Tag Archives: Gwen Minor

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….five days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

Leading the Greek forces against Troy is Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae. The goddess Artemis demands that he sacrifice his daughter. This Roman fresco shows the Sacrifice of Iphigenia. This act sets off a chain of events chronicled in some of the most wrenching stories ever told….

…..but I get ahead of myself! Find out why the doomed king had to do such a dirty deed in the maiden podcast of Ancient World Now!

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….six days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

Of course Aphrodite was deemed “the fairest”! And here she is with the golden apple.

Aphrodite
Greek, 200-150 BC
Bronze

Inventory # 96.AB.149

Here Aphrodite wears the fashion of the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC): platform sandals and a sheer cloak that reveals her undergarments and the contours of her body. In her outstretched hand she holds the apple that Paris, a Trojan prince, awarded her as a prize in a beauty contest with Hera and Athena. This contest eventually led to the most famed conflict in antiquity, the Trojan War.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….seven days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

Hector takes leave of his wife and son before going into battle. Already in mourning, Andromache reminds her husband that her father, mother, and seven brothers were long ago killed and he is her only family. She pleads with him. From the Richmond Lattimore translation:

Hektor, thus you are father to me, and my honoured mother,
you are my brother, and you it is who are my young husband.
Please take pity upon me then, stay here on the rampart,
that you may not leave your child an orphan, your wife a widow…..

The baby cries with fear at the horsehair crest on the peak of Hector’s helmet. Hector, laughing, takes it off. One of the most poignant scenes in The Iliad. Find out the fate of Hector, Prince of Troy, in the maiden podcast of Ancient World Now.

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….nine days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

This marble relief is from the Getty collection. Achilles and his mother are in a chariot and approach a group of worshippers along a road. The three rams are for sacrifice to Achilles. This piece is thought to be from Thessaly, where Achilles was born. Scholars believe he was worshipped there. Because Achilles was born of a mortal man and an immortal goddess, he was destined to die. However, Thetis did everything she could to keep him from harm. We refer to a person’s weakness of strength or character as their “Achilles’ heel”. Find out why in the first episode of Ancient World Now.

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….ten days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

This tiny Greek figure is from the British Museum’s collection.
The Nereid goddess Thetis, mother of Achilles, is riding a dolphin buoyed up on the crest of a wave. She carries the arms of Achilles, newly fashioned by Hephaestus, god of fire and metal.

W.H. Auden wrote “The Shield of Achilles” (1952) in response to this passage from The Iliad.

Why was new armor made for Achilles? What was so special about this armor? Find out in ten days on the maiden podcast of Ancient World Now….

The Iliad

Ancient World Now….eleven days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

This bronze statue of Achilles is in Hyde Park, London. Built in 1822 as a tribute to Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, by “the Women of England”, it was cast from cannons won at the victories of
Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo. The fig leaf was added later…the Victorians and all……

The Iliad means “The story of Ilium (Troy), but The Iliad is not the story of Troy, it is the story of Achilles. The story begins with these famous words:

“Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus
and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians…”

The great hero Achilles is miffed & lets everybody know it. Find out why in the first episode of Ancient World Now….

The Iliad

The Countdown Begins

Okay! The site is in place thanks to Piers & Polina and we’re ready to roll out the writing! Subscribe to the blog & you’ll be notified whenever a new story episode has been posted. From there, you simply download the mp3 and enjoy. The episodes run 20-30 minutes—just enough for commute time or a treadmill walk! The first episode is a reading of the Iliad story from my first book. I’ve thrown in a little discussion about the importance of the Trojan War cycle to the history of story, and viola! There it is! Oh, yeah, and you’ll get to hear my theme song…Sophia Ramos’ Shining Still. The countdown begins…

The Writing Life

Remis Velisque!

Remis Velisque means “with oars and sails; with all one’s might” in Latin.Okay. I don’t know where this is taking me, but are you along for the ride?

The publishing world is in flux. Authors have been talking about it for a few years now, wondering how we all need to change to adapt to the new technology. This is historic, folks. We are in a revolution. Think cuneiform, papyrus, moveable type. Think awesome. And I am ready to jump.

I am ready to embrace the new reality and make it my friend. Jump into the infinite space and enjoy the free fall. I am not going to worry about where or if I land. I’ll just do it and see what happens.

My intention: to offer my writing for free to whomever is interested! My stories and novels will be available as free podcasts from itunes and podiobooks. Read on to find out why this is a solution for me.

After years of writing and pursuing my unique interests in the ancient world, I published my first book with Scholastic in 2007, Read Aloud Plays: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid. But with book publication comes the pressures of marketing, publicity, events, sales, networking, and positioning for the next work. All of these daily concerns are a severe drain to the body, mind, and spirit. Writers are held hostage by these demands that are so out-of-sync with their natural flow of research, reflection, and writing.

Jockeying for position has never been a part of my personality. In other words, I suck at schmoozing! I always feel the real insincerity of it so that what should be a great pleasure (meeting new people who love stories) is marred by the tense and uncomfortable reality of promotion. Very unnatural! With this new enterprise I hope to take back my power and put all my energy into my work. If you like it, hang with me and let’s enjoy the stories together!