68 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2024
  2. Apr 2024
    1. Al-Jallad began pulling up every inscription that mentioned migrating in search of rain, and soon he had a long list of terms that had resisted translation. Comparing them with the Greek, Aramaic, and Babylonian zodiacs, he started making connections. Dhakar matched up nicely with dikra, the Aramaic word for Aries, and Amet was derived from an Arabic verb meaning “to measure or compute quantity”—a good bet for the scales of Libra. Hunting for Capricorn, the goat-fish constellation, Al-Jallad found the word ya’mur in Edward Lane’s “Arabic-English Lexicon,” whose translation read, “A certain beast of the sea, or . . . a kind of mountain-goat.” He stayed up all night, sifting the database and checking words against dictionaries of ancient Semitic languages. By morning, he had deciphered a complete, previously unknown Arabian zodiac. “We’d thought that they were place names, and, in a way, they were,” he told me. “They were places in the sky.”

      There's got to be a great journal article on this!

  3. Mar 2024
    1. hen everything seemed just right to him, as though he were lifted into the Elysian fields, on the borders of the earth, where man enjoys the easiest life,
  4. Feb 2024
  5. Jan 2024
    1. Greek plays are not just about entertainment; they are invitations to the audience to discuss political events.

      Greek plays are either tragedies or comedies. There is a much deeper meaning to them than just entertaining the public. Keeping this in mind when reading the stories gives them a much deeper meaning.(https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Theatre/) To know the full extent of what they were really meant for is important to the readers. For this specific play, the meaning behind the story is that the men in charge are operating from an excessively limited perspective as they ignore their partners' informed advice. This is a huge political controversy to this day. Women are very overlooked in society especially considering how far back this is dated. Back when this play was written women were given tasks like cooking and cleaning and had little to no rights so this was a good political example of how they were treated and overlooked.

    1. epiphany

      Derived from the Greek word epiphaneia, epiphany means “appearance,” or “manifestation.” In literary terms, an epiphany is that moment where a someone achieves realization, awareness, or a feeling of knowledge, after which events are seen through the prism of this new light

  6. Dec 2023
  7. Sep 2023
    1. Where are the synoptic studies of mythology? (In the way the Bible has been pulled apart.) Naturally we're missing lots of versions to be able to compare, but synoptic studies of Greek and Roman mythology would potentially have some interesting things to say about the oral traditions of Jesus which passed down his story before they were written down decades (or more) following his death.

  8. Aug 2023
    1. His most well-known work was the Thesaurus graecae linguae, which was printed in five volumes. The basis of Greek lexicology, no thesaurus would rival that of Estienne's for three hundred years.
    1. The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) is a research center at the University of California, Irvine. The TLG was founded in 1972 by Marianne McDonald (a graduate student at the time and now a professor of theater and classics at the University of California, San Diego) with the goal to create a comprehensive digital collection of all surviving texts written in Greek from antiquity to the present era.
  9. Jun 2023
    1. More importantly, the unvarnished condition of Aristotle’s surviving treatises does not hamper our ability to come to grips with their philosophical content.

