This year for NaNoWriMo I decided that instead of starting a new novel, I would make an extra effort to work on the one I already have starring Themistocles. It's been harder than I ever anticipated to write a book, but I refuse to give up on my hero of Salamis. His story is just too interesting. Thus for the next 30 days I'm going work hard to create something that I can turn into an editor/agent. That's the best thing I can do for my writing this November!
The good news is that slowly things are starting to fall into place. By tightening up the timeline and allowing myself to be creative with certain events in Herodotus it's become less of a struggle to try and fit everything in, which means I can concentrate on fleshing out my characters. After all, what attracted me to this subject in the first place was not the events themselves but the people involved in them. Everyone from Themistocles to Leonidas to Artemisia strikes me as fascinating, and the chance to write about them is pretty exciting! Hopefully people will like how I present them...
So...what are you doing for NaNoWriMo this year?
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Three Act Structure.
Over two thousand years ago Aristotle made an observation that still holds true today: drama (story) has three acts: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes it's hard to remember that when you're so close to your own story. But by re-visiting this basic principle (straight out of Ancient Greece, no less!) my story is once again moving forward. It stalls and re-starts, stalls and re-starts, but slowly and surely a more solid structure is beginning to take place in my mind. Let's hope this trend continues!
BTW, here are some possible future blog topics:
A blog concerning the new movie "Immortals"
Book review for Games & Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece
Book review for Solon The Thinker
Book review for Archaic and Classical Greek Art
Book review for Public Records Archives Classical Greece
Book review for The Glory of Hera
Book review for The Archeology of Athens
BTW, here are some possible future blog topics:
A blog concerning the new movie "Immortals"
Book review for Games & Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece
Book review for Solon The Thinker
Book review for Archaic and Classical Greek Art
Book review for Public Records Archives Classical Greece
Book review for The Glory of Hera
Book review for The Archeology of Athens
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Themistocles coming to a theater near you!
Last year I reported that Frank Miller (author of the comic 300) was doing a prequel to the story of Thermopylae known as Xerxes. This year more information is starting to hit the media about the project, namely that there will be a movie based on the new comic called 300: The Battle of Artemisium, and that the comic (and hopefully movie) will co-star...Themistocles!
300: Battle of Artemisium
Personally I couldn't be more stoked about this. Sure, the 300 series is horribly inaccurate, and of course I don't blame people for being angry by the over-the-top portrayal of both sides, but hopefully this new project will get people interested in real history.
What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Interested? Do share!
300: Battle of Artemisium
Personally I couldn't be more stoked about this. Sure, the 300 series is horribly inaccurate, and of course I don't blame people for being angry by the over-the-top portrayal of both sides, but hopefully this new project will get people interested in real history.
What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Interested? Do share!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Ancient Ecclesia: What's Old is New Again.
Has Greek history come full circle?
Today while reading about the protests in Greece (in which demonstrators have been gathering outside Athens' parliment building to protest austerity measures meant to stave off Greek insolvency), I came across this:
Every night [in Syntagma Square], the "people's assembly" gathers and decides, by a show of hands, what will be discussed. A volunteer and rotating "coordinating committee" then gives anybody who wants to speak a slip of paper with a number on it. Speakers speak for two minutes in the order numbers are drawn. The assembled then vote, with results quickly put up on a website.
What's startling about these organized meetings in Syntagma Square is that this is almost exactly what the Athenians used to do 2,500 years ago. Back then the men of the city (no women, slaves or non-citizens were allowed) would gather every week in an open space to discuss anything that affected their polis. The rotating "coordinating commitee" of today was then known as the Boule, a group of 500 citizens who set the agenda for the public assembly. The gathering place for this assembly--then known as the Ecclesia--was held on the Pynx, a rocky outcrop below the Acropolis. As with the protestors in Athens today, anybody in the Ecclesia could speak their mind on any topic, though instead of being given a number they would be given a wreath known as the Speaker's Wreath. After the speeches were finished, each item on the agenda would be voted on by a show of hands and the results posted in some sort of public forum (or at least the results were heard about from people hanging about around the market place).
Have the protestors in Syntagma Square taken a page from their ancestor's political playbook? It sure looks like it, and the ancient Ecclesia is not the only thing that they've taken their cues from. According to the same article, a group known as the "300" is collecting signatures to hold a referendum on the 110 billion euro bailout that saved Greece from bankruptcy last year in exchange for austerity. The "300" of course are named after the legendary Spartans who held their own against the massive Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae.
