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The Classics Society Mk II

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Reply 1580
Original post by Sappho
Gotta love the fact they take us to places usually locked from the public... :colone:


That sounds ideal. To add to your no doubt enormous Athenian list of potential visitations, let me put in a word for two places sometimes overlooked.

Cycladic Museum (Neophytou Douka, off Vas. Sophias). Really interesting collection, beautifully housed.

Kerameikos Cemetery (western end of Ermou). Tranquil and evocative with good small museum and friendly tortoises.

As with all museums and sites, if you are not going on a prearranged visit, check opening times. Even the NAM shuts at 15.00.
Original post by Apeiron
That sounds ideal. To add to your no doubt enormous Athenian list of potential visitations, let me put in a word for two places sometimes overlooked.

Cycladic Museum (Neophytou Douka, off Vas. Sophias). Really interesting collection, beautifully housed.

Kerameikos Cemetery (western end of Ermou). Tranquil and evocative with good small museum and friendly tortoises.

As with all museums and sites, if you are not going on a prearranged visit, check opening times. Even the NAM shuts at 15.00.


Not many cemeteries who could use that as a selling point.:turtle: I'd love to go to Greece, its finding someone to go with me. My Greek is none existent, even though my aunt's family is Greek.
Reply 1582
Original post by Apeiron
That sounds ideal. To add to your no doubt enormous Athenian list of potential visitations, let me put in a word for two places sometimes overlooked.

Cycladic Museum (Neophytou Douka, off Vas. Sophias). Really interesting collection, beautifully housed.

Kerameikos Cemetery (western end of Ermou). Tranquil and evocative with good small museum and friendly tortoises.

As with all museums and sites, if you are not going on a prearranged visit, check opening times. Even the NAM shuts at 15.00.


The Kerameikos is on our list, the Cycladic Museum isn't. Something for our free day, I guess :smile: Thanks for the tip!
All this talk of Greece *sits in the rain*.

You guys know how to make me jealous.

I was just pondering, whilst having my waxing done (I'm so lovely), was it the Romans who started the whole hairless thing?

I know their men were all clean shaven, but was it common for women as well?
Original post by skunky x
All this talk of Greece *sits in the rain*.

You guys know how to make me jealous.

I was just pondering, whilst having my waxing done (I'm so lovely), was it the Romans who started the whole hairless thing?

I know their men were all clean shaven, but was it common for women as well?


Lol no one "started it", what an odd sentiment. For what its worth there are finds from as far back as Sumeria which have been identified at feminine cosmetics kits. Everything from hair removal to rouge. Crete (LMII onwards) is reasonably good for those sort of things too.

In general, its an evolutionary imperative.

Also the Roman = clean shaven thing is a bit of a misnomer. It was certainly the norm in most of the military until Trajan's day (helmet strap) but the archaic Romans were fabulously bearded (hence the poetic phrase "bearded kings" and all its kennings) and obviously beards were in and out of fashion throughout the Roman empire. Read Julian's "Beard Haters", for example.

When we talk of clean shaven Romans we generally mean late republic fashion. It was also fashionable for women to wear red wigs during this time too.

EDIT: Also just remembered the finds of what, residual analysis tells us, were waxing pots in the Indus valley civilisations which a variety of implementing tools, in other words it wasn't only their legs they were waxing. :s-smilie:
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by The Lyceum
Lol no one "started it", what an odd sentiment. For what its worth there are finds from as far back as Sumeria which have been identified at feminine cosmetics kits. Everything from hair removal to rouge. Crete (LMII onwards) is reasonably good for those sort of things too.

In general, its an evolutionary imperative.

Also the Roman = clean shaven thing is a bit of a misnomer. It was certainly the norm in most of the military until Trajan's day (helmet strap) but the archaic Romans were fabulously bearded (hence the poetic phrase "bearded kings" and all its kennings) and obviously beards were in and out of fashion throughout the Roman empire. Read Julian's "Beard Haters", for example.