      I find this interesting

  10. May 2023
    1. The play is set in Troezen, a coastal town in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Theseus, the king of Athens, is serving a year's voluntary exile after having murdered a local king and his sons. His illegitimate son is Hippolytus, whose birth is the result of Theseus's rape of the Amazon Hippolyta. Hippolytus has been trained since childhood by the king of Troezen, Pittheus. At the opening of the play Aphrodite, Goddess of love, explains that Hippolytus has sworn chastity and refuses to revere her. Instead, he honours the Goddess of the hunt, Artemis. This has led her to initiate a plan of vengeance on Hippolytus. When Hippolytus went to Athens two years previously Aphrodite inspired Phaedra, Hippolytus' stepmother, to fall in love with him. Hippolytus appears with his followers and shows reverence to a statue of Artemis, a chaste goddess. A servant warns him about slighting Aphrodite, but Hippolytus refuses to listen. The chorus, consisting of young married women of Troezen, enters and describes how Theseus's wife, Phaedra has not eaten or slept in three days. Phaedra, sickly, appears with her nurse. After an agonizing discussion, Phaedra finally confesses why she is ill: she loves Hippolytus. The nurse and the chorus are shocked. Phaedra explains that she must starve herself and die with her honour intact and to save Theseus from shame. However, the nurse quickly retracts her initial response and tells Phaedra that she has a magical charm to cure her. However, in an aside she reveals different plans. The nurse, after making Hippolytus swear not to tell anyone, informs Hippolytus of Phaedra's desire and suggests that Hippolytus consider yielding to her. He reacts with a furious tirade and threatens to tell his father, Theseus, everything as soon as he arrives. Phaedra realizes disaster has fallen. After making the chorus swear secrecy, she goes inside and hangs herself. Theseus returns and discovers his wife's dead body. Because the chorus is sworn to secrecy, they cannot tell Theseus why she killed herself. Theseus discovers a letter on Phaedra's body, which falsely asserts that she was raped by Hippolytus. Enraged, Theseus curses his son either to death or at least exile. To execute the curse, Theseus calls upon his father, the god Poseidon, who has promised to grant his son three wishes. Hippolytus enters and protests his innocence but cannot tell the truth because of the binding oath that he swore. Taking Phaedra's letter as proof, Hippolytus proudly defends his innocence, saying that he has never looked at any women with sexual desire. Theseus does not believe his son and still exiles him. As Hippolytus is departing he swears that if he lying then Zeus should strike him down on the spot. The chorus sings a lament for Hippolytus. A messenger enters and describes a gruesome scene to Theseus; as Hippolytus got in his chariot to leave the kingdom, a bull roared out of the sea, frightening his horses, which dashed his chariot among the rocks, dragging Hippolytus behind. Hippolytus seems to be dying. The messenger protests Hippolytus' innocence, but Theseus refuses to believe him. Theseus is glad that Hippolytus is suffering and about to die. But then the goddess, Artemis, appears and rages at Theseus for killing his own son; she brutally tells him the truth and that Aphrodite was behind all their suffering due to her feeling disrespected due to Hippolytus's pride in his chastity: there was no rape, Phaedra had lied, his son was innocent. Theseus is painfully devastated by this revelation. Hippolytus is carried in physically battered and barely clinging to life. In the last moments of the play, Hippolytus forgives his father, kind words are exchanged between father and son, and then Hippolytus dies. Theseus is then left living to dwell on the fact that he killed his beloved son.

      CC Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

      Title: Gender Roles and Tragic Consequences in Hippolytus

      The play "Hippolytus" by Euripides explores the complex dynamics of gender roles and the tragic consequences that arise from societal expectations and the manipulation of divine powers. The story revolves around the conflict between Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Hippolytus, a devoted follower of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. By examining key quotes and significant events, we can delve into the portrayal of gender roles and the repercussions they have on the characters within the play.

      At the beginning of the play, Aphrodite expresses her frustration with Hippolytus's refusal to revere her and his unwavering devotion to Artemis (2, 1-3). This sets the stage for Aphrodite's plan of vengeance, highlighting the power dynamics between male and female deities and the consequences of defying traditional gender expectations. The conflict between the two goddesses serves as a backdrop for the subsequent events that unfold.

      When Phaedra, Hippolytus's stepmother, falls in love with him due to Aphrodite's influence, it highlights the vulnerability of women in a patriarchal society and their susceptibility to the manipulation of divine powers (2, 6-7). Phaedra's unrequited love for Hippolytus becomes a catalyst for the tragic events that follow, illustrating the destructive consequences of crossing societal boundaries and challenging established gender roles.

      Throughout the play, Phaedra grapples with her forbidden desires and the notion of preserving her honor (5, 19-22). Her internal struggle reflects the societal pressures placed on women to adhere to strict moral codes and maintain their virtuous reputation. Phaedra's ultimate decision to starve herself and die to protect Theseus from shame illustrates the extreme lengths she is willing to go to uphold the expectations of female purity and chastity.

      The nurse, a secondary character, plays a significant role in circulating gender norms and contributing to the tragic outcome. Initially, she appears to be supportive of Phaedra's plight and offers a magical charm to cure her (4, 15-17). However, in an aside, the nurse reveals her ulterior motive, suggesting that Phaedra should yield to her desires (4, 16-18). This manipulation demonstrates the complexities of gender dynamics and the potential for women to contribute to the perpetuation of the patriarchal norms.

      Hippolytus, on the other hand, vehemently rejects Phaedra's advances and fiercely defends his chastity and loyalty to Artemis (5, 17-19). His refusal to yield to Aphrodite's power highlights his unwavering commitment to his chosen deity and his defiance of traditional gender expectations. Hippolytus's unwavering adherence to his principles ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.

      The false accusation of rape leveled against Hippolytus exposes the destructive potential of gender-based assumptions and societal biases. Theseus, Phaedra's husband and Hippolytus's father, believes the fabricated story and condemns his son to exile or death (6, 21-26). Theseus's inability to question the validity of the accusation reflects the deeply ingrained prejudices and expectations placed on women and men within the society.

      The tragic climax of the play occurs when Artemis reveals the truth to Theseus, exposing Aphrodite's manipulations and Phaedra's deception (9, 31-33). This revelation highlights the devastating consequences that arise from the manipulation of gender roles and the abuse of power by divine entities. The final reconciliation between Hippolytus and Theseus serves as a poignant moment, emphasizing the tragedy of a father's realization that he has killed his own son due to his blind adherence to societal expectations.

