#Amastris

[whencyclopedia]

Amastris

Amastris (c. 340/39-285 BCE) was a niece of the Persian king Darius III (r. 336-330 BCE) through her father Oxyathres. She was married in succession to Alexander's general Craterus, the tyrant Dionysius of Heraclea, and finally to Lysimachus of Thrace. She founded an eponymous city in Paphlagonia and was the first queen to issue coins in her own name. Amastris was the mother of four children, was supposedly divorced so that Lysimachus could marry Arsinoe II, and was allegedly murdered by her sons for interfering in their affairs. Despite their divorce, Lysimachus still avenged her death by killing her sons. Scholars have mostly ignored Amastris and left the few known details of her life as contradictory as the ancient sources present them. Yet, the little-known queen is arguably the first true Hellenistic queen as she embodies the entanglement of Persian and Greco-Macedonian traditions.

The Last Achaemenid Princess

As the daughter of prince Oxyathres, the brother of the last Persian king Darius III Codomannus, Amastris was in effect the last surviving Achaemenid princess. Although her mother is unknown, the only woman associated with her father is an Egyptian concubine called Timosa. After the Battle of Issus (333 BCE), Alexander the Great found Amastris among the other royal and noble women. During the grand wedding ceremony at Susa almost a decade later (324 BCE), when the Macedonian high commanders were married to Persian and Median women, Alexander gave Amastris to his general Craterus – the only companion besides Hephaestion to wed a Persian princess. Historians maintain that Craterus, famously devoted to Macedonian tradition, repudiated Amastris in order to marry Phila, the daughter of the Macedonian regent Antipater. As Macedonian royalty and nobility practiced polygamy, Craterus did not have to separate from one wife to marry another. Craterus, at any rate, would soon fall in battle (321 BCE).

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[wishesofeternity]

"There is one clear early Hellenistic example of a regnant basilissa:  Amastris, who ruled Herakleia Pontika after the death of her husband, its tyrant Dionysios. She eponymously founded the neighboring city of Amastris c. 300 BCE, and from there issued coins bearing the legend “of basilissa Amastris" (ΑΜΑΣΤΡΙΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ). Like many other women ruling as monarchs, Amastris came into direct power because her husband had died and her sons were under age. She brought her own royal credentials to the situation, however, as a niece of Dareios III (daughter of his brother Oxyathres). Like Apama, Alexander had married her to one of his generals (Krateros). After 323 Krateros swapped her for Phila, and she moved to Herakleia to live with Dionysios, who, as Memnon tells us later (probably after 306), began to call himself basileus. Although supervising the regency for her sons, Amastris faced interventions by Antigonos Monophthalmos, ostensibly on the children’s behalf, to control Herakleia, and then by Lysimachos, who also married her. By 300 she was solo again with no outside interference, and her foundation of Amastris marks the point when she fully embraced the role of a regnant basilissa. Although her sons soon came of age, she maintained this role until they assassinated her c. 284."

-Gillian Ramsey, "Apama and Stratonike," "The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World" (edited by Elizabeth D. Carney and Sabine Müller)

[jeannereames]

Having read your recent response about an ethnic Greek marriage for Alexander, and how the Greeks perceived their identity, it left me wondering about this. Didn’t the Ptolemies in Egypt create a very distinct line between Greeks and Egyptians in their kingdom? In the sense that at least for government purposes, the Greeks, specifically, ruled?

What you said about not having a unified sense of Greek ethnicity is completely in tune with what I learned as well, but I can’t conciliate this with how the Ptolemies handled ethnicity since the very beginning, right after Alexander’s death (so the very period you answered about). I’m not gonna pretend I’m a specialist in Ptolemaic Egypt but I never read about a specific Egyptian Greek / Alexandria / Naukratis sense of separate identity for this time period, or even remnants of identities of mainland Greek polities, it’s always dealt as this sorta unified sense of “Greeks” versus Egyptians. Suggesting that this idea of greekness existed since Alexander’s day as well. I’m kinda troubled with that. Thanks so much for the attention!

