Of Men and Muses

Well Book 1 is here!  It’s not my monograph, however.  Two more yet to go this year!

Richard Carrier’s New Book

Richard Carrier recently published a new book! (No, it is not his Jesus book–he is still working on that one) Check out his blog post about it here: http://richardcarrier.blogspot.com/2009/02/not-impossible-faith.html

Also check out his book (as in ‘pick up a copy’) at Lulu here: http://www.lulu.com/content/4580954

An Amusing Graffito

Pompeii and Herculaneum provide some 11,000 inscriptions for scholars to study, most of them bring in Latin (although there are many still which are Oscan, Greek, Etruscan and at times, combinations of these). These inscriptions give a glimpse of what life was like at Pompeii from around 30 BCE to 79 CE shortly before its destruction, so it is easy for modern scholars to appreciate them. But apparently this wasn’t always the case. Unaware of his city’s impending doom and the usefulness of the writing on the wall, one rather interesting fellow lamented the following:

Ad miror te paries non c[e]cidisse qui tot scriptorum taedia sustineas.

Translation (given by Rex E. Wallace):

O wall, I am amazed that you have not fallen down since you support the loathsome scribblings of so many writers.

As Wallace aptly puts it in his An Introduction to Wall Inscriptions from Pompeii and Herculaneum (2005), “While we can understand the sentiments of the writer, at the same time we are grateful to those who have, by means of their scribblings, provided us with an invaluable means for gaining insight into the affairs and the language of the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the first century AD.” (pp. xxiii-xxiv)

Richard Carrier on ‘How Not to Argue the Mythicist Position’

This is quite a good explanation for the differences between actual, serious scholars who accept the Mythicist position compared to uncritical, shoddy research by the likes of Graves, Gandy and Freke, and more recently the Zeitgeist Movie.  I recommend everyone, both detractors of Mythicism and those who are persuaded by it, listen to this interview.  It is a great show.  Feel free to ask any questions you feel are not adequately answered by Richard and I’d be happy to offer my own interpretation of the data.

http://odeo.com/episodes/7840813-Richard-Carrier-How-Not-to-Argue-The-Mythicist-Position

Some things that are covered: James’ mention in Paul and Josephus, Mary the mother of Jesus, poor research and shoddy publications of nonscholars and nonhistorians who have published books over the past few years on the Mythicist position, the Testimonium in Josephus, Origin’s parallels philologically to the James’ passage in Josephus, the genre of the Gospels…and much more!

Gossip from Pompeii: A Brief Excursus

I know I have not written anything in a while, partly because I have been so busy with working on a new collection of essays I am putting together with Bob Price and partly because I have been working on articles for another collection of essays I am contributing to, that I have not had the time to blog (even though I really, really want to).   In between drilling myself silly with book proposals, abstracts, and contacting contributors, I have managed to start working on the article concerning ancient literature, literacy and model use in antiquity that I promised a few months ago.

During my research for the article, I have been very interested in Pompeii as a possible example for one of the points I make throughout.  In Pompeii, there are some 11,000 instances of the written word.  Some of these instances show signs of bilingual semi-literates (where something is written in Latin, but in the Greek alphabet), which belay the influence of Greek culture on the region prior to the war which later brought that region of Italy into the Roman empire.  Other instances are far more elaborate (like official inscriptions) or less than fascinating (like who is in love with who).

The questions that I feel are important concerning literacy rely primarily on the banal.  Much of this will be covered in the main article, however the question must be asked; if the common man or woman (much less frequently) could write graffiti on the side of a building, or could even write their name, what does that imply about their level of literacy?  Who would be able to read the graffiti anyway?  What purpose would literacy even have in the commoners life?  These questions aside (like I said, answered in the main article I am working on), while reading through some of the graffiti, I had more than my share of chuckles.  I thought as a quick blog post I would share some of them with you.  You might see similar graffiti above urinals in a public restroom. (The Complete Pompeii, p. 102)

• Samius to Cornelius: go hand yourself!
• Chios, I hope your piles irritate you so they burn like they’ve never burned before!
• Lucilla was making money from her body.
• I hate poor people.  Anyone who asks for anything free is a fool; he should hand over his money and take the goods.
• At Nuceria, look for Novema Prumgenia near the Roman gate in the prostitute district.
• Virgula to her broke Tertius: you’re a dirty old man.

