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#magna grecia
flaroh · 7 months
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Dancing through the eras ✨👭🏺 Happy  #WomensEqualityDay everyone!🧡 Today I'm thinking of all the women of the Ancient Mediterranean, whose lives and dreams we still continue to learn about today with every discovery✨
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illustratus · 4 months
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View of the Temples of Paestum in the evening light | Water Buffalo in the Campagna
by Edmund Hottenroth
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Sirens of Greek Myth Were Bird-Women, Not Mermaids
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Bottle-askos in the shape of a siren (2nd half 6th century BC) from Locri / Southern Italy's Calabria. National Museum of Magna Graecia (Reggio Calabria, Italy).
In the wine-dark expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, far from the halls of civilization, there was once a small island—or so Homer, the famed poet of Ancient Greece, wrote in his epic The Odyssey. No buildings occupied its flowery meadows; no fisherman worked its shores. Those who passed in their black ships heard only voices, twining over the windless waves, singing a song that promised knowledge of all things. Once they heard it, they were enchanted; they had no choice but to land and seek out the singers. Those who did never left the island; their bodies remained, rotting amid the flowers, for none who heard the Sirens' song could escape it.
The story of the Sirens has inspired writers, poets, and artists for millennia. But somewhere along the way their form was confused. Today, Sirens are almost always represented as voluptuous mermaids, whose beauty and sexuality lure men to their deaths. But the Classical Greeks understood the Sirens differently: as bird-women, creatures that Mediterranean cultures traditionally associated with hidden knowledge.
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Sirens first appear in the literary record with the Odyssey (written around 750 BCE) in a segment that’s much briefer than you’d think considering the cultural impact of these mystical, singing creatures. It goes like this: Odysseus, warned by the enchantress Circe of the danger posed by the Sirens’ song, orders his crew to stuff their ears with wax. But, curious to a fault, he has himself bound to the ship’s mast so he can listen without flinging himself into the sea. The Sirens promise him tales of all that had occurred during the war at Troy, and everywhere else besides; enchanted, he begs his crew to release him. He rants, raves, and threatens, but to no avail. His crew sails on until the song fades in the distance, and so saves his life.
Homer doesn’t describe the Sirens’ physical appearance in his epic poem, Wilson says. But in ceramic paintings and tomb sculptures from the time of writing, and centuries after, Sirens were usually depicted with taloned feet, feathered wings, and a beautiful human face. The bird-body of the Siren is significant to Wilson: In the eyes of traditional peoples all across Europe, birds were often graced with an otherworldliness associated with gods, spirits, and omens.
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They inhabit the water, the air, and the earth. They’re also associated with song; they have voices that are not human voices, and kinds of movement that are not the same as human kinds of movement.
The Sirens’ role in tomb art is particularly telling. In ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures—as far back as 7,000 years ago—birds were often depicted carrying spirits to the underworld. In Southern Italy's Calabria, archaeologists unearthed several Greek askos (unguentary vessel) in shape of sirens, most commonly found in tombs.
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Bronze askos in the shape of a siren (5th century BC) from Crotone, Calabria, Italy - Archaeological Museum of Crotone.
Jump ahead a few millennia to 1,550 BCE, by which time Ba-birds, depictions of departing souls as human-faced birds, began appearing in Egypt. That connection between birds and dead souls seems to have then hopped over to Greece: Writing in the 5th century BCE, the playwright Euripides described the Sirens as at the beck and call of Persephone, one of the rulers of the underworld, while other writers identified the Sirens as rivals and dark echoes of the Muses, those goddesses of creativity.
These are the Sirens the Ancient Greeks would have recognized: bird creatures of the underworld, bridging the human world and what lies beyond. The Sirens—and their fateful songs—then offered a glimpse behind the veil, a chance to hear how earthly glories would echo in eternity. The question of what song the Sirens sing, what is this forbidden knowledge, what's wrong with it, what's the temptation—the text leaves a lot of open space there. Therein lies the seduction.
Yet today, mermaids or beautiful sea nymphs replace the dark, winged Sirens of ancient times.
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It is during the Middle Ages that the image of the siren began its shift from bird-woman to mermaid . With the transformation of the siren's image, the attributes associated with female monsters shifted. This suggests a change in the traits that were considered monstrous in women. The siren's movement from a frightening bird-woman to a beautiful mermaid represents female beauty becoming monstrous. Throughout the Middle Ages sirens increasingly represented a male fear of female seduction, suggesting a growing fear of female sexuality.
For medieval Christians, sirens were heavily associated with female sin.
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However it happened, the identification of Sirens with mermaids seems to have affected later translations of the Odyssey, and ultimately common knowledge of Sirens. Translators in the 19th and 20th centuries cast the Sirens in a sexualized light. In one prose translation, the Sirens speak of “the sweet voice from our lips,” despite the word στομάτων directly translating to the less sensual “mouths.” Another adds flowery descriptors of “each purling note/like honey twining/from our lips.” But unlike the Odyssey’s other island temptresses, Circe and Calypso, the Sirens get no admiring description of their faces or hair. Only their voice is described, and their field of bones and flowers.
