Alphabetised.

Okay firstly this is just epic! haha.


Hey all,

long time no see. I must admit the holidays make me so lazy! I sleep too much, and everything I have wanted to do has not been done. Last night, I re-organised my desk at 2am and put all my novels in alphabetical order. I get so excited when Alenka texts me from Croatia!! It's so cool, and very awesome! Today I thought I would dedicate this post to the Judgement of Paris and the Golden Apple.

Vase depicting the judgement you can clearly see Athena holding the armour.

So the Judgement of Paris, is one of the main reasons as to why the great ten year war lasted between Greece and Troy. If Paris had chosen Hera or Athena, the war would have never had happened, and I would not be writing this post. I find it amusing, that before this happened, at the competition where Paris entered his bull, which was seen as quite magnificent, Apollo had transformed himself into a bull. Paris, upon seeing the Apollo-bull said outrightly that this bull was the clear winner. Thus Paris was deemed a "fair judge", and soon after that title was obviously not used again. But the blame could easily fall on the gods, if Zeus had not chosen Paris for deciding which of the three goddesses received the apple, it may have not happened. Nevertheless, it was Paris' fate to choose Aphrodite, it was fate to marry the woman whose 'face would launch a thousand ships', and it was the fate of Troy to not survive, but we are not supposed to 'judge up'.

The one example I think of is Disney's Sleeping Beauty, the villain when she enters uninvited, reminds me of this particular instance in Mythology. The golden apple in itself, can represent and stand for a few notions. Firstly, there is this notion of having something, for the sheer joy that it is placed in front of you, and therefore you must have it. The golden apple is rolled by the goddess of discord and lands in between the three goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Secondly, there is the idea of competition if someone else wants it, I want it too. It is a much better victory if you win something from a competition between two other people than just being given something. The part where you are competing brings about another thrill and excitement. So I guess what I'm trying to show, is that the golden apple isn't just an apple it stands for something else, a representation or a symbol of how something so small can start an event so horrific. Also, the apple symbolises the notion that the goddess Strife was never invited to the wedding, because they were fearful she would cause 'strife and discord' but she came anyway because they offended her for not inviting her in the first place.

p.s. I seriously am thinking of becoming a secret agent, after last night! And Lenka you're awesome and I promise to build vast number of monuments depicting you promise :)haha

Yags

xxxx

Alexander the Great!

Hey all,

Firstly I would like to just say how epic Grey's Anatomy finale was. Shel and I were frantically conversing during the add breaks. It was insane. That has to be the most on edge, stressful, dramatic and tearful television I have watched! I started crying half way through it, it was just so shocking, and must be awarded for that. I also missed out on a greek quiz on tv, that was a major fail! I mean the one time it's on I miss out!!

And the Socceroos won last night, I was very proud!! Even though they didn't make it to the next round, they played incredibly well!

Anyway I have decided to dedicate this blog post to Alexander the Great and some fun facts about him and his family!

Birth: Alexander was the son of King Phillip the Second and Olympias, she was one of Phillip's many wives, the fourth one. Because Olympia was not from Macedonia but a princess of Epirus, when Phillip's other son was born Alexander was cast as a bastard for this very reason, and thus why he was not officially named heir of the throne. According to Macedonian law, this also changed the status of Olympias below that of Phillip's other wives and this caused a great deal of conflict between his parents. He was born around July 20th 356 bce.

Childhood: Alexander was educated by Aristotle and memorised the Iliad. One of his most famous achievements as a child, was Bucephalus. When Alexander was 12 he saw this horse, that no one could ride. He made a deal with his father, that if he was able to ride the horse, his father must get it for him, if he failed he would pay for it himself. Alexander realised that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. So he turned the horse, to face the sun and got on the horse. When his father, saw this he said to Alexander: "You must find a kingdom worthy of you my son. Macedon is too small for you". He named the horse Bucephalus, and was his companion through many of his battles, Alexander also named and built a city, the city of Bucephala.

King Alexander:

In 336 bce King Phillip II was killed by his guard Pausanias, thus at the age of 20 Alexander was declared king. He started off his reign, by killing many of his potential rivals, nice way to start a reign as king I must say.

Basic/Fun Facts:

• Alexander named many or most of his cities Alexandria, there were more than 17 cities, today the main one is in Egypt.
• His best friend and rumoured "lover" Hephaestion was with him, at all times through all his expeditions. He was also the one who alongside Alexander first landed at Troy. Their relationship is often familiarised with that of Achilles and Patroclus.
• It is said that Alexander felt that he was the son of Zeus, and an oracle in Egypt also confirmed this for him. His mother also said to him that he was.
• Alexander had two different coloured eyes, one blue one brown a condition that is today known as Heterochromia, which some used to think was a 'feminine quality'.
• He also suffered from an inherited condition where his neck was twisted in some way, so it seemed like he was gazing upwards.
• Alexander and Julius Caesar were both born in July and were both coincedentally both had epilepsy.
• Alexander had never lost a single battle.
• His tactical procedures and skills are still used widely today.
• Alexander loved the Iliad.........awesome! And he had taken a copy on all his campaigns.
• He had three wives, and had two sons: Alexander IV of Macedon and Heracles of Macedon, both were killed at a young age.
• Bucephalus was one year younger than Alexander, that's really interesting!
• According to one of Alexander's general, an amazonian queen brought 300 women to Alexander hoping to create a race of children to be just like him intelligent and strong, haha!
• One of the legends that often come up in reference to Alexander the Great, is the Gordian knot. The story goes, that when Alexander was in Gordium Turkey, there was a knot which was rumoured to have been done by King Midas. The prophecy was that whoever untied the knot would be the ruler of Asia. Alexander undid the knot by slashing his sword through it...........haha nice ;)
• Alexander died at the age of 33 in Babylon. The cause of death is not rightly known. Some say poison, some say Malaria. Guess we will
• never know.
• 
  
• 

Yags

xxxxxx

Hippolytus.

Hey guys,

Firstly I had a look at the new exhibition called Millenia showing at the Hellenic Museum it is very exciting. I get so excited over the littlest things!! But this is pretty epic, mainly because no one knew it existed up until now, and all I did to find it was to google "Ancient Greek Museums Melbourne" and it came up...I am now very glad that I did! Also excited because the girls and I are going go to Laser Skirmish at Crown, now that's exciting!!!!!!

This post I would like to dedicate to Euripides' play Hippolytus. It won first prize and is based on Theseus' son Hippolytus and his wife Phaedra, Hippolytus' step mother. The play is situated in Troezen at Theseus's palace. The play is one of my favourites, because of the multi-layered and complex themes and relationships that take place. For example the hubris of Hippolytus in angering Aphrodite and not worshipping her, but also the fact that Phaedra is not essentially ashamed of her actions but her thoughts. The ability of self control is also a dominant factor.

Here are some extremely funny cartoons, these make my day!!

That's all.

Yags

xxxx

Dancing Shoes!

Hi guys,

It's 2am and I can't get to sleep so I decided to blog. Just came home from a wedding, my feet kill but it feels nice. The one thing that generally bugs me about weddings is when they're unorganised. Today it's called time people!!!! Seriously these guys were in dire need of walky talkies or those ear pieces, I'm so going to get those. I mean precision is necessary you technically are only going to get married once haha. Man am I going to be a Bridezilla!!! I can already feel the stress ahaha. On another note check out this pic, man these Epic Fail pics make my day sometimes. Apart from the fact that this movie is so wrong check out this:

Yup I think if Achilles ever rose from the dead and saw this he would die again :P

This is insane man! The contrast in this picture is quite funny there is "Achilles" covered in other soldier's blood, a hero whose legacy has lasted over 2000 years and there above him is a Boeing 747 jet..........EPIC FAIL! ahaha.

Smile :)

Yags

xxx

Tired is an understatement!

Hi all,

Had my first ever Uni exam today, quite hectic I must say. But it was good did it feels okay, and tomorrow my last one yay! I am so excited to finnish and I want that feeling of relief.

I was reading this blog and it had a post about the best romantic stories of all time. There was Pyramus and Thisbe......win! I'm serious Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is knock off, everything is sooo similar, and seeing as Pyramus and Thisbe was first... Ancient Greece wins!! Anyway they also included Napoleon and Josephine. Which after reading about, I'm sorry but it just doesn't seem that romantic. Cleopatra and Mark Antony is understandable and Triston and Iseult. I read the story of Triston and Iseult the actual one on the train a few weeks back. While I do admit it was cute, and I enjoy reading and watching love movies and occasionally crying (P.S I love you and a box of tissues) this one didn't appeal to me. For this simple matter, Triston and Iseult only fell in love because of a love potion, that they both unknowingly drunk. They did not fall in love nor did they go through the general stage to get to the falling part haha. Seriously though, they end up drinking the potion and literally two minutes later they are head over heals with each other, gazing into each others eyes etc. Yes they did fall in love, but they fell in love due to a potion nothing more, and later on it just seems like a chore for both of them. Before that there is no inkling that they "like each other", nothing of the sort. Triston has come to escort Iseult to his uncle and she is to become his Uncle's wife. So yes, there are questions that need to be answered regarding this love story. Nevertheless, the admiration these two have for one another is to be commended. I for one like the Cleopatra and Mark Antony one better, she is so awesome and he ended up dying in her arms.........*tear*. This has motivated me to do a post dedicated to Ancient Greece's love stories!!

Until tomorrow and freedom!!

Yags

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Versailles Vous etes belle! ( you are lovely in French) courtesy of Google translate!

Hey all,

Tomorrow is my first Uni exam ever....scary! I hate having to find my seat, it's so annoying! Anyway today I don't know why France was on my mind......wait I do it's because I am currently studying about the Inter-war Period. Anyway I was thinking about Marie Antoinette so I googled the palace at Versailles and wow! As soon as I looked at the Palace I knew there would be some kind of Greek related statues in the Palace because let's face it they

usually are everywhere. So here are some stills from the Palace, the Gardens and Greek statues. This is definitely going on my Bucket List!