Macedonian-Persian Marriages after Susa

So let me immediately say that I am not much of a Hellenistic historian. But I do teach a class that deals with race and ethnicity in antiquity, so I’d like to recommend my colleague Denise McCoskey’s Race: Antiquity and It’s Legacy. She has a fair bit in there on Ptolemaic Egypt, in fact, and among the things she points out is the problem with the evidence.

She includes not only literary evidence, but other textual evidence including things like tax records, epigraphy, and archaeological evidence…all of which muddy the waters. Outside of the Ptolemies themselves (and there’s some question about them, especially by the end), there was quite a lot of mixing between Greeks and Egyptians. These “mixed ethnicity” individuals might use a Greek name or an Egyptian name, depending on context, and they might hold relatively high office. So, we actually can’t assume someone is Greek due to use of a Greek name.

This was especially true in Alexandria, but other places in Egypt as well. And it contrasts with what’s being presented in at least some of the literature of the period.

What I love about archaeology and epigraphy is that both continually swoop in and mess up our literary textual history. LOL

I was just reading a really good chapter, “Alexander the Great and the Macedonian and Persian Elite: The Mass-marriages in Susa in Context,” by Krzysztof Nawotka for Legacy of the East and Legacy of Alexander (2023), ed. by Nawotka and Wojciechowska. He takes on the perception, oft repeated, that the Macedonians en masse rejected their Persian brides soon after Alexander’s death. For a long time, accepted perception was that the others divorced very quickly, except for Seleukos and his wife Apama (mother of Antiochus I). But we don’t actually have evidence for that, and a bit of evidence to the contrary.

It’s only Krateros who we know for sure divorced his wife in order to marry Phila (Antipatros’s daughter)…which was a political alliance, not necessarily Krateros’s rejection of a high princess of Achaemenid blood (e.g., Darius’s own niece). In fact, it seems that she agreed to the divorce, and may have come out of it better than poor Phila, who was stuck marrying that dweeb Demetrios Poliorketes. 😂 Amastris married the petty tyrant Dionysios of Herakleia, wound up fabulously wealthy, then later married Lysimachos, and had a city named after her. Next to Apama, Seleukos’s wife, she had one of the most distinguished political careers for the Persian elite women…married to three Macedonian/Greek men in succession. Similarly, it would seem that Eumenes stayed married to his wife Artonis, (despite assumption, there’s no record that he divorced her and remarried); she was given his remains after his death following the Battle of Gabiene. Also, with Peukestis’s role, there’s a VERY high likelihood that he, also, kept his wife.

We might speculate that Perdikkas and Ptolemy put aside their wives as both happily played political marriage games, but we’re not actually told as much—unlike with Krateros. I could see Kleopatra demanding that she be sole wife as part of her marriage proposal to Perdikkas. And quite possibly Antipatros demanded the same on behalf of Eurydike, as it seems Krateros divorced his wife in order to marry Phila. Yet Ptolemy certainly kept Laïs around, possibly as a wife. Then Berenike…so why not just keep on Artakama too? It might have been politically advantageous, at least early in his reign, when nobody knew precisely how things would fall out.

Yet the plain fact is…we just don’t know about c. 80+ of the 92 weddings held in Susa.

Anyway, I’ve been among those who assumed/argued the prior position myself—for widespread divorce. But Nowotka’s chapter made me stop and rethink. This presumption that the ancient Greeks were always of the attitude “We’re Greeks and you’re not…and we don’t want your women either, we want PURE Greek children” isn’t nearly as strong as we’ve assumed from literature. I’ve come around in the last 10 years to thinking the Greeks were less ethnocentric, at least at certain times in their history, than we’ve popularly thought. That’s not to say they didn’t care about ethnicity—they manifestly did—but it was only one of several factors.

What DOES seem to be true is that class mattered more. So elite Persian women married to elite Greek men served a purpose. But I do note that Alexander kept in Persia the native women who’d married Macedonian soldiers, and any children, when those men went back to Macedonia. Arrian says he did so for fear that they wouldn’t be welcome, whereas he would provide for them in Persia. (What became of them after his death is, alas, anybody’s guess. Maybe Seleukos continued with the precedent. I’m not sure that we know.)

But hopefully that adds a bit more context to how we look at those marriages. As noted, this is something about which my own opinion has been evolving.

