#classicstober#classicstober25
Day 3 - The Graiai
There once were mythic sisters named Graiai,
Who shared one tooth and one eye between three,
When Perseus came near,
They shrieked in great fear
'He's taken them both! How greedy?!'
#ClassicsTober25
Day 2 Thanatos
"[Apollon] gave him [the dead Sarpedon] into the charge of swift messengers to carry him, of Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), who are twin brothers, and these two presently laid him down within the rich countryside of broad Lykia."
Homer, Iliad 16.681
#ClassicsTober2025
Day 1 - Hypnos, god of sleep.
"Yet you love sleep and salute Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, and forget that he is death's brother"
Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet.
🖼"Sleep and his Half Brother, Death", John William Waterhouse (1874, oil on canvas Private Collection
This is exciting - a newly launched official Antonine Wall Trail that will help walkers to explore Britain's best Roman frontier! I will need to take a look and see how it compares to the route I took as I walked the Wall...
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/45fd...#WallsOnWednesday
#ReliefWednesday: A #Roman terracotta money box in the shape of a beehive, decorated with an image of Mercury, holding the caduceus (the staff carried by herolds) and a money bag.
Mercury was considered the god of financial gain and commerce, and as such...🧵1/2
🏺 #Archaeology
Shout out for our pop-up exhibition 'Women of Romano-British Archaeology' on display in the Hellenic and Roman Library at Senate House in London curated by Dr Tatiana Ivleva.
the-past.com/feature/expa...#ClassicsBluesky 🏺
Fabulous 3,500 year-old Mycenaean wooden box embellished with repoussé gold plates with lions chasing deer and antelope, among palm trees, spirals and bulls heads.
From Grave V, Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
📷 by me
#ReliefWednesday#Archaeology
In London and fancy seeing/ handling objects lost by Roman citizens of Londinium? Head to the Roman Amphitheatre at Guildhall for an exhibition of things discovered by Mudlarks.
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
FREE ADMISSION
6 and 7th September
10 - 4pm
www.thecityofldn.com/event/mudlar...
Starts 17th September! Our new online course 'Roman Coinage in Britain' with Dr Peter Guest.
A 5-week course, 6.00pm - 7.30pm (UK time) + recordings will be available.
More info and booking at: www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event...
Joint course with @theRomanSoc
#ClassicsBluesky 🏺
Even better! Prof. Ron Hutton is due to lecture about magical, mystical Hecate on 26 November 2025 at 18:00hrs GMT. Not to be missed!
Register for the online talk at the link below
#ancientbluesky#classicsbluesky
Hecate: Mistress of Magic | Gresham College share.google/2jGrCDZwRD37...
The fabulous Prof. Ron Hutton is to give a free online lecture on the ancient Greek god Pan as part of the Gresham College Lecture series. September 17th at 18:00hrs GMT. Sign up at link below.
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
The Great God Pan: Lord of the Wild share.google/fx9Xv8CnfS7v...
SEPTEMBER SPECIAL!
Back to work today, but with the happy news that THE ROADS TO ROME is only 99p on Kindle all month so you can get away from it all in virtual fashion and enjoy the ancient routes.
www.amazon.co.uk/Roads-Rome-H...
#InternationalDogDay
The saddest tale, the goodest boi....
(1) Argus, the faithful hound of Odysseus, was the only one to recognize Odysseus upon his return to Ithaca after 20 years. Too weak to move, he wags his tail and offers a final gaze of recognition before passing away.
(2) So Argos lay there dirty, covered with fleas. And when he realized Odysseus was near, he wagged his tail, and both his ears dropped back. He was too weak to move toward his master. At a distance, Odysseus had noticed, and he wiped his tears away and hid them [...]
Simple black and white Roman mosaic from a corridor of a house in Hersonissos, Crete, 2nd C AD. The corridor led to the dining room. Look closely for a kantharos from which a vine emerges. Cretan wine was appreciated and exported during the Roman period.
#MosaicMonday#Archaeology#AncientBlueSky
For #MosaicMonday, from my recent visit to the Archaeological Museum of Split, the central panel of a large floor mosaic depicting Orpheus among the animals. From the provincial governor's house at Salona. Dated to the 2nd century CE.
#Archarology#RomanArchaeology#AncientBlueSky 🏺
#MosaicMonday#Roman mosaic with struggle between Eros and Pan, 3rd century AD. Archaeological Museum of Cordoba, #Spain.
(See Alt for more details)
#artwork#History#Archaeology#AncientBlueSky🏺
#MosaicMonday 👀
Achilles is adored by princesses of Skyros, a scene from the #Iliad where #Odysseus discovers him dressed as a woman and hiding among the princesses at the royal court of Skyros.
A late
#Roman mosaic from La Olmeda, Spain, 4th-5th centuries AD.
#Classics#History#AncientBlueSky🏺
Something fishy for #mosaicmonday
Mosaic panel featuring a fish and partridge behind it. From the House of Eustolios at Kourion in Cyprus, late 4th century CE.
The Christian iconography is matched by inscription mosaics proclaiming Eustolios' faith. #ancientbluesky 🏺
🦁🐆 It’s lion versus leopard this #MosaicMonday! This stunning scene comes from the Casa delle Colombe a mosaico at Pompeii.
It seems the lion truly has the upper hand, standing over the prone leopard. The power of the lion’s claws are matched by its direct stare at the viewer.
#AncientBluesky🏺
#MosaicMonday and my entry is from I Colori dei Romani at Centrale Montemartini.