Although it's hard to say where Greece will go in the future, it's clear that modern Greeks are being influenced by their ancient past. I just hope that whatever happens in Greece, the result is a peaceful resolution that will be fair to everyone.
Today while reading about the protests in Greece (in which demonstrators have been gathering outside Athens' parliment building to protest austerity measures meant to stave off Greek insolvency), I came across this:
Every night [in Syntagma Square], the "people's assembly" gathers and decides, by a show of hands, what will be discussed. A volunteer and rotating "coordinating committee" then gives anybody who wants to speak a slip of paper with a number on it. Speakers speak for two minutes in the order numbers are drawn. The assembled then vote, with results quickly put up on a website.
What's startling about these organized meetings in Syntagma Square is that this is almost exactly what the Athenians used to do 2,500 years ago. Back then the men of the city (no women, slaves or non-citizens were allowed) would gather every week in an open space to discuss anything that affected their polis. The rotating "coordinating commitee" of today was then known as the Boule, a group of 500 citizens who set the agenda for the public assembly. The gathering place for this assembly--then known as the Ecclesia--was held on the Pynx, a rocky outcrop below the Acropolis. As with the protestors in Athens today, anybody in the Ecclesia could speak their mind on any topic, though instead of being given a number they would be given a wreath known as the Speaker's Wreath. After the speeches were finished, each item on the agenda would be voted on by a show of hands and the results posted in some sort of public forum (or at least the results were heard about from people hanging about around the market place).
Have the protestors in Syntagma Square taken a page from their ancestor's political playbook? It sure looks like it, and the ancient Ecclesia is not the only thing that they've taken their cues from. According to the same article, a group known as the "300" is collecting signatures to hold a referendum on the 110 billion euro bailout that saved Greece from bankruptcy last year in exchange for austerity. The "300" of course are named after the legendary Spartans who held their own against the massive Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae.
Although it's hard to say where Greece will go in the future, it's clear that modern Greeks are being influenced by their ancient past. I just hope that whatever happens in Greece, the result is a peaceful resolution that will be fair to everyone.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Themistocles & Aeschylus
Did Themistocles (mastermind of the Ancient Athenian navy) and Aeschylus (playwright extraordinaire) know each other? The answer is a probable...yes!
Aeschylus was born around 525 BCE, while Themistocles was born between 525 and 520 BCE. They both fought at Marathon, both fought at Salamis (in fact Themistocles was the architect of this famous battle) and both achieved ever-lasting fame in their lifetimes. But is there any evidence that they knew each other personally? And if so, were they friends?
The odds of them having crossed paths is more than likely considering they were in the same battles and probably ran with similar crowds. Yet there's scance evidence of direct contact...except for a small (if suspiciously belated) clue. According to the 21 Letters of Themistocles, one of his friends was named Aeschylus! Here is the letter as translated by Patricia A. Rosenmeyer:
To Aeschylus
After leaving Athens and arriving in Delphi, I decided that, if the Athenians allowed it, I would settle down to live there. On the way I bumped into some friends of mine from Argos: Nicias and Meleager, as well as Eucrates, who had recently spent time in Athens. They stood around asking me questions, and when they learned about my ostracism, they immediately grew angry and blamed the Athenians in particular. When they realized I was planning on settling in Delphi, they stopped accusing the Athenians and began reporoaching me, saying they would be insulted if I didn't accept them as suitable people to share my bad luck. They also pointed out that my father Neocles had lived for a long time in Argos, and that I shouldn't dishonor the memory of his love for Argos and his Argive friends. They also went so far as to praise the Athenians for making me pay an approriate penalty. Finally they urged me to honor them with more than just an accidental encounter, and not to insult the good luck of our meeting up. Then again they pointed to the example of Neocles, saying how appropriate it would be for me to live in the same city and home as my father once had. So, Aeschylus, they convinced me and took me to Argos. Now that I've stopped fleeing and landed in Argos, I'm suffering greatly because I won't agree to rule the Argives. They want to force me to rule, and claim that I'm acting unjustly towards them if I don't assume power. But I'm perfectly happy not being considered to be a great man, and not just because I've already been hurt, by that reputation, but also because it's enough for me to have benefited from those things when I had to.