[blueiscoool]

Ancient Roman Marble Statue Depicting a Nymph Found in Turkey

Excavations in the ancient city of Amastris, located in the Black Sea province of Bartın’s Amasra district, have unearthed a statue of a nymph thought to be 1800 years old. The artifact is set to be exhibited in the Amasra Museum soon.

Amasra’s coast was host to the Phoenician colony, Sesamus, in the 12th century B.C. The colony’s heyday was during the rule of Iranian Princess Amastris. It was among the most important of the Byzantine fortress harbors on the south shore of the Black Sea.

The site of the excavation was donated to the Ministry of National Education in 2014 and construction started for the building of a school on the land in 2017 when some remains believed to belong to the Roman period were discovered, upon which the construction works were stopped and the area was taken under protection.

Excavations are carried out under the direction of the Amasra Museum Directorate and the scientific consultancy of Bartın University.

During the excavations carried out under the direction of Amasra Museum Director Zübeyde Kuru, a statue of a water nymph, thought to be 1800 years old, was found 3 meters below the surface.

In the statement made on the social media account of the Excavations and Research Department of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the following statements were made:

“In our excavations in Bartın, Amasra, Gymnasium, a 1.53-centimeter-high statue belonging to the 2nd century AD and considered to be a Nymphe (water nymph) was unearthed.”

Situated in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, the original city seems to have been called Sesamus and it was mentioned by Homer.

The place derived its name Amastris from Amastris, the niece of the last Persian king Darius III, who was the wife of Dionysius, tyrant of Heraclea, and after his death the wife of Lysimachus.

Amastris (ca. 340/39-285/84), was first married to Craterus, then to Dionysius of Heraclea, and finally to Lysimachus. She was the mother of four known children; was supposedly divorced when Lysimachus married Arsinoe; Amastris founded an eponymous city in Paphlagonia; she was the first queen to issue coins in her name; and was allegedly murdered by her sons for interfering in their affairs.

By Leman Altuntaş.

[stardustmanblue]

[paganimagevault]

Copper Ship Brooch from Denmark 800-1050 CE. National Museum of Denmark.

"The Primary Chronicle gives the following account the "Calling of the Varangians", dating it to the Byzantine years of the world 6368–6370 (AD 860–862):

The tributaries of the Varangians drove them back beyond the sea and, refusing them further tribute, set out to govern themselves. There was no law among them, but tribe rose against tribe. Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against another. They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to the Law." They accordingly went overseas to the Varangian Russes: these particular Varangians were known as Russes, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans, English, and Gotlanders, for they were thus named."

...

"The earliest Byzantine record of the Rus' may have been written prior to 842. It is preserved in the Greek Life of St. George of Amastris, which speaks of a raid that had extended into Paphlagonia. Contemporary Byzantine presence of the Rus' is mentioned in the Frankish Annals of St. Bertin. These relate that a delegation from the court of the Byzantine emperor visited Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious at his court in Ingelheim in 839. In this delegation were two men who called themselves Rhos (Rhos vocari dicebant). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers, the Danes, he incarcerated them."

-taken from Wikipedia

[spectres-fulcrum]

I did finish binging the Alexander docuseries last night but by the end I had a migraine so I went to bed early and just hung out on my phone cause my mind was so not up for bed but it was the most light my head could handle(If I didn't move).

Overall, I did really enjoy it and I learned a lot. I didn't care much for the battles of Alexander in my fandom days, caring more for the relationships and people around him. I also just find imagining action pretty hard. I'm semi okay with Star Wars battles in space but I've like. grown up with them. They don't count. So I learned a lot about Alexander the tactician I think.

And I really did love the acted parts. Like can we get a full drama on Alexander, some TV network???? It could be SO LONG. Cause if there's one thing about Alexanders, they will never sastifyed. The Great, Hamilton, Claremont-Diaz, Kallus. Also: I hated the nicknames Heph and Alex(It's Phai and Xander thank you very much) but the stupid nickname Ptol grew on me. Ptol is so stupid but so cute. But I will never shut up about the lake make out scene cause it's so perfect and Phai giving Xander a place to be human and back out is so perfect.

