12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #9. Demeter/Ceres. In ancient Greek art she's always letting her mentee Triptolemus ride the snake-drawn winged car to sow the crops, but in the 18th century she got to ride it herself, having apparently been confused with Medea!

Welcome to 2026 and my sincere hopes it offers, like this ancient Greek mosaic, Health, Long life, Joy, Peace, Good Cheer and Hope to every human on the planet and all the organisms we share it with.

12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #8. Zodiacal Ares/Mars in 1569 edition of Aratus. His chariot-cum-siege machine is drawn by dogs of war, his symbol (later made to = male as Venus' symbol = female) and Mars' 2 houses, Aries & Scorpio, emblazoned on the wheels.

I really enjoy your work and the work you share of others. I’ve got Edith Hall & Edith Hamilton distinguished now - I kept thinking she was a very long-lived scholar. 🤣

Going to re-listen to Aristotle’s Way by the brilliant Edith Hall this week. Think it’ll be the perfect mental set up for the year to come. Then we’ve stone blind by Natalie Haynes for book club in January. So lots of ancient goodness to remind me that we’ve survived lot of crazy over the years

12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #7. Aphrodite has 2 vehicles in her Olympian garage on which to ride elegantly side-saddle. For terrestrial journeys, a nanny-goat, with cavorting kids (Pergamon Museum); for aviation, a goose (BM). Because She's Worth It.

12 gods with interesting modes of transport for Xmas #6. Hermes/Mercury, god of travel, rather bafflingly choosing to have his chariot drawn by roosters. Two of many prints imitating a design by Raphael in the Sala dei Pontifici.

12 gods with interesting mode of transport for Xmas #5. Hera’s carriage drawn by her sacred bird. No classical Greek image available, but this 17th-c. draughtsman helpfully includes a drawing of an authentic coin of Samos with her + bird

12 gods for Xmas with interesting transport modes #4. Hephaestus returns to Olympus in glory, holding hammer and vine branches, on a perky ass, with a white blaze, staring at the viewer. Interesting use of the animal's anatomy in figuring out how to transport a full wine jug.

Cheered on going to British Library to read about Calvinists’ internal quarrels over admissibility of Aristotle’s Ethics (I know how to have a good time) to be queuing behind two Scottish elves who clearly haven’t heard that Calvin banned Christmas

12 gods for Xmas with interesting transport modes #3. Athena drives two-horsed chariot in company with Amazons. Not an unusual idea, but merits inclusion by its extraordinary beauty--the horses' expressions, the snake-fringed aegis, the sense of movement

12 gods with interesting transport modes for Xmas #2: Poseidon on a spectacular hippocampus; drinking cup made in Athens, now in the Metropolitan Museum. Left-hand driving so trident can be brandished in the right. The scales, forked tail and spotted wings are thrilling.

For all the mums out there who've spent weeks obtaining and wrapping stocking presents. Santa Claus wasn't the first celebrity to drive a deer-drawn chariot. Artemis is #1 of a series of 12 gods for Christmas.

🏺 Join Prof. Edith Hall and colleagues as they discuss 'The Bacchae: The Mind of Ancient Greece, Psychoanalysis and Modern British Theatre' 👉 Event organised by the Institute of Psychoanalysis 📅 31 Jan 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/bdeb3mnt

After 40 years' research I rarely find an image I've never seen of important productions of Greek-drama related performances, so I'm thrilled to have come across this illustration of nonpareil ballet dancer Gaëtan Vestris as Jason in London in 1781. The crumbling pillars! The dragon! The tiny child!

Classics-themed ad #5. At last we learn what it was the Pythia consumed before she ascended the tripod that made her produce incomprehensible oracles. Not cannabis, not magic mushrooms, not gas but PEPTONISED COCOA MILK

Proud of my baking this year

Commercialised Xmas commodityfest Classics-themed ad #4: "She likes the ancient philosophers. It's all Greek to him". Not even Benson and Hedges, which I did smoke long ago, would make this reader of ancient philosophers flirt with that smarmy youth.

Commercialised Xmas commodityfest Classics-themed ad #3: The overt message is that the Sabine women were raped because their rapists' tobacco had not been "purified" like that in Lucky Strike cigarettes. But subliminally it seems to mean you'll get laid if you smoke them. Do you agree?

Commercialised Xmas commodityfest Classics-themed ad #2: Every girl needs a Hercules corset to keep her tummy from protruding.

In the commercial commodity season, time to return to my old theme of Classics-themed ads. #1. If I had to choose any ancient man to resurrect with my pink lipstick it would certainly not be Augustus Caesar. Perhaps Aristophanes or Aristotle.

Beat winter blues #6. I'm holding a party on 23rd December and this will be the formal post-prandial challenge to all attendees.

An article I wrote ages ago on comedy in Plato's early dialogues is in a volume edited by others that has finally got the go-ahead from the publisher (CUP). Then I came across this, which just about sums up my argument.

Brazilian cover for Aristotle's Way. Very pastel. Not quite sure what architectural orders signify but I'm not complaining. Makes Yer Fink.

