Greek pottery depicting Achilles and the Amazon Penthesileia, 5th century BCE (National Archaeological Museum of Spain), photo courtesy of World History Encyclopedia
Roman relief depicting Bacchus or Dionysus, the god of wine. Marble, 1st Century CE (Archaeological Museum of Naples), photo courtesy of World History Encyclopedia
WOMEN OF ALGIERS IN THEIR APARTMENT (1834) by Eugène Delacroix
The harem is differently constructed in the West and in the East.
The Occident tends to view the harem as a locus for polygamy and sexual license.
“Harem. The mere mention of the word is enough to send a sly smile sliding across the lips of the average and straight Western man, conjuring images of sex on demand, services provided by dozens and dozens of nubile ‘genies’ murmuring ‘Yes, Master. Your wish is my command.’”
—Teresa Wiltz, “‘Scheherazade’ Unveils a Harem of the West,” The Washington Post (March 22, 2002)
The Orient, on the other hand, understands the harem more along domestic lines, that is, it is a private space for the women of a household and their children, accommodating as well close female family members.
“Harem, in Muslim countries, the part of a house set apart for the women of the family. The word ḥarīmī is used collectively to refer to the women themselves. Zanāna (from the Persian word zan, ‘woman’) is the term used for the harem in India, andarūn (Persian: “inner part” [of a house]) in Iran.
“Although usually associated in Western thought with Muslim practices, harems are known to have existed in the pre-Islamic civilizations of the Middle East; there the harem served as the secure, private quarters of women who nonetheless played various roles in public life. Muhammad did not originate the idea of the harem or of the seclusion and veiling of women, but he sponsored them, and, wherever Islam spread, these institutions went with it. The virtual removal of women from public life was more typical of the Islamic harem than of its predecessors, although in many periods of Islamic history women in the harem exercised various degrees of political power.
“In pre-Islamic Assyria, Persia, and Egypt, most of the royal courts included a harem, consisting of the ruler’s wives and concubines, their female attendants, and eunuchs.”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/harem
—Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, “harem,” Encyclopedia Britannica, updated February 28, 2024
Delacroix’s depiction of the harem leans towards indicating its domestic rather than its purportedly salacious character—in this respect, the painting is unusual for its time.
Bacchus, Roman god of agriculture, wine, and fertility, is an image of gluttony.
If we expand our understanding of gluttony to include drug addiction—it encompasses addiction to alcohol, a commonplace barbiturate—then drug addiction has the potential to so impair the freedom of a person that the substance abuse becomes an end in itself.
Worse, the addiction can lead the person to commit serious crimes, such as robbery or murder, in order to supply and maintain the addiction.
We suggest that in at least some cases drug addiction would constitute a mortal sin.
A WOMAN BATHING IN A STREAM (1655) by Rembrandt van Rijn
The masterpiece displays attributes similar to those of Rembrandt’s famous Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654), which was executed around the same time. David’s adultery with Bathsheba is one among the most widely cited and representative Biblical stories.
FIGHT WITH CUDGELS (1819-23) by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
One of the 14 “black paintings” executed by Goya beginning in 1819 when the artist was 72 years old. Goya painted them on the walls of a house into which he had transferred outside Madrid. He had been suffering from near deafness since he turned 46 years old. He had endured Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808, after which the tyrant had been expelled from the country in 1814 by Portuguese and Spanish forces. No surprise that Goya’s paintings at the close of his life are dark and morbid. He passed away in Bordeaux, France, 1828. The murals were detached by the owner of the house after Goya’s death and now reside in the Museo del Prado. They had been untitled by Goya but were assigned names by art historians.
