About Ancient / Classical History

Learn About the Cornucopia

2009-11-23T09:53:31Z

The cornucopia, literally 'horn of plenty,' adorns the Thanksgiving table thanks to Greek mythology. The horn may originally have belonged to a goat, but Zeus used to drink from it as a baby. The story of Zeus' childhood says that his mother, Rhea, sent him to a cave on the island of Crete for safe-keeping in order to prevent his father, Cronus, from swallowing him.

See Cannibalism in Greek Mythology

Sometimes it is said that a goat named Amalthea (various spellings) nursed the infant Zeus; sometimes that a nymph of the same name fostered Zeus and fed him on goat's milk. His nurse has also been named Adrasteia, which Timothy Gantz says may be another name for Nemesis, and Ida.

While an infant, Zeus did what other babies do -- cry. To cover up the noise and keep Cronus from finding out his wife's plot to protect her son, Amalthea asked the Kuretes or Korybantes to come to the cave where Zeus was hidden and make lots of noise by clashing their weapons.

There are various versions of the evolution of the cornucopia from a horn sitting on the head of the nurturing goat. One is that the goat tore it off herself to present it to Zeus; another that Zeus tore it off and gave it back to the Amalthea-goat promising her abundance; another, that it came from the head of Achelous, the river god, which the Naiads filled with fruit.

The cornucopia is most frequently associated with the goddess of the harvest, Demeter (Roman Ceres) -- as in the harvest song lyrics: "Ceres came with Plenty's Horn and showered wheat and golden corn" -- but is also associated with other gods, including the aspect of the Underworld god that is the god of wealth, Pluto, since the horn symbolizes abundance.

Woman holding cornucopia image © Clipart.com

Learn About the Cornucopia originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 09:53:31.

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Thesmophoria - Greek Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T07:53:57Z

When the Underworld god Hades abducted the young maiden Persephone, her mother, Demeter, wouldn't feed the world, and so, winter came upon the land. When Persephone was restored, an elated Demeter gave the gift of agriculture to mankind.
The goddess Demeter was called Thesmophoros because she gave certain thesmoi 'laws' to mankind, and the holiday of Themophoria honors her. Learn more about the unusual customs of the ancient Greek fall festival known as Thesmophoria.
See

Image of Demeter and Persephone © Clipart.com

Thesmophoria - Greek Thanksgiving originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 07:53:57.

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Myth Monday - Medea, a Victim and Victimizer (With Poll)

2009-11-23T06:55:41Z

When John Frobisher, the underling minister in the BBC science fiction Torchwood Children of Earth, takes a gun to his two daughters, and then his wife, and, after a pause, himself, in a scene set behind doors (rather like the offstage murders in Medea), the viewer's response contains pity rather than the outrage we all tend to feel at Medea's murderous action in Euripides' Medea. Frobisher is saving the children from what he considers a fate worth than death. Medea's motives are less pure, but maybe she is saving the children, too. Read more...

Myth Monday - Medea, a Victim and Victimizer (With Poll) originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 06:55:41.

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C.S. Lewis Died on This Historic Day

2009-11-22T07:53:37Z

On Friday, November 22, 1963, C.S. Lewis died. While Lewis is known for his children's Narnia series and writings on Christianity, he was a scholar trained in the Classics. Among my favorite works by Lewis is Till We Have Faces, which is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, which comes from The Golden Ass of Apuleius. In Apuleius' version of the beauty and the beast motif, Psyche marries the goddess Aphrodite's son and then violates the rules of that marriage. To regain her divine husband, she must perform four impossible tasks, including a trip to the Underworld. C.S. Lewis puts on a spin on the story by telling it from the perspective of one of the wicked sisters.

On the day of Lewis' death, JFK and Aldous Huxley also died.
Also see the Guide to Classical Literature's review of a biography of C.S. Lewis.

Apuleius © Clipart.com

C.S. Lewis Died on This Historic Day originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 07:53:37.

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Ancient Finger Counting

2009-11-21T15:35:41Z

Has a joker ever tried to show you that instead of having the obvious 10 fingers, he actually has 11? This is done by bending down and counting fingers on one hand backwards from 10: "10, 9, 8, 7, 6...." The joker then says "... and 5 makes 11".

CC Flickr User izZM<--Friends call me izZZ<--.