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That’s a pretty strong indicator that the Sirens are not meant to be read as offering a sexual temptation. You can kiss lips; mouths devour.
Folklore and mythology move on, given enough time. Today, the Siren is just another word for mermaid, and is likely to remain so. But there’s something richly thematic about the Sirens of Classical Greece that deserves to be remembered: in-between creatures on a lonely island, floating between the boundaries of life and death, and offering an irresistible song of both. Water-temptresses are a dime a dozen; the Sirens offer wisdom.
Follow us on Instagram, @calabria_mediterranea
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lu2211 · 1 year
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kararadaygum · 10 months
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neapolis-neapolis · 1 year
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Coppa di Nestore (ultimo quarto VIII sec. a.C.), Museo archeologico di Pithecusae, Lacco Ameno, Ischia, Napoli.
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megalehellasseries · 8 months
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Metaponto
Personification of the ancient city-state of Μεταπόντιον (EL), Metaponto (IT).
Art and character design by me.
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wandering-jana · 2 months
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The Temple of Hera, an Ancient Greek temple found in Southern Sicily. Explore:
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paganimagevault · 1 year
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Procession of Twelve Gods and Goddesses from Taras/Tarentum 1st C. BCE - 1st C. CE. The figures from left to right are: Hestia, with scepter; Hermes, with cap and staff; Aphrodite, with veil; Ares, with helmet and spear; Demeter, with scepter and wheat sheaf; Hephaestus, with staff; Hera, with scepter; Poseidon, with trident; Athena, with owl and helmet; Zeus, with thunderbolt and staff; Artemis, with bow and quiver; and Apollo, with "kithara." Photo credit: Mary Harrsch's flickr and The Walter's Museum.
"Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless Gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet, -- where one does not duly pour sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last. And you, slayer of Argus (an epithet of Hermes), Son of Zeus and Maia, the messenger of the blessed Gods, bearer of the goldenrod, the giver of good, be favorable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear. Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you two, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and their strength. Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of the goldenrod! Now I will remember you and another song also."
-Homeric Hymn 29, To Hestia
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accademiadegliincerti · 10 months
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Curzio Malaparte a Paestum negli anni '30.
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michael-svetbird · 7 months
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VOLUTE KRATER Depicting Penthesilea and Achilles, Amazonomachy
Attributed to the Ilioupersis [Iliupersis] Painter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilioupersis_Painter
Side A: Penthesilea, Achilles, Left - "Amazon with the Queen's horse rearing up. Above - the Goddess of victory Nike and the God of love Eros with wreaths in their hands." [Side B : Dionysus sitting surrounded by 2 maenads and a satyr].
Apulian Red-figured Volute Krater 2nd quarter of the 4th c. BC From Taranto | Magna Grecia
KunstHistorisches Museum, Vienna | KHMV ["Ancient Greece and Rome", Kabinett IV] • Web : https://www.khm.at/en • FB : https://www.facebook.com/KHMWien • IG : https://www.instagram.com/kunsthistorischesmuseumvienna
Am sorry about very poor lighting in this Kabinett impacting the pics' quality..
KHMV | Michael Svetbird phs©msp | 13|08|23 6300X4200 600 [I.-III. & V.] The photographed object is collection item of KHMV, photos are subject to copyrights. [non commercial use | sorry for the watermarks]
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areccofrancesco · 11 months
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Paestum - Templi - Magna Grecia
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parthenopehasnograve · 11 months
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People from Magna Graecia / Μεγάλη ῾Ελλάς let’s say hello @ all trolls on quora :D (the rest of the answer here if you’re interested /or, to sum it up: we southern italians LOVE our greek roots).
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Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
In their haste to reach Calabria’s beaches, many travelers mistakenly overlook the region’s largest city, Reggio. This handsome and little-touristed place of around 200,000 inhabitants is built on slopes overlooking the Strait of Messina (the strait between Calabria and Sicily).
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The city was founded by the Greeks around 730 B.C., who settled this strategic location at the exact center of the Mediterranean in the 8th century BC. They called their colony Rhegion, which was subsequently Latinized by the Romans and transformed through the ages under the area’s various rulers.
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Later, Reggio became an important center of Byzantine culture until being occupied by the Arabs in the 10th century. Spanish rule ended with Napoleon’s invasion in 1806.
The city thrived during the late 18th century, when the Lungomare Falcomatà, “the most beautiful kilometer of Italy,” a long seaside promenade, was constructed.
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On a visit in 1847, the English artist and writer Edward Lear wrote: “Reggio is indeed one vast garden, and doubtless one of the loveliest spots to be seen on earth. A half-ruined castle, beautiful in colour and picturesque in form, overlooks all the long city, the wide straits and snow-topped Etna volcano on the island of Sicily beyond.”
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An earthquake destroyed large areas of Reggio in 1908, and much of it was rebuilt in the art nouveau style. Lining the Corso Garibaldi, the principal thoroughfare, these elegant buildings give the city its singular charm.