Beat winter blues #6. Even if you can't summon an outsize Dionysus, a spot of DIY or carpentry can be fun in company. You do need some hammers and someone to stand on the shed you're building and play the trumpet. Made in Athens, now in Berlin.

Beat the winter blues #5: find a consenting companion, festoon yourselves with ivy and swap providing-an-elevated-seat and providing-the-musical-accompaniment services on a brisk dance to the off-licence.

Beat November/December Blues with fun in the Greek sun #4: senior citizens like me can learn to play the cithara, sing a little ditty, and GET IN FORMATION. I can't believe Bluesky is censoring this

Beating November Blues #3: pretend to be Hera getting married to Zeus at a festival, and bribe a friendly serious-faced satyr to wear a splendid crown and protect your lovely coiffure from the elements with an umbrella-cum-parasol. By ArchaiOptix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Beating the November / Blues Fun in Greek Sun suggestion #2: hold an impromptu party and a wine bowl balancing competition. Cup by Douris, circa 490 BCE

I don’t believe I have ever seen anyone post about this one. If you’ve read it, what did you think? #Booksky #haveyoureadthis

Physics: its birth in Greek Ionia | Professor Edith Hall Gresham College www.youtube.com/live/iQG141E...

The Theatre of Dionysus Professor Edith Hall Gresham College youtu.be/7cjPtH5vA5I?...

I hate November so much I'm going to cheer myself up with a new series of some of my favourite ancient Greek pots depicting ways to have fun in the sun: #1: Donkey ride. Athenian cup by Epictetus c. 510 BCE

Thespian friends! This day in 534 BCE is traditionally held to have seen the premiere of the first ever theatre performance by Thespis of Icaria, who took his cart of masks round the villages of Attica to impersonate mythical figures in marketplaces.

On #UnescoWorldChildrensDay just a lovely mosaic from Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, 4th century EC. Boys, birds, bushes and a chirpy caterpillar. Lovely.

Comrades! This is how to explain the Greek dramatic chorus, performed as part of military training of youth. THRILLING. Dance and Drill. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI93...

People often ask whether I am related to the great American archaeologist Edith Hall (Dohan). Sadly, no. She just looked so cool riding to her sites. I "dig" the hat-and-cravat look.

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. Edith Hall who, along with Prof. Alison Sharrock, has published a special collection of 'Green Letters' on 'Trees in Ancient Greek and Roman Poetry: An Ecocritical Approach to Classics' 🔗 tinyurl.com/y83r95d8

On world drum day, here are two lovely ancient ladies banging a tympanon (frame-drum).

On this day in 332 BCE Alexander of Macedon was crowned Pharaoh of Egypt. Time for a granite statue now in Liebieghaus museum, Frankfurt and a copper alloy bust now in the Met, New York

Professor @edithmayhall.bsky.social, from our Department of Classics and Ancient History, has been awarded the 2024 International Hellenic Prize for her acclaimed book Facing Down the Furies. Discover more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/... #TransformativeHumanities @durhamclassics.bsky.social

Interested in what Euripides' Bacchae has to say to modern psychoanalysts? Attend a hybrid event on January 31st with me, a theatre-maker and a psychoanalyst. Free for secondary school students. psychoanalysis.org.uk/civicrm-even...

Why is Plato’s Atlantis a Y-Chromosome thing? I’m running an international conference on in it in Durham today and embarrassingly could not persuade a single female to supplement the all-male responses to the Call for Papers. I tried so hard

We're very proud to announce the winner of this year's prize: Edith Hall's compelling & insightful 'Facing Down the Furies: Suicide, the Ancient Greeks, and Me' (Yale UP). A brilliant, moving book for experts & general readers alike - congratulations @edithmayhall.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social!

@edithmayhall.bsky.social Much enjoyed Epic of the Earth, read after hearing your talk on 9th October @britishacademy.bsky.social. Next week: environmental justice in respect of ecocide: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Our #bookoftheweek is Edith Hall's new reading of Homer's Iliad as one root in the beginning of ecological disaster for contemporary society. Thought-provoking and smart, Hall astounds in this fresh perspective on how ancient history permeates our environment today. ☀️

Gobsmacked that Facing down the Furies wins 2025 International (formerly London) Hellenic Prize. Good to see mental health issues recognised. Here's to my valiant late mother, Brenda Hall née Henderson, who faced them down, supreme friend Peggy Reynolds and @rickypo.bsky.social, sine quibus non

Friends, I’ve written a novel. It’s about how the Gen Z children of dysfunctional boomers Clytemnestra and Agamemnon try to move on in Crimea, Thessaly and Vravrona. Now I just need to find a publisher! Any suggestions?

I had a blast at Berwick on Tweed Literary Festival today being brilliantly interviewed by archaeologist Prof James Crowe on my Iliad book. Lovely town. I want to live here.

What have the Ancient Greeks got to do with the environmental crisis? The fantastic @edithmayhall.bsky.social now giving another historical view