The Odyssey: What’s Old is Made New Again

 Warning: Spoilers ahead for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

The Odyssey is a truly beautiful film, and seeing it on the big screen was a true sensory experience. The use of sound was truly amazing, and I felt the seats shake many times! I was really struck by the movie’s true respect for the source material and its perfect combination of old and modern (for example, a Bard is often seen at the feasts and is played by a rapper!). Here are the themes that stood out the most to me:

Female roles: I’m calling it now, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Lupita N'yongo as Helen of Troy will be winning all of the awards this year. Although Penelope is restricted to the role of dutiful wife in the original story, she is front and center in the movie. When Telemachus complains to her once again that Ithaca needs a king, she rightly lashes out. Why is her experience and knowledge that she used to serve Ithaca during Odysseus’s voyage seen as worthless because she’s female? A truly moving scene is when we’re introduced to Helen, whose face is scarred presumably by her violent husband in revenge. She hurriedly whispers to Telemachus to tell Penelope she was sorry that the war was started in her name. She also defends her sister Clytemnestra for killing her husband Agamemnon, who sacrificed their daughter to have the gods on his side of the war. Nolan approaches each character with nuance and sympathy.

Exile as redemptive: In the ancient world, exile was considered a punishment worse than death. Many Greek tragedies end with the hero (or anti-hero) exiled from his homeland and from heaven’s favor forever. Nolan, however, turns that trope on its head. Before the beginning of the war, Odysseus wants to self-exile himself and his family to escape from Agamemnon’s rage. The fear that Telemachus would be sacrificed stops him. When Odysseus reveals himself at the movie’s end, he and Penelope board a boat together and leave Ithaca. Odysseus also recognizes the need to properly mourn his dead and give thanks to the gods. But there is one aspect of this that stuck out at me the most-Telemachus is named king but his parents did not broker a marriage for him before leaving! No self-respecting ancient Greek family would completely disregard their children’s future by not having some spousal options up their sleeves.  

Historical Sketch: Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy

    We're getting close to July 14th, otherwise known as Bastille Day! This is one of my favorite days of the year. As a Francophile, I'm fascinated by one of the most significant dates in French history. It's arguably the beginning of the French Revolution which changed European history forever, It's also my wedding anniversary! My husband knew what he was getting into when he married a historian :)

    Today's historical sketch takes place on the eve of the French Revolution in 1786, about three years before the fall of the Bastille. The Diamond Necklace Affair was a scandal that further damaged Marie Antoinette's reputation (even though she was innocent of the entire thing!). It came to symbolize the monarchy's decadence at a time when France's poor was starving. Today we'll focus on the woman at the heart of the Affair, Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy. Here is what history remembers of her:

-Descended from an illegitimate son of Henry II, she was born into poverty until her marriage to the Comte de la Motte

-A convincing con artist, she told the Cardinal de Rohan that she was a close friend of Marie Antoinette

-The Cardinal wanted to get in the Queen's good graces, and lucky for him Jeanne knew just the way. All he had to do was guarantee the purchase of a 2,000 carat diamond necklace!

-Of course Marie Antoinette knew nothing about Jeanne or the necklace, but she was known to the public as liking expensive things (hence the nickname Madame Deficit)

-Once she had the necklace in her possession, Jeanne and her husband separated the diamonds and tried to sell them. Things unraveled when the jewelers demanded payment for the necklace from the Queen while the Cardinal pretended to check his couch cushions for change

-At the end of the trial, the Queen's reputation was destroyed, the Cardinal was acquitted, and Jeanne was condemned to life imprisonment and branding

-Jeanne managed to escape to London and published her memoirs Memoires Justificatifs de La Comtesse de Valois de La Motte. It placed the blame all on Marie Antoinette

-Jeanne died in 1791 after falling out her window to escape debt collectors 

Book Review: Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina

     I'm fascinated by Russian history, and Virginia Rounding's Alix and Nicky is the perfect read for anyone new to Russian history or seasoned scholars. At the center of this book is the love that Alix (Alexandra) and Nicky (Nicholas II) have for each other. Using letters between the couple that spanned decades, Rounding paints a beautiful and ultimately tragic love story.

    We learn early on that their marriage almost didn't come to be. Both were quite infatuated with each other, but Alix was very reluctant to marry into the Romanov family. She would be required to convert to the Russian orthodox faith, which she found inconceivable. Rounding makes an interesting claim that I think is very astute; she argues that Alix's real fear was embarking on a new chapter and essentially leaving childhood behind. I imagine this has been a fear for many royals ranging from the Bourbons to the Hapsburgs! 

