If you’re anywhere near my age and were lucky enough to visit the Met in the 1970’s or 80’s, you might remember the incredibly glamorous café that occupied the southeast corner of the museum for several decades, with its skylit central fountain and potted palms.
As to that glamorous café of yore, yes, I remember it well, having sat at its tables and spaced out in the… space; at the melody of its fountains and the breezes of its water flow; and sheer gorgeousness of it all. And mourned its passing.
Regarding the Amazon matter, do you truly believe that your comment, thinly veiled as innocent musing, about testosterone (“who needs it, what good has it ever done for humanity, etc.”) is not snarky?... really?... As for the alienation of your male subscribers—I cannot speak for the others, though they may have left to gather arms (as is their wont, you might add)—I choose the path of magnanimity; a wary magnanimity to be sure, in light of your exaltation of, let's call it: the Amazonian principle.
Agreed: the Ionic column is magnificent, even in its abbreviated state, and the mask of Pan an object of fierce beauty. I wonder, though, how its presence over the courtyard of a villa might bring good fortune. Perhaps it was intended to instill panic in guests who neglected to bring gifts and so, in their pandemonium, would flee to the nearest bodega for a bunch of grapes and a bottle of schnaps.
Regarding the Demeter festival, how was it possible that it included both fasting and feasts? Perhaps fasting during the day and partying at night?
BTW, I just learned that, according to mythology, Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was kidnapped by Hades and dragged underground, her mother's grief then causing the land to become cold and barren; however through an intervention by Zeus (testosterone-laden, no doubt), Persephone was allowed to visit her mother above ground: thus the seasons winter and spring.
About the “young satyr,” I appreciate the way your elegant appreciation—“its graceful pose and the refined articulation of the musculature”—just barely kept in check the exclamation: “What a bod!”
I didn’t see how the amphoriskoi handles are anthropomorphic. They look pretty snaky to me.
Wondering: what happens to the libation once it is poured into the phiale? (That’s another term paper, I guess.)
Thanks so much for the tour. I feel I should offer you a panegyric. Will work on it.
(Footnote: "pandemonium" and "panegyric" do not derive from Pan, as does "panic," which was noted.)
As to that glamorous café of yore, yes, I remember it well, having sat at its tables and spaced out in the… space; at the melody of its fountains and the breezes of its water flow; and sheer gorgeousness of it all. And mourned its passing.
Regarding the Amazon matter, do you truly believe that your comment, thinly veiled as innocent musing, about testosterone (“who needs it, what good has it ever done for humanity, etc.”) is not snarky?... really?... As for the alienation of your male subscribers—I cannot speak for the others, though they may have left to gather arms (as is their wont, you might add)—I choose the path of magnanimity; a wary magnanimity to be sure, in light of your exaltation of, let's call it: the Amazonian principle.
Agreed: the Ionic column is magnificent, even in its abbreviated state, and the mask of Pan an object of fierce beauty. I wonder, though, how its presence over the courtyard of a villa might bring good fortune. Perhaps it was intended to instill panic in guests who neglected to bring gifts and so, in their pandemonium, would flee to the nearest bodega for a bunch of grapes and a bottle of schnaps.
Regarding the Demeter festival, how was it possible that it included both fasting and feasts? Perhaps fasting during the day and partying at night?
BTW, I just learned that, according to mythology, Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, was kidnapped by Hades and dragged underground, her mother's grief then causing the land to become cold and barren; however through an intervention by Zeus (testosterone-laden, no doubt), Persephone was allowed to visit her mother above ground: thus the seasons winter and spring.
About the “young satyr,” I appreciate the way your elegant appreciation—“its graceful pose and the refined articulation of the musculature”—just barely kept in check the exclamation: “What a bod!”
I didn’t see how the amphoriskoi handles are anthropomorphic. They look pretty snaky to me.
Wondering: what happens to the libation once it is poured into the phiale? (That’s another term paper, I guess.)
Thanks so much for the tour. I feel I should offer you a panegyric. Will work on it.
(Footnote: "pandemonium" and "panegyric" do not derive from Pan, as does "panic," which was noted.)
Yikes, this is a lot!
-So glad you also remember, and mourn, that breathtaking cafe.
-It actually WAS intended to be snarky, but I indemnified myself by saying it wasn't.
-I like your theory about the mask - a guest should never show up empty-handed.
-Yeah, it's a contradiction, but that's what my research turned up. I assume the fasting was followed by feasting, a bit like Ramadan?
-Interesting!
-Yes, it IS quite a bod!
-Picture the smaller one as a person with their hands on their hips.
-I wonder too. Evaporation? The family dog drank it?
-You're welcome, as always. :)