This marble head of Minerva dating back to 130-90 AD. This early date suggests that the head may have stood else where before it was found in the Temple of Mithras, London. The head depicts the goddess with a crested metal helmet.
Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom who was often depicted with an owl, her sacred creature and, through this connection, a symbol of wisdom. The head was found buried in a hole close the the Head of Mithras.
From the first page, The Penguin Book of Classical Myths thrusts the reader into an intricate web of demanding lusty gods, belligerent mortals and monsters dripping blood from their mouths. There are worse places to be lost on a Sunday afternoon.
Jenny March’s expertise in Greek mythology is without question: she also wrote the Cassell Dictionary of Classical Mythology and has taught at London, Reading and Southampton universities. She is also editor of the journal CA News for the Classical Association. Her attention to detail will serve students and mythology fans well, along with anyone who likes a solid, comprehensive reference book for the family bookshelf. She has included many subheadings and a detailed index to help readers locate points of interest quickly.
Submitted by Bija Knowles on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 13:26
This week the film The Twilight Saga: New Moonis being released, fuelling vampire mania around the world. While teenagers go completely nuts over the film's hunky vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) – one wrote 'bite me' on her face as she queued with 5,000 others to see him in London last week – other die-hard fans of the Twilight books, written by Stephenie Meyers, are also descending on the small hill-top town of Volterra, in Tuscany, where some of the action of the film is set (even though filming actually took place in Montepulciano, 70 miles away). As a result, hordes of teenagers have been visiting Volterra – a town with Etruscan roots and its own heritage of Etruscan demons, gods and goddesses associated with death, resurrection and the night.
