Friday, April 26, 2024
Home Blog Page 305

Ares, The Underwhelming God Of War

By
thehistorianshut
-

(The Combat of Ares and Athena (cropped), by Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The ancient Greek god of war, Ares, remains one of the most famous of the old Olympian gods. With an impressive title like ‘god of war,’ Ares definitely had the benefit of the brute, devilish appeal of strength and power to ensure his longevity. The violent character of Ares (or Romanized Mars) has found a home in television, cinema, novels and video games, where people enjoy observing the god of war raise all sorts of chaos and bloodshed. Yet, the ironic reality of Ares is that despite his modern depiction as the ultimate tough-guy, the Ares of Greek myth was a bit of a pushover compared to the other Olympian gods.

The god of war should be given his due before his modern image is besmirched—here are some of Ares’ undeniable victories from myth. For one, Ares was the one who subdued Sisyphos, a man who had previously overwhelmed a god of death named Thanatos. Another of his exploits occurred after Ares’ agent/offspring—the serpent Dracon—was slaughtered by Cadmus of Thebes. In response, Ares turned Cadmus, as well as his wife, into serpents. In another story, Ares’ lover, Aphrodite, had an affair with a man named Adonis. In a jealous rage, Ares turned into a boar and murdered the unfortunate mortal—which, I suppose, is a victory of sorts for Ares. One more memorable achievement of Ares was his revenge killing of Hallirhothios, a son of the ocean god, Poseidon. Hallirhothios had raped one of Ares’ daughters, and when the god of war heard about this crime, he personally hunted down and slaughtered the rapist. Poseidon put Ares on trial for murder, but the god of war was acquitted.

Now that the achievements of Ares have been discussed, let’s look at some of the god of war’s numerous failures and embarrassments. As mentioned earlier, Ares and Aphrodite were lovers, but there was a problem—in common mythology, Aphrodite was married to the smith god, Hephaestus. In one story, Hephaestus snared his unfaithful wife and the god of war in a golden net and allowed all of the gods of Olympus to ridicule the pair.

That embarrassment was for love, but Ares had multiple defeats in his area of expertise—war and battle. Ares was one of multiple gods to be injured by Heracles (or Hercules), the son of Zeus. Yet, because so many other gods were harmed by Heracles (including Hera and Hades), it is not fair to give this point too much credence. During the Trojan War, however, Ares was constantly defeated by the military prowess of Athena, and was even knocked off his feet in a one-on-one duel with her. Yet, the most humiliating story has to be Ares’ fight against the two virtually indestructible giants, Otus and Ephialtes—known as the Aloadai. When Ares faced the giants, he was simply scooped up and stuffed into a bronze jar. The goddess Artemis succeeded where Ares had failed by successfully tricking the giants into killing each other. Even after the death of the Aloadai, Ares remained imprisoned. Hermes finally saved the pitiful god of war after he had spent around 13 months trapped in his bronze jar prison.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

Anna Komnene

By
thehistorianshut
-

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

“The truth is, all barbarians are usually fickle and by nature are unable to keep their pledges.”

  • From The Alexiad (Book VII, chapter 6) by Anna Komnene, translated by E. R. A. Sewter (Penguin Classics, 2009).

 

Geoffrey Chaucer Was Captured By The French During The Hundred Years’ War

By
thehistorianshut
-

(Portrait of Chaucer as a Canterbury pilgrim, Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales, c. 15th century, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

In his youth, the renowned English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400 CE), tried his hand at soldiering in the army of King Edward III of England during the Hundred Years’ War. He was deployed on the French front in 1359, but he soon found that war was not his calling—the eighteen year-old Chaucer was captured by the French during the English siege of Rheims in 1360.

Yet, Chaucer was a man with connections. In the years prior to his being called up for war in France, Chaucer had been employed as a page for the Countess of Ulster. Fortunately for Chaucer, the Countess had become the Duchess of Clarence, and her father-in-law was none other than King Edward III. Therefore, the king of England paid the ransom for Chaucer’s release, allowing the young man to return home—which was around the time Geoffrey Chaucer likely began dabbling in the poetry that would make him immortal.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

  • The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill. New York: Penguin Classics, 1977.

Herodotus

By
thehistorianshut
-

Herodotus (490-425/420 BCE)

“Right and wrong were distinguished long ago – and I’ll tell you one thing that is right: a man should mind his own business.”

  • From The Histories (book 1, section 8) by Herodotus, translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt and revised by John Marincola (Penguin Classics, 2002).

