An Etiquette of Crowns, Floral and Verdant

At the beginning of Plato’s Republic, specifically at 328b-c, the elderly Cephalus is wearing a wreath upon his head because he had just finished offering divine sacrifices in the courtyard. In addition to generic ritual wreaths, ones that use specific materials — laurel, bay, rosemary, olive, oak, and so on — have been used for millennia … Continue reading An Etiquette of Crowns, Floral and Verdant

A Miscellany of Quotations — Reading Proclus’ Essays 7-10 on the Republic in French

In January 2020, I read the first volume (of three planned) that contains essay-style commentaries that Proclus had written on the Republic of Plato. I am reading the Republic, so it seemed useful to read both simultaneously. Essays 4, 5, and 6 are lovely things; I recommend reading the new translation, which was done by … Continue reading A Miscellany of Quotations — Reading Proclus’ Essays 7-10 on the Republic in French

Happy Anthesteria 2020 (699.3)

Montsechia vidalii. (2017, March 18). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 23:24, February 5, 2020. Cropped photo. This is one of the world's oldest flowering plant fossils. Changes There is no snow this Anthesteria,no struggling walk in half-darkness,only the old decay of late-fall leaves,flocks of black birds fleeing skyward,the air too sticky, the grass yet … Continue reading Happy Anthesteria 2020 (699.3)