January 1. 2025

Another New Year upon us, and the wish that it be a good one, a better one; for god knows it’s a struggle to find some satisfaction with the one just passed. But it’s worth considering that, from one day to the next, from one end of the world to the other, with all the despairs and tragedies that have befallen many, and in a myriad of ways, so, too, have loving relationships been formed and deepened; babies born and children grown before one’s eyes; successes of all sorts – great and small – achieved; moments of generosity – given gladly or rewarded. And, so, it is true to say, for very many the past year will be remembered with warmth in their heart.

And, this, a day like any other, is best celebrated with modest hopes and realizable expectations for the year that lies ahead.

The First Lady of American Classics: Remembering Edith Hamilton – Antigone

The First Lady of American Classics: Remembering Edith Hamilton – Antigone
— Read on antigonejournal.com/2024/03/remembering-edith-hamilton/

Possibly Edith Hamilton (here her Wiki entry) is one of those extraordinary American women renowned only on their home turf and amongst those steeped in Classics education. Whatever, I only came across Hamilton by chance a few years ago whilst reading Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones in which the feisty young protagonist is given a copy of Mythology to read by a teacher, and finds solace in those ancient myths – and refuge from the cruel realities of poverty and despair in the Mississippi Delta.