I really did love the Persian parts too. It was great contrast, and perhaps happiness. Love between Stateira and Darius, luxury, Stateira's actions driven to protect her daughter in contrast to Phillip disowning Alexander when Alexander didn't like him siding with Attalus hoping his new wife would grant him a son, Barsine having to grow up so quickly. Memnon is always love for me and they did him very well. Darius deserved so much better than to be slain by a traitor. I could rant about Hephaestion being in Babylon after the death and how if that was accurate then in my fanfic where he and Drypetis fell in love during the Persian campagin then I could've used that for a good scene but it wasn't accurate so it was all hurt/no romantic comfort :(((((( And I'm kinda salty they changed that up not knowing what they were missing. But I'm not going to rant. (She had Bagoas though at least!)

I wanted so much more. Wanted Aristotle and the boys at Mieza and the flashbacks to taming Bucephalus(I cannot be bothered to check if that is the correct spelling) and more of the Persian royal family(Drypetis! Being strong during Stateira's death! Sisygambis!) and Bagoas and mentions of Phai being Xander's Patroclos and oh and Darius's brother and his daughter Amastris in the baggage train and more of the companions(Not including Leonnatus is a crime imo. Just cause I like Leonnatus).

Like I recognize they needed a small cast but also-a girl can dream. A girl can dream of what she was teased with. One day, maybe we'll get a proper series. *le sigh* I did really like that Lloyd historian guy too.

[persephoneizm]

Nymph , Amastris Ancient City

[orthodoxadventure]

On Sunday, 24th February 2024, Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain presided during Matins and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St Nicholas Shepherds Bush along with His Grace Bishop Spyridon of Amastris. They were joined in the service by Revd Protopresbyter Dr Stavros Solomou, Priest-in-charge. The Revd Archdeacon Dr. George Tsourous and Revd Deacon Georgios Ntallas also served. [Photo and Text Credit]

[thesynaxarium]

Today we celebrate the Holy Hierarch George of Amastris. Saint George was born at Kromne near Amastris in Paphlagonia on the Black Sea in 750. He was the son of pious parents, Theodosios and Megethousa. After completing his primary studies in his homeland, he left for the mountain of Syrikēs, or Sērikḗs (Συρίκης ή Σηρικής). There he found an old ascetic who taught him about the solitary life and tonsured him. After the repose of his Elder, George went to Vonitsa in Akarnania, where he continued his ascetical struggles. In 788, the Bishop of Amastris fell asleep in the Lord, and the Church rewarded George's virtues. Against his will, he was elected as the Bishop of that city, but in the end he submitted to this as God's will. He was consecrated at Constantinople by Patriarch Tarasios (February 25). Upon his return to Amastris, Saint George was like a lamp which is not placed under a bushel, but put on a lampstand, so that it gives light to all those in the house (Matthew 5:15). He instructed his flock, he beautified several churches, defended widows and orphans, and fed the poor. In all things, he was an example of a God-pleasing life. By the power of his prayers he drove away the Saracens who were ravaging the countryside near Amastris. He also rescued some Amastrian merchants who had been wrongfully condemned to death in the city of Trebizond. He also composed several Canons in honor of the Saints, which are sung on February 7 and 26; April 13; August 1; October 8, etc. Saint George went to the Lord peacefully in 805, during the reign of Emperor Nikēphoros I, after shepherding the flock which had been entrusted to him by Christ in a God-pleasing manner. He performed many miracles, both during his lifetime, and after his blessed repose. May he intercede for us always + Source: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2023/02/21/100577-saint-george-bishop-of-amastris-on-the-black-sea (at Amasra) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5RaRJrEzm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ancientartarcheology]

30th September 2023. Statue of Nymph emerges from the waters. 2nd century AD. Found in recent excavations at the Gymnasium of Amastris (modern Amasra) in Turkey.

[vildansworld]

Amastris

[mercuriicultores]

Caius Valerius Catullus – Carmen IV: «Ad Phaselum»

Phaselus ille quem videtis, hospites, ait fuisse navium celerrimus, neque ullius natantis impetum trabis nequisse praeterire, sive palmulis opus foret volare sive linteo.

Et hoc negat minacis Hadriatici negare litus insulasve Cycladas Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum, ubi iste post phaselus antea fuit comata silva; nam Cyrotio in iugo loquente saepe sibilum edidit coma.

Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer, tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima ait phaselus, ultima ex origine tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine, tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore, et inde tot per impotentia freta erum tulisse, laeva sive dextera vocaret aura, sive utrumque Iuppiter simul secundus incidisset in pedem; neque ulla vota litoralibus deis sibi esse facta, cum veniret a mari novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum.

Sed haec prius fuere; nunc recondita senet quiete seque dedicat tibi, gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.

───────────────

Dámaso Alonso compuso una versión de estos versos:

«Éste que ves, oh huésped, vasto pino, útil sólo a la llama ya en el puerto, selva frondosa un tiempo en descubierto cielo dio amiga sombra al peregrino. De la cumbre citoria al ponto vino por la mordaz segur el tronco abierto, y después alta máquina el incierto golfo abrió siempre con hinchado lino. Vientos, agua sufrió; llegó al aurora, veloz nave, rompió luengos caminos, y a su patria volvió soberbia y rica; mas no firme a sufrir del mar ahora los ímpetus, por voto a los marinos dioses Cástor y Pólux se dedica.»

[koplexsstudio]

Brittany Amastry Beauty Script Font

Brittany Amastry – Handwritten Script font is a natural and modern handwritten font. It’s perfect for logos, invitations, stationery, wedding designs, social media posts, advertisements, product packaging, product designs, labels, photography, watermarks, special events, or whatever

[eggi1972]

