Women do not wear togas!

Yes, I write the truth. I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of seeing togas being referred to as a garment that Roman men and women wore. Okay, you broke me down... I didn't know the difference until last year! I know, shame on me...

TOGAS= Men
TUNICAS= Women and children


Like I said before, this is a simple mistake, so let me explain the difference. Which is pretty simple, if I may say so. Togas (worn by men) were wrapped around the body scroupously. Women and children on the other hand, wore a tunica, which was placed over the head. Now, I bet you won't make that mistake again.

~Morgan

oh biscuits...

Be prepared. In this post I will answer the question you have repeatedly asked yoursef: Where does the word biscuit come from? Oh, you haven't asked that before? Well, I'll tell you the answer anyway.

The word biscuit is Latin!!!
After breakfast this morning, our latin teacher told us that when you take this word apart, the word biscuit means "twice cooked" in latin. Now, I don't know about you but I don't know if I want to eat a biscuit that had been cooked twice... It might be a little too crunchy for my taste. What do you have to say about it? Write a comment. Seriously do it.

~Morgan

Magna Carta or "Great Charter"

Well here's a new one for ya'll (yes I feel like saying ya'll today)I'm getting Latin hw in my European History Class! My classmate and I have to translate the Magna Carta from its original latin to English. Although the translation didn't look TOO terribly hard. I won't say that the assignment is easy because my dad is my history teacher and he'll just pile on some more hw if we wanted. Not that we're asking for it!!!

Let me tell you some background info on the Magna Carta:

Well, King John(the dimwitted brother of Richard the Lionhearted,who really wasn't that all that great)finally pushed all of the royals to their limit. (He had even made the Pope curse him to "Hades") They met John on the south side of the Thames River on June 15th, 1215 and made him sign a document which stated the concept of Due Process, among other things. They made sure that John, much to his disbelief, understood that the king was not above the law after all. That document that Johnn signed was the Magna Carta, or the "Great Chart" in latin. This document was considered to be th basis of the U.S Constitution.

Congratulations, now you know more about what happened at Runnymede than 90%
of your peers! That was just a synopsis of what happened, but please write a comment with a specific question. I'd to hear from ya'll!(Yes, I still want to say ya'll!)

Athena is your favorite goddess-2011

I'm sure that Athena thought it was very wise of you to choose her as your favorite goddess. Forgive my pun, but Athena is the goddess of wisdom and knowledge(and war). She is also enjoys weaving, but I'll write about that later...

Athena, because of your choosing, will be the next deity to get a personal profile. What a wonderful accomplishment-good job,Athena!!! Look out for her post soon!

Think your favorite character of greek mythology deserves a special post,too? Write a comment or mention it on MythQ&A

~Morgan

We have a picture of this statue hanging up in our Latin classroom

Hephaestus Profile

NEW!!!
Look under the new gods and goddesses page and see the profile on Hephaestus- the god of the blacksmith,fire,and forge. Trust me, you'll like him.
~ Morgan

A statue of Hephaestus

A Mall fit for the Gods (and Goddesses)

Okay, here's what you have to do:
You're designing a mall on Mt.Olympus(I know that's so going to happen,right)and each god and goddess wants a store named after them. Remember, it has to be something related to what they represent. So, don't put someting like "Hades' Whole Grain Bakery". Demeter would take offense... Good luck, and write your answers in the comment box.

PS: Look at the chart in an earier post to see what each god represents

Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
Hestia
Artemis
Apollo
Athena
Dionysus
Hephaestus
Aphrodite
Hermes
Demeter(go ahead add Persephone! one more can't hurt)

Greek Key

The greek key was frequently found on ancient pots made by the Greeks.

It is now common in our architecture( look for it in other places,too)

How is this relevant? Look Below

Steelers Victory&Greek Keys

Of course I was happy when I saw that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the playoff game tonight (I live in WV, remember),but I was especially elated when I noticed that one of the players had an image of a greek key tattooed on his arm. Now, I'm not encouraging you to go beg your parents for a tatoo, even if would be somewhat educational. Nevertheless, I was amused to see it. I'm sorry that I don't have the name of the player who had it. That darn camerea man, he wanted to get another shot of Big Ben. Anyway, just take my word for it. Or google it. I'm sure you already just did,though.

Harry Potter Knows Latin

Yes that's right - the famous Harry Potter knows latin! Before I knew that, I never even picked up a Harry Potter book. Now,I can't put them down.(Really,I think I may be addicted...my mom has to hide them in the mornings so I don't take them to school. I wonder if there is a Harry Potter anonymous meeting somewhere. I'll look into it.)

Anyway,here is the story into how I became a Harry Potter fan. Actually, I can put it in a few bullet points.

~Mon.- My friend's dad asks if I'm going to the new Harry Potter movie.
"No, I haven't even read the books." I reply matter of factly (Harry Potter? Oh yeah, that book about the wizard kid...LAME)

~Wed.- My latin teacher mentions that the Harry Potter series has many latin and greek mythology references.

