Tag Archives: Ancient Greece

The Doll as a Symbol

The doll is a curious and polyvalent symbol. On the one hand, there is no shortage of creepy dolls in horror movies. Furthermore, in his Dictionary of Symbols, Juan Eduardo Cirlot speaks of dolls solely in the context of psychopathology … Continue reading

Posted in The Doll | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Nymphs

I. To Nereids “O lovely-faced and pure nymphs,daughters of Nereus, lord of the deep,at the bottom of the seayou frolic and dance,fifty maidens revel in the waves, maidens riding on the backs of Tritons,delighting in animal shapes,bodies nurtured by the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ancient Roots of the Symbol

The book Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts by Peter T. Struck, published in 2004 by Princeton University Press, traces the ancient origins of the concept of a symbol. The author has this to … Continue reading

Posted in The Symbol, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Underworld in Finnish and Greek Myth

I have been reading The Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert MacFarlane, which is a dazzling exploration of the author’s daring travels into the bowels of the earth. He devotes space to mining, caving, cave painting, Parisian catacombs, glaciers … Continue reading

Posted in "The Underland" by Robert MacFarlane, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Symbolism of the Labyrinth

The myth of Minotaur tells the story of greed and tyranny, which led Minos to deny a sacrificial bull to Poseidon. The angry god punished the king by making his wife fall in love with the bull. The fruit of … Continue reading

Posted in Labyrinth, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The Shattering Power of the Theatre

I. “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be … Continue reading

Posted in The Theatre, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Last Worshippers of Artemis: Cats Walking the Ruins of Ephesus

“But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.” “…when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all … Continue reading

Posted in Cats, Ephesus, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Ariadne Awakens

“Enter the turret of your love, and lie close in the arms of the sea; let in new suns that beat and echo in the mind like sounds risen from sunken cities lost to fear; let in the light that … Continue reading

Posted in Ariadne | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Fateful Shipwreck of Antikythera

“All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.” Ecclesiastes 1:7 I have had the opportunity recently to see a splendid exhibition that arrived in Basel, … Continue reading

Posted in The Antikythera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Apollo and the Pythia: the Oracle of Delphi

1.“I count the grains of sand on the beach and measure the sea; I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voiceless.” The Pythia “Tell the king, the fair-wrought house has fallen. No shelter has Apollo, nor sacred … Continue reading

Posted in Apollo, The Oracle of Delphi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments