Orpheus & Euridice Opera

On December 19, 2013 myself and another member of the club, John Hackett, went to see a free opera performance at Welles Park Pool. It was beyond fabulous!

The performance was of Orpheus and Euridice, and if you don't know the story, here's a quick synopsis:

Orpheus, the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope, was a musician and poet whose lyrical melodies could tame wild animals, cause trees and rocks to dance, and divert rivers from their courses. When his young wife Eurydice died, Orpheus journeyed to the Underworld to rescue her. He charmed the Ruler of the Underworld with his music and was allowed to return with her to Earth as long as he didn't look back along the way. As he neared Earth, he was anxious to reassure himself Eurydice was still behind him. As he turned, she vanished back into the Underworld. His pleas to the Ferryman on the River Styx to return him back to the Underworld went unheeded and he mourned the loss of Eurydice a second time. The Thracian women, angry that following his return Orpheus paid them no attention; threw their spears at him; tore him in pieces; and tossed his head and lyre into the Hebrus river. Jupiter threw his lute into the stars while the Shade of Orpheus entered the Underworld where he was finally reunited with Eurydice. Source

The female playing Euridice was singing, while the male playing Orpheus played the clarinet. The two interacted beautifully. Interestingly enough, there was another younger couple of actors that was Orpheus and Euridice, and as the older performers sang and played music, the younger actors put the song into life.

Photo of the performance in the pool

What was so special about this performance was that it took place at an indoor pool! The actors and musicians took advantage of the setting and really integrated it into the performance. Here is a quick description on how that worked from the show creators:

This unique theatrical experience will transport attendees into the River Styx with the actors playing around, on, and IN the water in this modern retelling of the famous Greek myth.

I can honestly say I have never seen a performance so beautiful. It was truly engaging and moving. John and I got a chance to speak briefly with the clarinet player who played Orpheus, Todd Palmer, and he could not have been nicer. He was very engaging with us and appreciative of our attendance - which made me appreciate him that much more.

Me (Paulina) next to the decorative sculpture

John next to the decorative sculpture

League of Legends

Many things in the modern world draw their inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman history. It can be architecture, movies, and even games. One of my favorite games is League of Legends. It draws a lot of its character inspiration from Greek and Roman Mythology. 

For example there is a minotaur named Alistar:

There is Cassiopeia, who's lower half is that of a serpant. One of her abilities is that she can turn people to stone, like Medusa. Also she turns to stone when she dies.

Another character is Pantheon. He is a soldier inspired from Greek mythology.

Some characters also have skins (a skin is a different version of a character, but they cost money) based off of Greek mythology.  For example, 

Muse Sona

Dyraid Soraka

Siren Cassiopeia and Mythic Cassiopeia

There are many other characters in the game probably inspired from Mythology. 

League of Legends is a free to play online team game. Usually 5 vs 5 or  3 vs 3. Every character has their own special abilities, and usually they play a specific role during a match. It would be interesting to play on a team were everyone picked a character inspired from mythology. I'm pretty sure their abilities would work together actually.

(All images are from the League of Legends website: League of Legends characters link )

-Rachele 

Perseus

Hey All,

I just wanted to take a moment to introduce those of you who might not be aware of this wonderful resource to my friend, Perseus! This website is a treasure trove of ancient texts, available both in ancient languages and English. It is run by Tufts University and it has any ancient text that I have ever attempted to search for. The only downfall is that the English translations are fairly old since they have been made available to the public.

Perseus also has a Latin Word Study Tool, a.k.a. dictionary, as well as a Greek Word Study Tool. These are available to be searched in Latin or Greek, not in English. Therefore, you cannot search for a term in English and expect a translation to pop up.

When taking a look at an ancient text on Perseus, every word is a link that, when clicked on, takes you to these tools. There it will define it, give you its case, gender, number, etc. If a word has multiple possible cases, for example, or some other variation is possible, Perseus users will vote on what they think is the correct interpretation in this particular spot.