      In conclusion, "Hippolytus" delves into the complexities of gender roles and the tragic outcomes that arise from the manipulation of societal expectations and divine powers. The play highlights the vulnerability of women, the defiance of male protagonists, and the destructive consequences of rigid gender norms. By examining key quotes and pivotal events, we gain a deeper understanding of the portrayal of gender roles in the play and the profound impact they have on the characters' lives.

  11. Jan 2023
    1. Giannakis, Georgios K., Christoforo Charalambakis, Franco Montanari, and Antonios Rengakos, eds. Studies in Greek Lexicography. Studies in Greek Lexicography. Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes 72. De Gruyter, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110622744.

      Skimmed for portions relating to the Bauer zettelkasten

    2. The slips constitute a thorough lexicographical compila-tion of about 15,000 attestations of almost 150 types of Greek prepositions, con-junctions and particles in Coptic, from virtually all Coptic dialects and types oftexts, arranged on the basis of a detailed analysis of their semantic and syntacticproperties.
    3. Since 2015 a digitalized card index of Greek functionwords in Coptic is available online (as part of the DDGCL)

      A digitized version of Gertrud Bauer's zettelkasten has been available online since 2015.

    1. Richter, Tonio Sebastian. “Whatever in the Coptic Language Is Not Greek, Can Wholly Be Considered Ancient Egyptian”: Recent Approaches towards an Integrated View of the Egyptian-Coptic Lexicon.” Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies. Journal de La Société Canadienne Pour Les Études Coptes 9 (2017): 9–32. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeumdok.00004673.

      Skimmed for the specifics I was looking for with respect to Gertrud Bauer's zettelkasten.

    2. Tami Gottschalk,

      As a complete aside I can't help but wonder if Tami Gottschalk is related to Louis R. Gottschalk, the historian who wrote Understanding history; a primer of historical method?

    1. After browsing through a variety of the cards in Gertrud Bauer's Zettelkasten Online it becomes obvious that the collection was created specifically as a paper-based database for search, retrieval, and research. The examples and data within it are much more narrowly circumscribed for a specific use than those of other researchers like Niklas Luhmann whose collection spanned a much broader variety of topics and areas of knowledge.

      This particular use case makes the database nature of zettelkasten more apparent than some others, particularly in modern (post-2013 zettelkasten of a more personal nature).

      I'm reminded here of the use case(s) described by Beatrice Webb in My Apprenticeship for scientific note taking, by which she more broadly meant database creation and use.

    1. In summer 2010, Professor Peter Nagel of Bonn forwarded seven cardboard boxes full of lexicographical slips to the DDGLC office, which had been handed over to him in the early '90s by the late Professor Alexander Böhlig.

      In the 1990s Professor Alexander Böhlig of the University of Tuebingen gave Gertrud Bauer's zettelkasten to Professor Peter Nagel of Bonn. He in turn forwardd the seven cardboard boxes of slips to the Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC) office for their use.

    2. The original slips have been scanned and slotted into a database replicating the hierarchical structure of the original compilation. It is our pleasure to provide a new lexicographical tool to our colleagues in Coptology, Classical Studies, and Linguistics, and other interested parties.

      The Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC) has scanned and placed the original slips from Gertrud Bauer's zettelkasten into a database for scholarly use. The database allows the replication of the hierarchical structure of Bauer's original compilation.

    3. these slips constitute a thorough lexicographical compilation of about 15.000 attestations (tokens) of almost 150 types of Greek prepositions, conjunctions and particles in Coptic, from virtually all Coptic dialects and types of texts, arranged on the basis of a detailed analysis of their semantic and syntactic properties. It is the work of Dr. Gertrud Bauer from Tuebingen.

      Gertrud Bauer maintained a zettelkasten in the 1970s and 1980s in which she compiled "about 15,000 attestations (tokens) of almost 150 types of reek prepositions, conjunctions and particles in Coptic, from virtually all Coptic dialects and types of texts, arranged on the basis of a detailed analysis of their semantic and syntactic properties."

