The Clash.

I sometimes find it truly amazing just how much of the world of media is influenced by the classics. It’s in everything you look at, in soap operas, blockbusters, books and computer games. It is interesting because it seems that now we have got over our fascination of the future, we are now looking at the past for wonderment. This is certainly true in Hollywood, Luke sky walker and the Terminator have had their day (whether it be in the future and not actually happened yet) but it’s over, get out of the way for Leonidas and Perseus. I don’t think this is a social trend however, I think it’s just the way Hollywood want it to go. It benefits them, why write a new film when you can just lift stuff from the Iliad, a book older than the bible, just go ahead and re-package it. The truth is that they can, and they will make millions of pounds, but as much as I want to see 21^st century technology transform mythology into a visual feat, it just will never do it justice.

Of course, as a student studying classics, any mention of a film such as Clash of the Titans, or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Troy, my family and friends always whip their heads around to look at me. I am interested, but I do find the thought of going to watch any of these at the cinema is a bit soul destroying. For example when I went to see Troy starring Brad Pitt, the story of the Iliad being put through the Hollywood filter annoyed me. It is something to be left alone, I’m surprised at my conservative and archaic view as I’m sure you are aware through my other blogs that I am all for the contemporising of the classics. I wonder if the ancient audience that listened to the epic poem in dactylic hexameters, would have felt the same way about it being written down? It is I suppose a drastic change, just as severe as from page to the screen. Despite this feeling, I went along to see the new Clash of the Titans.

Again, as much as I tried to enjoy it, even with the 3D effects jumping out at me, it was just disappointing. It’s the standard case of “if you’ve read the book, you won’t like it” that people said about the Lord Of the Rings and such. It just can’t compare to what you have dreamt up in your imagination, and I think this is especially true with Greek mythology; these are tales that have stood the test of time. I think a brilliant case of this is seen in the Clash, Hades, the ultimate villain of all time, is sooo lame. ^^^^^^^^

Played by Raef Fines, Surely Hades has to be pure evil, the very sight of him should take your breath way, he is death, he is the afterlife, he is the lord of the underworld, but I just think that they made him look like the safestyle window man. ( scroll down to the bottom of the page)

This film is a shameless exploitation of Greek myth but I don’t think that it pretends not to be, so it’s ok I guess, I mean the stories are there for everyone to take. I suppose this is the case with all literature, of course it was from the Greeks that we obtained the alphabet and writing from so it is inevitable that we inherit the same style, structure and themes, because it’s all we have had to go on. With this in mind, the fact that the classics has become so popular in modern culture recently is a celebration of how important it is. The importance of Classics could not be clearer, and I shouldn’t let it annoy me when its exploited for the masses. My old attitude does seem one that is typical of the classics community, it has become introverted, something that is against its nature. The works of Virgil, Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristotle, were there to be passed on, not horded by fuddy duddys in dusty classrooms.

Garms.

Whilst surfing the vast World Wide Web in an effort to expand my wardrobe this summer, I came across something I wasn’t quite expecting. My brain was engaged with the thought of looking fresh on campus, searching the most exclusive brand aware websites known to man, which i had obtained knowledge of through the close-knit fashion community that of course I am far from being part of, i stumbled upon this. . .

http://www.ashopcalledwood.com/product/mhi_by_maharishi_clothing_mhi_greco_roman_t-shirt_in_white/

They also have it in a hoodie

http://www.ashopcalledwood.com/product/mhi_by_maharishi_clothing_mhi_greco_roman_hoodie/

Now, I am studying Classics at university, and whilst looking for clothes on the internet, that part of my brain could not have been further away . So I was slightly dumbstuck, staring at the screen, because I simply don’t associate my potential fashion purchases and my educational interest. I keep them firmly separated, like chalk and cheese, fashion can be defined as a la mode, and classics is . . . . not, it’s not of the moment, its ancient! Modern clothing brings to my mind, consumerism and vanity, and I think of classical images as far from that. This was the paradox I found myself in, but once I had got over this initial mind glitch, I then looked at the price and not quite knowing whether I wanted it because of my interest in fashion or classics, I copped it.

I got the shirt in black, because I thought the Corinthian helmet stands out more and makes for a better image. I think another reason why I bought this shirt is because I also remember buying a similar t-shirt that had a profile of a Corinthian helmet, with the by line of “Trojan”

This is the logo for the reggae/rock steady record label “Trojan”. This record label was founded in 1967 and surprise surprise has absolutely no classical affiliation whatsoever, the name was used after the trucks that delivered the actual records themselves around Jamaica. Regardless of how it came about, I really like the strong image, and what it represents. This shirt along with the other I had bought, I started to think what was it that appealed to me so much? I think on a purely aesthetic level they are both striking shirts especially the MHI one, but I think that my classical learning also played a massive part in why it appealed to me so much.

