Helot-haunted lowlands
Helots were the serfs of ancient Sparta, from the town of Laconia and only a notch above slaves.
They were...
As helpless as …
The wonderful little girl Maggie, in a fit of pique and sorrow, hacks off her glorious dark curls and then...
Insubstantial rock-hard durability
The durability of things and of cultures intrigues me; and particularly when those artefacts are themselves physically fragile or insubstantial.
...
Wave-beaten cape
A rough and remote coastal path, leading to the cave of Charon in a legend recounted by Leigh Fermor. It...
Pard-like stubble
I can only imagine this refers to a patchy or spotted colour combination, as 'pard' means leopard or panther, or...
Career choices
Here Zorba points out the choices his boss has to make, since you can't prattle about socialism and be a...
Barefoot erudition
Patrick Leigh Fermor wore his vast learning lightly, as real scholars often do. Here he more than meets his match...
Pickled inside and out
Here is a novel form of the elixir of youth - no magic potions, just preserved in brine and other...
Horse-taming Argos
Leigh Fermor echoes the hundreds of Homeric triologisms, many attributing this or that characteristic to one or another Greek city...
Sunlight dripping
Durrell's various Greek island books and Miller's Colossus of Maroussi enchanted me with their marvelous descriptions of people, places and...
Ash-covered Vulcan
Lady Folly blithely explains why it is better to be merry Bacchus (or Dionysius) than any of the more serious...
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