Engraved Stone Ball (Magic Sphere?) with #Helios and magical symbols. Discovered in 1866 at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, near the remains of the Theatre of Dionysos.
🎨 Marble sphere, dated 2nd-3rd centuries CE. Today in the #Athens Acropolis Museum.
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
Baby #Dionysos sitting on the lap of his big brother #Hermes is given to the #satyr Tropheus and the nymphs of Nysa. Also in the scene are Anatrophe (“upbringing”), as well as Ambrosia and Nektar (food and drink of the gods).
"Astuanassa: A handmaid of Helen, Menelaos’ wife. She first discovered positions for intercourse and wrote On Sexual Positions. Philainis and Elephantinê rivaled her in this later—they were women who danced out these sorts of wanton acts."
Suda, 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia
It's #InternationalDogDay! There are several #dogs from #GreekMythology that we still know today, like Kerberos guarding the entrance to the underworld, Odysseus' faithful dog Argos who was the only one who recognised him in his disguise, and Hekuba, the Queen of Troy, who became Hekate's constant companion in the shape of a big black bitch.
But what do we know about the ancient Greeks and their dogs? @amayor researched how the dogs were named:
@antiquidons@histodons The ancient Greeks were keen dog breeders and more than 29 distinct breeds are mentioned in #ancientGreek literature, each with their own traits that made them useful for specific tasks. Large mastiff-type dogs guarded flocks and fended off wolves. Hunting dogs were bred for speed, tracking, and tenacity to hunt deer, hares, and boars. And there were also small pet dogs, companions to children and adult women.
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is fire and there are two major Greek gods associated with fire: #Hestia, goddess of the hearth, and #Hephaistos, god of smiths.
They represent #fire in two different forms: the sacrificial flame of the hearth as the sacred centre of domestic life and the flame of Hephaistos, source of all arts, and fuel of the funeral pyre. But both could be invoked for the cooking of sacrificial meat or a good meal:
If it did go out, only sacred fire produced by friction, or by bronze burning mirrors drawing fire from the sun, might be used to rekindle it.
A ritual from #Lemnos, the cult centre of #Hephaistos, has all fires on Lemnos extinguished for nine days until new fire is brought from the island of #Delos:
Join our patrons for a deep dive into the classic reception tour de force that is Disney’s Hercules (1997). We sit down with Professor Alistair Blanchard whose research on this heroic figure is second to none.
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
"They say he [#Hermes] was responsible for #profit and an overseer of the businesses: consequently they set up the statue of him weighing a purse." #Suidas, Byzantine Greek lexicon, 10th century CE
🏛️ Hermes, Archaeological Museum of Nikopolis, Greece
Meet this Roman stone statue of the god #Mars, found in #York. It was carved from local sandstone in the 4th century CE. #Eboracum was a fort and later a city in the Roman province of Britannia that became the city of York. Eboracum was a busy port and a provincial capital with residents from all over the Roman Empire.
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is work.
Four deities spring to my mind when I think of work: #Demeter, #Hermes, #Hephaistos, and #Athena. #AncientGreece was an agricultural society with 80% of the population being involved in this line of work. In Greek mythology, it was Demeter who invented agriculture but according to Diodorus Siculus she burnt all the grain when her daughter #Persephone vanished out of grief and anger.
Animal husbandry, a sign of power and wealth, was less well developed in #ancientGreece. Goats and sheep were the most common livestock and the flocks were protected (and sometimes stolen) by #Hermes. He cares for and increases the flocks and thus gives wealth.
Before Hermes was born, his brother #Apollon was herder of the flocks. When he was sentenced to a year of servitude as a young god for killing Python, Apollon served the mortal king Admetos as his herdsman.
#Eros adjusts the kottabos stand, a popular game at #ancientGreek symosia. #Dionysos reclines on a couch, his lower body richly draped, holding a thyrsos in his left hand and a wine cup in his right.
🏛️ Red-figure vase painting on a bell krater, dated 395–375 BCE.