has clearly based his map on descriptions of the Classical era city by Pausanias. We have no idea though if Thebes would had outer suburbs in the Mycenaean era?

The map also does not show that there were streams running along both the western and eastern sides of the Kadmeia or stress that Thebes was a junction for several ancient roads.

When Copais was a lake and wetland rather than a drained irrigated plain Thebes location would have allowed it to control roads and travel along the southern and eastern sides of the lake and access to the coast to the north east and block roads south east to Attica and the Isthmus.

Take a close look at this and then please also check Google Earth for recent aerial shots.

This cartographer felt the walls of Thebes covered a smaller area however at least he shows both streams and some roads and the Kadmeia area. 

Another location location location site. 

Hills and rivers and roads. 

Next time Minyan Orchomenos.

12th night greetings and NY plans and blessings

Happy Epiphany 

12TH Night

Theophany 

or what seasonal event 

you are celebrating !

First a request can you please send feedback or suggestions for topics of this blog or the Classics section of my  Metousia Patreon

Things I do have almost ready 

Some short essays presenting some basic principles useful for both philosophy and research

Lysias on the duties of democracy 

50 easy pieces some very common Classical Greek prefixes suffixs and stems.

More on Greek verbs or maybe 3rd declension Nouns?

Remember if you choose to follow my patreon you can get pdfs versions of various diagrams I post here and I may be adding more ebooks in pdf format.

Also please let me know if you would want to see ebooks published via Lulu or some platform that is greek abc friendly with minimal editing?

By the power and grace and love of the One Divine Source 

May you have a blessed year 2020 ! 

THETIS

#thetis #greekart #nereid #seagoddess #greekceramics

Greek artists often depicted Thetis as accompanied by dolphins, sea horses or Tritones.

So the female figure riding a sea horse in these two mosaics may very well be Thetis however another popular theme was her Wedding to Peleus.

As Thetis like other sea gods had shapeshifting powers the lion on her shoulder would tell a Greek viewer this is Peleus the mortal father of Achilles wrestling with the goddess.

One aspect of the story rarely pointed out that would explain her resistance  is that Peleus killed her nephew and she seems to have had mixed feelings about her marriage to a mere mortal though given the other choices were being ravished by Zeus or Poseidon ...