~ Fri.- I'm done with the series

Just kidding...I'm on the fourth book. I do love these books. Anyone who likes latin or greek mythology would love them. So, if your reading this blog you would like them.

Harry & his friends always say- Lumos(light),deluminator( to take away ligt)
nox(night),obscuro(to not see,darken),reparo(to fix)

Those are just a few examples,but make sure that you look for them next time you read these completely woderful books by J.K. Rowling.

~Morgan

Gotta love the local library...

So,I just came back from the library after reading some latin grammer books.(No,I usually don't read dusty old grammer books in my spare time. Yes, I do have to study for a HUGE latin test. So no smart comments). Anyway, latin grammer is fun and everything... but guess what else I found - the Winnie the Pooh Book written in latin!!!

I know I'm a geek but what else is new. Though, my latin teacher will be happy with me :)

A map of the Hundred Acre Woods in the book
Look at "Domus Porcelli"( the house of the little pig aka Piglet). Gotta love that cute little pig...

The Perils of Persephone

Hey,it's Lexi!!!(and Morgan too...)It's a snow day! We're here to inform you of the many perils of Persephone. Persephone is the goddess of flowers. Her mother is Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. Her mother never let Persephone out of her sight,but one day Persephone was not with her mother. As she was playing in a meadow making flowers grow, the Earth opened up and Hades appeared in his chariot. Hades is the god of the Underworld. He is also her great uncle. Before her nymphs could rescue her, Persephone was snatched up and takin to the Underworld. Hades had previousy fallen in love with the young goddess and he wanted to marry her and have her become the Queen of the Undeworld. Demeter was distraught when she learned that her daughter was kidnapped and takin to the Underworld. She told Zeus to have her belovoed daughter returned or the consequences would be dire. She told Zeus that if Persephone was not returned, she would not allow the Earth to bare grain and prosper. Zeus knew that Demeter would deliver that threat, so he sent Hermes to the Underworld to bring back Persephone.
Persephone would never havehad to return to the Underworld again,but while she was with Hades, she had eaten pomegranate seeds. The pomegranete is the food of the dead and if eaten, one could never leave the Underworld. Zeus bargained with Hades to let the young goddess return to her mother. They finally reached an agreement. Persephone would stay one month for each pomegranate seed that she had eaten. Now, she has to spend half of the year with her mother and the other half with Hades. When Persephone is gone with Hades the Earth has winter and when Persephone returnes to her mother,the Earth blossms with the season spring. The myth of Persephone is how the ancient Greeks and Romans explain the different seasons.

Look how happy! Demeter is on the bottom and Persephone is on the top

Relief of a marriage ceremony

Roman Marriage

Hey Everyone! Okay, so we got out of school early due to the bad weather. Now,I have my friend,Lexi,helping me out with this blog post! In latin class this past week, we have been learning about the customs of a Roman marriage and we want to tell you some interesting facts about it. Also I will share someting amusing that the girls in Latin4 class said today regarding the picture below. Here's some cool facts:

~ Roman girls usually got married when they were either 13 or 14 years old. Try pulling that off today!

~ The girl's husband was normally chosen by her father or other gaurdian. My dad likes this one:)

~Men usually got married the first time when they were in their late teens or early twenties. However, if they had been married previously, there be an age difference of more than twenty years. Wow!

~The wedding ring was put on the third finger of the girl's left hand. The Romans placed the ring on the third finger because they believed that a nerve ran directly from the heart to this phalange.

~ For most of the girl's life, she had worn an amulet or locket, called a bulla. The night before her wedding she took it off and dedicated it and other childish belongings to the household gods. Her husband had already dedicated his bulla when he became a Roman citizen at the age of seventeen. (During the first year at my school, everyone made their own bulla out of construction paper and stickers. Most of us have lost ours,but my cousin, Aundrea,still has hers. She might think that she really has to wear hers until she gets married. How sweet...)


~ Roman law stated that there were two different types of marriage.
1) cum manu- the bride was no longer a part of her father's family; she was in complete control of her husband. This kind of marriage was only used by a few aristocratic families( it nearly died out by the end of the 1st century AD.)
2) sine manu- this type was far more common than a cum manu marriage. In sine manu, the bride was legally still cosidered a part of her father's family. It was fairly simple to enter into a sine manu marriage. The couple first stated their intention to be marrid. Then, they lived together. That's it- they were then considered to be married.

~ The purpose of a Roman marriage was to form alliances and to produce and bring up children. They did not marry because they were in love. If consent was given, and the girl was of the right age, she married whomever was chosen for her. It didn't matter if the prospective husband was fifty years old or if she loved another boy who, perhaps, wasn't old enough to be her grandpa.

~ A Roman wife, comparitively, had more rights than other women in her time. She was not confined to the home and could visit friends, go to the baths, the theatre, and accompany her husband to dinner parties. She also had the power to own property and divorce her husband if they had a sine manu marriage.(Compare this to the women of classical Athens). Women were also highly respected in the community. Running a household was very complicated and valued. She was in charge of a large number of household slaves,as well.