  12. Nov 2022
    1. Contents 1 Overview 2 Reasons for failure 2.1 Overconfidence and complacency 2.1.1 Natural tendency 2.1.2 The illusion of control 2.1.3 Anchoring 2.1.4 Competitor neglect 2.1.5 Organisational pressure 2.1.6 Machiavelli factor 2.2 Dogma, ritual and specialisation 2.2.1 Frames become blinders 2.2.2 Processes become routines 2.2.3 Resources become millstones 2.2.4 Relationships become shackles 2.2.5 Values becomes dogmas 3 The paradox of information systems 3.1 The irrationality of rationality 3.2 How computers can be destructive 3.3 Recommendations for practice 4 Case studies 4.1 Fresh & Easy 4.2 Firestone Tire and Rubber Company 4.3 Laura Ashley 4.4 Xerox 5 See also 6 References

      Wiki table of contents of the Icarus paradox

    1. Socrates is turned into a systematic set of psycho-technologies that you internalise into your metacognition. So, what became crucial for Plato, as we saw, was argumentation. But for Antisthenes the actual confrontation with Socrates was more important. Both Plato and Antisthenes are interested in the transformation that Socrates is affording.Plato sees this happening through argumentation. Antesthenes sees it as happening through confrontation because... And you can see how they're both right, because in Socratic elenchus, Socrates comes up and he argues with you. But of course he's also confronting you. We talked about how he was sort of slamming the Axial revolution into your face! So, Antesthenes has a follower, Diogenes, and Diogenes epitomizes this: This confrontation. And by looking at the kinds of confrontation we can start to see what the followers of Antesthenes are doing. So Diogenes basically does something analogous to provocative performance art. He gets in your face in a way that tries to provoke you to realizations. Those kinds of insights that will challenge you. He tries to basically create aporia in you, that shocked experience that you had when confronting Socrates that challenges you to radically transform your life. But instead of using argumentation and discussion, as Socrates did and Plato picked up on, they were really trying to hone in on how to try to be as provocative as possible.

      John Vervaeke on Socrates becoming set of psychotechnologies to internalize and augment metacognition. Agues agumentation become central for Plato, whereas confrontation itself become central for Antisthenes. They're disagree about how the cause of the transformation through the Socratic approach

      Unclear is stoics take up Plato's mantle of argumentation orientation, but they at least seem distinct from the Cynics (Antisthenes & teach Diogenes

      Aporia is moment of shock from experience that you're radically transformed. Could be from Diogenes' provocative performance art or through discourse a la Plato & Socrates

      Nietzche may have favored Cynics approach over stoic/Socratic. Possible parallel in left-hand path and right-hand path. Quick & risky vs. slow & steady

  13. Oct 2022
  14. Jul 2022
    1. Yet there were still many traps along the way. In what is now Iraq, the Sumerian civilization (one of the world’s first) withered and died as the irrigation systems it invented turned the fields into salty desert. Some two thousand years later, in the Mediterranean basin, chronic soil erosion steadily undermined the Classical World: first the Greeks, then the Romans at the height of their power. And a few centuries after Rome’s fall, the Classic Maya, one of only two high civilizations to thrive in tropical rainforest (the other being the Khmer), eventually wore out nature’s welcome at the heart of Central America.

      Progress traps through history: * 1. Sumerian civilization (Iraq) irrigation system turned fields into salty desert * Greek and Roman empire - chronic soil erosion also eroded these empires * Classic Mayan empire may have collapsed due to the last 2 of 7 megadroughts because it was over-urbanized and used up all water sources, leaving no buffer in case of drought: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/new-clues-about-how-and-why-the-maya-culture-collapsed/

  15. May 2022
  16. Mar 2022
  17. Feb 2022
    1. The Epic Of Gilgamesh 16 4 THE SEARCH FOR EVERLASTING LIFE BITTERLY Gilgamesh wept for his friend Enkidu; he wandered over the wilderness as a hunter, he roamed over the plains; in his bitterness he cried, ‘How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead. Because I am afraid of death I will go as best I can to find Utnapishtim whom they call the Faraway, for he has entered the assembly of the gods.' So Gilgamesh travelled over the wilderness, he wandered over the grasslands, a long journey, in search of Utnapishtim, whom the gods took after the deluge; and they set him to live in the land of Dilmun, in the garden of the sun; and to him alone of men they gave everlasting life. At night when he came to the mountain passes Gilgamesh prayed: ‘In these mountain passes long ago I saw lions, I was afraid and I lifted my eyes to the moon; I prayed and my prayers went up to the gods, so now, O moon god Sin, protect me.' When he had prayed he lay down to sleep, until he was woken from out of a dream. He saw the lions round him glorying in life; then he took his axe in his hand, he drew his sword from his belt, and he fell upon them like an arrow from the string, and struck and destroyed and scattered them. So at length Gilgamesh came to Mashu, the great mountains about which he had heard many things, which guard the rising and the setting sun. Its twin peaks are as high as the wall of heaven and its paps reach down to the underworld. At its gate the Scorpions stand guard, half man and half dragon; their glory is terrifying, their stare strikes death into men, their shimmering halo sweeps the mountains that guard the rising sun. When Gilgamesh saw them he shielded his eyes for the length of a moment only; then he took courage and approached. When they saw him so undismayed the Man-Scorpion called to his mate, ‘This one who comes to us now is flesh of the gods.' The mate of the Man-Scorpion answered, ‘Two thirds is god but one third is man.' Then he called to the man Gilgamesh, he called to the child of the gods: ‘ Why have you come so great a journey; for what have you travelled so far, crossing the dangerous waters; tell me the reason for your coming?' Gilgamesh answered, ‘For Enkidu; I loved him dearly, together we endured all kinds of hardships; on his account I have come, for the common lot of man has taken him. I have wept for him day and night, I would not give up his body for burial, I thought my friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing; that is why I have travelled here in search of Utnapishtim my father; for men say he has entered the assembly of the gods, and has found everlasting life: I have a desire to question him, concerning the living and the dead.' The Man-Scorpion opened his mouth and said, speaking to Gilgamesh, ‘No man born of woman has done what you have asked, no mortal man has gone into the mountain; the length of it is twelve leagues of darkness; in it there is no light, but the heart is oppressed with darkness. From the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun there is no light.' Gilgamesh said, ‘Although I should go in sorrow and in pain, with sighing and with weeping, still I must go. Open the gate ' of the mountain:' And the Man-Scorpion said, ‘Go, Gilgamesh, I permit you to pass through the mountain of Mashu and through the high ranges; may your feet carry you safely home. The gate of the mountain is open.' When Gilgamesh heard this he did as the Man-Scorpion had said, he followed the sun's road to his rising, through the mountain. When he had gone one league the darkness became thick around him, for there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. After two leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. After three leagues the darkness was thick, and there was no w light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. After four leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. At the end of five leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. At the end of six leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. When he had gone seven leagues the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him.

