Champagne-bottle shoulders
What a charming if old-fashioned sounding description of sloping beauty, in this case referring to voluptuous Europa. Â And 'callipygous' describes...
Mamma turns up
A few signals to keep an eye out for so you don't miss the moment a god may show up:...
Cockatrice
Drury tells us that 'according to Pliny and alchemical tradition, this was a mythical serpent, coiled and fiery, perversely hatched...
Body-gulping Charybdis
If ever there was an argument for steering a middle course, it is the horrific pair of sailor slayers, Scylla...
Fire or flood?
How did the Flood of floods come about? According to Hughes' irresistible re-telling of Ovid's tales, Jove quietly considered the...
The age of iron
The Four Ages described in Ted Hughes' muscular re-telling of Ovid's tales, begins with the Golden Age...
Speed meets beauty
One of the most vivid and original similes I have come across is Ted Hughes' description of the two dazzling...
Vomited out like a Jonah
The first of several descriptions of this boy being ejected from childhood innocence and security by his...
As worried as …
I admit that I had to find the mythological reference to understand Erasmus' simile for looking anxious.Â
Yet only...
The original fake news
'Fake news' is nothing but a new term for the age old curses of rumour or propaganda, so it's good...
Strategic consideration
The wild card of ancient Greek military planning was the existence and randomness of divine intervention. You never knew which...
Folly’s pedigree
Erasmus' timeless Praise of Folly has the foolish lady up in the pulpit, mocking all comers with humour and charm,...
Love writingredux.com? Â Enjoy our sister sites:
www.foolsareeverywhere.com  I   www.nuannaarpoq.com  I  www.spyderceleste.com  Â
© Beatrice Otto 2023 - design & content unless otherwise stated - all rights reserved