Month: June 2020

Lernaean Hydra

In Greek and Roman mythology, the Hydra was a giant, multi-headed serpent-like monster that lived in the swamps of Lerna. Its breath and blood were toxic, and it terrorized the region for years. The goddess Hera had hoped it would kill Heracles, one of the many children her husband Zeus had fathered as a result of an extramarital affair. Heracles—also known as Hercules—was sent to slay the creature, but each time he cut off one of its heads, two more grew back. How did he finally kill the Hydra? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

St. Petersburg White Nights Festival

This celebration marks the time of year in St. Petersburg, Russia, when the nights are so short that the sky appears white, or light grey, and twilight lasts only 30 or 40 minutes. The city, with its many buildings painted in pastel shades of lavender, green, pink, and yellow, has a particularly beautiful charm during the white nights. The city is full of various events to celebrate this summer twilight. The Mariinsky Theatre presents a special program of ballets, operas, and symphonic concerts. There is also a chamber music festival and an international jazz festival. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Art Brut: Outsider Art

French for “raw art,” art brut, or outsider art, is art produced outside the established art world, particularly crude or obscene works created by the untrained or mentally ill. The term was coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet, who regarded such works as the purest form of expression. The first well-known outsider artist was psychiatric patient Adolf Wölfli, who produced a vast body of work, including an illustrated 45-volume epic about his transformation from a knight into what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

National Marbles Tournament

Held for five days near the end of June in a Wildwood, New Jersey, the National Marbles Tournament features a competition among champions selected in elimination contests throughout the country. The national boy and girl champions each receive a trophy and a plaque as well as a $2,000 scholarship. Although many games can be played with marbles, the game played in the national tournament is called Ringer, in which 13 marbles (called “miggles”) form a cross in a 10-foot circle. Players alternate shots, and the winner is the first one to shoot seven miggles out of the ring.

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Ainu

Pushed north by the Japanese people over the last 2,000 years, the remaining Ainu—the original inhabitants of Japan—today live principally on the island of Hokkaido. Though a great deal of assimilation has occurred, the Ainu are physically and culturally distinct from ethnic Japanese. They have paler skin and more hair. Their religion is animistic and centers on a bear cult. The virtually extinct Ainu language has no known relationship to any other language. Where might they have originated?

Source: The Free Dictionary

Broadstairs Dickens Festival

This nine-day festival commemorating the 19th-century novelist Charles Dickens and his association with the English town of Broadstairs features a play adapted from a different Dickens novel each year. The actors are members of the Broadstairs Dickens Players’ Society, and they spend about eight months preparing for their June performance. During the festival, the entire town is transformed: people wander through the streets in Dickensian costumes, play croquet and other games popular during the 19th century, and attend bathing parties and social events with a Victorian theme.

Source: The Free Dictionary

Trans-Saharan Trade

Encompassing about 3.5 million sq mi (9 million sq km) of Northern Africa, the Sahara is the largest desert in the world. Nevertheless, humans have maintained trade routes through it for millennia, linking the Mediterranean Sea in the north to various regions in Africa. In its heyday, after the introduction of the camel in the 1st century CE, trans-Saharan trade was principally carried out by Berber-speaking nomads. What mineral still mined today was a major Saharan trade good in ancient times?

Source: The Free Dictionary