Παρασκευή 25 Νοεμβρίου 2011

Kylie Aphrodite

Kylie Minogue's choice to portray Aphrodite certainly deserves a post on this blog, especially since it was presented not just in a CD, but in a world tour with stage sets and appropriate Dolce & Gabbana costumes, thus offering a more "complete" visual experience.

In all honesty, I think that there's so much material to examine and work with, that it would make a nice idea for an article of a well-documented case of consuming Greek mythology & iconography.

The CD includes two songs, readily identifiable as having being inspired by the central mythological theme, i.e. "Cupid Boy" and "Aphrodite"

I'm fierce and I'm feeling mighty,
I'm a golden girl, I'm an Aphrodite




Interestingly enough the world tour actually combined two theme/concepts, "Aphrodite" and "Zigfield Folies" (!!) thus named eventually "Aphrodite Les Folies".


Here follows a series of photographs I collected from the web showing Kylie - Aphrodite with winged headpiece emerging from a large sea-shell, perfoming in front of a mock-Greek style facade, nursed by female attendants, riding Pegasus and mounting a chariot with her male warriors.
























Related videos are of course plentiful, thus really hard to choose from. 
I'm posting only two here, the first including characteristic scenes of all the programme, the second the opening act and "Birth of Aphrodite" underwater scene.










For those interested to learn more and continue exploring, you may want to start from the singer's official site HERE, then follow THIS Wikipedia link on the album and THIS link on the tour.




Τρίτη 22 Νοεμβρίου 2011

Lego in search of Atlantis - 100th post



In 2010 the well-known Lego toy company released Lego Atlantis, a product range themed around the underwater world of the long lost ancient city of Atlantis.


The product range includes 19 sets and a crew of basic characters. The "good" characters are the deep sea salvage crew who search the ocean for shipwrecks and treasure, including Captain Ace Speedman, Marine biologist Dr Jeff Fisher, First Mate Lance Spears, 'Tech Expert' Axel Storm, apprentice Bobby Buoy and Professor Sam Rhodes. 
The "evil" characters are described as 'Atlantis Warriors', have human-like bodies with the heads of a sea creature, and are accordingly named: i.e. 'Squid Warrior', 'Manta Warrior', 'Shark Warrior'.

The company has released 19 sets of toy products so far, as well as a movie and an online game named "The Quest for the Golden King" -you can play it clicking HERE.



In the following first part of the Lego Atlantis movie (3.22 ff), Prof. Sam Rhodes explains the story of the city using a projector (!) and black & white slides -not-so-high-tech right?

"Legend tells of an island in the Atlantic that contained a great city with riches beyond our imagination. Its walls were made of precious metals, its architecture so advanced some believe we still have not matched it today, but volcanic activity on the ocean floor led to a tidal wave. The entire island was swallowed up by the sea, never to be seen again"



May thanks to Dr Kalliopi Sarri for alerting me to this exciting product.


By the way, this is the blog's 100th post~ Many thanks are due to all the readers, especially to those overseas, who have kept this project going and expressed their intense interest.

Greek key for H&M


The Greek key (the 'meander', μαίανδρος) features prominently in the new Versace line designed to be sold through the H&M network of shops throughout the world.




Special thanks are due to Sara Alexandra Berg for pointing out this new example of consuming Greek antiquity.



Τρίτη 15 Νοεμβρίου 2011

Looking for the Greek God of Finance

A plausible scenario enacted on Saturday Night Live:
a meeting of the Greek Gods presided by Zeus on looking for the responsible God of Finance who well, basically, must have got something wrong.






It's been a while since I updated this blog, but it's time I added some new material in here.
Thanks to everyone of my readers who keep coming back to check and send positive feedback.