It is also supposed by some that Aeschylus' The Persians and its mention of Salamis was the playwright's way of reminding the Athenians that they owened Themistocles a debt. (Though according to some sources, Themistocles already financed a play called The Phoenissae,which also happens to celebrate the Battle of Salamis and in fact predates The Persians. )
In any case, Aeschylus and Themistocles were certainly aware of each other, and the playwright is going to be a part of my novel for sure!
Aeschylus was born around 525 BCE, while Themistocles was born between 525 and 520 BCE. They both fought at Marathon, both fought at Salamis (in fact Themistocles was the architect of this famous battle) and both achieved ever-lasting fame in their lifetimes. But is there any evidence that they knew each other personally? And if so, were they friends?
The odds of them having crossed paths is more than likely considering they were in the same battles and probably ran with similar crowds. Yet there's scance evidence of direct contact...except for a small (if suspiciously belated) clue. According to the 21 Letters of Themistocles, one of his friends was named Aeschylus! Here is the letter as translated by Patricia A. Rosenmeyer:
To Aeschylus
After leaving Athens and arriving in Delphi, I decided that, if the Athenians allowed it, I would settle down to live there. On the way I bumped into some friends of mine from Argos: Nicias and Meleager, as well as Eucrates, who had recently spent time in Athens. They stood around asking me questions, and when they learned about my ostracism, they immediately grew angry and blamed the Athenians in particular. When they realized I was planning on settling in Delphi, they stopped accusing the Athenians and began reporoaching me, saying they would be insulted if I didn't accept them as suitable people to share my bad luck. They also pointed out that my father Neocles had lived for a long time in Argos, and that I shouldn't dishonor the memory of his love for Argos and his Argive friends. They also went so far as to praise the Athenians for making me pay an approriate penalty. Finally they urged me to honor them with more than just an accidental encounter, and not to insult the good luck of our meeting up. Then again they pointed to the example of Neocles, saying how appropriate it would be for me to live in the same city and home as my father once had. So, Aeschylus, they convinced me and took me to Argos. Now that I've stopped fleeing and landed in Argos, I'm suffering greatly because I won't agree to rule the Argives. They want to force me to rule, and claim that I'm acting unjustly towards them if I don't assume power. But I'm perfectly happy not being considered to be a great man, and not just because I've already been hurt, by that reputation, but also because it's enough for me to have benefited from those things when I had to.
It is also supposed by some that Aeschylus' The Persians and its mention of Salamis was the playwright's way of reminding the Athenians that they owened Themistocles a debt. (Though according to some sources, Themistocles already financed a play called The Phoenissae,which also happens to celebrate the Battle of Salamis and in fact predates The Persians. )
In any case, Aeschylus and Themistocles were certainly aware of each other, and the playwright is going to be a part of my novel for sure!
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Ancient Greek Recipes!
The Complete Greek Cookbook by Theresa Karas Yianilos is one of those charming little cookbooks you can only find these days in used bookstores. Published in MCMLXX according to the front page (1970), The Best From 3000 Years of Greek Cooking is an easy and enjoyable read. The recipes contained within really do cover the span of 3000 years of brilliant Greek cooking, and each recipe is presented with both its history and a surprisingly easy-to-follow list of instructions (though ingredients like camel may be hard to find these days).
Below are a few ancient recipes taken from the book that not only sound delicious, but are full of interesting facts!
Archaic Bread
The earliest kind of Greek bread was a simple, flat, hard crusted hearth bread, coarse and heavy because the barley flour used in it had a low gluten content. This ancient recipe, described tby Athenaeus in a third century book on cookery is still followed in the Near East.
2 cups warm water or scalded milk cooled to lukewarm
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons barley meal
6 cups flour, barley or stone ground whole wheat
Mix all ingredients except flour into a 2 quart jar. Place jar in a pan of hot water and let stand in a warm place free of drafts until fermentation begins--aproximately twelve hours or more. Replace hot water every 4 hours. Mix in 2 cups of the flour. Set aside once again in a warm place. Replace hot water in pan. A sponge should be formed in 4 to 6 hours. Put 4 cups flour in a bowl, make a well, and add sponge. Kneed well, lightly dusting your hands with flour until dough is smooth. Shape and put into oiled loaf pan. Cover with damp towel and place in a draft-free place to rise for 4 to 6 hours. It will not rise as high as modern breads. Bake in preheated over at 375 F. for 10 minutes. Reduct to 350 F. 50 minutes.
