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Bird are the messengers of omens. Source: Yuriy Mazur / Adobe Stock
24 June, 2019 - 13:59 ancient-origins

Birds in the Ancient World: Messengers of Omens and Auguries

Translators regularly face the problem that the words and expressions of one language do not always translate exactly into those of another. In fact, a literal translation can sometimes seem...
Aeneas carrying his father Anchises from the burning city of Troy’ (1627-1664) by Daniel van Heil. Details in the Iliad cast doubt on the generally accepted location of Troy. Source: Public Domain
20 May, 2019 - 19:01 Bernard Jones

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

Historian Bernard Jones has spent more than three decades researching the ‘Story of Troy’ and he maintains that Homer’s Iliad is the greatest reference work on the Bronze Age world. Homer describes...
Origins of Aphrodite
2 April, 2019 - 01:55 Miriam Kamil

Aphrodite: The True Origins of the Greek Goddess of Love, Sex, and Beauty

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, sex, and beauty and there are many tales of how she could entice both gods and mortals to lust after her. In one of the most famous images of the goddess, we...
Helen of Troy
16 March, 2019 - 20:29 Miriam Kamil

Helen of Troy, The Beauty Who Sparked the Trojan War

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy is known as the woman whose beauty sparked the Trojan War. But Helen’s character is more complex than it seems. When considering the many Greek and Roman myths that...
Commandaria wine was served at King Richard’s wedding in Cyprus. He proclaimed that it was “the wine of kings and the king of wines”.
14 March, 2019 - 17:51 Caleb Strom

Commandaria: The Oldest Wine in Production, Praised By Homer, and Richard the Lionheart's "King of Wines"

The first evidence of wine making is from the Caucasus Mountains bordering Eastern Europe and Western Asia around 6000 BC. From there it spread throughout the ancient Near East to gradually become...
The Dance of the Muses at Mount Helicon by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1807). Hesiod cites inspiration from the Muses while on Mount Helicon.
2 November, 2018 - 15:32 Cam Rea

Hesiod’s Concerns About Economics and Polis During the Greek Dark Age

The Greek Dark Age fits between the Late Bronze Age Collapse - often alternately referred to as the Mycenaean Civilization Collapse, around 1200 BC - and the Greek Archaic Period, around 800 BC. The...
Ancients seemed to have problems seeing or recognizing the color blue.
18 September, 2018 - 23:02 ashley cowie

Investigating the Invisible Color that Ancient People Couldn’t See

We have all been told to be ‘careful what we wish for’ or that we ‘only see what we look for’ and maybe some of you have had past partners who claimed that you ‘took them for granted and made them...
A clay tablet with an engraved inscription has been discovered at the archaeological site of Olympia in Greece. It contains 13 verses of a rhapsody from Homer’s Odyssey.
10 July, 2018 - 22:53 Alicia McDermott

Clay Tablet Found at Olympia May Be the Oldest Excerpt from Homer’s Odyssey

Archaeologists excavating the ancient site of Olympia, one of the largest archaeological sites in Greece, have found a rare and important artifact – a clay tablet inscribed with 13 verses of a...
Triumph of Achilles in Corfu Achilleion.
1 May, 2018 - 14:01 Van Bryan

Death and Glory: Heroes in Search of Kleos

By Van Bryan/ Classical Wisdom It was the great philosopher, Woody Allen, who said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want...
Scene from the movie, Troy, loosely based on Homer’s Iliad. (Troy)
21 April, 2018 - 13:56 ancient-origins

Toxic Masculinity Fostered by Misreadings of the Classics

Homer’s Iliad has been used by some men to hail the virtues of traditional masculinity in the 21st century. Typically, the famous work of literature serves as a sort of manual of manliness . Scholars...
‘L’enlèvement de Proserpine’ (The Rape of Proserpine) (circa 1636) by Peter Paul Rubens.
21 March, 2018 - 17:57 Mary E. Naples

The Rape of a Goddess: How Demeter Beat the All-Powerful Zeus

Who were Demeter and Persephone? And why did their myth resonate so strongly with women of ancient Greece? The story of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter Persephone, queen of the...
10 Secrets About Ancient Greece That Are Rarely Recounted
8 July, 2017 - 02:01 Mia Stokes

10 Secrets About Ancient Greece That Are Rarely Recounted

The ancient Greeks have contributed so much to modern civilization, especially regarding education, philosophy, science, art, politics, and language, among other things. But, their legacy does not...
Underwater World (Public Domain) and ruins of the Palace of Sayil, Yucatan. (Rose Vekony/CC BY-SA 3.0); Deriv
29 June, 2017 - 22:57 Cliff Dunning

Atlantis Unearthed – Do Surprising Underwater Scans Show Lost Architecture on the Sea Floor?

In his poems of the Iliad, the Greek Philosopher Homer introduces us to the mythical city of Troy, which remained a curiosity to many until the late 1870s when Heinrich Schliemann, on a hunch, began...
“Cadmus Slays the Dragon” by Hendrik Goltzius. The Greek myth of Cadmus fighting the serpent may be an allegory for the discovery of the Amazon River. In various accounts, the snake is instead referred to as a dragon or serpent.
27 May, 2017 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Could Ancient Greek Myths Hint at Contact With South America?

By Tara MacIsaac , Epoch Times The ancient Greek myth of Cadmus battling a snake could be an allegory for the discovery of the Amazon River, said Dr. Enrico Mattievich, a retired professor of physics...
Odysseus and Polyphemus, Arnold Bockling. Polyphemus is one of the only Cyclopes recognized by name.
18 March, 2017 - 12:59 Natalia Klimczak

Is There Any Truth to the Existence and Damning Character Assassinations of Mighty Legendary Cyclopes?

The mysterious, one-eyed creatures revered in Greek and Roman mythologies remain one of the most interesting creatures spoken of in the oldest Mediterranean legends. They were members of the race of...
Detail of the Alexander Sarcophagus located in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Here Alexander fights the Persians at the Battle of Issus.
13 February, 2017 - 16:04 Cam Rea

Alexander the Great Destroyer? The Sacking of Persepolis and The Business of War – Part I

Alexander the Great has gained an immortality in his strong presence in our minds as well as in the history books. Known for a greatness of military genius and diplomatic skills, he conquered most of...

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