Happy New Year *CGA style

*CGA= Consuming Greek Antiquity abbreviation :)

I saw many postcards made by Greek archaeologists using ancient Greek elements to wish everyone for the holidays. 

But these kinds of choices are to be expected. 

I much prefer to borrow a postcard sent by the mayor of Phaistos who ingeniously used the Phaistos disc as a Christmas tree ornament thus also giving it a three-dimensional quality as a spherical object. 

I wish everyone a very happy and productive New Year and may we keep discovering and discussing together more examples of the ancient Greek culture made by modern consumers for a long time. 

Vassiliki Pliatsika

Ladies man

*Today's photograph is part of a mini-series that has been forming over time in this blog with famous people photographed in front of statues.*

Nikos Aliagas in front of a Caryatid - photograph courtesy of my good friend archaeologist Manos Lambrakis

Naughty and nice

Presenting a naked male body used to be a rather taboo spectacle, unless...
well, unless you placed a classical element beside it, i.e. a column, thus creating the perfect alibi. 

No one can criticise male beauty when you present it that way. 

This used to be one of the commonest ways for Gay magazines to portray their naked models. I think it makes for one of the most interesting ways of Consuming Greek Antiquity we've seen so far in the blog.

You may read a very interesting article and browse through the whole gallery HERE

Phaistos Disco

[VIA]

Men-andros

This next presentation is courtesy of a great friend and fellow archaeologist Kalliope Sarri. 

Kalliope was very kind to share this extremely interesting set of photographs of a hair salon in Athens. It is called Men-andros appropriately focused on grooming men and children's hair. 

Not only does the owner play with a linguistic concept: Men > Andros (meaning 'of a man' in Greek) > Menandros, but he decorated the front window of the salon with a small Kouros on a  column. 

There is another intriguing archaic element involved and that is the salon's symbol. It is depicted on the shop's door sign and also on a small poster mentioning the working hours of the salon. It is a gold (or gilded) comb with a small horse on it. I can't identify the artefact so, should you know what's depicted, please let me know. 

Enjoy!

Reebok classic

This was part of a campaign showing naked athletes wearing Reebok shoes and depicted as if they were classic works of art. 

Audrey in the Louvre

In one of the most characteristic sequences of the Funny Face (1957), Audrey Hepburn as model Jo Stockton emerges from behind the Winged Nike of Samothrace and gracefully walks down the famous Daru staircase of the Louvre. 

She's wearing a red hot long dress and holds a scarf over her head in a pose much like the one held by the statue in the background. 

You may watch this particular sequence from 8.20' to 8.50' in the following video

Why don't you turn to stone?

arCAKEology: an edible archaeology

The following is an excellent post with marvellous related illustrations written by archaeologist-museologist Dr Naya Dalakoura. 

Naya, it is a great pleasure and honour to have you on the Consuming Greek Antiquity blog. 

Dr Naya Dalakoura

ArCAKEology: an edible archaeology

Tasting the Parthenon as dessert could have never crossed the mind as perhaps archaeology is  not well known for being a discipline in which you bake cakes …seems though that human imagination is endless as there are some fantastic archaeology inspired cakes out there! Birthday cakes, puddings, fruity shots, cupcakes, all faithful replicas of original artifacts have inspired archaeo-lovers who are privileged with the knowledge of antiquity and the ability to create pastries, sharing their love of baking with the world.

Celebrating the end of a dig, archaeological course reunions, archaeological bakes off, museum fund raisings, birthdays or Christmas dinners are all potential reasons for consuming antiquity. From Megalithic temples to Bronze Age graves, funerary masks, mosaics, temples, archaeological trenches, excavations, models of archaeological sites are impressing, most original and ingenious examples of incorporating and often interpreting elements of world ancient culture, presenting almost every period in cake form (Stonehenge and the Parthenon are the most beloved ones!) . What makes these cakes good? Their correct or nearly correct proportions, their shaping and texturing, the coloured icing and their spicy details.

The confectioners, proud fathers of their culinary creations, cannot resist the temptation to respond to the calls of magazines as the Current Archaeology Magazine and post the photos on line contributing to the international must-do-trend of themed baking.  Some creators modestly ask to remain anonymous and others, as the Italian pastry cook Mirco della Vecchio, have gained international recognition for baking white chocolate world cultural heritage monuments.

Baking archaeo-cakes instructions are used as educational material (activity sheets) for teaching archaeology to children. According to the educators of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Council for British Archaeology, trying to make a stratigraphy layer cake can lead to learning archaeological concepts and skills, discovering more about how layers build up and what an archaeological section might look like – and it tastes pretty great too! All you need is some layers for the cake, chocolate, vanilla, butter icing, cream and jam!

Get the inspiration, bake archaeology, consume antiquity and offer us the taste!

Sandalous

Fellow archaeologist Peggy Ringa (thank you Peggy!) was the first to point out to me a hugely successful shoe design company producing high fashion ancient Greek style sandals, appropriately named... 

Ancient Greek Sandals. 

It should be noted that this is actually a Greek-based company doing very well in this time of crisis, producing high quality shoes of great taste. Their sandals appear in all the fashion magazines around the world and rightly so (see HERE) and are worn by Hollywood celebrities, like Michelle Williams. 

I particularly appreciate the fact that they produce both "classical" models, i.e. copying ancient sandals as we know them through classical iconography, and also tasteful and quirky modern versions. 

HERMES

In their own words: 

"Ancient Greek Sandals are handmade locally by skilled craftsmen using traditional techniques that have existed for centuries. A raw yet feminine aesthetic distinguishes this new sandal brand. The chemical-free, natural tan leather ages beautifully with time and wear. The collection is inspired by ancient Greek goddesses, nymphs and muses as well myths, pottery, jewellery and sculpture."

ATHENA

The company produces many designs for both women and men and they name them after mythological figures. It was really hard to choose some examples from their collection for this post. 
*I should note one complaint of mine though: no men's sandals named after Perseus!

PANDORA

*

ALCYONE

*

NEPHELE

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THE MINOTAUR

*

IOLE

(these would look great one day on a little girl I know by that name)

*

DIONYSUS

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MEDEA WEDGE

(this was Peggy Ringa's favorite I think, and mine too!)

*

ARES

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CALYPSO

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ZEUS

*

IKARIA

******
WANT MORE?

You may visit the company's site HERE and see more for yourselves.
You may also follow them on Facebook, HERE. 

And while I'm at it, you may now follow Consuming Greek Antiquity on Facebook too, HERE