Jason and the Argonauts – Skeleton Fight

This is one of my favorite scenes from any 1960’s movie dealing with mythology.  The scene here is at the end of the movie.  I still think the animation here is better than CGI in a lot of movies.  (But I have a bias, as Jason and the voyage of the Argo is one of my favorite cyclic epics from antiquity)  Enjoy.

(Added) This is a scene from Sinbad; I just really like the skeleton fight scenes.

Believe in Zeus? Athena? You’re not alone.

Over the past eight years or so, Greek religious activists have been claiming persecution–and they aren’t Christian! They’re polytheists who (still) believe in the God’s of the classic Hellenes! They have been persecuted (almost ironically) by the Orthodox Greek Catholic church. In this little tidbit of irony, the President of Greek Clergymen says:

“They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past”

Hm…”wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past?” Sounds a lot like this guy to me:

Latin mass?  Wishes to turn around every sociological and theological decision made by his predecessor?  Looks like Emperor Palpatine?  No, couldn’t be that he is trying to return to the dark delusions of the past.  This, the same guy who said “The church needs to withstand the tides of trends and the latest novelties…”  But enough about him.

Apparently there are some 100,000 expected worshipers of the 12 Gods of Olympus. Full article here.

Jew and Greek Then and Now

Jew and Greek Then and Now

By Thomas Verenna

The book I am currently working on, even though dealing primarily with Gospel and Epistle exegesis, is really not about origins at all. It is a book on culture, assimilation and compromise. I spend a lot of time discussing authorial intent, knowing full well the writers themselves, even Paul, had formal schooling as Greeks, even though they were in fact Jews all along. This project has been more than just a look into the past; it has opened my eyes to the present in new ways. Assimilation into new cultures, simply put, is a double-edged sword.

What I mean to say is regardless of intent or motive behind someone’s own decision to assimilate, a compromise must always be made. The dynamic of Jew and Greek in antiquity are the most extreme case of such compromise. The Torah lays out strict rules, many of which (whether by redaction, late authorship, or coincidence) conflict with Hellenistic lifestyle. The observance of certain Greek feast days, acknowledging other gods and religion, eating certain foods, wearing certain clothing, and lest we not forget,*ahem* “mingling with a perverse spirit.”

Even prior to the Hellenistic age, so much of Jewish culture seems to stem from assimilation into previous cultures, whether it is from conquest or even the willful choice to move into the Diaspora because of better living conditions. Much of the Hebrew Bible is literary trope developed from other ancient Near Eastern cultures like the Assyrians, Babylonians, or the Hittites. The early polytheistic and henotheistic past of Judah and Samaria reflect Canaanite pantheons. The Sumerian flood epic of Gilgamesh has imbedded itself into the composition of the Jewish version rather deeply.

During the Hellenistic period, Jews seem to have been confronted by the great literary prowess of the Greeks at that time. This does not imply the Jews did not have their own literary traditions; rather they were confronted by a new set of traditions, including new genre styles and epics, philosophy, plays, new sings which probably contained rather dissonant sounds that amused and entertained and caused curiosity in the People of the Book so used to singing a different king of hymn. I would have to imagine that is why the Jewish Diaspora grew so immensely during the Hellenistic period, with large populations in regions where it had become a diverse melting pot of ideas, music, literature, art and philosophy.

Jews everywhere made compromises in their religious practices, their faith, and their traditions to better assimilate themselves within this ‘other’ ancient culture, to the very extent that even the pros most hostile to the idea of assimilation are in fact written in Greek! What does this mean? Jews that had the ability to write and read in Greek had to attend a Greek school for years to learn from a Grammatikos. In other words, they had to assimilate into the culture in order to be able to write against it. This is what I mean by double-edged sword.