      Very similar to the Orpheus myth (the afterlife like a body of water (Styx), dark, and difficult to get to).

  18. Jan 2022
    1. The Goddess of Memory (Mnemosyne) was a Titan, daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), and mother of all the nine Muses

      The Greeks gave Mnemosyne, a Titan and the goddess of memory a significant location within their culture as the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth) and the mother of all the nine Muses.

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    1. In ancient Greek, noēma means “thinking” or the “object of thought.” And that is our intention: to delve deeply into the critical issues transforming the world today, at length and with historical context, in order to illuminate new pathways of thought in a way not possible through the immediacy of daily media.

      What a great title for an online publication.

  19. Dec 2021
  20. Nov 2021
    1. But when he got his breath back and the spirit regathered into his heart, heat last unbound the veil of the goddess from him, 460 and let it go, to driftin the seaward course of the river, and the great wave carried it out on thecurrent, and presently Ino took it back into her hands.

      In Greek mythology, Ino (/ˈaɪnoʊ/ EYE-noh; Ancient Greek: Ἰνώ [iːnɔ̌ː][1]) was a mortal queen of Boeotia, who after her death and transfiguration was worshiped as a goddess under her epithet Leucothea, the "white goddess." Alcman called her "Queen of the Sea" (θαλασσομέδουσα thalassomédousa),[2] which, if not hyperbole, would make her a doublet of Amphitrite.—Ino (Greek mythology)—Wikipedia)

      <small>Leucothea (1862), by Jean Jules Allasseur (1818-1903). South façade of the Cour Carrée in the Palais du Louvre.</small>

    1. Homer’s Greek is an amalgam of dialects from various regions and eras. It includes words and grammatical forms that were already puzzling Athenians in the fifth century B.C., when students had to read Homer in school.

      The Greek in Homer is an amalgamation of dialects which is an indicator that the works were aggregated from many sources and turned into a final finished work.

  21. Oct 2021
  22. Jul 2021
    1. World Health Organization (WHO). (2021, May 31). Today WHO has announced a new naming system for key #COVID19 variants. The labels are based on the Greek alphabet (i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc), making them simple, easy to say and remember. 👉 https://t.co/aYCZfspZyb https://t.co/Gxt14fwVqF [Tweet]. @WHO. https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1399432092333883393

