By Patrick Hunt Silenus is one of the most enigmatic characters in Greek Mythology. He can be recognized in art by his visual iconography as old, fat and balding, slumped over while usually riding a donkey, often almost sliding off if not held up by someone – often another […]
Author: patrick
“Between a Rock and a Hard Place†and More: Famous Myths Used in Common Speech
by Patrick Hunt How often do we use idioms as part of common speech, figures of comparison that easily sum up an experience or trial by extension? That many of these seem idioms are devoid of actual context doesn’t deter us from peppering our language with them. Some are […]
Beyond the Shadows through the Instruments of Our Souls: Education through Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
By Bianca Caprice Aguirre C.S. Lewis suggests through his idea of Shadowlands that the world we live in is full of shadows rather than the deeper realities. Although shadows that we see in the world are real and not metaphysical, there is a greater significance to them brought out by […]
Goethe in the Roman Campagna and Its Antecedents
By Patrick Hunt Along with his many other sometimes astonishing accomplishments ranging through history and archaeology to science and literature, polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was crucial to the reception of Europe, especially Germany, for its reappraisal of classical antiquity. His 1786-87 itinerary as distilled from correspondence in Italian […]
Asteria Early Music : Living a Dream in Burgundy
By Sylvia Rhyne and Eric Redlinger Editor’s Note: Sylvia Rhyne, Soprano, and Eric Redlinger, Tenor and Lutenist, are the musical group Asteria (Late Medieval Vocal and Instrumentalists) who share a Courtly Love story in following their passion and dream in Burgundy. Learn more about them and their music on their […]
Plato’s Circle in the Mosaic of Pompeii
By Katherine Joplin Although the literary foundation of Western philosophy, Plato today is almost a legendary figure, his very name sparking the image of higher learning, truth, and perspicuity. How ironic then that in a mosaic of Plato’s Academy, the biggest quandary might be which figure is Plato. The […]
Schall’s Historic Photos of Paris and Remembering Paris
By Staff Rebecca Schall has published several fascinating photographic histories of Paris with stunning black and white photos that once again prove the important role  of photodocumentation in our understanding of the past several centuries. While art may render history on its own terms, photojournalism has its special place in preserving […]
Göbekli Tepe’s Oldest Temple in the World – an Archaeological Stone Age Site in Anatolia
By Ömer Bülent Sever Göbekli Tepe (“Stomach Hill“ in Turkish) is a unique archaeological site, a Stone Age sanctuary beneath massive sediments on a hill at about 750 meters (2460 ft.) above sea level and about 15  kilometers (9.5  miles) northeast of the city of Åžanliurfa (Urfa / Edessa) in […]
Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Text and Music
By Patrick Hunt After more than three centuries, Henry Purcell’s (1659-95) sole opera Dido and Aeneas remains a treasure. Considered the greatest operatic achievement of 17th century England [1] and the first great English opera, [2] even though a performance only takes little more than an hour, it is often justified as […]
Turing’s Cathedral
By Staff George Dyson is a rare bird, descended from a long line of creative genius, rendering him more than merely sympathetic to genius as an historian of science. His new book almost out, Turing’s Cathedral: Origins of the Digital Universe (Pantheon 2012) is an insightful paean to a […]