You have to admit the French had style ;)

The statue at the top left is of a Nymph, the next one is Castor and Pollux ( they were the twin brothers who were the brothers of Helen and Clytemnestra. The story goes that they shared the same mother but different fathers. Pollux was immortal and Castor mortal when Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his immortality with his brother and to keep them together. awww how cute) and the last one is Demeter.

That's it for now.

Yags

xxxxx

Cafe Press Epicness!

This has got to be my favourite website so far the Greek related things you can find are immensely cool! Here are a few funny things that I found and there are so much more!

Awww this website makes me laugh :D

Yags

xxx

Here comes the Smoulder

Dobro dan ( Croatian for hello hi Alenka),

Today was a day of many things. First it was a disappointment because the Socceroos lost and so did Roger Federer and it was even worse when I told my mum he lost and she started jumping for joy because "he has won too much and others need a chance" fail mum fail :P

Secondly it was good because my friend Tim Tam came over we had lot's of laughs and it was a good exam stress reliever. Thirdly it was Epic because I came across something which literally made me cry from laughter. Fourthly it was awesome because I made up my mind and will go to the Michael Buble concert next year in February he is too awesome and I love his music, and will be annoyed if I missed it. Fifth it was crappy because after this post I'm going to hopefully study for quite a bit. I cannot wait for exams to be over. Sixth I'm excited for exams to be over so I can do all the things I have planned with my friends.

Okay that's it for now.

p.s. Paris is a pansy that is all.

Yags

xxxxx

Let them eat cake.

Geia sou ( Greek for hello lol),

I hate Sundays, I always have, it's a random day. See with Friday it's like yay weekend, Saturday is like woo sleep in tomorrow but Sunday is like eugh Monday tomorrow. So there is a new movie called Immortals being released end of next year. It's about Theseus and how he " together with the gods leads an army to stop the Titans to save mankind". Theseus is played by Henry Cavill that and so I can spot the differences is probably why I shall be watching it. Here are a few stills from the film. Although Theseus as a greek hero annoys me a bit for leaving Ariadne on an Island, after all she did for him! But there is no Ariadne in this, it's Phaedra the young wife he takes and who in Euripides' play falls madly in love with her step son Hippolytus.

And Good luck Socceroos make us proud, Harry Kewell you're awesome!

Big Buble fan here is a line from Smile written by Charlie Chaplin I love it

" Smile though your heart is aching

Smile even though it's breaking" :)

Yags

xxxxxx

Epic Realisations.

Hola,

Today and coincidentally last night was a time of realisations and random findings. I created a very large goal and ambition for myself, which was good because it gets me very motivated to study. Secondly I found........wait for it..........a Greek restaurant in Melbourne called Iliad. I mean EPIC or what?!? When i get my P's first place I'm off to is to the Iliad Restaurant! Imagine if someone was like " hey where are you off to?"........."oh just to the Iliad" hahahah awesome!!

I'm babysitting tonight, and currently the kids are having a 'picnic' on their mini Ikea table, and then it's Disney time! Too bad I can't join them.......I love Mulan.

On another note it was my Mum's birthday today, so a very Happy Birthday to her :)

My next book purchase shall be Ajax from Amazon.com I can't find a copy here in Borders so I'm going to do a bit of online Shopping, going to get Euripides' Rhesus, Ajax, the Frogs, the Phoenician Women, the Heracleidae and the Suppliant Maidens. Yes a lot of shopping to do.

That's it for now, back to studying about Realism.

Yags

xxxxx

Birthday Cake FTW!!!

Check out these Birthday Cakes cool eh? bahah I would love this!!

It made me laugh so much.

Yags.

xxxxx

Titanic Fail! :P

Hey guys,

Today was a fun and random day. Alen we will miss you heaps, don't die, don't get lost, please come back betrothed to a certain someone.........please :D haha. Remember when and if there is turbulence, just think of it like the plane is dancing and start singing! And remember all those statistics I gave you. I can't believe you forgot to take your box and I forgot to give it to you....fail :P

We had an awesome day shopping lol at Steph and her four bags!! Today

was also a train fail. And a special thanks to Shel and her epic cupcakes even though one of mine was stolen!! And a thanks to Steph for being at the right place at the right time ahhahaah.

So have heaps of fun Lenka, don't get lost, you won't and remember about Frankfurt move fast it's an insanely large Airport. Also check out my awesome buy, Sophocles' The Theban Plays from 1947. I love old books. I mean who knows what kind of History this book had, who owned it so very awesome. I also can now cross one thing out of my Bucket List, I went into an antique bookshop with a slidey ladder thing........EPIC!!!

Classics relatable conversation:

Us four walking past a Library

Me: "Oooo Columns"

Alenka: "Seriously............their Corinthian" bahahhha nice one ;)

So all up it was a nice day, and farewell Lenka.

That's it for now exams next week and then hello freedom!

Yags

xxxxx