When we talk of clean shaven Romans we generally mean late republic fashion. It was also fashionable for women to wear red wigs during this time too.

EDIT: Also just remembered the finds of what, residual analysis tells us, were waxing pots in the Indus valley civilisations which a variety of implementing tools, in other words it wasn't only their legs they were waxing. :s-smilie:


How interesting! Feel a bit silly now, but Ancient Hair Removal is kinda fun to think about...

I know it's not necessarily who 'started' it, but at some point women and men must have not removed their hair and been all natural, and then decided that they preferred to be hair less, for whatever reason...
Original post by The Lyceum
Lol no one "started it", what an odd sentiment. For what its worth there are finds from as far back as Sumeria which have been identified at feminine cosmetics kits. Everything from hair removal to rouge. Crete (LMII onwards) is reasonably good for those sort of things too. In general, its an evolutionary imperative. Also the Roman = clean shaven thing is a bit of a misnomer. It was certainly the norm in most of the military until Trajan's day (helmet strap) but the archaic Romans were fabulously bearded (hence the poetic phrase "bearded kings" and all its kennings) and obviously beards were in and out of fashion throughout the Roman empire. Read Julian's "Beard Haters", for example. When we talk of clean shaven Romans we generally mean late republic fashion. It was also fashionable for women to wear red wigs during this time too. EDIT: Also just remembered the finds of what, residual analysis tells us, were waxing pots in the Indus valley civilisations which a variety of implementing tools, in other words it wasn't only their legs they were waxing. :s-smilie:
Well, I'm sure someone, somewhere must have started it, because other primates don't do it (to my knowledge), so it must be a human innovation -- obviously, we'll never know who the first person/group was though, because it presumably happened when we were first getting to grips with tool use in the prehistoric era.

And, as you say, it's an evolutionary imperative: we're just finishing off what nature started (i.e. we've also been evolving to become less hairy than our ancestors). But shaving one's Jenny Taylor is obviously tapping into our biological tendency to find youngish girls most attractive (since they're most fertile and likely to produce the healthiest offspring) -- because young girls are rightly out-of-bounds in our society, older women are presumably taking over their evolutionary role (and so the markers of it, like hairlessness through shaving and neotenized ["baby-face"] facial features through make-up etc.).

Also, this is quite interesting about beards in Rome:[INDENT]
The first time of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival (Juv. Sat. III.186). There was no particular time fixed for this to be done. Usually, however, it was done when the young Roman assumed the toga virilis (Suet. Calig. 10). Augustus did it in his 24th year; Caligula in his 20th. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to some god. Thus Nero put his up in a gold box, set with pearls, and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus (Suet. Ner. 12).

[/INDENT]
[INDENT="2"](source) [/INDENT]

EDIT: Maybe you can go to Greece with Red Dragon, Skunky; he did say that he's looking for a travel companion. :biggrin:
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 1587
I was just wondering, what does the Mk in our title stand for?
Original post by Sappho
I was just wondering, what does the Mk in our title stand for?
Mark, as in top secret government projects (e.g. MK-ULTRA) or like with cars (e.g. Jaguar Mark II). In other words, it just means "version two".

I'd have voted for filum secundum myself. But maybe that would have unnecessarily disadvantaged our non-Latin-literate friends.

EDIT: Here's what Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_(designation)
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 1589
Original post by jismith1989
Mark, as in top secret government projects (e.g. MK-ULTRA) or like with cars (e.g. Jaguar Mark II). In other words, it just means "version two".

I'd have voted for filum secundum myself. But maybe that would have unnecessarily disadvantaged our non-Latin-literate friends.


Sigh. I understand, rather disadvantage the people unfamiliar with English than the ones unfamiliar with Latin. O tempora...
Original post by Sappho
Sigh. I understand, rather disadvantage the people unfamiliar with English than the ones unfamiliar with Latin. O tempora...
:biggrin: Senatus haec intellegit. Consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit?