Boned Oysters
This recipe comes from Chares of Mytilene, Lesbos, an historian of the 3rd Century.
"Use only the large Asiatic oysters caught in the Indian Ocearn, Black Sea, or the Persian and Arabian gulfs. Use the delicious white meat only. Discard the round white bone sometimes discovered inside theshell--or give it to some Persian. They seem to prefer these bones to gold; they call them 'pearls'."
1 dozen oysters, fresh or frozen
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste
Drain liquid from jar. Roll in flour. Heat it until hot in a large frying pan. Fry oysters on medium-high heat for 5 minutes turning over once. Sprinkle with seasonings and serve.
Athenian Cheese Cake
Thousand of years ago, the respected Greek poet and gourmet, Archestratus wrote "Forget all other dessert, there is only one: the Athenian cheese cake with Attica honey from Hymettus."
Filling:
4 eggs, separated
12/ cup honey or sugar
1 lemon, juice and rind
1/2 cup flour
1 pond pot cheese, either small curd cottage, hoop mezithra or cream
1 cup sour cream or yogurt
Crust:
1 cup crumbs from zwiback rusks, cookies or graham crackers
1/4 cup ground walnuts or almonds
2 tablespons oil or butter
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff (with a sprinkle of salt). In a blender blend yolks, honey, lemon juice, rind, floud and cheese for a few seconds. Fold batter into egg whites using spatula. Fold in sour cream. In a separate bowl mix crumbs and nuts together. Grease the bottom and sides of a large cake pan or spring-form cake pan. Spread crumbs over bottom and sides. Pour mixture in cake pan and bake at 325 F. for 45 minutes. Chill in cake pan 6 hours before cutting and serving.
Spiced Wine Hippocrates
This is a prescirption concoted by the great physician Hippocrates who lived in the fifth century BC. He even invented a bag in which to filter his wine!
Serves 6
1 quart wine, red or white
1 cup honey
3 cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon orange peel
Mix all ingredients and heat slowly over low heat. Strain into decanter or cup.
Roast Camel Aristotle
In ancient Greece camel was served to royalty. Aristophanes mentions camel meat in his writings, and Aristotle praises it as being tasty.
Allow 1 pound meat per person: hump, stomach, or feet
Marinade:
1 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon oregano
cumin and coriander
Mix marinade ina bowl. Marinade camel for four hours turning meat over if skewered.
Spoon sauce over meat if left whole. Bake for 2 to 3 hours at 325 F. or allow 30 minutes per pound.
The Complete Greek Cookbook contains 300 delicious recipes that with time and patience can be mastered by anyone. It's a great introduction to Greek cooking and full of awesome historical facts that will not only appease your inner chef, but your inner historican as well. :)
Monday, May 09, 2011
More Awesome Books on Greece!
I apologize for not updating more regularly, Gentle Readers. Sometimes I go through peaks and valleys with my writing, and lately I'm not sure where my enthusiasm ran off to. As always when this happens, I try to look for something that will inspire me. And so I headed to a nearby used bookstore for ideas, and look what I found!
One is a Greek cookbook that contains both ancient and modern Greek meals (I've already highlighted all sorts of interesting recipes), and the other is a book exploring how certain tales out of Greek mythology may have reflected the turbulant real-life relations between family members in ancient times.
I'm also looking forward to getting this book in the mail:
The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization
It's written by Jim Lacey, a military historian and a combat veteran. I'm hoping his research will help me understand the layout of Marathon better and what it was actually like to fight there. (The Battle of Marathon is the opening chapter of my story, and despite having other books on the subject it's been a real struggle for me to write about.)
More thoughts and updates coming soon!
One is a Greek cookbook that contains both ancient and modern Greek meals (I've already highlighted all sorts of interesting recipes), and the other is a book exploring how certain tales out of Greek mythology may have reflected the turbulant real-life relations between family members in ancient times.
I'm also looking forward to getting this book in the mail:
The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization
It's written by Jim Lacey, a military historian and a combat veteran. I'm hoping his research will help me understand the layout of Marathon better and what it was actually like to fight there. (The Battle of Marathon is the opening chapter of my story, and despite having other books on the subject it's been a real struggle for me to write about.)
More thoughts and updates coming soon!
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