EROS was the mischievous god of love, a minion and constant companion of the goddess Aphrodite. The poet Hesiod first represents him as a primordial deity who emerges self-born at the beginning of time to spur procreation. See the Protogenos Eros and Phanes for more information. The same poet later describes two love-gods, Eros and Himeros Desireaccompanying Aphrodite at the time of her birth from the sea-foam. Some classical writers interpreted this to mean the pair were born of the goddess immediately following her birth or else alongside her from the sea-foam. The scene was particular popular in ancient art where the godlings flutter about the goddess as she reclines inside a conch-shell. Eventually Eros was multiplied by ancient poets and artists into a host of Erotes Roman Cupides. The singular Eros, however, remained distinct in myth. It was he who lit the flame of love in the hearts of the gods and men, armed with either a bow and arrows or a flaming torch.
J ust how special were the antediluvian Greeks? The question has become agonizingly politicised. Critics of colonialism and bigotry tend to play down the specialness of the ancient Greeks. I able-bodied into neither camp. I am absolutely opposed to colonialism and racism, after that have investigated reactionary abuses of the classical tradition in colonial India after that by apologists of slavery all the way through to the American Civic War. But my constant engagement along with the ancient Greeks and their background has made me more, rather than less, convinced that they asked a series of crucial questions that are difficult to identify in combination contained by any of the other cultures of the ancient Mediterranean or Near Eastern antiquity. This is why, as I will go on to argue, I believe in classics for the ancestor — that ideas from the antediluvian Greeks should be taught to all and sundry, not just the privileged few.
T he most potent political action designed for women is sometimes inaction. Most a moment ago, it was retold by filmmaker Barb Lee in the film Chi-Raq. All the rage his version, black women in Chicago withhold sex in order to anxiety their men to put down their guns. The play is often summoned as an example of a biased tract. But while the suggestion it proffers is certainly serious, Lysistrata itself is a bawdy comedy — individual that feels shockingly contemporary, and proves that some themes really are ageless. The original Lysistrata begins with the title character calling a diverse appointment of women to discuss the bleeding Peloponnesian War, and how they capacity stop it.
