The word “Christmas” (“Navidad” in Spanish), with which we designate Christ´s birthday party, derives from the Latin word “nativitatem” which literally means “birth”, “nacimiento” in Spanish.
The “Sacred Truce” made possible the continuity of the Olympics for 1.170 years
The ancient Olympic events have an obvious connection with several war and military activities, but the Olympics were only possible because the various Greek states, in permanent confrontation, agreed to a temporary truce of peace.
A modern Zeuxis
Recently the Prado Museum has celebrated a painting exhibition titled “Juan Fernandez Labrador. Still Lifes “. Juan Fernandez is a painter of the Spanish Golden Age, little known, who painted mostly “still lifes”. His representative works are paintings of “bunches of grapes”.
Importance of music in the ancient Greek world
Most of the linguistic terms used in “music” are of Greek origin.
Perseus and Andromeda
The myth of Perseus and Andromeda is one of the best known and longest survival, in fact, wearing another garment, it continues today.
Democracy is equality
In ancient Greece, the Athenians had some superiority complex with regard to the rest of Hellenes or Greeks. They were proud of their city, of their Acropolis (from aker and polis = high city, the upper town, the citadel, the fortress) in which it was the great temple of the goddess Athena, their eponymous (from epi and noma), the one who gives the city of Athens its name, the virgin (they call her Athena parthenos); they felt themselves especially proud of their “democracy” (from “demos” people and “cracy” power or government)
The myth of Atalanta and Hippomenes
Atalanta is a female character from Greek mythology with certain peculiarities that make her particularly interesting. Actually the entire Greek mythology is encrusted in the Western culture.
Is it interesting to know details and anecdotes of the Ancient World?
Surely there are many people, including friends from “facebook”, to whom these various anecdotes or comments about the ancient world interest little or interest nothing at all indeed. Probably somebody thinks they are writings made by self-absorbed people who don´t really care about the real and current problems of the crazy world we actually live in because he or she considers that the Ancient World is far away. Of course it is a respectable opinion.
The Pillars of Hercules
The mythical hero Hercules (because he does not reach the category of a god) couldn´t imagine that his famous columns representing the two mountains he placed when he opened the strait that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum = our sea, for the Romans), one in Africa, the other in Europe, would actually be, in effigy, naturally, in the pockets and bank accounts of millions of persons all over the world.
The Last Day of Pompeii
The lively city of Pompeii was located at the foot of Mount and Volcano Vesuvius in a rich and fertile place. Its 20,000 inhabitants were not aware of the tremendous danger looming over them. (Interestingly in Latin there is not a specific term to designate volcanoes; they call them “mons sulfureus”= “sulfur mountains” or with some similar name).