 

The Most Popular Of The Ancient Mystery Religion Cults—Demeter and Kore in Eleusis

By
thehistorianshut
-

(Varrese Painting of Demeter, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The mystery religions of the ancient world are a fascinating subject. While most worship in public temples at the time focused more on action than emotion, any ancient Greeks and Romans who wanted a more personal relationship with a god could find a home in the various mystery religions scattered throughout the ancient world. Perhaps the most popular of these mystery religions was dedicated to the goddesses, Demeter and Kore (associated with Persephone), located at Eleusis.

Fairly close to Athens, in the region of Attica, Greece, the community of Eleusis set up a cult to the earth goddesses, Demeter and Kore, in support of the local agriculture. One of the cult’s early functions was to ensure their patron goddesses’ favor for the health of the grain they sowed around September and October. The agricultural cult in Eleusis was founded and controlled by the Eleusinian people until Athens usurped control of the cult around 600 BCE.

As the name ‘mystery religion’ suggests, much of what happened in the cult of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis remains a mystery, for what occurred in the cult was a guarded secret. It is known that they, at least, celebrated two events—the lesser and greater mysteries. The lesser mysteries are thought to have been a preparatory celebration that occurred near Athens around February at a place called Agrai. The much more elaborate greater mysteries occurred during September and October, when the sacred items held by the cult of Demeter and Kore were transported from Eleusis to a temple in Athens. Once they were in the great city, eager initiates into the mysteries of Eleusis were instructed to bathe in seawater. Next, they would sacrifice a pig in honor of their patron goddesses. After the celebrations and ceremonies of the greater mysteries were complete, the cult members and initiates packed up the sacred items of their goddesses and returned to Eleusis, singing and dancing as they went.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

  • The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook of Sacred Texts by Marvin W. Meyer. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987.

Monsters of Münster

By
thehistorianshut
-

(German city painted by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

An Unbelievably Bizarre Anabaptist Rebellion

 

During the 1530s, a strange occurrence blandly labeled the Münster Rebellion broke out in the city of Münster, within the region of Westphalia (modern northwest Germany). For the multiple-year rebellion, Münster was basically turned into a theocracy ruled by a group of over-zealous Anabaptists—an extreme Protestant Christian sect disliked at the time by both Catholics and other Protestants. In the case of the Münster Rebellion, however, religious debate turned into religious oppression, and a battle of theology devolved into bloodshed and war.

By 1532, the city of Münster was a diverse Christian community. It’s population included Catholics, Lutherans and a growing population of Anabaptists. The latter group was under the spiritual guidance of a man named Bernard Rothmann. Like the city he lived in, Rothmann also had a broad religious background—before becoming an Anabaptist, he was a Lutheran and a Zwinglian. Now, however, he found himself as the leader of a large Anabaptist population. As the Anabaptists of the surrounding German regions continued to be persecuted by Catholic and Protestant domains alike, more and more Anabaptist refugees found shelter in Münster.

 

 

  (Anabaptist being burned by the Spanish Inquisition, by Jan Luyken (1649–1712), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

By 1533, the influx of Anabaptists into Münster had made them a powerful faction in their newly adopted city. The Catholics and Lutherans who were in charge of the city soon found that the Anabaptist population was so great that law and order could not be enforced. Once the original inhabitants of Münster had this realization, many of the Catholics and Lutherans fled the city. Yet, as always, some inhabitants decided to stay in their homes even though disaster was closing in on their city.

As the Anabaptist population increased in Münster, they had enough power to elect one of their own to city leadership in 1534. His name was Mathijs, and he quickly went to work making Münster an Anabaptist theocracy. Soon after being elected, Mathijs horrifically wanted to put all of the city’s non-Anabaptist residents to death, but his advisers convinced him that exile was the more politically astute option. Even so, when one blacksmith reportedly questioned Mathijs’ abrupt decree, the newly elected Anabaptist leader quickly sentenced him to death.

Once Mathijs was in power, he began constructing a city-state based on his extreme interpretation of the Bible and apocryphal texts not found in the canon of the Church. He forbade the use of currency and ended the recognition of personal property. Apparently, no one was required to empty their homes, but doors were required to be unlocked at all times. When word spread that Mathijs had exiled his religious rivals, executed public dissenters, and set up an Anabaptist regime, the local Catholic bishop of the region raised an army and besieged the city of Münster.

 

 

  (Engraving of Jan of Leiden, by Heinrich Aldegrever (1502–1561), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Though Mathijs may seem like the main villain of this story, his reign only lasted for six months. He died in a skirmish against the forces mustered by the bishop. The worst was yet to come. Most of the bizarre and disturbing occurrences of the Münster Rebellion were brought about by Mathijs’ successor—Jan of Leiden.