  23. Apr 2021
    1. GRADE K-4 GRADE 5-6 GRADE 7-8 GRADE 9-12 SPANISH TECH TEACHER Teacher Sign Up Sign In Teacher Sign Up Sign In GRADE K-4 GRADE 5-6 GRADE 7-8 GRADE 9-12 SPANISH TECH TEACHER TT GRADE K-4 GRADE 5-6 GRADE 7-8 GRADE 9-12 SPANISH TECH TEACHER Teacher sign up Sign In Why did ancient Greeks and Romans eat lying down? (Thinkstock) Why did ancient Greeks and Romans eat lying down? By: Ask Smithsonian, Smithsonianmag.com November 25, 2015 Published: November 25, 2015 Lexile: 1230L var addthis_config = { services_exclude: 'print,printfriendly', data_ga_property: 'UA-6457029-1', data_track_clickback: true }; var addthis_share = { url_transforms : { shorten: { twitter: 'bitly' } }, shorteners : { bitly : {} }, templates : { twitter : '{' + '{title}' + '}: {' + '{url}' + '} via @TweenTribune' } }; 530L 780L 1040L 1230L Assign to Google Classroom You asked us, "Why did ancient Greeks and Romans eat lying down?"   Reclining and dining in ancient Greece started at least as early as the 7th century BCE and was later picked up by the Romans.   To eat lying down, while others served you, was a sign of power and luxury enjoyed by the elite. People further down the social ladder copied the laid-back dining style, if they could afford to.   I mean, who wouldn't want to stretch out while chowing down, but not everyone was so lucky in ancient Greece. You see, women didn't generally get invited to banquets except for rare occasions like wedding feasts and even then they had to sit upright.   It was only in ancient Rome that customs changed, allowing upper-class women to lounge alongside men, and while it sounds sweet, all that lying down and eating can't have been good for the heartburn. Source URL: https://www.tweentribune.com/article/teen/why-did-ancient-greeks-and-romans-eat-lying-down/ Filed Under:   Video Culture Odd news Smithsonian Assigned 49 times CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION Why did people “further down the social ladder” copy people above them? Write your answers in the comments section below Please log in to post a comment COMMENTS (15) arellanoj-rob 11/30/2015 - 09:46 a.m. I think that people "further down the social ladder" copied people above them because they thought it'd earn them some sort of respect. It probably gave them sense of power back then. julianc-bag 11/30/2015 - 07:32 p.m. I don;t like eating at the dinner table I prefer the living room. ShawnaWeiser-Ste 12/02/2015 - 03:56 p.m. This seems quite unnecessary and dangerous. Its very common for people lying down to choke while they are eating, I mean come on. Good thing the women and the poor were not allowed to engage in such activities; they probably lived much longer than the rich men. laurenc-bag 12/03/2015 - 09:18 p.m. People "further down the social ladder" copied people above them, possibly to make themselves look a little wealthier than they were. It was a sign of luxury and was only enjoyed by the elite, so they wanted to experience that as well. laurenc-bag 12/03/2015 - 09:21 p.m. And, most likely, my weirdest custom at home is listening to music while watching a video on my phone while FaceTiming my friends, if that even counts as a strange custom... But, I also pray before I eat every meal with my family, which might seem strange to some people. laurenc-bag 12/03/2015 - 09:30 p.m. (It didn't allow me to take the test for some reason...) carsonb-2-bar 12/03/2015 - 10:28 p.m. In the early 7th century reclining and dining in Greece started and later on picked up by the Romans. According to the article it was a sign of power, especially when others served you. People in lower social classes copied it. The lower class people probably copied the upper-class people to be cool. Maybe it made them feel powerful. I thought the article was interesting. I never knew why many pictures back in the 7th century show people eating while lying down. I guess you could say they were the first couch potatoes! bellae1-lin 12/04/2015 - 02:57 p.m. People "further down the social ladder" copied people above them because they wanted to feel luxurious and wealthy. They would want to feel this way because they may not be treated like luxury, and they wanted to see with the eyes of a wealthy being. briannec-ste 12/07/2015 - 05:09 p.m. I personally don't like to eat laying down because I feel like I am being choked. I don't understand how laying down and being fed was a sign of wealth. The laying down not at all but the getting fed I understand. gisellem-pay 12/08/2015 - 11:11 a.m. I think that this concept is similar to our current society. Many people find or develop a custom, in which will catch on to others just to prove their power or how modern they believe they are. This also reminds me of China and foot binding. This tradition was passed down for women as a beauty concept. Page 1 of 2 Next » Take the Quiz Leave a comment ADVERTISEMENT TOPICS Animals Video Education Art Entertainment Culture Food & Health Inspiration National news Odd news Science Technology World news ADVERTISEMENT LEXILE LEVELS 500L-590L 600L-690L 700L-790L 800L-890L 900L-990L 1000L-1090L 1100L-1190L 1200L-1290L 1300L-1600L ADVERTISEMENT Take the Quiz Leave a comment ABOUT US FAQs Terms of Use Privacy Statement LOGIN Sign In Teacher Sign Up Can't Login GET IN TOUCH Contact Us Facebook Twitter Pinterest RSS The Smithsonian Institution is a trust instrumentality of the United States established by an act of Congress in 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge" googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-tt-outofpage'); }); window.webtrendsAsyncInit=function(){ var dcs=new Webtrends.dcs().init({ dcsid:"dcs8v0iiladzpxfcn5y7c8cy2_5j6f", domain:"logs1.smithsonian.museum", timezone:-5, i18n:true, fpcdom:".tweentribune.com", plugins:{ } }).track(); }; (function(){ var s=document.createElement("script"); s.async=true; s.src="https://static.media.tweentribune.com/js/webtrends.min.js"; var s2=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s2.parentNode.insertBefore(s,s2); }()); <img alt="dcsimg" id="dcsimg" width="1" height="1" src="//logs1.smithsonian.museum/dcs8v0iiladzpxfcn5y7c8cy2_5j6f/njs.gif?dcsuri=/nojavascript&amp;WT.js=No&amp;WT.tv=10.4.23&amp;dcssip=www.tweentribune.com"/>

