NUNTII: Akropolis World News

In the past couple of weeks, Akropolis World News has returned to the web, so here's the latest headlines (in English ... the links will take you to the corresponding news item written in Classical Greek):

MacDonald points All Blacks to victory
       
USS Nimitz home from Iraq deployment

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:38:07 PM::
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REVIEWS: The Latest from BMCR

Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, The Oxford Classical Dictionary.

Tad Brennan, Charles Brittain (trans.), Simplicius. On Epictetus' Handbook
1-26. Ancient Commentators on Aristotle. Edited by Richard Sorabji.

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:32:58 PM::
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GOSSIP: Alexander the Great

By the sounds of a brief (pun intended) item in some UK publication called "The People", Colin Farrell might do some damage to his reputation because of the costumes he had to wear while playing Alexander:

COLIN Farrell's reputation as a love god seems to be shrinking.

The Irish sex machine has to wear less than flattering Y-fronts for his latest film role as Alexander the Great.

And the greatest disappointment to his legion of female fans will be the lack of action going on inside.

One onlooker said: "Colin hated the pants. And with his body hair shaved off, he looked more like a baby in a big nappy than Alexander the Great."

Farrell, 27, fears the blonde wig he's been forced to wear makes him look too effeminate on set in Morocco. Honestly Colin, it's not your head you should be worrying about.

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:30:32 PM::
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NUNTII: Nuntii Latini

The latest headlines from YLE's Nuntii Latini include (n.b. I've had problems connecting to YLE all day ... hopefully it will go better for you):

Status rerum in Burundia

Andreotti culpa absolutus

Indonesia imribus vexatur

De tempestatibus magneticis

Investigatio Finnica laudatur

Hodorkovski in carcerem coniectus

Legi plura  ...

Audi ...

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:26:43 PM::
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NUNTII: Matrix Philosophy

Want to impress your friends with your knowledge of philosophy as presented in pop culture? Well, the Times of India has a piece on how each installment of the Matrix has revolved around one broad philosophical concept. The first one had a Classical touch:

The Matrix packs as many mythological and philosophical allusions as punches and kicks. Broadly, though, one major concept apiece lies at the heart of each film:

The Matrix: Reality as illusion

How do we know that what we think is real is actually real? As Morpheus asks Neo, ‘‘Have you ever had a dream that you were sure was real? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?’’ This question is familiar to those acquainted with ‘Maya’. Enlightenment is achieved when one awakens from the illusory world. In the climax, Neo becomes all-powerful within the Matrix once he ‘awakens’ and sees it as a computer-generated dream world.

The Matrix plot also pays tribute to Western philosophers. Plato said that if humans were imprisoned in a cave from birth, and saw only shadows on the cave wall, they would mistake the shadows for reality, and not believe there was a real world outside. Likewise, Rene Descartes argued that all experiences might be the result of a ‘‘malicious demon’’ who could cloud perception.

The second part dealt with free will (I figured that one out all by myself ... we rented it last night) and the latest and last installment deals with the concept of Karma. There. Now you can argue about it.

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:19:33 PM::
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THIS DAY IN ANCIENT HISTORY

ante diem v idus novembres

• ludi Plebeii (day 6)
• 63 B.C./B.C.E -- Cicero delivers his Second Catilinarian Oration to the people

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 12:19:46 PM::
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AWOTV: Weekly Listings

The weekly version of my Ancient World on Television listings is now available ...

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 12:11:58 PM::
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NUNTII: Latest Explorator

The latest issue of "explorator" has been posted ...

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 8:17:40 AM::
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AWOTV: On TV Today

7.00 p.m. |DISCU| The Real Jason and the Argonauts
"The myth of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the
Golden Fleece may be based on real events that took place over
3,000 years ago. Discoveries in Greece suggest that Jason's
journey may have been a genuine voyage of discovery."

DISCU = Discovery Channel (U.S.)

::Sunday, November 09, 2003 8:15:36 AM::
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