Corelings! Get out of bed! Put away your laundry! Clean up those mugs of tea that are littering your dorm (your roommate(s) will thank you)! It’s a new week, and we have a brand-new, classes-free day to enjoy. Let’s get going.
- An inscription in the ancient language Luwian, written on a 3,200-year-old stone slab, has recently been deciphered, providing information surrounding a kingdom by the name of Mira and a Trojan prince called Muksus who was responsible for a number of military campaigns. There is, however, some concern that the inscription, now lost and available only in copies, may be a forgery.
- The world premiere of Piers Beckley’s retelling of theEpic of Gilgamesh, this time as from a queer perspective, takes place this month, running from October 10-21 at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington in London.
A poster for Gilgamesh (the play, not the original epic). (via LondonTheatre1)
- Step up your paper-writing game, scholars. John Milton is waaay ahead of you. According to Paradise Lost lore, the poet received the poem from his “celestial patroness” Urania during the night and would dictate and revise it in the morning. Did this female voice–imagined or not–influence cases of proto-feminism in Milton’s narrative? (And isParadise Lost technically plagiarism? Administration would like a word with you, Milton.)
- While researchers fret that children recognize more Pokemon than plants or animals, author Robert Macfarlane explores the magic and power of names, including the ways that they allow us to identify with the things we encounter, taking after a John Keats quotation: “If a sparrow come before my window, I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel.” (PS, the illustrations accompanying this piece are worth a look.)
- Turns out everyman Walt Whitman loved him some opera. In fact, the author credited opera as a massive influence in the creation of collection Leaves of Grass. Composer Matthew Aucoin, meanwhile,presents a new opera, Crossing, centered on Whitman’s service as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War.
Whitman, c. 1854, shortly before publishing Leaves of Grass. (via Library of Congress)
Feeling refreshed? Accomplished, maybe? Ready to jump into the day? Get out there, Corelings. Enjoy your day off!