      The central idea of the text is that people ate lying down during Ancient Greece because lying down when eating was considered to be a luxury, and symbolized a high class, although high class men and women had different standards. High class women didn't have the right to lie beside men until Ancient Rome, when the customs finally changed.

  24. Feb 2021
    1. Lethe

      One of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades, also known as the river of unmindfulness. Everyone who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. The word literally means 'oblivion', and is related to the Greek for 'truth' (aletheia) which means 'unforgetfulness'. So there is some kind of connection between Lethe and concealing the truth. At the same time, if the shades in Hades didn't drink from Lethe (and thereby have their memories erased), they would never have the chance to be reincarnated.

  25. Jan 2021
  26. Nov 2020
    1. heterotrophs

      A heterotroph is an organism that eats plants or animals for nutrients and energy. The words is derived from Greek as hetero means other and trophe means nourishment. Organisms are either autotrophs or heterotrophs.

  27. Oct 2020
    1. Early Christians used the ichthys, a symbol of a fish, to represent Jesus,[94][95] because the Greek word for fish, ΙΧΘΥΣ Ichthys, could be used as an acronym for "Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ" (Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter), meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour".
  28. Mar 2020
  29. Dec 2019
    1. sweet Safie

      The name Safie appears drawn from the Greek "sophia" (meaning wise), or the Arabic "safa" (meaning pure), or both.

    1. epiphany

      Derived from the Greek word epiphaneia, epiphany means “appearance,” or “manifestation.” In literary terms, an epiphany is that moment where a someone achieves realization, awareness, or a feeling of knowledge, after which events are seen through the prism of this new light

  30. Jan 2019
    1. Socrates

      Via Socrates Biography -- Britannica "Socrates was widely considered to be a Sophist, though he did not teach for money and his aims were entirely different from theirs. Although there is a late tradition according to which Pythagoras invented the word philosopher, it was certainly through Socrates—who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was striving for it—that the term came into general use and was later applied to all earlier serious thinkers."

  31. www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
    1. Archilochus

      Archilocus employs the motif of the abandoned shield in his poems. "In one famous poem, Archilochus tells, without embarrassment or regret, of throwing his shield away in battle. ('I saved my life. What do I care about my shield? The hell with it! I’ll buy another just as good.') The motif of the abandoned shield appears again in the lyric poems of Alcaeus and Anacreon, in a parody by Aristophanes (Peace), and in a learned variation by the Latin poet Horace (Carmina)." Here is an example in Greek: Ἀσπίδι μὲν Σαΐων τις ἀγάλλεται, ἥν παρὰ θάμνῳ ἔντος ἀμώμητον κάλλιπον οὐκ ἐθέλων· αὐτὸν δ' ἔκ μ' ἐσάωσα· τί μοι μέλει ἀσπὶς ἐκείνη; Ἐρρέτω· ἐξαῦτις κτήσομαι οὐ κακίω. Translation: Some Saian (Thracian tribe) is glorying over my shield, an impeccable itemOf gear that I had to leave under a bush.But I got out alive, who gives a fig for that shield?Let it go to hell. I’ll buy a new one, no worse.

  32. Aug 2018
    1. where eldest Night And Chaos, Ancestors of Nature, hold [ 895 ] Eternal Anarchie, amidst the noise

      I'm no physicist or astronomer, but I do think of much of unformed space in our universe or the spewing of forth from the initial white hole from which our galaxy was formed as a kind of Chaos. And the Greeks basically said that in the beginning there was Chaos, and from Chaos sprang Ouranos (Heaven) and Gaia (earth).

      Also I just looked up "Chaos" at etymonline.com:

      late 14c., "gaping void; empty, immeasurable space," from Old French chaos (14c.) or directly from Latin chaos, from Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty," from khnwos, from PIE root ghieh- "to yawn, gape, be wide open."

      Meaning "utter confusion" (c. 1600) is an extended sense from theological use of chaos in the Vulgate version of "Genesis" (1530s in English) for "the void at the beginning of creation, the confused, formless, elementary state of the universe." The Greek for "disorder" was tarakhe, but the use of chaos here was rooted in Hesiod ("Theogony"), who describes khaos as the primeval emptiness of the Universe, and in Ovid ("Metamorphoses"), who opposes Khaos to Kosmos, "the ordered Universe." Sometimes it was personified as a god, begetter of Erebus and Nyx ("Night").