Jan claimed that he was a prophet of God, and he used his prophetic authority to make Mathijs’ Anabaptist city-state even more extreme. As Jan of Leiden fended off attacks from the besieging army, he began giving himself grand names, including ‘king of righteousness’ and ‘ruler of the new Zion.’ As his sense of grandeur increased, he began imposing drastic changes on Münster. In an escalating reign of terror, Jan of Leiden began executing people deemed to be sinners—the term ‘sinner,’ however, was a broad and flexible description. Anyone who blasphemed, showed dissent, expressed disobedience (to parents or the regime), acted lewdly, or simply complained about the status quo could have faced Jan of Leiden’s executioners.

 

 

  (Jan of Leiden, painted by Johann Karl Bähr (1801–1869), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The most infamous change that Jan of Leiden brought about in Münster was the legalization of polygamy. Around fifty people were reportedly executed after protesting against the implementation of polygamy, and women who refused to join in polygamous marriages were imprisoned. When one of Jan of Leiden’s wives voiced her own doubts about the direction Münster was being led, Jan had her beheaded and then had her corpse trampled by horses.

The madness of the Anabaptist regime controlled by Jan of Leiden, combined with famine imposed by the blockade of the besieging army, drove many of the Anabaptist rebels to despair. As the morale of the rebel forces shattered, deserters began to spill out of the crazed city. As the story goes, two deserters who had fled Münster gave the besieging army the breakthrough it needed. The former rebels provided the bishop’s army with much needed information, including the weak points in the defenses of Münster. By June 25, 1535, the army of the bishop broke into the city and massacred most of the rebels.

 

 

  (Execution of Jan of Leiden, Illustration from a book by Lambertus Hortensius (original 1548), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Three of the Anabaptist leaders were captured in the final battle, including Jan of Leiden. On January 22, 1536, they were publicly tortured and executed, with their ripped, burned and lacerated corpses displayed in iron cages.

Sources:

Friedrich Nietzsche

By
thehistorianshut
-

Friedrich Nietzsche (1864-1900)

‘We modern men are the heirs of the conscience-vivisection and self-torture of millennia: this is what we have practiced longest, it is our distinctive art perhaps, and in any case our subtlety in which we have acquired a refined taste.”

  • From Friedrich Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals, translated by Walter Kaufmann.

 

Homer

By
thehistorianshut
-

Homer (8th and 7th century BCE Greek poet)

“When men work in pairs, one sees advantages the other would
miss, while a man on his own may see the possibilities, but lack
the necessary imagination and intelligence.”

  • From The Iliad (Book 10) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 2014).

 

This Is A Photograph Of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

By
thehistorianshut
-

(A childhood photograph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, c. 1884, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

If your parents have ever humiliated you by showing embarrassing photographs of you as a child, then rest assured, you have something in common with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second president of the United States, more commonly known as FDR. As a young boy, FDR was coddled to the extreme by his mother, and one of the unfortunate ways that she showed her affection for her son involved years of gender-neutral costumes.

As gender-neutral garb was all the rage in wealthy American households of the day, FDR’s mother kept the future president dressed up in this unfortunate garb until the poor chap was six years old. She had him trussed up in dresses and kept his hair long—see the picture above. Even though this style of dress was fairly common for young children from wealthy families of the time, it still might have been a bit awkward if Roosevelt’s political or foreign rivals found one of these old photographs. FDR eventually outgrew his gender-neutral dresses when he reached six years old and was introduced to a new wardrobe consisting of kilts and the dreaded sailor costume. Additionally, another childhood ceremony he had with his mother continued—she personally oversaw his daily bath until he was around nine years old.

So, if your parents have embarrassing stories or pictures of you from your childhood, don’t despair. Despite being photographed in dresses with curled hair and elaborate hats, FDR went on to become one of the most widely acclaimed presidents in the history of the United States.

 

Sources:

  • The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Ken Burns, ep. 1. PBS, 2014.

Snorri Sturluson

By
thehistorianshut
-

Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241)

“Then Third said, ‘Odin is the highest and oldest of the gods. He rules in all matters, and, although the other gods are powerful, all serve him as children do their father.'”

  • From The Prose Edda (Gylfaginning, chapter 20) by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse Byock (Penguin Classics, 2005).

 

1...304305306...340Page 305 of 340

RECENT POSTS

POPULAR

Grettir’s Saga

Chief Joseph

Hesiod

The Tale Of Thor Turning A Suitor Of His Daughter Into...

© 2024 The Historian’s Hut. All Rights Reserved.