the happy wanderer - Greek and Roman galleries

Greek and Roman galleries

Sep. 10th, 2007 at 10:28 AM

I, Hercules, command you. Witness the brave stranglehold this andala has upon the light of Olympus*, hereby inscribed upon your magic screen. By the Gods!

* What he means is that I took photos of the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and posted a handful of them in this journal for your enjoyment.

The Kiss

Your eyes are fire, Timarian, your kiss birdlime.
You look at me and I burn. You touch me and I stick!

- Meleagros

Repose

Lounge in the shade of the luxuriant laurel's
beautiful foliage. And now drink sweet water
from the cold spring so that your limbs weary
with summer toil will find rest in the west wind.

- Antye

Passage of Time

One thousand years, ten thousand years
are but a tiny dot,
the smallest segment of a point,
and invisible hair.

- Simonides

On Streetwalkers

Although we call these women loose,
they tighten their thighs around thighs.

- Anakreon

A City of Ten Thousand In Tears

May I meet death without tears. But let my death
bring sorrow and mourning to my friends.

- Solon

Love Poem

My child--Star--you gaze at the stars,
and I wish I were the firmament
that I might watch you with many eyes.

- Plato

Pan

Be still, green cliff of the Dryads. Be still,
springs bubbling among rocks, and confused noisy
bleating of the ewes.
For it is Pan playing on his honey-voiced pipe.
His supple lips race over the clustered reeds,
while all round him
a ring of dancers spring up on joyful feet:
Nymphs of the Water and Nymphs of the Oak
Forest.

- Plato

Epitaph of a Sailor

I am the tomb of a drowned sailor. Sail on.
Even while we sank, the others sped away.

- Theodoridas

The Shape of the Earth

At our feet we see this end of the earth
where it rises to meet the firmament.
Below, the world sinks down unendingly.

- Xenophanes

Loss

Virginity, virginity, when you leave me,
where do you go?

I am gone and never come back to you.
I never return.

- Sappho

(See also

minn's photos)

Mood: amused
Music:KMFDM - Headcase

Comments

( Watch the clouds )

minn wrote:

Sep. 11th, 2007 04:31 am (UTC)

You taught me the art of photographing statues, you know. You taught me how to breathe life into them, so they talk to you, sing to you, and recite Greek poetry.

Wonderful photos. Your choice of b/w couldn't be more perfect, either. I also enjoyed the very clever and fitting selection of the poems!

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