The World Cup and England goes very quiet.
It is not as if I really understand football. Well, I played it at school and did, believe it or not, score the odd goal or two but I was never that bothered even if it had been planted deep…
The Dying Gaul knew how to face defeat with dignity.
The Dying Gaul, (a Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic work of the late third century BC Capitoline Museums, Rome.) This piece of heroic and tragic sculpture brings to an end this week where I have been looking at classical…
From One Seated Boxer To Another.
Seated boxer (c.100-50 BC. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.) Far be it for me to compare myself to one of the greatest of all Greek sculptures but looking again at the powerful image of the Seated Boxer – I was lucky…
Some talk of Alexander……
Alexander the Great (280 BC. Archaeological Museum of Pella, Greece) Alexander The Great was a famous general who lead his armies from Iraq to over the Khyber Pass. He had genuine skill as a military tactician but was said to…
Summertime and we must all make sacrifices to the Sun God.
Apollo di Belvedere (Roman copy of Greek original, Vatican museum, Rome) I wonder if the Vegetarian Society would forgive me if I sacrificed a bullock on an altar to the sun god Apollo. One big bullock is a small price…
Footballers’ tantrums more or less in the style of Spartacus – or maybe not.
Spartacus by Denis Foyatier (1793-1863) – Louvre, Paris. “Spartacus, a Thracian prince, made Roman slave, was condemned to the lowly status of gladiator. Having escaped from prison, he raised an army of malcontents, and struck terror right into heart of…
Ronnie Lee Gardner’s death was no less barbaric for being sanitised.
I know Ronnie Lee Gardner was a convicted and confessed murderer. I know too that it was possible to see how someone with his emotional and mental history could have committed his crimes twenty-five years ago. I know that he…
Don’t Look Down, You Are On Santorini
After two weeks staying in the little town of Naousa on the Greek island of Paros, it was time to go home. Actually departure time was sooner than I expected as I discovered that there were no morning ferries to…
The Wolf Wanders Around The Island of Paros
I came on holiday to Paros in the Greek archipelago known as The Cyclades because I wanted to see if I could do what so many people do – relax by the sea in the sun for two weeks without…
A Wolf’s Life On The Greek Island Of Paros
As readers of yesterday’s blog will know, I have just come back from two weeks holiday on the Greek island of Paros in The Cyclades where I woke up to this view from my balcony every morning and felt the…