[Oper] Xerxes von Händel aktualisiert und trotzdem Genial

Ich versuche ja immer wieder neue Dinge für mich und Xerxes ist ja nun mal Barockmusik und diese Art von Musik ist nicht neu, aber es ist für mich nicht alltäglich. Aber da mir ja die Opern in der letzten Zeit immer wieder zusagen war es nicht schwer mich zu motivieren. Diesmal bin ich mit einem Freund hingegangen, der absoluter Barockmusik Fan ist und das ist mir auch wichtig, da ich vielleicht nicht so direkt von der Musik angesprochen werde. Apropos angesprochen ich habe nun auch mal wieder die Einführung mitgemacht und diesmal wurde sie von Ann-Christine Mecke gehalten, ganz ehrlich diese Frau schafft mich, da erklärt sie von ich glaube es waren fünf verschieden Handlungsstränge und jeden versucht sie ein wenig zu erklären, so das man ihn versteht und man weiß was ungefähr passiert und sie schafft es das ganze locker zu erklären, dazu erklärt sie warum sie sich dazu entschieden hat Romilda und Atalantes als Lesbisches Pärchen auftreten zu lassen und die ist ganz einfach es sind da es keine Kastraten mehr gibt und diese durch Mezzosopranistinen ersetzt werden ganz einfach, man hat so oder so schon so viele Frauen auf der Bühne. Wie schon mal festgestellt, ist es eine ausgleichende Gerechtigkeit, da zu bestimmten Zeiten keine Frauen auf der Bühne auftreten durften und nun werden bestimmte Partien von Frauen gesungen und Countertenöre die in diese Höhe kommen gibt es nun mal auch nicht so viele. Egal, Frau Mecke schafft es immer wieder mich zu fesseln und mir solche Dinge locker flockig zu erklären und man fängt dann auch noch zwischendurch ein wenig an zu lachen. Nach der Einführung kommt die Oper und wir hatten wieder ein Modernes Bühnenbild wir sind in einer Abflughalle, da ja König Xerxes und die anderen auswandern, wobei das Stück fängt schon an, obwohl der Vorhang noch unten ist und die Musik einen so ein wenig einführt. Und schon da war mir klar, dass es ein harter Abend wird., dass mich dieses Stück mitnehmen wird es wurde schon da ein wenig gelacht auf Grund der Accessoires und der Mimiken und des Spiels der Schauspieler und Sänger. Man steht also in der Abflughalle und lernt also diese muntere Auswandergesellschaft kennen man sieht wie Romilda gespielt und gesungen von Annika Gerhards wie sie ihre Arsamena heimlich auch mal küsst welche wirklich das kann man so sagen hervorragend von Jana Marković gespielt und gesungen wird. Und Arsamena hat es mir auch ein wenig angetan ich kann es nicht sagen warum aber so ihre Art hat leichte Gothic oder auch Punk Vibes in ihrer Kleidung und auch auftreten. Romilda ist eher so die etwas feinere Person und dies obwohl Arsamena aus dem etwas feineren Haus kommt. Denn Arsamena ist ja die Schwester von Xerxes und Xerxes ist ja der, der das Geld hat oder der König ist, wie man es nun sehen will. Xerxes will also mit seiner heißgeliebten Pflanze auswandern, denn er ist schon etwas dentrophil also er liebt Pflanzen etwas mehr wie man es sollte. Und Xerxes wird gespielt und gesungen von Fanny Lustaud einer weiteren Mezzosopranistin und ganz ehrlich, wie sie den Mann dargestellt hat würde sie in fast jeder Bar als Mann durchgehen, so lange sie nicht anfängt zu singen. Denn so genial dies kann man sich nicht so wirklich vorstellen ich bekomme gerade von schon wieder eine leichte Gänsehaut. Er vergisst also mal eben seine heißgeliebte Pflanze auf der Männertoilette weil er Romilda hat singen hören und da seine Schwester Arsamena die Beziehung zu Romilda verheimlicht hat kannte er ja diese Stimme noch nicht. Und ja ich kann mir sehr gut vorstellen, dass man sich in den Gesang von Romilda mal so eben verlieben könnte. Die heißgeliebte Pflanze wird durch eine Fee in Amastris verzaubert welche von Polina Artsis gespielt und gesungen wird und ganz ehrlich sie ist ein weiterer Farbtupfer auf der Bühne nicht nur weil sie grün gekleidet ist sondern weil sie einfach gut ist und gut singt und weil sie dem ganzen noch mal eine besondere Note gibt. Der Bruder von Romilda, Atalantes hat sich wohl schon länger in Asamena verliebt und versucht dabei so ein wenig die beiden gegeneinander auszuspielen und erzählt Asamena das sich Romilda in Xerxes verliebt hat. Und ganz ehrlich, ich würde vom auftreten von Atalantes mal eben das alles abnehmen, wenn da nicht der Gesang oder das Gesicht von Julia Araújo wäre, welches auch wenn man sie geschminkt hat noch ein wenig mehr weibliche Züge verrät, wie es z.B. bei Xerxes der Fall ist. Der Vater von Romilda und Atalantes heißt Ariodate und wird von Clarke Ruth gesungen wenn dieser Bass anfängt zu singen, auch das haut einen immer wieder aus den sitzen ich würde mir wirklich wünschen, das er mal eine weitaus tragendere Rolle spielen und singen dürfte, dass gleiche würde ich Tomi Wendt der den Elviro gegeben hat wünschen, denn beide bestechen in meinen Augen Schauspielerisch so wie als Sänger. Über den Opernchor und über das Philharmonische Orchester, kann man sagen was man will aber sie sind spitze, diese Klangvielfalt überrascht mich jedesmal aufs neue und ich kann es einfach nicht genug erwähnen. Komme ich nun mal langsam zu meinem Fazit, es ist ein Stück, welches sich in die mittlerweile lange reihe der sehr guten Stücke in der Oper im Stadttheater Gießen einreiht. Es ist ein kompliziertes Stück und ja manche würden sagen ich hätte es gerne ein wenig plüschiger, was ich auch nachvollziehen kann, aber das Stadttheater Gießen schafft es momentan wirklich immer wieder einen mit der Inszinierung mitzunehmen. Frau Mecke schafft in meinen Augen sogar immer besser die Möglichkeiten im Stadttheater zu nutzen. Dann sind da die Sängerinnen und Sänger, wo man immer wieder die Angst hat, dass sie bald weg sind und zu größeren Häusern wechseln. Und ja 3 Stunden Oper sind lang, aber es war diesmal wieder kurzweilig, weil immer wieder Situationen auf der Bühne waren, wo man lachen konnte obwohl wohl die wenigsten verstanden haben, was auf der Bühne gesungen wurde Ich habe immer weniger auf die Übertitel geachtet sondern war einfach vollkommen im Bann von dem was auf der Bühne passierte, wobei ich nicht mit allem einverstanden war, denn die Zollabfertigung muss ich erwähnen, sie ist zum einen total komisch aber wie Romilda mit den Büchern in ihrem Koffer umgeht, da würde ich gerne mal ein ernstes Wörtchen mit ihr reden. Man schmeißt und zerreißt Bücher nicht, dass schmerzt einem Büchernerd sehr. Aber natürlich weiß ich, dass dies zum Stück gehört aber das schon sehr hart. Das ist das einzige wo ich sage das wirklich zu bemängeln, aber es war alles wieder in sich stimmig und auch wenn es so viele Handlungsstränge sind, die da auf der Bühne passieren, war es nie überladen dazu die Musik von Händel, diese Stimmen und man hat zu jederzeit das Gefühl, da stehen Menschen auf der Bühne, die einfach Spaß haben miteinander etwas zu gestalten, miteinander zu spielen. Ich möchte jedem Opern oder Händelfan in Hessen zurufen, kommt einfach mal ins Stadttheater Gießen, erlebt diese besondere Aufführung in der ich niemanden nach der Aufführung der gesagt hat das war schlecht ich habe nur in freudige Gesichter geblickt, die einfach begeistert waren und ich weiß nicht, wo der Weg noch hinführt, denn ich habe wirklich immer mehr das Gefühl, dass das was ich als Ausreißer nach oben empfunden habe immer mehr sich als der neue Standard im Stadttheater etabliert. Es ist so, dass ich auch Stunden später nach der Aufführung noch immer vollkommen verzaubert bin und noch immer wie im Rausch mich befinde und ich die 3 Stunden nun wirklich nicht als lang empfunden habe sondern eher als sehr kurzweilig vielleicht geht es ihnen ähnlich wie mir und sie kommen vollkommen begeistert von dem erlebten Nachhause ich würde es ihnen wirklich sehr gönnen. Und nur noch mal es war auch diesmal immer wieder der Fall, dass es zwischendurch Applaus gab und der Minutenlange Applaus nach der Aufführung hat mir wirklich schmerzende Hände bereitet. Ich hoffe das es genau so bleibt und ich freue mich schon auf die nächste Premiere und ich werde sicherlich auch da wieder dabei sein versprochen. Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