For me the Corinthian helmet featuring on the MHI shirt is a symbol of the hoplite (I have some photos of my previous Blog of Corinthian helmets from the British museum). The emergence of the hoplite class during the classical era in Greece is something that I find fascinating. It was an instance in history where a chain of events led to a radical change in society. A significant point in this progression of this society was the reforms of Solon. In the Archaic age battle was what you could call “Homeric”, as in it was dictated by wealthy land owners, ordering serfs to their likely death, fighting was for their personal gain, either for glory, land or possessions.

The aristocratic families could do this because of the wealth divide. A flash of brilliance came in the form of Solon, (638 BC–558 BC) he was instated democratically as lawmaker in Athens. He shook up the class divide by instating a class system based on income. What this gave rise to was a strengthening middle class, who owned their own land, and could afford things like their own armour and a hoplon (a massive spear). It was therefore in their interest to protect their land, if their city was threatened. Now, this shifted the dynamic of warfare dramatically, defence of the city now was planned, not just everyman for themselves, no caveman-like stone throwing here.

This played off the ever-increasingly popular democratic state. Hand in hand these two new ideas strengthened. So war was now political, not just men trying to reach Achilles like status, protocol in battle emerged such as limitations being placed on technology, formal declaration of war, post-mortem accord, fighting during the summer and daylight hours, cessation of killing, and shock collision of phalanxes. So all of these protocols combined meant that it was agreed that both forces should be of equal size and simply go toe to toe, rather spear tip to spear tip, no arrows or cavalry, just brute strength pitted against brute strength. It’s an extremely sophisticated and just form of warfare. So this is why I find the hoplite such an inspirational figure, a strong male with a civic duty.

With this notion I thought deeper, and further deconstructed the appeal of the T-shirt, bear in mind that I am fully aware that I am bordering on complete pretentiousness, but I do think that it could subliminally appeal to me because it stands for what I want to stand for. You know, the traits of the hoplite, duty, strength, fairness, wealth? Why wouldn’t I? I think that other people who have the same knowledge of the Hoplite would agree that this is a fair shout. You could further the argument that this shirt would especially appeal to the insecure male of today’s society, where the role of the almighty male is not as important as it was, and where advertising targets these insecurities. Perhaps I should go out there with a crate full of these shirts, and flog them to men who want to show off the Alpha male inside, by wearing it outside. The helmet is after all a phallic symbol, what better way than to wear it on your chest? This shirt could be an aegis for your insecurities! There you go there’s my advertising by-line. I’ve got it made in the shade.

The tags on the shirt also include the words “deus ex machina” which means “god from the machine” which is the name for a tragic device used in Greek theatre; it marks the intervention of a god in the play. As part of my advertising campaign I would run with “this piece of clothing is an intervention from the gods to make your life better!”

Another detail on the shirt that is humorous, is the application of the Greek alphabet letters to represent modern alphabet phonemes, to phonetically spell out “MHI”. Of course staying true to the Greek it says something completely incomprehensible. . . . . or maybe it’s a hidden message!? Ahhhh ignore this whole blog, that’s why I bought the shirt, because of the subliminal message in “EMMAICHAI” not all that pretentious breeze I was harping on about.

Artifacts.

The amount of areas devoted to different periods in history was overwhelming, I decided to sack off the majority of them so I could look at the Greco-Roman exhibits in detail. I was so chuffed that i was able to use my camera inside, i was sure to take advantage of this and snap away at everything.I was expecting to have to take photos of the Parthenon marbles on the sly, and didn’t really want to incase i was mistaken for someone from the modern Greek government, obtaining photos to aid a reprisal effort. First to fall victim to my Nikon was this bronze sculpture of Apollo.

The classical composition of his facial features is one of those timeless images that invokes a sense of both mortality and divinity. Not for the first or last time whilst walking around the museum i find myself thinking, this was created by someone thousands of years ago, and it was their perception of the face, was it based on what they thought a god looked like, and their idea of perfection? Or was this what the people of Greece looked like at the time?(470-460BC). This is an incredibly intricate piece of artwork, hair, eye-lashes, lips, legs, torso, head, all separate parts, a kind of ancient Legoman. A Legoman highly appreciated by the modern world, the leg is in the Louvre in Paris, I love to think of how the ancient Greeks would react to us encasing and exhibiting parts of what is a ruined statue to them.

Now onto another head shot, this time of a celebrity, a true celebrity in my eyes. Socrates said that "fame was the perfume of heroic deeds", if that’s the case; now this guy would be ponging like a used-car salesman on a hot date.