Yet I think we can pardon big-bang-theory -- he was obviously well aware of how nimbly you'd cope with any obstacles put in your path.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 1591
Original post by jismith1989
how nimbly you'd cope with any obstacles put in your path.


:laugh: Nice try to shut me up.
Reply 1592
Guys, is there anything I can do when I feel that the OLD is not giving me enough information on the use or sound of a word? :frown:
Original post by jismith1989
Maybe you can go to Greece with Red Dragon, Skunky; he did say that he's looking for a travel companion. :biggrin:


Don't tempt me! My overdraft hurts enough as it is - as much as I'd love to buy new summer clothes and gallivant around Greece with someone who appreciates Classics as much as I do! Even though I have limited knowledge...!

Interesting what you wrote on hair removal though. Didn't realise it was about looking younger and all - especially as to my limited knowledge, post-Classical Era, people were just young free and hairy!
Original post by Sappho
Guys, is there anything I can do when I feel that the OLD is not giving me enough information on the use or sound of a word? :frown:


TLL is the easiest thing and will probably fix it for you.
Original post by Apeiron
That sounds ideal. To add to your no doubt enormous Athenian list of potential visitations, let me put in a word for two places sometimes overlooked.

Cycladic Museum (Neophytou Douka, off Vas. Sophias). Really interesting collection, beautifully housed.

Kerameikos Cemetery (western end of Ermou). Tranquil and evocative with good small museum and friendly tortoises.

As with all museums and sites, if you are not going on a prearranged visit, check opening times. Even the NAM shuts at 15.00.


really??? I walk this street all the time...how could I not have seen it?

I miss Athens now :frown:
14 pages of notes, full of graphs and charts detailing lemmata by usage and..my original theory falls apart. Right now, a few weeks before I have to hand in this paper. So I'm left with lots of meticulously farmed data with no sensible way of dealing with it.

Clearly its time to improvise.
Reply 1597
Original post by The Lyceum
TLL is the easiest thing and will probably fix it for you.

I shall consult it, cheers!
Original post by *Corinna*
really??? I walk this street all the time...how could I not have seen it?

I miss Athens now :frown:

Are you definitely in Germany when I'm in Athens now?

Also: The doooog :woo:
Original post by The Lyceum
14 pages of notes, full of graphs and charts detailing lemmata by usage and..my original theory falls apart. Right now, a few weeks before I have to hand in this paper. So I'm left with lots of meticulously farmed data with no sensible way of dealing with it.

Clearly its time to improvise.

And time to take a deep breath and at least try to calm down a bit. We all know that you can do it. Hang in there, it will soon be over :smile: Goood luck!
Reply 1598
Original post by The Lyceum
TLL is the easiest thing and will probably fix it for you.

I shall consult it, cheers!
Original post by *Corinna*
really??? I walk this street all the time...how could I not have seen it?

I miss Athens now :frown:

Are you definitely in Germany when I'm in Athens now?

Also: The doooog :woo:
Original post by The Lyceum
14 pages of notes, full of graphs and charts detailing lemmata by usage and..my original theory falls apart. Right now, a few weeks before I have to hand in this paper. So I'm left with lots of meticulously farmed data with no sensible way of dealing with it.

Clearly its time to improvise.

And time to take a deep breath and at least try to calm down a bit. We all know that you can do it. Hang in there, it will soon be over :smile: Goood luck!


PS: Good gracious, I can't believe I've never looked at the TLL, but wow, what a chaos. Righto, Sappho, time to famliarise yourself with something...
Original post by Sappho
I shall consult it, cheers!

Are you definitely in Germany when I'm in Athens now?

Also: The doooog :woo:

And time to take a deep breath and at least try to calm down a bit. We all know that you can do it. Hang in there, it will soon be over :smile: Goood luck!


PS: Good gracious, I can't believe I've never looked at the TLL, but wow, what a chaos. Righto, Sappho, time to famliarise yourself with something...



no actually, if I don't go for a PhD next year (which might happen :frown: ) I might be in Athens.

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