I hope that this helps out those of you who have taken or will be taking an ancient language!

Getting down in the new year with some Spartan History

Hello all. Daniel here, reporting for duty! I would like to kick off 2014 by posting information on the average adolescent life of a Spartan. The following article pertains mainly to the training and education of Spartan Youth, and I hope you find it enthralling. Here's to an awesome year, Classicists! :-)




As soon as a child was born in Sparta, the mother would wash it with wine, in order to make sure that it was strong. If the child was weak, it would die soon. Later it was brought by his father to the elders, who inspected carefully the newborn infant. If they found that the child was deformed or weakly, they threw it into Kaiada, the so called Apothetae, a chiasm at a cliff, of the mount Taygetos.
Until the age of seven the child was reared by his mother, who did not use the special cloths for children (phaskia) in order not to deform the body or make the child nervous or stubborn. They also made sure to remove everything around him, that it will make the child feel fear, disgust or cry.
Spartan women were so famous for the rearing of children, that they were hired by rich families, as for example the Spartan woman Amelia, who nursed the Athenian Alkibiades.
When the child completed the age of seven, it was taken from his mother and given to the state. A rigorous discipline and mainly military type education, the so-called Agoge, commenced, lasting twelve years.
The boys enrolled in one of the many troops (the Ageles), which was under the supervision of a senior Spartan and at thirteen under the leadership of a prudent and brave youth, called Eirena ,supervised by an official (Paidonomos) and were drilled in gymnastics, running, jumping, throwing of spear and discus, and also taught to endure pain and hardship, hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue and lack of sleep. They were walking without shoes, bathed at the cold waters of the river Eurotas and were dressed winter and summer, with the same piece of cloth, which the state gave them once a year. They were not using blankets and were sleeping on top of straws and reeds, which they were cutting without knives from the banks of the river Eurotas.

Their main meal was a broth (melanas zomos), but they were encouraged to steal food, to compensate for the meager portion they were given, but if they were caught, they were punished. They were eating also a lot of honey. For one whole month, before they finished their training, they were exercising and feeding themselves exclusively with honey (month of honey).
As for proper education, they were taught only the basics of how to read and write and to waste no words speaking to the point (Laconizein). They also learned military poems, war songs, how to dance and recited Homer.
The main purpose of Agoge was to discipline the youth. Once a year, they tested them for their endurance in front of the altar of Orthia Artemis, in the game of stealing cheeses whipping them severely. The ones who withstood this event, in which not a few died, without moans and cries, they crowned with wreathes.

As for the girls, they were also educated in classes under a similar system, but without much rigor and also took part at public competitions as the boys. Their education was ended when they married.
At the age of twenty, when the Agoge ended, the military service of the Spartan begun. He would join compulsory one of the dining messes or clubs (pheiditia, syssitia), which were composed from about fifteen members (one of Lykourgos laws) and he will eat and sleep at public barracks, until the age of sixty. At twenty, most of the men and women will also get married.
At the age of thirty, the Spartan will become citizen with full rights and duties and he would be able to take part in the assembly of the people (the Apella) and hold public office.

St. Louis Art Museum's Ancient Art

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful winter break.  While I was on break I went to St. Louis for a wedding and while I was there I went to the St. Louis Art Museum.  I especially enjoyed the modern art collection but naturally I had to find an ancient art gallery and they do have one.  Unfortunately their collection is relatively small but nevertheless the pieces were stunning.  Here are a couple of my favorites...

 

This is an early Byzantine tapestry depicting a shepherd milking a goat.  It is said to be from Egypt.

 

Here is a statue of Artemis running, dating between the late 2nd century AD and 1st century BC.

If you ever find yourself in St. Louis looking for something to do, head over to the museum.  The ancient art collection is small but great and if you're interested in other kinds of collections they have excellent collections of modern, ancient American and Native American art.  Have a good week!