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Reggio is home to one of the most important archaeological museums, the prestigious National Archaeological Museum of Magna Græcia, dedicated to Greater Greece (the name given by the Romans to the Greek-speaking coastal areas of Southern Italy).
The Museum houses the Bronzes of Riace, rare examples of Greek bronze sculptures which became one of the symbols of the city.
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These statues spent more than 2,000 years submerged under the waves of the Ionian Sea. A diver discovered the pair in 1972 and within a week the bronzes were recovered by an elated Italian government. How often do you get a chance to see two 2,500 year-old bronze warriors from classical Greece?
Follow us on Instagram, @calabria_mediterranea
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lu2211 · 6 months
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How to save a life. ✨🌼
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travelingue · 10 months
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Naples (4): Sybaritic afternoon
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The story so far: the theft of my Samsung Galaxy A14 (£219 from Argos.co.uk) threatened to ruin our holiday.  We had just two days in Naples and reporting to a police station was not on the itinerary.
But that visit proved brief, as well as instructive about Italian hospitality. 
At 1pm we headed for the museo archeologico nazionale, where we planned to have a quick lunch before immersing ourselves in Naples' ancient history.
Driving rain had driven many tourists inside.  The café was particularly popular.
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The single waiter was doing his best to keep crowds at bay by ignoring those who had managed to find a seat, including us. This no-rush method, at least, allowed us to have a good rest.  
The caprese we ordered had had time to mature nicely between the kitchen and our table.  At 3 pm we secured a bill through the classic expedient of starting to walk out. We had a museum to visit.
Many of its collections come from nearby Pompeii.
The mosaic below dates from shortly before that fateful eruption of Mount Vesuvius: you can imagine the owners walking their pet, just as the lava engulfed them.
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With time running short, we chose to focus our ethnographic investigations on the early Hellenic presence in Italy and the western Mediterranean.
I'd often wondered why the Greeks beat the Romans to the French Riviera.  And why the name "Neapolis" as opposed to, say, "Civitanova"?
The museo archeologico is enlightening on these questions.  Greek traders and adventurers began checking out the area in Homeric times.  When Ulysses took the long way home, he spent some time around Sicily – you may recall that he blinded some dim-witted giant there.
But Greeks did not make Italian spots their home until the 8th century BC.  As a panel made clear, this was not a settlement of conquest, but of desperation.
The golden Hellenistic age did not begin until three centuries later.  Around 750 BC, in fact, life for people from Sparta to Smyrna was wretched.
Many of those who left were forced to do so by their own communities.  "In some cases, they were even chosen by lot, so ensuring the survival of those who remained," the curators explain.
The first settlers landed near Naples.  Each new colony was founded by rejects from a specific place back home.  A nifty map shows the migration routes.
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Thus I learned why, to this day, French pedants like to call people from Marseille "Phoceans": the initial settlers were from Phocaea in Asia Minor.
These far-flung outposts of Magna Graecia eventually prospered.  The artefacts on display testify to a considerable degree of sophistication.
One of the highlights is the "Farnese Hercules", a 10-foot statue dated around 220 BC.
It should come with a trigger warning for the benefit of American students: consider yourself warned.
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I'm a sucker for vases and was mightily impressed by those found at Canosa, in Puglia.
The one below shows the Persian king Darius being told by a messenger riding Pegasus that his men have lost the battle at Marathon. 
It was found in a burial site described by the museum as "the most significant testimony to the enormous socioeconomic development of Canosa from the mid-fourth century BC".
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I also learned about Sybaris, a colony in modern-day Calabria that thrived from the 7th century BC. 
This must be why Sybarites became a byword for self-indulgent luxury: their wealth would have attracted envy back in the motherland.
After our visit, we were in the mood for a bit of Sybaritism ourselves.  We had enjoyed the warm simplicity of the neighbourhood pizzeria where we had our first dinner.  But this evening, a touch of refinement seemed to be in order, not to mention wine.
After consulting TripAdvisor at length, I found a top-ranked eatery that accepted reservations on The Fork website.  Miraculously, a table was available for 8 pm: I clicked on "book".
We reached our destination after a 20-minute walk through a neighbourhood that was shabby even by Neapolitan standards (this Streetview grab actually flatters it).
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The staff of the humble trattoria were nonplussed by the arrival of a smartly dressed couple flashing a reservation email (my wife still had her phone).  But hosting us was no problem: none of their four tables was occupied.
Pizzas were the only items on the menu.  Ours were perfectly acceptable - there is no such thing as bad pizza in Naples – so we smiled sweetly at our hosts.
We were especially thankful that, in this strangely wine-averse land, they were able to find a bottle of plonkish red for us.  We couldn't complain about the €25 bill, but we hardly felt like Sybarites.
We returned via the barren expanse of Piazza Garibaldi. The deserted metro station would be an ideal location for an apocalyptic thriller.
Getting off after two stops, we found the dark alleys of Centro Storico much more hospitable than they had seemed the night before.
Previous entries on Naples:
1. Ryanair 2. Neapolis or Nablus? 3. Daylight Robbery
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