“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”

― Heraclitus

https://nostr.build/av/9e7508c8054139ba219bf92e35f207958dc7f090fab74079f5b0783c90c36ed5.mp4

“When Phrynichus produced his play The Capture of Miletus the Athenians, upset over events, fined him and forbade its future production.”

― The Twitter Herodotus

“We have had the history of Aesop so many times over and over, and dress’d up so many several ways; that it would be but labour-lost to multiply unprofitable conjectures upon a tradition of so great uncertainty.”

― Sir Roger L’Estrange

https://nostr.build/av/887876bc8461997cc32c0b2cc6fbd3a40df31cc059f73f7d91e186be4fb52129.mp4

“My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.”

― Daniel 6:22

https://nostr.build/av/a3448b4c17119f5d8fe01b154790f9a457acf04565f7f6414f14b91cee79ba79.mp4

“Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

― Ezekiel 37:5-6

https://nostr.build/av/f87ec782cfcfe5658b7872672093d31daf4cf05ecf95b176f1ecf9dc911a397c.mp4

“And a very old priest said to him, 'Oh Solon, Solon, you Greeks are all children, and there’s no such thing as an old Greek.'"

― Plato’s Timaeus translated by Desmond Lee

“Niobe on Phrygian sands

Turn'd a weeping statue stands,

And the Pandionian Maid

In a swallow's wings array'd;

But a mirror I would be,

To be look'd on still by thee;”

Anacreon translated by Thomas Stanley

“Some Saian mountaineer

Struts today with my shield.

I threw it down by a bush and ran

When the fighting got hot.

Life seemed somehow more precious.

It was a beautiful shield.

I know where I can buy another

Exactly like it, just as round.”

― Archilochus translated by Guy Davenport

“When Zeus’ temper had peaked he seized his weapons,

Searing bolts of thunder and lightning,

And as he leaped from Olympos, struck.”

— Hesiod in “Theogony” translated by Stanley Lombardo

https://nostr.build/av/c8370a09847cba209b4970d56cfb56f22216c12f0683e4e31fcce8d5f6a5a36d.mp4

Great summary of the free speech revolution here: nostr:note1c39e8k2c0uj7l77q0p7md5a9rahumv8dr57crd3r4xq7tegecn9sx7tckq

Happy Fourth of July to all freedom-loving, sat-zapping #nostriches!

“Death is near, and black, not at a distance, not to be evaded. Long ago this hour must have been to Zeus’s liking and to the liking of his archer son. They have been well disposed before, but now the appointed time’s upon me. Still, I would not die without delivering a stroke, or die ingloriously, but in some action memorable to men in days to come.”

— Hector in Homer’s Iliad translated by Robert Fitzgerald

https://nostr.build/av/c98171d9282ce1040d010e9568ec8d9fe728cabe6f3cccc6e3e507929990e740.mp4

Jonah meets the great fish:

https://nostr.build/av/ab2f22f194eed7ef1bea6325bd63f6af24834adf2b1e5971cb23239fd4d25475.mp4

The Solomon theme is now live on greatbooksreport.com. It’ll only be up for a day or two before it’s replaced with a new theme of another great author in the Western canon. The quotes and videos I publish here are just teasers for what you can find linked to from the site. Today’s teaser is from 1 Kings 3:7-12.

https://nostr.build/av/28d870203e3ae7ca29be88622d8aa3abbe6a3a1ca52308238566e4afc85a2065.mp4

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel:

https://nostr.build/av/1549551d8797282f6690c6439b5df80774556f7abcf808ebf99f79e5c68c0080.mp4

I just started The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

1 Samuel 16:11-12

Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

https://nostr.build/av/115acfed482cf5eb7e1a3c980416e06b69a7c04b941f799cef292b330a7c93a0.mp4

“Returning now, the minstrel’s way was won;

Behind him follow’d, to the breeze and sun,

Eurydice, restored but still unseen,

(By strict condition of the infernal Queen)”

― Virgil in “Georgics” translated by R. D. Blackmore

https://nostr.build/av/5202a912bdf95d004b7cdecf5b0b7dd5b04f44c8e386f42f5036e8ac2ba9cea5.mp4

“Cadmus obeys, and with his plough’s deep share

Opens wide furrows, then across the soil

Scatters the teeth, the seed of humankind.

The tilth (beyond belief!) began to stir:

First from the furrows points of spears were seen,

Next helmets, bright with nodding painted plumes,

Then shoulders, chests and weapon-laden arms

Arose, a growing crop of men in mail.”

― Ovid in “Metamorphoses” translated by A. D. Melville

https://nostr.build/av/668c099d5a66cc583ad3b0e44706c6cfcdc8e5f92043bd54b7b5253f50f68e52.mp4

As found in Joshua 6:20:

“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.”

https://nostr.build/av/5666cfce5dbefa54c4aecdf12288da1e7cec9aaaf680ec45fe2489bd59bf12ff.mp4