tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19408862.post5259224621859136230..comments2023-10-29T04:36:52.733-05:00Comments on elle, phd: Ancient history through a very modern lens *ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01867952598756889997noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19408862.post-15509902972168445512009-04-17T15:00:00.000-05:002009-04-17T15:00:00.000-05:00I guess I can't help commenting on bunches of your...I guess I can't help commenting on bunches of your posts today. Probably because I'm supposed to be finishing my diss today. I've always taught my students that Cleopatra's beauty was in her intelligence, which is how she is presented in the sources. The medieval woman Heloise is always seen as beautiful in modern accounts, but in the medieval account she "shines brighter than all others in letters" and isn't unattractive. We are talked into skin beauty when mind beauty has always mattered to some.Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03950985047330312069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19408862.post-51146741285449334752009-04-16T16:22:00.000-05:002009-04-16T16:22:00.000-05:00A long time ago I got to visit the Cultural Histor...A long time ago I got to visit the Cultural History Museum in Vienna, Austria. One of its treasures is a small collection of portraits of Egyptians, not in the style we all know, but face portraits on wooden boards, meant to capture the subject's ordinary likeness. Because of their age they are behind glass and heavy curtains to keep off even indirect sun. One portrait of a woman showed the light mustache on her upper lip, each hair lovingly brushed in. I got the feeling (no, I knew) that the artist found that little mustache charming. So, it was. That one detail gave me a powerful sense of connecting with another life across the millennia — probably just because it up-ended my received ideas of what should be emphasized and concealed in a woman's features. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com