Category: Uncategorized
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Expedition Unknown: The Lost Land of Punt
“They arrived safely at the desert-country of Coptos: they moored in peace, carrying the goods they had brought. They [the goods] were loaded, in travelling overland, upon asses and upon men, being reloaded into vessels at the harbour of Coptos. They [the goods and the Puntites] were sent forward downstream, arriving in festivity, bringing tribute…
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The Bones Are Their Dollars: Ghosts in the Ancient World
“Hail thou One, who shinest from the moon. Grant that this one may come forth among thy multitudes who are at the portal. Let [me] be with the Light-god. Let the Duat be open to [me].” – The Book of Coming Forth by Day “We’ve been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft’s okay!…
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Lost, Cursed, and Found: The Ring of Silvianus and Latin-Celtic Britain
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. – The curse of the One Ring, The Lord of the Rings A lot of times when I’m writing about things here, I’m delving into stuff that has come up in my book research, or is a topic I’ve always been interested in. But this…
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“That Best of Men”: Virgil, Horace, and a Friendship in Verse
As usual, I spent most of the past couple of days being completely stymied as to what to talk about this week, but then I remembered that today (October 15th) is Virgil’s birthday (he’s turning 2,091). So in his honor, I thought we’d talk a little about ancient Rome’s most famous poet. But since Virgil…
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History’s Heirs: The Royal House of Mauretania
Great neighbouring regions of the world, which divides the Nile,/ Swollen from black Ethiopia, divides,/ You have created common kings for both through marriage, making one race of Egyptians and Libyans./ Let the children of Kings in turn hold from their fathers a strong rule over both lands. – epigram on the occasion of the marriage…
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Poetry, Treason, and Payback: Roman Censorship and Ovid’s Exile
“I am the only one whose own Muse has been his ruin.” — Ovid, Tristia I swear one day this blog will get back to the Egyptians or the Greeks (or, gosh, maybe something novel). But since this is Banned Book Week in the US, it seems like a good time to talk about something ancient that…
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The Iceman Cometh: The Birth of Gaius Octavius and Roman Myth-Making
In the interest of continuing to mix things up, I had meant to pivot back away from Rome this week, though those of you who managed get through last week’s nonsense will be incredulous that I was still finding unused Teutoburg memes among my photo files days after posting. But as I was meditating on what to…
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Missteps and Mayhem: The Battle of Teutoburg Forest and the End of Early Roman Imperial Expansion
“There is a sweeping curve of glen, made for ambushes/ and devices of arms. Dark thick foliage hems it in on either hand,/ and into it a bare footpath leads by a narrow gorge and difficult entrance./ Right above it on the watch-towers of the hill-top lies an unexpected level, hidden away in shelter, whether…
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The Flying Was Inside Him All Along!: Gods of Egypt and the Egyptian Pantheon on Film
“This makes Thor AND Thor: The Dark World look like Citizen Kane.” — me, at the hour and a half mark “Rufus Sewell is right, that necklace does look super cheap.” — also me Okay, so I’m writing this up on Labor Day in the US, so I’m admittedly feeling a little lazy vis á vis a serious scholarly…
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More Gods Behaving Badly: Ancient Mythology & Cultural Narrative (Part 2)
Last week, we talked about myths as half-remembered histories and cultural origin stories through the lens of Egyptian myth. This week we’re going to shift more thoroughly to the Greeks and dissect Plato’s idea that myths-as-stories that are based on the gods having passions and struggles — what he calls false myths — and try…
Sarah Holz 