The Getty Villa Trip

I know that you are all anxiously awaiting the god and goddess personal profile that I promised in my last post. However, before I start them, I wanted to write about my trip to the Getty Villa in Malibu,Calfornia. This past summer, my mom and I visited her friend and her daughter who were in Hollywood,CA for a few weeks. I remembered that my teacher had previously mentioned the Getty,and I was anxious to visit it.

The Getty Center is nestled in the hills of the Santa Monica mountains. All of the land that the Getty Center and the Getty Villa is located upon was once owned by J.Paul Getty. I also enjoyed visiting the Getty Art Center,but my favorite,of course, was visiting the Roman
Villa. After you reach the top of the driveway, you are immediately greeted by a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. The villa,which is part of the J.Paul Getty Museum, is a full scale replica of a Roman villa and garden. It was constructed in the early 1970s after J.Paul's collection of Roman and Greek artifacts was too large for his current exhibition center. Getty was always facinated with these type of artifacts. He even, at his own expense, sent down crews of men to Pompeii,Herculaneum,and other ancient cities to bring back ancient treasures.

I was amazed at how much the museum mimicked the pictures of a real Roman villa in our Cambridge Latin books. It was like I just stepped into Caecilius' house! I shouldn't have been surprised,however, because it was modeled after the Villa de Papiri, a 1st century Roman house. The real villa was located in Herculaneum,Italy and was buried by Mt.Vesuvious in AD79. Most of it is still being excavated, so they had to model parts of the Getty Villa after other villas in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The villa is a museum where there are many different artifacts in each room. For example, where the bedrooms would be there is an exhibit of the twelve Olympians. I just loved walking though each of the rooms, fully apreciating its importance... They even had a"cave canem" mosaic in the entrance!

The outside has Roman influence too. There is a spectacular open-air Pavilion which leads to the 450 seat classical theatre,based on ancient prototypes.

One of my favorite parts was touring through the gardens. It was a perfect summer day for strolling around the grounds. My friend, who hasn't taking latin or greek and was fairly bored watching me run from room to room shrieking with delight upon seeing a Pompeiin cooking pot, found one thing of common interest- we both loved the lamb's ear plant. Now that I look back upon it, we must have looked pretty silly. Here we have two teenaged girls,skipping through the gardens, petting the lamb's ear. Hey,this is Malibu. No one from my school is going to see me acting like this...I hope. Anyway, the gardens were filled with trees,herbs,and flowers which were all used by the Romans. The herb garden was amazing also. There were,of course,herbs. However, there were also fruit trees,annuals,and perennials. All of these plants were used by the ancient Romans in their cooking,ceremonies,and medicine. I'm not sure what the lamb's ear is used for,but hey, now I'll have to go back to Malibu and ask.

The Roman Theatre

The Atrium

The Garden

Another Pictre of the Garden at the Getty Villa

Water was an important aspect of the Roman garden
the Getty Villa mastered this

12 Oympians

If you are viewing this blog, it is likely that you already know the names of the twelve olympians that live on Mt. Olympus. However, it never hurts to review them again. Now, you have yet another handy referenc sheet! In later blog posts, I will do a personal profile on each god and goddess, but this is what I have for now:

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome-

Greek Name ,Title or Paton of... ,Roman Name ,Symbol


1)Zeus King Jupiter/Jove Eagle/Oak

2)Hera Queen Juno Peacock

3)Demeter Grain/ The Harvest Ceres Wheat

4)Poseidon Sea Neptune Trident/ Dolphin

5)Hades Underworld Pluto Cerberes

6)Hermes Messenger Mercury Winged Hat/Sandals

7)Artemis Hunt Diana Moon/Deer

8)Apollo Sun Apollo Lyre

9)Ares War Mars Vulture

10)Hephaestus Fire/Forge Vulcan Anvil

11)Aphrodite Love Venus Cupid/Dove

12)Hestia Hearth Vesta Home/Fire

12)Dionysus Wine/Grape Harvest Bacchus Grape vine/wine/Thyrus

*Yes, I know that I listed 13 Olympians and no, it was not a mistake. In some lists the last olympian is Dionysus,but in others Hestia is listed. For ours I listed both.

First Blog Post

Salvete! Thanks for visiting my new greek mythology/ classical latin blog. I was inspired by my latin teacher to start this blog to share with you how studying a seemingly dead language and culture can be so interesting! Latin and greek mythology is highly influenced in our culture. You have probably heard of the Apollo Theatre in New York City. This theatre, which is one of the most famous music halls in the US, was named after the Greek god, Apollo. Apollo, besides being the sun god, is also the patron of music. How about that for a dead culture!

While your here, I hope you walk away having learned something about this ancient coulture. Also be entertained by my accounts of studying latin and greek at an all girl school in little old West Virginia. This is my third year studying the clasics at this school, and I am loving every moment of it. I will share will you some interesting things that I have learned as well as the hilarious comments made by my very enthusiastic classmates. Hope you enjoy!