History of Poetry

Poetry is one of the oldest forms of human expression, predating literacy and evolving from oral traditions used to preserve history, genealogy and law.

The word "poet" originates from the Greek poiētēs, meaning "maker".

The Echo in the Cave

The first voice wasn't a voice at all, not really.

It was a rhythm.

In the dim coolness of a limestone cave, millennia ago, Elara, a woman of the Clan of the Whispering Winds, beat a steady pulse on a stretched animal skin.

Enheduanna's head - celebrated as the earliest known named Author in world history | Morgan Library / The Penn Museum

Civiltà romana

Per Civiltà Romana si intendono tutti quegli aspetti della popolazione indoeuropea chiamata Romani (inizialmente stanziata a Roma, poi diffusasi su gran parte d'Europa e nell'intero bacino del Mediterraneo), da sociali a religiosi, culturali, letterari, artistici, militari.

L'origine del nome della città e quindi del popolo che lo abitava, era incerta anche in età arcaica.

Servio, grammatico a cavallo tra il IV e il V secolo d.C., riteneva che il nome potesse derivare da un'antica denominazione del fiume Tevere, Rumon, dalla radice ruo (a sua volta proveniente dal greco ρεω), scorro, così da assumere il significato di Città del Fiume.

Ma si tratta di un'ipotesi che non ha riscosso molto successo.

The Marathon Boy, 340-330 B.C.

The Marathon Boy or Ephebe of Marathon is a Greek bronze sculpture found in the Aegean Sea in the bay of Marathon in 1925.

It is conserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens where it is dated to around 340-330 BC.

The Museum suggests that the subject is the winner of an athletic competition.

Sleeping Hermaphroditus / L'Ermafrodito dormiente

The ambivalence and voluptuous curves of this figure of Hermaphroditus, who lies asleep on a mattress sculpted by Bernini, are still a source of fascination today.

His body merged with that of the nymph Salmacis, whose advances he had rejected, Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, is represented as a bisexed figure.

The original that inspired this figure would have dated from the 2nd century BC, reflecting the late Hellenistic taste for the theatrical.

Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities: Hellenistic Art (3rd-1st centuries BC) Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities - Musée du Louvre.

Ancient Greek | Legacy

The civilization of ancient Greece has been immensely influential on language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and the arts. It became the Leitkultur of the Roman Empire to the point of marginalizing native Italic traditions. As Horace put it,

Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artis / intulit agresti Latio (Epistulae 2.1.156f.)

"Captive Greece took captive her uncivilised conqueror and instilled her arts in rustic Latium".

Platone | The Arts in education

The Republic (Greek: Πολιτεία, Politeia) is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning the definition of justice (δικαιοσύνη), the order and character of the just city-state and the just man ecc..

It is Plato's best-known work, and one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically.

In the dialogue, Socrates discusses with various Athenians and foreigners the meaning of justice and whether the just man is happier than the unjust man.

Raffaello | Scuola di Atene - Platone / Raphael - The School of Athens (1509-1511)

Queen Nefertiti's Long Lost Tomb

QV66 is the tomb of Nefertari, the Great Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, in Egypt's Valley of the Queens.

It was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli (the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin) in 1904.

Nefertari, which means "beautiful companion", was Ramesses II's favorite wife; he went out of his way to make this obvious, referring to her as "the one for whom the sun shines" in his writings, built the Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel to idolize her as a deity, and commissioned portraiture wall paintings.

La Bocca della Verità / The Mouth of Truth, Roma 1485

The Mouth of Truth / Bocca della Verità is an ancient Roman marble disc with a relief carving of a man's face.

According to legend the face's mouth closes if a liar sticks his hand in it.

The massive marble mask weighs about 1300 kg and probably depicts the face of the sea god Oceanus. The eyes, nostrils and mouth are open.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Vacanze Romane, 1953