JMP
James M. Pfundstein, Ph.D., is a Teaching Professor in Classics for the Department of World Languages and Cultures at BGSU.
Homepage: http://blogs.bgsu.edu/pfundblog/
Blood libel has been in the news lately because of its unfortunate use by St. Sarah Palin, apostle to the Mama Grizzlies. The unexpected benefit from this has been an outburst of history in news outlets that don’t normally contemplate the existence of anything more ancient than Lady Gaga’s meat dress. One really interesting story […]
The question came up in my myth class today: do all these werewolf and vampire stories go back to ancient Greece and Rome? The short answer is: not all, but some. Blood-drinking ghosts are a feature of Greek myth from its earliest recorded period; that’s a good start on vampires. And werewolves are more unambiguous: […]
It actually may not have been on August 24, 79AD–but at some point in 79AD Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, among others. In celebration of this event (bad for those who suffered on that day, but a tremendous boon for those who study life in the ancient world), here’s a […]
Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, quem dixere chaos.