ClassicsTober!

The October drawing challenge for Classics!

Quite by chance, my friend Dr Cora Beth Fraser mentioned on Twitter last week (back in late September 2021) that she was thinking of doing Inktober again – the monthly festival of drawing that started up a few years ago on social media as a way for artists to share their work along similar themes, with daily one-word prompts. Sadly, I pointed out, that it had been ruined by the revelation that the artist who started it entirely plagiarised another artists book for himself and ruined the whole thing for everyone, and since then a proliferation of other versions, mostly for particular fandoms, had arisen… And just like that, we accidentally started #ClassicsTober, the day before the whole thing was due to start. And amazingly, other people have joined in!

This is my own collection of ClassicsTober images for each year. To see the whole hashtag on Twitter, click the button!

#ClassicsTober

ClassicsTober ‘21

Day 25: Augustus hurt by a typo

Happy Halloween! And thank you for taking part in #ClassicsTober ’21!

ClassicsTober ‘22

The second annual ClassicsTober encouraged more multi-media posts – we had play excerpts, artefacts and other material culture, interpretation and classical reception, as well as artwork!

Here are my own submissions. I didn’t quite make every day due to life stuff occurring, but I had a lot of fun with my posts!

All the originally-posted images have ALT text, which doesn’t seem to have been preserved here. In the meantime, try searching the Hashtag using the button above to find the original images to get the ALT.

A version of the Douris 'School Cup', but with women teachers. On the left, a woman teaches lyre to a boy. In the middle, a woman teachers a text to a girl in front of her, reciting it back. And on the right, another woman listens whilst winding wool, seated in a relaxed manner. If Aspasia had had a school, perhaps this is what it would have looked like?
HERACLES' Labour 2: the Lernaean Hydra. A lineart stickman version of Heracles on the left, with a similar figure of his nephew of Iolaus on the right, are fighting the hydra. It has many heads and is yellow, green and red. Heracles is sloicing off the heads while Iolaus is cauterising the wounds with a flaming torch. One snakey head hisses disapproval in Heracles' face.
A stick-figure drawing of a Classical Ancient Greek priestess, Hiereia. Around it are these pieces of information: ROLE: to oversee all state sacrifices (not necessarily to kill victims) to ensure correct ritual followed / to say the correct prayers to supervise the ceremonial washing and robing of cult statue to care for the temple and precinct (sanctuary area), with help of attendants PERKS: it was a HIGH HONOUR (depending on importance of temple) – in THE ILIAD, one priest is described as ”HONOURED LIKE A GOD by his people” you got SPECIAL PRIVILEGES at festivals (e.g. front row seats at theatre / first place in processions) you were entitled to PART OF THE PROFITS from sale of skins of victims or the food offerings (e.g. fruit, honey, oil and vegetables) WHO WERE THEY? ordinary citizens who had been elected / chosen by lot OR sometimes you had to be from a certain family sometimes you had to be of a CERTAIN AGE (e.g. only unmarried girls were eligible for some priesthoods) evidence of some people BUYING THEIR POSITION- clearly was really important to be seen to be doing your CIVIC DUTY! NO special training needed or given NOT FULL-TIME - could last a year, a festival season, or a lifetime. CONDITIONS: 1. no physical defects 2. if married, and one of her children died, she would have to give up - too bad an omen to be ignored
A line-art and watercolour image of five versions of Dionysus: three from Red-figure pottery, one from a mosaic (infant Dionysus), and the Pompeiian grape-coloured fresco Bacchus. Each one is drinking, and the Pompeii Bacchus is helping a rather worse-for-wear Dionysus stand up. The baby is eating grapes. The last two are deep in conversation over their bench. They come from: 1) Silenus, Dionysus and Bacchante, Paestan red-figure vase C4th B.C., 2) Satyr and Dionysus, Athenian red-figure kylix C5th B.C 3) Dionysus Riding Tiger, Greco-Roman El Djem Floor Mosaic C2nd A.D. 4) Dionysus & Ariadne Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C. 5) Dionysus on Vesuvius Greco-Roman Pompeii Wall Fresco C1st A.D. By Greek Myth Comix
ANCIENT GREEK CULT RELIGION* "CULT': CARE OWED TO DEITIES, SHRINES AND TEMPLES, THE RITUALS PERFORMED TO HONOUR THEM (* religion is not an Ancient Greek concept. There was no ‘religion’ as we know it) MAIN CULT: THE OLYMPIANS (HESTIA TENDED TO BE DOMESTICALLY WORSHIPPED) SECONDARY CULT: CHTHONIC GODS - PERSEPHONE - HADES - HECATE 'HEALTH' GODS - ASCLEPIUS (ALSO HERO cult) - EILEITHYIA HERO CULT - ‘MORE THAN A HUMAN, LESS THAN A GOD' - ‘FOUNDING' HEROES -MEN (HEROES) AND WOMEN (WIVES AND MOTHERS OF HEROES) E.G.: OEDIPUS, PELOPS, ALCMENE, PENELOPE HERACLES - BOTH HERO AND SECONDARY MYSTERY CULT - SECRETIVE AND MYSTERIOUS OFTEN REFLECTED MORE PERSONAL VIEWS ON LIFE AND DEATH, FOCUS ON REBIRTH AND AFTERLIFE E.G: THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES Under each section is a stick-man figure or figures representing each cult By Greek Myth Comix
A stick-man drawing of Aristotle says: “ RHETORIC: THE FACULTY OF OBSERVING IN ANY GIVEN CASE THE AVAILABLE MEANS OF PERSUASION” A title underneath says ARISTOTLE, “RHETORIC' C,4TH BCE Then there is a title: ‘the art of persuasion’ : ARISTOTLE EXPLAINS THERE ARE THREE MODES (PISTEIS) OF PERSUASION IN RHETORIC and then three small pieces of text with a stick man speaking beneath each one. ETHOS AN APPEAL TO PROVE THE AUTHORITY OF THE SPEAKER AND THEIR CREDIBILITY - PROOF OF EXPERTISE - YOU'VE GOT THE RECEIPTS! Stick man says ‘I am an expert!’ PATHOS AN APPEAL TO EMOTIONS - PASSIONATE DELIVERY - PERSONAL ANECDOTES - METAPHOR AND SIMILE Stick man says “IT WAS AS SAD AS THE SADDEST THING…” LOGOS A LOGICAL APPEAL (WHICH ENHANCES ETHOS) - FACTS AND FIGURES - DEDUCTIVE REASONING ENDING IN CONCLUSION (SYLLOGISM) - A BODY OF PROOF SORT OF… (ENTHYMEME) Stickman says “LET'S LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE…” By Greek Myth Comix