PHOTO CREDITS
ReplyDelete“Apple” photo courtesy of Beshef
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sharif/3987743756/
Broken statue of Ramses II, Luxor, Egypt, photo courtesy of katieandtommy
https://www.flickr.com/photos/katieandtommy/2267784562/
Greek pottery depicting Achilles and the Amazon Penthesileia, 5th century BCE (National Archaeological Museum of Spain), photo courtesy of World History Encyclopedia
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/3351/achilles--penthesileia/
Roman relief depicting Bacchus or Dionysus, the god of wine. Marble, 1st Century CE (Archaeological Museum of Naples), photo courtesy of World History Encyclopedia
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/12702/bacchus-relief-naples/
Public domain photos
Codex Aureus Epternacensis (Golden Gospels), Illuminated Manuscript
La Maja Vestida (1800-1805) by Francisco Goya
Lazy Lady (2016) by Rowan Gillespie
Gonzalinho
WOMEN OF ALGIERS IN THEIR APARTMENT (1834) by Eugène Delacroix
ReplyDeleteThe harem is differently constructed in the West and in the East.
The Occident tends to view the harem as a locus for polygamy and sexual license.
“Harem. The mere mention of the word is enough to send a sly smile sliding across the lips of the average and straight Western man, conjuring images of sex on demand, services provided by dozens and dozens of nubile ‘genies’ murmuring ‘Yes, Master. Your wish is my command.’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/03/23/scheherazade-unveils-a-harem-of-the-west/e3456489-d665-492b-8195-9fb5352139d1/
—Teresa Wiltz, “‘Scheherazade’ Unveils a Harem of the West,” The Washington Post (March 22, 2002)
The Orient, on the other hand, understands the harem more along domestic lines, that is, it is a private space for the women of a household and their children, accommodating as well close female family members.
“Harem, in Muslim countries, the part of a house set apart for the women of the family. The word ḥarīmī is used collectively to refer to the women themselves. Zanāna (from the Persian word zan, ‘woman’) is the term used for the harem in India, andarūn (Persian: “inner part” [of a house]) in Iran.
“Although usually associated in Western thought with Muslim practices, harems are known to have existed in the pre-Islamic civilizations of the Middle East; there the harem served as the secure, private quarters of women who nonetheless played various roles in public life. Muhammad did not originate the idea of the harem or of the seclusion and veiling of women, but he sponsored them, and, wherever Islam spread, these institutions went with it. The virtual removal of women from public life was more typical of the Islamic harem than of its predecessors, although in many periods of Islamic history women in the harem exercised various degrees of political power.
“In pre-Islamic Assyria, Persia, and Egypt, most of the royal courts included a harem, consisting of the ruler’s wives and concubines, their female attendants, and eunuchs.”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/harem
—Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, “harem,” Encyclopedia Britannica, updated February 28, 2024
Delacroix’s depiction of the harem leans towards indicating its domestic rather than its purportedly salacious character—in this respect, the painting is unusual for its time.
Gonzalinho
BACCHUS (c. 1596) by Caravaggio
ReplyDeleteBacchus, Roman god of agriculture, wine, and fertility, is an image of gluttony.
If we expand our understanding of gluttony to include drug addiction—it encompasses addiction to alcohol, a commonplace barbiturate—then drug addiction has the potential to so impair the freedom of a person that the substance abuse becomes an end in itself.
Worse, the addiction can lead the person to commit serious crimes, such as robbery or murder, in order to supply and maintain the addiction.
We suggest that in at least some cases drug addiction would constitute a mortal sin.
Gonzalinho
A WOMAN BATHING IN A STREAM (1655) by Rembrandt van Rijn
ReplyDeleteThe masterpiece displays attributes similar to those of Rembrandt’s famous Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654), which was executed around the same time. David’s adultery with Bathsheba is one among the most widely cited and representative Biblical stories.
Gonzalinho
FIGHT WITH CUDGELS (1819-23) by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
ReplyDeleteOne of the 14 “black paintings” executed by Goya beginning in 1819 when the artist was 72 years old. Goya painted them on the walls of a house into which he had transferred outside Madrid. He had been suffering from near deafness since he turned 46 years old. He had endured Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808, after which the tyrant had been expelled from the country in 1814 by Portuguese and Spanish forces. No surprise that Goya’s paintings at the close of his life are dark and morbid. He passed away in Bordeaux, France, 1828. The murals were detached by the owner of the house after Goya’s death and now reside in the Museo del Prado. They had been untitled by Goya but were assigned names by art historians.
Gonzalinho