Wow.

I used to own a company that made money from origami. It folded.

I trawled through Euripides' Bacchae and found a dozen lines Aristophanes *could* easily have inserted for a laugh had he known the Bacchae in any detail. I’ve just published my piece on it in a Festschrift honouring my friend and erstwhile colleague Chris Kraus (Yale). 'THE SILENCE OF THE FROGS'

Catullus’s rudest poem, my new translation. You know you want to read it. You can even hear it read. open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

Latest Cavafy translation. Cavafy's poem "Satrapy" is set in the historical framework of an ancient Athenian citizen (5th cent. BC) being co-opted by the Persian Empire of Artaxerxes. It's a metaphor for someone ruining their life for the sake of gain... armanddangour.substack.com/p/better-die...

Advice from 1911. When you discover too late that you’ve always skipped a crucial step…

Ancient Greek poet-songwriter Anacreon (c. 573-495 BC) complains about getting old. See my temples greyed already and my head with hair all whitened: happy youth no more is with me, but my agèd teeth are crumbling and the charm of life is shortened... armanddangour.substack.com/p/the-poets-...

On a train. It’s curious how, as I search vainly on my phone for ticket and railcard, I’m made to feel like a fare dodger. Then I find it and am thanked politely, now a welcome customer.

It may appear to be a welcoming symbol, but history tells us a red carpet is often a trap. Rolling out the red carpet | @armanddangour.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/notebook/rol...

Catullus in love. open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

Sexual intercourse began In 63 BC (which was rather late for me) - Between the end of the Catiline coup And Catullus' first whoopee.

Opening lines of Homer's Odyssey, new translation. That man of many twists and turns, Muse, tell of him, who far went wandering when he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel, who many cities saw, and many thoughts of men discerned... armanddangour.substack.com/p/translatin...

Logie Leggatt, a fine athlete at Eton, enlisted when World War I broke out in 1914. He revered his old school. On 31 July 1917 he was killed, aged 22, by a sniper's bullet. Logie is honoured in the Greek Ode I composed for his great-nephew George, Lord Leggatt: open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

Opening lines of Homer's Odyssey, new translation. That man of many twists and turns, Muse, tell of him, who far went wandering when he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel, who many cities saw, and many thoughts of men discerned... armanddangour.substack.com/p/translatin...

Excellent piece by @armanddangour.bsky.social On the use of writing In ancient Athens and in the age of AI. 🗃️ 🏺 #classicsbluesky #ancientbluesky #skystorians #language #AI armanddangour.substack.com/p/on-the-use...

I've been invited to a conference in Zeugma. I can't go so have declined with regret and by email.

The werewolf story from Petronius still gives people goosebumps…. open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

This is brilliant! @armanddangour.bsky.social (And surely the cutest 'ants' in all history.) armanddangour.substack.com/p/gold-diggi...

I never knew (until now) that @armanddangour.bsky.social had composed a Greek Ode for the London Olympics - and it’s a corker! armanddangour.substack.com/p/composing-...

The true lover sees the beauty of the soul, not the body.

Last night I dreamt I was supposed to be doing my Final Exams, and was anxious about being insufficiently prepared. For heavens’ sake, it’s been nearly 50 years!

Laugh like no one is watching, tweet like no one is reading😀

Love's Sting - a charming little poem ascribed to Anacreon (6th cent BC), in my new translation. I read it here in ancient Greek and in English: armanddangour.substack.com/p/loves-sting

I found some old poems about Wymondham; They weren't very good, so I bymondham.

Latest podcast - my specialist subject, Ancient Greek Music! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...

Catullus’s little boat. open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

He said he’d kill my verses with a line: 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒.” Too rude? Not rude enough?

“You have asked 18 questions and that is enough,” Said the chatbot, “Don’t give yourself airs! Do you think I’ll respond hours on end to such stuff? Sign up or I’ll kick you downstairs.”

An explanation of the scene in Aristophanes' Frogs where the older playwright says he can destroy the younger one's verses with the equivalent of 'up yer bum!' open.substack.com/pub/armandda...

'Offer a single word in an ancient language for 'let him drink'. Latinist: Hold my potato. (h/t Antigone journal)

‘Offer a single word in an ancient language for ‘may I be blessed’. Latinist: Hold my beer.

Greggs make bigger pasties than Grex did.

Once a lady explained that the land Is held up by a terrapin grand. Said astute William James "I must question your claims, For on what does that terrapin stand?" Said the lady to James with a frown “You seem dim for a man of renown. Each one stands, you should know, On the tortoise below…

Said a lady once to philosopher William James: “My theory is that we live on a crust of earth borne by a turtle, which stands on a second, larger, turtle.” "And what does the second turtle stand on?" he asked. "Mr. James!” the lady exclaimed, “It’s turtles all the way down!"

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Union Jacks and some things Murray’s written, Brown paper packages tied up with strings, These are just some of my Brexity things…” 🎶

New series out. Prompted by guests Alistair Horne, Mary Beard, and others.

It’s the duty of educators not just to teach but to inspire the love of learning.

I was asked why he chose the name Leo and said with a straight face that it was his zodiac sign. I expected laughter but got exclamations of dismay.

In 2024 the UK sent 8.3 billion emails EVERY DAY - a daily carbon footprint of 2751 tonnes. Taxing emails at 1p each would limit them and raise billions.

Two Callatiae dining: “This tastes funny, doesn’t it.” “Yes. I miss the dad jokes too.”

Herodotus 3.38: “Darius summoned the Indian Callatiae, who eat their parents, and asked them what would make them ready to cremate their forbears. They cried out, saying he should not talk of such a foul act. So firmly rooted are these beliefs; as Pindar rightly says “custom rules everywhere”.”

Whoo hoo! They’re back! 👏👏👏👏

Did you know that public renditions of “Happy Birthday” required a royalty to be paid to Warner/Chappell until they were judged to be wrongly collecting it in 2016?

“I will live on: the stuffed part of me will survive”. Vivam, parsque mei farcta superstes erit. Jeremy Bentham left his body to be stuffed and displayed at UCL.

“I’ll live” is not, I think, a clever thing to say; Too late it is to live tomorrow. Live today! non est, crede, mihi, sapientis dicere 'vivam': sera nimis vita est crastina: vive hodie. —Martial 1.15.11-12

Via @armanddangour.bsky.social

♥️ In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates shared a theory of love from the teachings of a ‘non-Athenian woman’. Who was she really? Excellent piece by @armanddangour.bsky.social 🏺 #philosophy #classicsbluesky #BlueskyClassics #AncientBluesky 🏛️ aeon.co/essays/meet-...