[brookston]

Holidays 2.21

Holidays

Alka Seltzer Day

Armed Forces Day (South Africa)

Ben Appreciation Day

Break Up Day (India)

Card Reading Day

Communist Manifesto Day

Father W.H. Lini Day (Vanuatu)

Find Out My Breast Density Day

Freedom of Worship Day (France)

International Mother Language Day (UN)

International Tourist Guide Day

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

John Lewis Day

King Harald V Day (Norway)

Kurt Cobain Day (Aberdeen, Washington)

Labor Day (Oregon; Original Date, 1st State Observance)

Language Movement Day (a.k.a. Shahid Dibosh; Bangladesh)

Locomotive Day

Matthiola Day (French Republic)

Mental Health Nurses Day (UK)

Musikahan Festival begins (Philippines) [thru 2.27]

Nascar Day

National Pillow on Head Day

National Waste Awareness Day (Indonesia)

New Yorker Magazine Day

Nina Simone Day (Tyron, North Carolina)

Red Books Day

Remember the Funniest Thing Your Child Ever Did Day

Robert Gabriel Mugabe National Youth Day (Zimbabwe)

Sandino Day (Nicaragua)

Sewing Machine Day

Single-Tasking Day

Telephone Book Day

Washington Monument Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Drink It Now Day

National Biscuits & Gravy Day

National Grain-Free Day

National Malört Day

National Sticky Bun Day

World Kombucha Day

3rd Wednesday in February

National RA Appreciation Day [3rd Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning February 21

Potahto Week (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) [thru 3.1]

Independence & Related Days

Aulpannian Shatidom (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

British Protectorate in Egypt ended (1922)

South Formosa (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning February 21, 2024

National Watermelon Association Convention (Scottsdale, Arizona) [thru 2.25]

Noise Pop Festival (San Francisco, California) [thru 2.27]

NordicFuzzCon (Malmö, Sweden) [thru 2.25]

30A Wine Festival (Ales Beach, Florida) [thru 2.25]

Feast Days

Anais Nin (Writerism)

