Mosaic in the entrance to the caldarium of the House of Menander, Pompei, 1st century A.D.
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Even if Ovid leaves it out, the female sex organ is well-attested in Greek and Latin medical literature.
Increasingly, the mood in the UK is leaning towards repatriating the Parthenon Marbles.
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An international legal expert explains why the Greeks are right to be wary of the British Museum’s offer to loan them the Parthenon marbles.
‘The Nativity,’ circa 1406-10, by Lorenzo Monaco.
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The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
Fear about women’s power was an essential part of ancient anxiety about witchcraft.
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From ancient Greece to modern-day TikTok witchcraft, the world of witches has been a changing one.
A statue of Plato.
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The first people who studied tyranny were the ancient Greeks, an expert says.
Dylan’s complex creative process is unique among contemporary singer-songwriters.
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Because Dylan draws from songs from the past, he has been accused of plagiarism. But this view has been colored by a distorted understanding of the creative process.
Laurel was an ancient symbol of medicine, the arts and the end of war.
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Just in time for this year’s Nobel Prize announcements, here’s how the symbolism of a plant associated with the god Apollo lives on in modern-day laureates.
A Ukrainian inspects a ruined Russian tank displayed on the streets of Kyiv.
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Displays of captured Russian weaponry aim to show the strength of the foe Ukrainians face, but also that victory is possible.
The Goddess Athena appearing to Odysseus to reveal the Island of Ithaca by Giuseppe Bottani.
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These books and poems give the women of the Odyssey a say and other new perspectives on the classic tale.
Three soldiers (far right) carry karnyxes, long horns with frightening boar-headed mouths that produce eerie calls during battle.
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Since antiquity people have harnessed sound as a weapon, and the practice continues – in new high-tech ways – today.
A fresco in Pompeii possibly depicting Demetrius I 50–40 BC.
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Said to have been the first person to put his own head on a coin, Demetrius the Besieger is known for siege warfare, sacrilege, and extravagance.
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Mulled wine has been around for at least 2,000 years.
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The story can be traced back many centuries to a time of warfare between Christian European countries and the Muslim Ottoman Empire.
The witty one-liner is a calling card of the James Bond film franchise.
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Epic poetry tends to be seen as highbrow, while action films are regarded as puerile and brutish. But the two share an affinity for dressing up brutal deaths with rhetorical flair.
Rapper Lil Nas X in a Cinderalla-style, toile-inspired gown designed by Andrea Grossi.
Jordan Strauss/AP
More famous men are wearing dresses, harking back to ancient times, when androgynous clothing was the norm. But for male dresses to truly take off they might need a style separate to women’s.
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There are many nods to Mesopotamian myth in Marvel’s Eternals. The character of Gilgamesh is the first ancient Near Eastern hero with a leading role in a Marvel film.
Attributed to Onesimos (Greek (Attic), active 500 - 480 B.C.) Attic Red-Figure Kylix, about 490 B.C.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California
Wives were not a part of intellectual life – but sex workers were often seen as having captivating minds, as well as captivating bodies.
Firefighters and residents battle a blaze in hot, dry conditions in Athens, Greece, in August 2021.
AP Photo/Petros Karadjias
The Athens fires were a dangerous reflection of Atomist philosophies that see the world as exploitable, for sale and open to waste and abuse.
Perfumes, potions and witches have been entwined for centuries.
Frederick Stuart Church/Smithsonian American Art Museum/Wikimedia Commons
Scent and magic have been entwined in our imaginations for centuries – right up to today’s witch-inspired perfumes.
Aomawa Baker as Andromache in a production of The Trojan Woman in Los Angeles.
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The Trojan Women is a genocide narrative. In this play, the great Athenian dramatist Euripides explores the enslavement of women, human sacrifice, rape and infanticide.