This has led me to question the whole process of assimilation and literature in antiquity in general. But, more recently, it has challenged me to examine my own assimilation into the culture I have been raised in. I am an American, but originally my family line stems from two places: Sicily and the Ukraine.

On my Italian side, my grandfather has only maintained a very limited number of Italian traditions (my favorite among them is when the family gets together on Sundays to eat dinner together). My grandfather, however, was raised as a first generation American, in a household where both English and Italian were spoken. He lived in an Italian neighborhood in Jersey and had Italian friends (and to this day they always hang out together in their old hang-outs). Now approaching 90, he can barely recall Italian words—but it is not because he is old and senile. Conversely, he walks briskly, thinks sharply, and lives normally. But he made compromises.

On my mother’s side, the Ukrainian side, my Grandmother was a first generation American as well. Her mother, who I knew only a short time and affectionately as Baabaa, spoke Ukrainian and had escaped the country only narrowly missing Communist Russia. My Grandmother had several sisters, and all them used to, at one point, speak Ukrainian. My mother, with her four brothers, grew up in the 1970’s culture that nearly eradicated their desire to participate in the many Ukrainian traditions my Grandmother and their aunts still knew of and kept. They were so thorough in their apathy towards these traditions that my Grandmother, today, barely recalls enough Ukrainian to speak to her sisters in it. She had made compromises.

America is no place for Italian or Ukrainian traditions anymore—only American traditions. And the sad thing is, as Americans, we are damn proud of this. We as a country despise the fact that there are multi-lingual menus at restaurants. We cannot stand that little extra packet of instructions on an Ikea lamp set in French or Spanish. And just where the hell do those Europa’s get off calling soccer “football” anyway? But it goes even further than just traditions and language in this country. Just like the Jews in antiquity, Christians and Jews today must find a way to cope with a culture that is highly structured on the pillars of greed, covetousness, lust and consumerism.

How does a Christian reconcile the words attributed to Jesus in the Gospels to the rich man on the road? How can a Christian give up all they own, to the point of living in a box, in a country consumed by capitalism? How can a Christian follow the means of community found in Acts, the idea of communal living, in a country where having your own property is not just a ‘right’ but a status quo, even a status symbol? How can a Christians ‘love thy neighbor’ when that neighbor won’t shut up that damned dog from barking at 3am after repeated talks about it?

Just the same, how does a Jew not work on the Sabbath when we live in a culture where our days off fall on weekends and where clubs bump some great hits on Saturday night? How can a Jew get around the fact that some of the best outfits come in polyester blends? And just what are you supposed to do about hotdogs and ribs, anyway (especially during football and baseball season)? Sure there are 100% cotton clothes, kosher foods, and people you can hire to turn on the lights for you on a Saturday, but all of these things are pretty ‘unAmerican’ by the standards of pop-culture. Compromises are made.

And yet, I’m not writing this observation in Italian or Ukrainian (if I could even recall any Ukrainian, that is). I’m writing this all in English, which I learned from what seems like 75% of my life sitting at a desk in an American classroom in an American school where people go to become assimilated into American culture. And even though I find this assimilation depressing, I realize its necessity. I love being an American, although I am insanely jealous of Europeans (who managed to swing by the last 8 years without being turn inside out by a Bush Administration).

When the average person talks with me about history, I often find that they don’t think about these little intricacies. The see history as a bunch of tattered buildings, a grave stone or two, a battlefield with a MacDonald’s plopped right in the middle of where Pickett’s Charge took place. It is so incredibly easy to ignore the fact that what history is, what it means to you and I, are people. What we are talking about are people. American’s are reliving the world of the Hellenistic Diaspora. We are the Greek and the Jew. And just like them, we too make compromises. Hopefully we can manage to save a little bit of our own traditions along with maintaining the new (old) ones.