    The sweet domesticity within the Romanov household comes across very clearly in the letters. Despite the country being desperate for a male heir, Nicky was overjoyed at the birth of his daughters. He notes in his diary that each birth was a blessing from God. Both he and Alix had a custom of writing the other a letter before they left on a trip, so even in those first moments apart each had a memento of the other. 

    Of course even during these heartwarming family scenes there was political strife across the country. Both Nicky and Alix viewed the revolutionaries as not representative of the real Russian people. The revolutionaries in their view were cosmopolitan and not really in touch with what it meant to be Russian. They were contrasted with the Russian peasantry, good simple folks who loved and feared the Tsar as they would God. This may explain why they were so susceptible to Rasputin, and valued his council above even their own staff. 

    For more on the Romanov family, I also recommend the historian Helen Rappaport! Her The Romanov Sisters is an excellent companion piece to Rounding. 

Historical Sketch: Diva Brown

 I recently had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, which is home to the Coca Cola Museum. This post is inspired by that trip! There I learned about Diva Brown, also known as "The Original Coca Cola Woman." Also a trip to Coke museum is nothing without spending a lot of time in their tasting room. Can I just say how surprised I was that a lot of Coke products from around the world tasted downright medicinal? Besides my beloved cherry vanilla Coke, I found one new favorite-Korean Minute Maid. It was lychee flavored and so refreshing (lychee just so happens to be my favorite boba tea flavor too). Grab something fizzy and see how history remembers Diva Brown:

-Born Caroline Mayfield, divorced from J.C Mayfield in the late 1890s

-J.C Mayfield was an associate of Dr. John Pemberton, the creator of the Coke formula. Although Mayfield owned the rights to the Pemberton  Medical Company in 1888, Pemberton also sold the rights to others. This led to a free for all known as the Cola Wars of the early 1900s.

-Diva Brown began selling her own formula and sold it under the name and slogan: "My-Cola: Made from The Original Coca-Cola Formula."

-She had her own syrup making factory in Alabama by 1909

-She was never sued by the Coca Cola Company!

-Mentions of her in The National Bottler's Gazette call her both  "Successful New Woman of the South," and a "Fake and a Humbug."

Sources: The Kola Wars: John Pemberton and the Birth of Coca-Cola and The Original Coca-Cola Woman

The Power of the Resurrection: A Sermon about Clement C. Moore

 As I've written on a previous post, I've had the absolute pleasure of researching the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore. I even made an appearance in a documentary about the poem! 

If you're interested in more Moore-ibilia, Scott Norsworthy's blog Melvilliana is a treasure trove of information. I helped contribute to his latest post (just some archival digging, Scott did all of the heavy lifting!) regarding a memorial sermon on Moore entitled The Power of the Resurrection. And to all a good night! 

Historical Sketch: Tappūtī-Bēlet-Ekallim

 

Tapputi is a fascinating figure not only in the history of chemistry, but also in the history of cosmetics. Her surviving recipes showed a mastery of using scientific techniques alongside natural ingredients. Here’s what history remembers of her:

-Mesopotamian woman who lived around 1200 BCE

-Tablets identify her as the mistress of a household and a manufacturer of perfume

-She was known to have written a manual on making perfume

-Recognized as the world’s first chemist

-The second half of her name refers to her role as “mistress of the palace”

-Only two mentions of her: one tablet in the Louvre, the other in the Girl Museum

-Surviving recipes state that she used flowers, oil, and calamus, along with cyperus, myrrh, and balsam

Source: https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-3200-year-old-perfume-of-tapputi-the-first-female-chemist-in-history-came-to-life-again

18th century satire

 

Source: Wiki Commons

I came across this interesting piece of satire from 1793 entitled The Bath Beauties. A tale as old as time, this print disparages women who wear cosmetics as vain and dishonest. The text at the bottom reads:

'Skill'd in all Arts that Grace the modish Fair
The Air of Confidence the high bred Stare
In every Trick Cosmetic stores supply
To give new luster to a languid Eye
For genuine Roses sport Parisian Bloom
Like Stucco plaister'd on a modern Room' 1793 [Notes by E. Hawkins]

One of the women depicted is, according to the British Museum, Honor Dutton, who "married Ralph Dutton, brother of Mrs. Coke; she is one of the three minstrels who are the subject of an 'impromptu' in the Bath Chronicle for 7 May 1793."