Art for Art’s Sake

About Me

I've been working on this site in an effort to display my art. You are invited to have a look. It includes original work, created in different media.

In addition to the paintings, I've included some haiku and poetry. It's just another form of expression -- a kind of mental exercise for me.

Interested persons can make contact via e-mail at:
nebularhyp50@gmail.com

1. Archilochus of Paros

   Far from being a bunch of automatons, the ancient Greek hoplites knew when to quit the field of battle in an effort to save their bacon. If a battle went badly, the heavily armed hoplites could very quickly, find themselves at the mercy of some very relentless light-infantry in the form of the peltasts. These folks (peltasts, that is) could dog the hoplites who might be cut off from their formation, and bring them down with the lead shot sent singing from their slings. Slings were just part of a peltasts repertoire, they could nail a hoplite with javelins or even arrows. When the hoplites found themselves isolated from their main form of battlefield functionality, i.e. the phalanx, the weapons of the peltast were no longer just an annoyance, they became a very real threat.
   So, best way to cut-and-run (where have we heard that phrase before?), was to lighten the load — and your typical hoplite knew that he could get clear of about 20 lbs, just by tossing his shield. Sin-of-sins — unload the salad bowl and hightail it out of harms way, keep your hide in good shape to fight another day.
   Archilochus of Paros, being a fine upstanding mercenary, and an excellent poet into the bargain, decided to address this little issue in a poem. It probably explains why he was so successful in his chosen career (mercenary, that is). He seemed to take a practical approach to his work and he didn’t mince words about any of it. So without further ado:

   A perfect shield bedecks some Thracian now;
   I had no choice: I left it in the wood.
   Ah, well, I saved my skin, so let it go!
   A new one’s just as good.