Counting on one's fingers seems a natural way to compute numbers, but the ancient Greeks and Romans didn't just count "on" their fingers. They counted with their fingers, and not to be quick and accurate with the finger symbols could be embarrassing.

Read more about ancient finger counting (technical term: dactylonomy):
Finger Numbers.

Also see Laura Gibbs's Blog on Roman Multiplication by Fingers.

Ancient Finger Counting originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 15:35:41.

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On This Day in History Crassus

2009-11-21T07:53:32Z

On this day in 53 B.C. Marcus Licinius Crassus died. Crassus was a member of the first triumvirate, along with Pompey and Caesar. He was a very greedy, wealthy man, but not as capable a military leader as Pompey or Caesar. However, it was largely through Crassus' efforts that the rebellion of Spartacus was put down in 71 B.C., even though Pompey took the credit.

In 53 B.C., Crassus was governor of Syria. He was attempting to earn glory for himself by invading Parthia, even though there was no justification for it. It was after the battle at Carrhae that Crassus was killed.

Read more about Crassus in Bingley's Biography of Crassus.

On This Day in History Crassus originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 07:53:32.

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Forum Topic of the Week - SPQR

2009-11-20T07:59:26Z

This week there has been a flurry of activity in the forum, including posts in two threads on the topic of the famous Roman letters SPQR. Here is what veteran forum user Aulus has to say on the matter:

SPQR at Vindolanda CC Flickr User Alun Salt.

Truth be told, we really do not absolutely know what the acronym SPQR stood for. The most common interpretation is Senatus Populusque Romanus, but it could equally be Senatus Populusque Romae or a few other combinations which I cannot recall right now, but are rather tenuous.
In fact, the acronym SPQR, as far as I have been able to find it, does not seem to pre-date the reign of Augustus, either in inscriptions or in coinage. My opinion, and that of others, is that it was a bit of Augustan propaganda and a smoke screen for the reality of the establishment of the Principate, much like Augustus' line about "restoring" the republic.

Do you have more information/questions on SPQR? Please post in the forum thread.

It would be lovely if this could become a weekly feature, but that will only happen if people actively use the Ancient/Classical History Forum to post their questions about ancient history, literature, and mythology. Please do so. If you forget the forum URL, it's on the pages of this site with my photo where it is simply called "my forum".

Forum Topic of the Week - SPQR originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 07:59:26.

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Thursday's Term to Learn - Black Figure

2009-11-19T15:04:05Z

Peleus and Thetis, Boeotian black-figure dish, c. 500 B.C. - 475 B.C.
PD Courtesy of Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.

The term "black figure" comes up when you look at the captions under some of the images on this site, so in case you've been wondering, it refers to the color of the painting in Greek pottery. Now, the later "red figure" pottery also uses black (all over the background), so, clearly, I need to explain it a bit better. In black figure painting, the pottery remains clay colored, so it is usually red, but the figures are painted. Figures painted black are sometimes enhanced by inscribing out some of the black to reveal the red beneath.

Thursday's Term to Learn - Black Figure originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 15:04:05.

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It's Not Too Early For (Stoic) Resolutions

2009-11-19T06:55:00Z

Gym classes may be a great way to lose weight and gain muscle, but they're also good for chatting and learning about health and lifestyle. In one of my classes, a fellow participant said a major reason for our collective weight problem is that people set up New Year's Day as the time to start dieting. Then from U.S.-Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve they binge because it doesn't yet count and they want to get it all in before they have to deprive themselves. This has the predictable, dire consequences.

While behavioral resolutions won't necessarily be compromised by a few extra pounds of flab, the more practice we get in, the better off we'll be. So, in the interest of having mens sana in corpore sano 'a healthy mind in a healthy body' (an expression from the Roman satirist Juvenal), take a look at these 5 Stoic Resolutions, which are as suitable for the day after Thanksgiving as the start of the New Year.

You may also want to take the Nutrition Guide's Healthy Diet Quiz.

It's Not Too Early For (Stoic) Resolutions originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 06:55:00.

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Wordless Wednesday - Guess Who

2009-11-18T06:55:49Z

CC Flickr User unforth.

Need a clue?

He was an emperor of Rome.
He became emperor at age 17.
He might have made a better performer than emperor.

Give up? Click the image or the photo credit for the answer.

Wordless Wednesday and About.com's Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Guess Who originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 06:55:49.

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