Perikles! This Athenian, in my opinion he is a real big deal. He’s a triple threat, excelling as a soldier, citizen and public speaker. Here is the face of Athens, ruling at the height of its power ,he was the man with the Midas touch on Athens' golden age. I think that if this guy had taken an amphora to the head as a kid, the world would be a very different place than it is today. Nourishing the roots of democracy, promoting art and literature, war and diplomany, he had his fingers in alot of pies (or kykeon). According to Thuycides he was the main man in the formation of the Delian league, this revolutionary concept of the Greek states uniting to defend each other against the Persians, completely changed the dynamic of waging wars. But anyway, i could go on for ages, go and read about him if you are as interested as me. It wasn’t just me who was a fan of him, the Romans saw the importance of his influence, this is a roman 2nd century copy found in Hadrians Villa in Tivoli, a man of equal stature.

Another thing i admired about the sculpture of Perikles, was the Corinthian helmet that rests on the back of his head, much like a lazily placed baseball cap on the head of a youth. The message they communicate couldn’t be further poles apart. For me, The Corinthian helmet is a symbol of the citizen soldier, serving the state and upholding civic duty. I managed to actually find a variety of the Corinthian helmets throughout the museum.

I still find them all fascinating. Here is an instance of the war mask phenomenon, a universal concept. Put a man in battle and hide his face, he will be much more likely to commit murder. There are modern studies on how anonymity frees up the Machiavellian traits in man, the Greeks knew this, and of course the helmets primarily serve as an excellent defence against taking a sling shot to the ol’ boat race. To be frank there is no denying that they do resemble the male appendage, and surely this is where the transferrable use of the word helmet comes from? The reasons behind making the helmet look like a phallus makes sense, fertility, male strength and intimidation, I’m sure having a phalanx of what appears to be erect penises charging at you is going to be a tad unnerving, if not at least a bit awkward. Right, looks like I got through that sentence without making any vulgar puns, phew. The bronze helmets fell out of fashion as the importance of mobility emerged in warfare around about Alexander the Great's succession. Massive shame.

I did go and see the Elgin Marbles, but the crowds were too much and although they were amazing to see, my wonderment was shared if not exceeded by another exhibit I came across, which displayed ruins taken from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Now, this is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, something i found quite baffling to get my head around. The 7 wonders of the ancient world are something that i read about as a boy, in colourful cartoons and they captured my imagination immediately, they are partly responsible for my pursuit of classics in education. The Mausoleum is something that i had built into myth in my head, but here a part of it was, i could even touch it!

The mausoleum was a family tomb built by Mausollos (where the modern word comes from) in Karia, south Turkey, he never actually saw it finished but his legacy stood for hundreds of years until circa 1494 when some European crusaders finished off what various earthquakes hadn’t. This building is especially interesting because it showcases influence from the Greeks, Persians and Egyptians.

In ascending order, see the Persian podium, Greek Ionian columns, and Egyptian pyramid? Then on top we have got the Quadiga (four horsed chariot),and here is a part of this that the muesum houses.

I like this photo alot, because of the presence of the archetypal tourist in shot. The thought of a bunch of tourists milling around the original tomb makes me chuckle, of course they would have had people who would have ventured to the sight to see in then. What is even more interesting is the fact that this horse sculpture would have sat at the top of the 140 foot tomb (according to our good man Pliny) and yet the detail is brilliant. Obviously Mausollos thought that there was no need to skimp of expenses or detail, even if the it would have been impossible for any mortal to see, the gods could appreciate it i suppose! It’s also amazing the sculptures are so realistic yet totally larger than life, for example my friend Jamie shows off the sense of scale in this picture.

Here the sculptures of Mausollos and his wife, completey dwarf jamies yet at still proportionate, a feat of engineering even now, yet they pulled it off all those years ago.

I came across this in the ancient artefacts area, its a suit of armour made out of crocodile skin

Who ever came up with this little gem was certainly a snappy dresser (sorry I simply had to) but its actually in fact a kind of ceremonial glad rag that came about because of the Roman occupation of Egypt. This suit dates from the 3^rd or 4^th century, and was used in religious cult ceremonies, this shows the cultural integration between Egypt and Rome. I would have loved to have been there when the genius behind this outfit, unveiled it to his hardy legionary mates. I wonder if it got a cold-blooded reception (and again, too easy!)

Away from colossal tombs and war objects, i came across some brilliant artifacts that reminded me that people back in the day, weren’t just glorious war heros, or divine gods, but normal people.

