Homer meets Hollywood: Troy 2

Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is the source of inspiration for the movie, Troy, in which well known actors and actresses take the roles of the famous Greek and Trojan heroes and characters of the saga of the Trojan War.











Priam (Peter O'Toole) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) considering the sword of Troy.




The Greek ships land on the Trojan shore.





Sean Bean as Odysseus, who thinks of the scheme of the Trojan Horse.






The Trojan Horse enters the city of Troy, once the Greeks seem to have left the shores of the kingdom.

Homer meets Hollywood: Troy 1

Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is the source of inspiration for the movie, Troy, in which well known actors and actresses take the roles of the famous Greek and Trojan heroes and characters of the saga of the Trojan War.








Brad Pitt as Achilles






Orlando Bean and
Diane Kruger as
Paris and Helen

Eric Bana as Hector










Rose Byrne as Briseis



Brian Cox as Agamemnon









Achilles

Quis est in Vikipaedia? LCJ!

Guess who has turned up in the pages of Wikipedia? Noster amicus Lucius Caecilius Iucundus.
Check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Caecilius_Iucundus

or try the link to the right under Latin Links ----->

Boudicca, queen of the Iceni

The Roman historian, Tacitus, describes Boudicca, about to lead her Briton army into battle against the powerful Roman forces:

"Boudicca, in a [chariot], with her two daughters before her, drove through the ranks. She harangued the different nations in their turn: 'This," she said, 'is not the first time that the Britons have been led to battle by a woman.' But now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of ancestry, nor even to recover her kingdom and the plundered wealth of her family. She took the field, like the most lowly among them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body which had been whipped with ignominious stripes, and for her two daughters so cruelly ravished."


Even though her rebellion was repressed by the Romans, Boudicca has become a national heroine in Great Britain, as this modern statue of her shows. What values does she represent? Why would she be a leader to look up to?

Augustus: Princeps, Liberator Romae, Divus

Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus, Pater Patriae, Caesar Augustus....


was a master of public relations and image making. Shown above is the famous statue of Augustus, known as the Augustus Prima Porta. Follow the link on the right to understand more about this statue.

Below is a famous cameo, the Gemma Augustea, which shows Augustus on a throne, like Juppiter, with his zodiac sign (Capricorn) on the disk next to him. Follow the link to "Augustus, Images of Power" to learn more about the other figures on the cameo.

Lutetia Parisiorum

LUTETIA PARISORUM

Salvete, discipuli! adsum in Gallia, in Lutetia Parisiorum. eram laeta ubi vidi hanc statuam.

It is right down the street from the Ecole des Chartes, where I am teaching this month. Of course, it is the statue of __________ and ___________ being nursed by the Lupa. The inscription is in Latin (naturally!) and looks like this:


Can you read some of the words? Mr. Finch will help you with the translation!

If you click the web-site to the right of this post, you will see some good information about the Roman city that was here before Paris: it was called Lutetia Parisiorum (note that genitive plural!)

Cleopatra

Here are some images of Cleopatra. Can you identify most of them? Which are Roman and which are Egyptian?



What language is this inscription written in? Can you find Cleopatra's name?

Which of Cleopatra's two husbands is shown on this coin?
Notice Cleopatra's hair-do and her pearl necklace on the coin. Why are they both signficant?