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| Daphne becomes a laurel tree to escape Apollo's clutches (Wikipedia) |
Note: If you had been educated in the 19th century (or before), you would certainly have read the stories of Ovid in Latin. Alas, we "threw the baby out with the bathwater": in not requiring Latin, we lost our familiarity with these great stories, too!
Get Ready: Can you think of an interesting story in which NOBODY changes?
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| Dido and Aeneas in a Roman fresco (Wikipedia) |
Note: Love and war--two of the great themes of literature merge in this moving story from Virgil's Aeneid.
Get Ready: Can so serious an event as a war result from something as simple as a jilted love?
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| Romulus, Remus, and "the Capitoline Wolf" (Wikipedia) |
Note: Many great cities have their origins in the "mists of time," and stories are concocted to account for their existence. Here's the story of Rome.
Get Ready: What do you know about the founding of your city, or the nearest large city to where you live? Is the account of the founding strictly historical, mostly historical, mostly imaginary, or entirely imaginary?
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| Pluto carries away Proserpine (Wikipedia) |
Note: Ancient peoples often created stories to "explain" various aspects of nature. here's one that explains how we got agriculture, and why we have winter.
Get Ready: Do you know what causes the seasons? Why do we have summer? and winter?
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| A bust of Cleopatra (Wikipedia) |
Note: Brains, beauty, and power: the Greco-Egyptian Queen Cleopatra had it all, plus some big-name lovers!
Get Ready: Do you think women can rule equally with men? Do they have to do more than men to be recognized as "great"?
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| Julius Caesar: the Murder Scene (Wikipedia) |
Note: The question has been asked whether "art imitates life" or "life imitates art." Whatever the answer, there's no doubt that much of our historical "knowledge" actually comes from creative works rather than actual history. Shakespeare's play presents an excellent example.
Get Ready: What (if anything) do you know about the death of Julius Caesar?
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| Sisyphus, Ixion, and Tantalus on an antique Roman sarcophagus (Wikipedia) |
Note: Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Ixion are just three of the many denizens of Tartarus. Let's see what they did, and how they were punished for their actions.
Get Ready: What tantalizes you?
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| The water nymphs save Syrinx from Pan (Getty Art Collection) |
Note: Panpipes are found the world over, but Greco-Roman mythology gives them a unique origin.
Get Ready: Do you know the sound of panpipes? If not, what do you imagine they would sound like?
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| Aeneas Flees Burning Troy (1598) (Wikipedia) |
Note: The Aeneid takes its place among the great national epics of the world, providing a mythical basis for the foundation of Rome, as well as tying it to the tale of Troy, one of the ancient world's great tragedies.
Get Ready: What are the differences between a great mythological epic and a solidly-written factual history? Which is more exciting to read? Which is more useful? Which would you prefer to read? Why?
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| Thisbe uses her dead lover's sword to stab herself. (Wikipedia) |
Note: Two young lovers separated by the enmity of their families--no, not Romeo and Juliet, but a couple who lived centuries before them and helped inspire their story.
Get Ready: Do you think parents should be allowed to prevent their son or daughter from dating whomever they choose? Why or why not?
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| Echo gazes longingly at Narcissus as Narcissus gazes longingly at Narcissus. (Wikipedia) |
Note: Narcissus is doomed to love only himself, and Echo to love only him, and to repeat the words of others. Read sad their story.
Get Ready: Do you know anyone who is a "narcissist," able to think only of him- or herself and not others?
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| Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin Mary (Wikipedia) |
Note: Every lover loves Valentine's Day. But did you know it is more properly called "The Feast of Saint Valentine"?
Get Ready: Do you celebrate Valentines Day, or some version of it? What do you do on that day?
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| Seneca (a "double herm" with Socrates behind) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Seneca promoted a philosophy called "Stoicism"--though he didn't exactly practice what he preached! Witness his hypocrisy in this lesson.
Get Ready: Who do you think is happier, rich people or poor people?
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| Fresco from the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii (Wikipedia) |
Note: The eruption that killed Pliny also destroyed several towns, incidentally preserving their art for us to enjoy today.
Get Ready: Are you very familiar with the collection of a particular museum? If so, which one? If not, is there one you would like to visit repeatedly?
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| Pliny the Elder (supposedly) (Wikipedia) |
Note: A true scientist who went into the field and "got his hands dirty," the Roman naturalist Pliny died while observing a the effects of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
Get Ready: Have you ever been in an earthquake, hurricane, typhoon, volcanic eruption, tsunami, or other major natural disaster? What was it like?
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| Detail from The Death of Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini (Wikipedia) |
Note: March 15 (like the 15th of every month) was meant to be a "lucky day" for Romans--but it sure wasn't for Julius Caesar! Learn some Shakespeare quotes from his play, Julius Caesar, as well as some Roman calendrics.
Get Ready: Do you know what phase the moon is in as you read this? Is it nearer to full, or to new? Is it waxing or waning?
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| The Roman gods of the days of the week, starting with Diana the Moon Goddess (Monday) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Sometimes the meanings of names are hidden away. But in fact, throughout European cultures and sometimes even in others, the names of the seven days of the week are directly tied to a fixed set of what were called "the seven visible planets" (including the Sun and the Moon). Find out the others!
Get Ready: Sunday, Moonday, and Saturnday are easy. But can you guess which planets the other days were named for?
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| Maia (Wikipedia) |
Note: The name of each month has its own story. While the last four months are basically numbers (seven, eight, nine, and ten), some of the middle months' names have more "august" origins!
Get Ready: When you think of May, June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere, what sort of weather do you think of? What's happening in nature?
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| Janus (Wikipedia) |
Note: Few of us stop to think about where the months of the year (or the days of the week) got their names, but there are some fascinating stories behind them! Here are the first four months in the modern calendar.
Get Ready: When you think of January, February, March, and April in the northern hemisphere, what sort of weather do you think of? What's happening in nature?
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