This is an ox bone, and you may ask yourself what the writing on it could possibly be for. It has in fact been used as a receipt. I am humbled by the thought of an Egyptian of the 3^rd century squabbling over prices with a fellow merchant, and then carving it into this ox shoulder blade to confirm what ever agreement they had come to. Although the materials have changed the customs have not.

Another instance of this humbling humanity is this array of anatomical and educational tools

I find it amazing to see how their perception of body parts then, matches that of ours now. A breast looks like a breast, an ear looks like and ear, and a womb looks like a womb, (i have absolutely no idea what a womb looks like! But still). It may seem trivial but through little things like this i can relate myself to the classical world, and therefore learn more.

The Brit-ish Museum

(The British museum)

There I am, outside the colossal British museum, Why am I there you may ask? Surprisingly, its not just to show off my curious coral T-shirt around Bloomsbury, I am in fact there in a lazy effort to become inspired. This is a result of my recent realisation that my attention span and interest levels have an acute sort of half-life. So there I am, outside the British museum with the hope that when I enter, and behold the wonders within, I will be seized by spectacular and irresistible inspiration, unearthing the industrious hero inside me. To be fair, it’s the least that the British museum can do for me, I have got out of bed before 10 am and trekked across Londinum at the expense of a score note. (Honestly, I may try and claim it back, talk to Boris Johnson, classicist to classicist). Luckily I didn’t have to do this on my own, my friend Jamie (who took the photo of me) came along for the potentially enlightening trip. I’m sure he was under the impression that going to a museum with his mate who is a Classics student, would prove to be a winning combination, I was going to make this so, by winging it at least.

As I turned around to face the Greek revival façade, I must say I had an incling that this was going to be an inspirational visit. I take in a deep breath, puff out my chest, and exhale whilst saying “yep, that’s an imitation of the ol’ Parthenon in Athens”, Jamie replies “really?”, I keep nodding my head, eyes closed, biting my bottom lip “yeaah”. Of course I am completely wrong. Through further research I found out it is in fact based on the temple of Athena Priene in Asia Minor (Turkey). But anyway, regardless of its specific origin it still sparked off the same notion in my mind. Why is it that classically inspired buildings like these are so successful and widely spread in the modern world? Buildings with Ionic columns support spectacular pediments all over the world, in all cultures, London to Washington DC, Buenos Aires to Mumbai.

I thought of something I had come across whilst studying at uni, (don’t worry, this was in-between all the cliché activities of being a raucous student) about how the images in the Parthenon frieze were plagiarised from the Persian Apadana in Persepolis. The Athenians did this as a kind of satirical diss against the Persians, sort of saying “we are just as good as you, but we invented this thing called democracy, so unlike you, we are only bitch to the gods, and a not a mortal ponce”. As a result the Parthenon frieze and the Apadana reliefs at Persepolis are frequently invoked as symbols of polarity for Greek democracy and Persian despotism. I don’t think that as humans we have changed that much since this episode in history, I mean isn’t the Whitehouse or the houses of parliament the same thing? a form of one-upmanship using the notion of democracy as an anchor. I also thought to myself how amazing it was that an idea that was implemented thousands of years ago, thousands of years!? still resonates with the world today.I find it truly perplexing that the actions of people that long ago still resonate. However, this feeling is the whole reason people love history, and I haven’t stumbled across anything new in the slightest. Either way,I hadn’t even entered the building and it had got my brain working, and out of its vegetative state, it was now a piece of meat.

The initial wow factor of the museum interior was slightly corked due to the fact that I had to negotiate my through a plethora of identically dressed Italian students, who were all buzzing with excitement in the way that only a school trip can induce. I was completely pre-occupied with making sure my Nikon didn’t take a knock in the sea of shiny puffer jackets (evidently the totally kewlest thing in Italy right about now’) that I couldn’t really appreciate the classical surroundings. Having emerged from the melee unscathed, I checked my cam and then looked up at the atrium of the museum. Awesome is a word that is completely over used in conversation and journalism, and I don’t want to water down these ramblings of mine, but there is simply no other word I can use, It was full of awe, but far from awful (see what I did there?). The marble floors pulled me forward and I had an overwhelming urge to invade the space created by the celestial ceiling that I bet even Icarus would have trouble reaching. In fact, with the Latinate jabbering of the Italian students behind me, it was easy to imagine standing in the Roman comitium. This was precisely why i had come, to be transported to a classical context, and not have to pay the ridiculous prices that time machines are charging these days. The Circular reading room in front of me, mimicked the Panthenon of Rome and transformed in front of me as i was in my trance. Caught up in the world of Rome I thought of one of the great Romans like Cicero making his way across the forum, I was now ready to lose my head in history (not like the statesman however).