Tuesday 6 March 2012

Jo Lucksted's Pan Sculpture features on ESTY blog


Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses
knitfitt
I never studied Ancient Greek and was a reluctant, mediocre Latin student in school. Thank goodness for the excellent translations that allow all of us to be inspired by these old epics. I recently read a number of the young adult Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordon. It was a pleasure to find the familiar Greek gods, goddesses, creatures, monsters and places all mixed together in a contemporary context, following the tale of a half-blood son of Poseidon. The stories and characters of yore continue to come to mind throughout my life. When stuck in a repetitive job, I recall Sisyphus, condemned to the eternal task of pushing a heavy rock up a hill, only to have it roll to the bottom once again. In fury and frustration at the start of yet another war, I could remember Lysistrata, Aristophane’s play about the women of Athens withholding sex to bring about the end of the Peloponnesian War. When studying  Renaissance paintings of voluptuous nudes, I thought of the many forms Zeus took in order to seduce far too many maidens. Rediscover the classics with the collections below!

A long journey, full of obstacles and adventures, has given us several thousand years of inspiration.
 

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