      Meaning "orderless confusion" in human affairs is from c. 1600. Chaos theory in the modern mathematical sense is attested from c. 1977.

    2. Mee overtook his mother all dismaid, And in embraces forcible and foule Ingendring with me, of that rape begot These yelling Monsters

      Also, in Greek mythology, there is a lot of incest and violence between the earliest gods, the Titans, and many monsters born of their matings.

  33. May 2017
    1. curse

      This line refers the curse refers to the requirement in greek mythology that you must honor the dead by giving them a proper burial

  34. Jan 2017
    1. styleanddelivery[as]theonlytruepartsoftheartofrhetoric

      The emphasis placed on these two elements of rhetoric reminds me of the Greek use of rhetoric in politics as a way to sway audiences and public opinion through public speaking, something that relied heavily on these specific elements.

    1. Why tether persuasiononlyto argument, judgment, andpraise, as opposed to other forms of inducement? Walker notes that the Orpheus imagecertainly conjures the notion of song as soothing

      I was here reminded of a few other singing rhetoricians from Greek mythology: the Sirens that Odysseus encountered in The Odyssey. While their song, too, is inducing, unlike that of Orpheus, theirs is anything but "soothing."

      It's interesting to see how rhetoric is weaponized in Greek mythology. Perhaps this demonstrates a certain anxiety surrounding it in Greek society?

  35. Oct 2016
    1. Quando fiam uti chelidon

      Translates to: “When shall I be as the swallow?” This is referring to Philomela (daughter of Pandion, King of Athens). In the story, she was transformed into a nightingale or something like that.

  36. Sep 2016
    1. ‘Utopia’ is sometimes said to mean ‘no place,’ from the Greek ou-topos;

      The Ancient Greeks were depressingly pragmatic. The Elysian Fields was where heroes went when they died. However, they acknowledged that most went to Asphodel which was a place where souls just kind of existed. In Plato's Critias, he describes Atlantis. It's primary source of the legend. Though the society is supposed to be far superior to anything else in the Aegean world, it's never described as perfect. Beautiful, but never perfect. If the word 'utopia' did come from the Greeks with the idea that it was the perfect society, they probably meant 'no place.' Besides, the Greeks loved their heroes and you can't become a hero in a world without conflict.

  37. Jun 2015
    1. a principios de abril el Parlamento heleno lanzó este comité presidido por el politólogo belga Eric Toussaint, quien ya ha auditado otras deudas como la de Ecuador, que derivó en una reestructuración previa negociación con los acreedores. Profesor de la Universidad de Lieja y presidente del Comité para la Anulación de la Deuda en el Tercer Mundo, Toussaint, probablemente urgido por el Ejecutivo de Tsipras ante la agonía que le espera este 18 y 19 de junio en el Eurogrupo de Luxemburgo, presentó en Atenas un documento de 50 páginas del que el plato fuerte se conocerá el mismo día que se reúne el Eurogrupo. Lo que viene a continuación es un resumen de algunos de los puntos principales del texto, que atribuye a la troika (BCE, FMI, Comisión Europea) gravísimas imputaciones.
  38. May 2015
    1. Lethe (Leith)

      The River Lethe was one of the rivers of Hades in Greek mythology. Exposure to its waters was held to lead to loss of memory, or, more intriguingly, a state of "unmindfulness" and oblivion. From this origin, it has re-appeared throughout western culture, from Dante to Tony Banks's first solo album (River Lethe in popular culture, Wikipedia).

      By providing the alternative spelling of Leith, Alasdair Roberts 'doubles' this meaning with the Water of Leith, a river that runs through Edinburgh, and co-locates ancient Greek and contemporary Scots mythology.

      The idea of eternal return is bound up with memory, with cultures being compelled to repeat and confront the missteps of the past. So the oblivion of forgetfulness provided by the endless Lethe provides a form of antidote or escape.

  39. Mar 2015
    1. This is one of the best and more reliable Greek websites on tennis. The guys who run it are really dedicated and passionate about tennis and make a great effort to analyse and discuss all of tournaments. I have been following them since 2007. Highly recommended if you are interested in tennis and speak Greek.

  40. Jul 2014
  41. Feb 2014
    1. They sailed in a long ship to Aea, a city of the Colchians, and to the river Phasis: and when they had done the business for which they came, they carried off the king's daughter Medea

      1.2. Herodotus reports the story of Jason and the Argonauts, without naming names. He frames the departure of Medea as an abduction, as with Io and Europa, rather than a willing elopement, as the story appears in e.g. Euripides' Medea.