Here we have Europa and the Bull from a burial chamber at the Via Ostiense necropolis, as well as the plant decoration from the threshold of the same burial chamber.
#AncientBlueSky🏺
#MosaicMonday
Orpheus theme #mosiac, excavated from Barton Farm, Cirencester. The mosaic likely dates to the 4th century CE, a period when such imagery was popular in villa decoration across #RomanBritain.
#Archaeology#AncientBlueSky🏛️#History
Continuing from last week's look at the mosaic in Room B at Frampton, another compartment shows this couple. Suggested identifications have included Attis and a nymph, Venus and Adonis, Paris and Oenone, or Paris and Venus. 1/4
A #Roman mosaic portrait of a young woman, found in #Pompeii in the Casa della Matrona Ignota, & made about 2000 years ago. It is a beautifully-crafted image of an unknown woman; we can guess from her jewellery that she was wealthy, but not much else 🏺AncientBlueSky #Archaeology#MosaicMonday
#MosaicMonday
It is flaming June so remember to help the birds and wildlife survive the heat by putting fresh water out for them.
Detail from mosaic depicting tame deer drinking from a fountain. C. 3/4 CE. Carthage.
📷 British Museum, London
#ancientbluesky#classicsbluesky
Happy Midsummer's Eve
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind."
A Midsummer Night's Dream
William Shakespeare
Cupid fresco, c. 1st BCE - 1st CE, Villa San Marco, Stabiae
📷 Sito Archeologico di Stabiae
#FrescoFriday
#FrescoFriday
Reconstructed panel of ceiling plaster From the bath-house frigidarium. The painted panels were intended to make it look like a coffered ceiling for a vault. Later second century AD - Wroxeter 📷 My own.
#Archaeology#History#art#artwork#AncientBlueSky🏺
This #FrescoFriday we’re in awe of the deep blue of this fresco from Pompeii. It depicts Mars, the god of war. He stands on a plinth adding a sculptural feel and is surrounded by bushes, trees, birds, and a rich blue sky that might be about to turn from twilight to night.
#AncientBluesky🏺
#FrescoFriday
"Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas"
Ovid, Ars Amatoria
Pompeii. House of the Golden Bracelet, wall painting n. 32, Gallic rose plant (detail).
📷 Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei.
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
This morning's #imageoftheweek is this illuminated illustration of Iliad 16, in which Achilles sacrifices to Zeus for Patroclus' safe return from battle. This image is from the 5th century CE Ambrosian Iliad, a unique and beautiful manuscript. #classicssky#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky#achilles
#worldcrocday
Roman parade armour made from crocodile skin. 3rd/4th century CE. Discovered Manfalut, Egypt. It may have been used for cult purposes.
📷 British Museum
#ancientbluesky
#MosaicMonday
Whilst out hunting, Actaeon catches sight of goddess Diana bathing. His punishment is to be turned into a stag and hunted by his own hounds.
Read more here:
Ovid,Metamorphoses Book 3
House of Venus, Volubilis, Morocco 2nd/3rd century CE.
📷 Jerzy Strzelecki
#classicsbluesky
#FrescoFriday
Detail of a Roman fresco showing scene of dressing a priestess or bride. Found in the palaestra of the Forum Baths at Herculaneum. Dated back to 1st century CE.
📷https://feminaeromanae.org
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
A bit of Classical Reception for #MosaicMonday. Detail of a sphinx from the National Library of Ireland, part of a pair depicted with the the motto 'Sapienta' or wisdom which was one of the attributes associated with the sphinx.
📷 @Rustransdark
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
#FrescoFriday of #Hermes / Mercury. Fresco on the facade of the House of Venus and the Four Gods (IX.7.1) #Pompeii. Dating to the first century CE.
📷Sergey Sosnovskiy/ ancientrome.ru#AncientBlueSky#ClassicsBlueSky#archaeology
Graceful gazelles this #FrescoFriday. Their delicately painted forms really give a sense of these slender, shy creatures...
Antelopes Fresco, discovered at Akrotiri, Thera (Santorini). C. 1700 BCE
📷 National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
This #ReliefWednesday we honour the fallen murmillo gladiator: Quintus Sossius Albius. This funerary stele commemorates his life with the dedication made by the freedwoman Sossia Iusta. Whether Albius died on the job is not clear…
#AncientBluesky🏺
A piece of #Roman brick, marked with a deep impression of a dog's paw print, set into the clay before it was fired - he nay have been a naughty doggie, or it could have been done on purpose to check if the clay was ready for the kiln #Archaeology#RomanArchaeology AncientBlueSky
Traveling in #Roman times: For #ReliefWednesday a relief depicting a carruca, a four-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses. Using a carruca was a rather comfortable way of travelling: the carriage body was suspended on leather straps - a kind of shock absorber. 🧵1/2
🏺#archaeology
#ReliefWednesday
For you do not share
The Pierian roses, but unseen in the house of Hades
You will stray, breathed out, among the ghostly dead
Sappho, Fragment 65
Exaltation of the flower. Grave stele, Farsala. Thessaly, Greece. 470 - 460 BCE. Louvre Museum
#classicsbluesky#ancientbluesky
Register now for our upcoming online Classical Reception Summer Seminar Monday 9 June, 3.30-5pm Join Mar Rodda (University of Oxford) Who will discuss Giving Zeus a C-section: Gynaecology and medicalised violence in Lucian of Samosata https://bit.ly/3ZHpsyR