#hellenistic culture

[uncleclaudius]

In the Ancient Greek world aryballos (pl. aryballoi) was a small round flask containing oil or perfume. They were usually spherical or conical, but sometimes they were in animal shapes like these here: a hare, a swan, an owl, and a hedgehog, respectively.

[blueiscoool]

HELLENISTIC GOLD RING WITH GALLEY GEMSTONE 1ST CENTURY B.C.-2ND CENTURY A.D.

[votapublica]

Hellenistic monarch Miku- queen of onionia

Inspired by some of seleucus nicator’s statues

[elbiotipo]

Unrelated (really, unrelated), but it's interesting that there is a conception that the Greek Gods (as in the Olympians and such) are considered the heritage of our current Western culture, when they never remained as static and "canonical" as most Greek mythology fans seem to believe. During the Hellenistic period, as Greek culture spread through Alexander's conquests and Greek colonizations the gods and their importance varied. It's really interesting that as big empires with multicultural populations (Hellenistic Egypt, the Romans) arose, there also arose "universal" gods, like Serapis and the spread of Hellenic philosophy. And then with the Romans who weren't exactly Hellenistic, but they continued these dynamics with the Interpretatio Graeca, mystery cults, the interaction with Zoroastrian beliefs. And of course, the rise of Christianity at the end of this period.

And I'm not saying this in the "the Romans were tolerant" sense, but as how religion evolved and adapted as empires spread.

Of course, I'm mostly talking in a religious sense here, as in people actually worshipping the gods. In the sense that they are "myths" and fables, that could be another way of looking at them, but that mostly, I think, dates from the interest on Grecorroman culture from the Renaissance onwards. The Middle Ages weren't as influenced by Hellenism.

[koenji]

A Green gold strap bracelet. Hellenistic period, circa 4th century B.C.

Composed of three conjoined loop-in-loop chains, with seven pendants dispersed along its length, some suspended from a length of chain, including a gold child in profile to the left, two birds, a garnet bead, a green glass bead, a carnelian axe, and a garnet lion, the tongue-shaped clasp with filigree, twisted wire adorsed palmettes, with a hook and loop closure; possibly adapted from a strap necklace. 6 in. (15.2 cm.) long. x

[somecunttookmyurl]

wild to me that people are actually trying to defend that classification system cause my reaction whenever i see poor curation is the unshakeable urge to go get a qualification in curation just to be able to storm back in and smack everyone's hands away so i can do it properly this time (yes i know it would never be that easy, but a woman can dream)

even if it would make sense at all ever to group them all together like that (it wouldn't! if for no other reason than they aren't ordinarily labelled like that and so the natural reaction is at least some degree of confusion) there are still... literal factural inaccuracies everywhere?

It's Just Bad, Man

[slutcore-starships]

Hey you should tell us things about the Trojan Horse... 🥰🥰🥰

alright strap in because i have . Thoughts™️™️

so the way the story gets taught - especially when not actually being told through the iliad and the aeneid - is that the king odysseus built the horse as a trap for the trojans and offered it as a gift; however, the wooden horse was full of greek soldiers who erupted out at night and sacked the city. its spawned its own term, a trojan horse, for something that seems like a gift but is actually a trap - its even its own sort of computer virus!!

AND ITS COMPLETE HORSESHIT

the horse isnt a gift to troy!! its a gift to the gods!! and removing that detail, boiling it down, stripping it of that context, fundamentally robs the story of its meaning!! the /entire point/ of /every/ story of the trojan war is built around the same principle - the same principle at the heart of the majority of stories and folktales from the era - and its fairly obvious from the very beginning!!

the whole thing only begins because the goddess eris throws the goddesses of olympus into chaos by pitting them against each other in a glorified beauty competition, which leads to them seeking out a mortal mediator in the prince paris. hera aphrodite and athena each appeal to the prince to choose them in exchange for an incredible reward, and /this/ is where he fucks up!!

if he just says “i hold the utmost respect for all the gods of olympus, which is why i could never be worthy of judging any of you,” then he probably just gets sent home with an olympian gift basket and the whole thing stops there, but he doesnt!! he’s suckered into the competition and takes sides between the gods, which is an /obvious/ fuck up, and pursues the lust offered to him by aphrodite!! he sacrifices his humility and grace in favor of his boner, and in exchange, he is offered the hand of a /married queen/, helen!!

(btw this is why i think the version of the story where he kidnaps her from sparta instead of just having a hell of an affair is the most impactful and likely canonical . the whole thing starts with him pursuing something that was never his in the first place!! the whole point is about his arrogance and greed and having this woman as an active accomplice, even if under some sort of spell, robs the fall of troy of some weight)

and when the war begins in earnest, arrogance and ego and pride are the defining factors of the conflict!! it is a source of division on both sides, it wrecks the greeks, it underpins the politics of troy, it is the number one reason why the named heroes who fall in battle do so!! hand in hand with that, you have the relationship between the gods and mortals!! the majority of the gods in olympus take sides during the battle - with those closest to aphrodite siding with troy and the rest rallying behind the greeks - and leaving their marks on the battlefield!! the only one who can even begin to compete with them is achilles - the most powerful demigod in the world with several gods behind him in his own right - and even though he manages to best ares (who is, quite frankly, the embodiment of arrogance and hubris in this story), he is still felled by an arrow guided by apollo!! even the man closest to divinity is not above the gods, which gives you a pretty good idea for whats about to happen to troy!!

so, when it becomes obvious that greece isnt going to be able to breach troys walls of their own accord and a few too many of their best heroes have been slain, odysseus comes up with a plan: the greeks will move to pull out and leave behind a cornucopia of offerings to the gods - most notably, a giant wooden horse to athena, goddess of wisdom on the battlefield, personal backer of odysseus, and one of the main goddesses scorned in this entire affair. the greeks gather and burn their dead, set up their shrine, pile up the offerings, and sail away.