Blue Dragon Festival (China) [2nd Day of 2nd Lunar Month]

Boris Karloff Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Daniel, priest, and Verde, virgin (Christian; Martyrs)

David Foster Wallace (Writerism)

Day Sacred to the Goddess Muta (a.k.a. Laranda; Ancient Rome)

Double Second Day (China) [2nd Day of 2nd Lunar Month]

Feast of Peace and Love (Ancient Rome)

Felix of Hadrumetum (Christian; Saint)

Feralia (Old Roman Spirits Festival)

Feralia — Day of Purification (Pagan)

George of Amastris (Christian; Saint)

German and Randaut (Christian; Martyrs)

Germanus of Granfel (Christian; Martyr)

Horace (Positivist; Saint)

Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (Artology)

Mathilda (Muppetism)

Pepin of Landen (Christian; Saint)

Peter Damian (Christian; Saint)

Pyotr Konchalovsky (Artology)

Randoald of Grandval (Christian; Saint)

Seize a Sausage Day (Pastafarian)

Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis (Christian; Saint)

Talk to a Goldfish Day (Pastafarian)

W.H. Auden (Writerism)

Yakuyoke Festival (a.k.a. Toshi-no-Matsuri; honoring Kami for bountiful rice harvest; Shinto)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [8 of 53]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 9 of 60)

Premieres

Alice at the Rodeo (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

The Alpine Yodeler, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1936)

Anna Christie (Film; 1930

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Anime TV Series; 2005)

Babylon Revisited, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Short Story; 1931)

Bottle Rocket (Film; 1996)

Bullwinkle Makes a Hit or I Get a Bang Out of You (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 25; 1960)

The Call of the Wild (Film; 2020)

Captains of the Clouds (Film; 1942)

The Conqueror (Film; 1956)

Emma (Film; 2020)

Fishing Made Easy (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)

The Gorilla Hunt (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1939)

The Hungry Wolf (MGM Cartoon; 1942)

Jerry and Jumbo (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1953)

King of America, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1986)

Kiss Me Car (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Le Bœuf sur le Toit (The Bull on the Roof), by Darius Milhaud & Jean Cocteau (Ballet; 1920)

Lipstick on Your Collar (Film; 1993)

The Night Clerk (Film; 2020)

The Night Manager (TV Mini-Series; 2016)

9-1/2 Weeks (Film; 1986)

Old School (Film; 2003)

Peg Leg Pete (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

Pinkadilly Circus (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1968)

Pink Punch (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1966)

Real Time with Bill Maher (TV Series; 2003)

Rock and Roll, by Led Zeppelin (Song; 1972)

Suffering’ ’til Suffrage (America Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1976)

Three on an Island or Tell It to the Maroons (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 26; 1960)

The Wind Rises (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 2014)

Yokel Boy Makes Good (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1938)

Today’s Name Days

Enrica, Gunthild, Petrus (Austria)

Damir, Natalija, Petar (Croatia)

Lenka (Czech Republic)

Samuel (Denmark)

Aavo, Auvo, Avo (Estonia)

Keijo (Finland)

Damien (France)

Enrica, Gunhild, Peter, Petrus (Germany)

Efstathios, Evstathios, Stathis (Greece)

Eleonóra (Hungary)

Eleonora, Leopoldo, Nora, Pier Damiani (Italy)

Eleonora (Latvia)

Eleonora, Feliksas, Kęstutis, Žemyna (Lithuania)

Celine, Samuel, Selma (Norway)

Eleonora, Feliks, Fortunat, Kiejstut, Teodor, Wyszeniega (Poland)

Eustatie, Timotei (Romania)

Eleonóra (Slovakia)

Pedro (Spain)

Hilding (Sweden)

Dallin, Doug, Douglas, Duff (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 52 of 2024; 314 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 8 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 4 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Bing-Yin), Day 12 (Yi-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 12 Adair I 5784

Islamic: 11 Sha’ban 1445

J Cal: 22 Grey; Oneday [22 of 30]

Julian: 8 February 2024

Moon: 93%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 24 Homer (2nd Month) [Horace]

Runic Half Month: Sigel (Sun) [Day 13 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 63 of 89)

Week: 3rd Week of February

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 3 of 30)