Athens

Spotlights shine on flowing carved robes, a plumed helmet, a sharp spear, and somber features. A statue of Athena stands on top of a tall, narrow column. The groves of the park muffle the idling engines and occasional honking from street traffic. It’s a cold night. The park has overgrown…

Traffic jam. One so clogged the cab driver gets out of the car, stands in the road, and throws his arms up in the air. The meter on his dashboard still ticks upward. Bigger bill for me. …

Where the God of the Sea reigns eternal — I arrived in Athens in May 2022 with one goal in mind: to explore the rich history and legacy of ancient Greece firsthand. …

Forever Waiting at the Station I don’t want to write a poem about it but the images just keep coming at me.

Surprisingly, Aristophanes was not the only comic poet to put Socrates on the stage that day. Ameipsias produced a play titled Connus, named after Socrates’ music teacher. The chorus consisted of the Thinkers, Phrontistai. Socrates appeared on stage wearing a threadbare cloak. “Here you are, Socrates,” said one character, “the…

Ancient Rome had the games to keep down insurrections, do we do the same? I would say yes, we do too have savage amusements, football, wrestling, rugby, and other contact sports. I am not saying do away with them but to the level that we put them on pedestals and…

In the month of Elaphebolion, in the year that Isarchus was eponymous archon [March-April, 423 BC], Socrates became a celebrity. It didn’t happen in the way you might expect. The forty-six-year-old philosopher didn’t make a brilliant speech in the Assembly that changed public policy. He didn’t win a battle by…