and /this/ is where the themes of the entire story collide and bring troy to its need. drunk on hubris and the taste of victory, inflated on an ego that could lift them high above mount olympus, the trojan leadership decides that, actually, if you think about it, they /deserve/ those sacrifices, they deserve those offerings, thats a /hell/ of a horse and it should belong to us!! the priests obviously recoil, you cant just /do that/, what the fuck are you talking about, and they and those closest to them feel the way the winds blowing and dont quite drop their guard

once the trojans have looted the offerings and brought them into the city, they proceed to get absolutely shitfaced and party until they collapse, leaving only those with their faith shaken awake and alert. and we all know what happens next: the greeks spill out, slaughter their way through the troops, call the ships back, and sack troy. those who didnt put their faith in paris flee and depart for calmer waters - eventually going on to help found rome. the arrogance of troy sees it burn and the greeks emerge victorious, though a mistake on the part of odysseus - now himself drunk on victory!! - will see his path twist and turn as he must learn the humility that troy so utterly lacked. the /entire point/ of every story told about troy is that you dont place yourself above the gods - no one is infallible and no one is invincible, not achilles, not paris, not odysseus, and certainly not you!! thats the entire point!! thats the whole point of everything!! and that most crucial of themes is always completely abandoned!! the whole heart of the story is left to rot!! the cultural context is stripped away, and for what??

anyways . just a reminder that its never too late to learn something new and that arrogance and greed will never lead to anything but ruin for everyone around you, i guess

[earl-grey-crow]

rip 😭

[angel-maybe-alive]

Let's play a game

You a good fan and appreciator of Greek culture and mythology is going on a long trip, it will be hours inside a bus, because of something you have to change sits and sat next to a person, you two start talking and you eventually mentions your love for Greek mythology, the person smiles excitedly saying:

"You like Greek mythology, I love Greek mythology I'm a huge fan of..."

(Xena the warrior princess wasn't added because anyone still fan of it in 2023 is a cool lesbian, Disney's Hercules wasn't added because they are self aware enough and the Hades games wasn't added for reasons of I never played so I don't know how accurate it is)

[bijoumikhawal]

Stylized Coptic human figures

[aboutanancientenquiry]

Greco-Egyptian art and culture in Italy: the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina

“AMONG ITS EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION OF regional archaeology, the National Archeological Museum in Palestrina preserves a magnificent piece that stands apart from the rest: an ancient mosaic depicting a vivid scene of the flooding river Nile.

Dating to the 1st century BCE, this Egyptian mosaic is believed to be the product of Alexandrian craftsmen, and it is among the most spectacular of the late Hellenistic age. Measuring almost 20 by 13 feet (6 by 4 meters), the mosaic depicts a flooded Nilotic landscape, inhabited by animals both real and imaginary, Ptolemaic Greeks, Aethiopian hunters, and priests performing rituals in their magnificent temples. The figures are often labeled in Greek characters and the entire scene may represent a vivid map of the Nile as it flows from the highlands of Ethiopia to the delta in the Mediterranean Sea.

Archaeologists expect the mosaic was originally used as a flooring decoration for an apse in a large rectangular room built as an artificial grotto (as can be surmised from the shape of the mosaic), by the forum of the city of Praeneste. The piece has also been identified as evidence of the early spread of Egyptian cults in Italy, especially the cult of the Goddess Isis. (Certain scholars claim that Isis was already at this point being identified with Fortuna, Goddess of Praeneste.)

The mosaic’s rediscovery and preservation have been tumultuous: In the 1600s, the Barberini family removed the mosaic and took it to Rome. It was then returned to Palestrina but damaged in the process and had to be restored anew. During the Second World War, to avoid damage from the allied bombings, the mosaic was once more removed, but it is now again on display in Palestrina.

Know Before You Go

The Nile mosaic is on display on the third floor of the museum, which is open every day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

Source of the text: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nile-mosaic-of-palestrina

[uncleclaudius]

Sardonyx cameo of Cleopatra VII depicted as Isis and Mark Antony as Osiris.

The image and description comes from the book called Engraved Gems which can be read for free here.

[blueiscoool]

Ancient Greek Gold Earring with Sphinx Hellenistic, 4th – 3rd century B.C.

[songbirds-grimoire]

Decided to start Veiling again.

My energy needs some healing of it’s own, I think in the long run it’s best.

It feels peaceful to veil, it feels like coming home.

I don’t know if any of that makes sense, but just felt like sharing 😅

[mytortoisegotstuckinatupperware]

[koenji]

“To the place of trumpeting …,” Hebrew inscription on a parapet from the Temple Mount, Western Wall excavations at the south-western corner of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem. Herodian period, 1st century BCE. Stone, H: 31; L: 86; W: 26 cm. Israel Antiquities Authority. x

This incised stone block is one of the most fascinating remains of Herod's Temple (also known as the Second Temple). It apparently fell from the southwest corner of the Temple Mount to the street below, where it was discovered by excavators. The formal inscription "to the place of trumpeting..." and the shape of the stone suggest that it was once part of a parapet that ran along the wall of the Temple complex. According to Josephus, this was the location of "the roof of the priests' chambers, where one of the priests invariably stood to proclaim by trumpet blast, in the late afternoon the approach of every seventh day, and on the next evening its close..." (Josephus, The Jewish War, 4, 9). Presumably, the trumpet blasts could be heard throughout Jerusalem – in the City of David to the south and in the Upper City to the west.

The final word in the inscription is partially missing and can be interpreted in either of two ways: "to declare [the Sabbath]" or "to distinguish [between the sacred and the profane]."