He's Mad, Bad - and Dead 200 Hundred Years

Three pieces from Antigone struck my fancy. Notes from two follow; I need more time with the third.

LORD BYRON: THE PERILS AND GLORIES OF A CLASSICAL EDUCATION by Alan Cardew. The Jim Morrison of the Romantic poets? Or was Morrison the Lord Byron of LA rockers?

Last month saw two very different ceremonies to mark the 200th Anniversary of the death of Lord Byron. In London, a wreath was laid by Lord Lytton with a group of members of the Byron Society on the simple grey slab which commemorates Byron in ‘Poets’ Corner’ in Westminster Abbey. In Athens, on National Byron Day he was remembered as a hero with the Minister of Defence, Nikos Dendias, giving an address to members of the Hellenic Armed Forces at the Hellenic Army Academy. In Athens, there were nineteen-cannon salutes to mark 19 April, the date of Byron’s death. One celebration subdued, the other martial.

I do not see anyone remembering Jim in 2170. I am not very solid on poets or poetry, but I like Byron best of the Romantics.

... Byron satirises the virtuous horror of the then growing moralisers of what he called “the age of cant”, which was gradually replacing an age of scandal; a time of bucks, dandies, and aristocratic extravagance – the Prince Regent, Beau Brummell, Gillray and Rowlandson. An age vanquished, like Lord Byron, by emerging Victorian proprieties. As with Ovid, Byron was sent into exile for his indecencies, an Emperor’s prohibition being replaced by the voice of outraged public sensibility.

Even before my crack-up, I had little use for what I call a neo-Victorian morality. I found - and find - their moral sense more than a trifle hypocritical. Before you go rushing to judgment on me, consider The The Opium Wars. 

I always thought villa meant house until I read HADRIAN’S VILLA AND ITS TREASURES by Carole Raddato.

Laid out between AD 118 and 134 on top of a pre-existing Republican villa, Hadrian’s Villa is unrivalled in scale and architectural originality among all Roman villas. The complex, generously spanning an area of about 120 hectares (almost twice the size of Pompeii), featured 30 major buildings, including palaces, baths, libraries, theatres, extensive gardens and fountains, and multiple dining suites, all decorated with the most valuable materials and filled with art masterpieces.

The overall plan was complex and unusual, featuring a unique circular design, curvilinear architecture, clever use of convex and concave curves, and domes and vaults made of brick-faced concrete. Designed for both business and pleasure, the Villa also contained many rooms that could accommodate large gatherings for the Empire’s elite. A large court lived there permanently, and many visitors and bureaucrats were entertained and temporarily housed on site. The servants had their quarters in hidden rooms and used service tunnels to transport goods from one area to another, well out of sight of the Emperor. As a result, the vast residential complex was almost always bustling with people.

There are photos, too. I guess if it is good to be the king, it is even better to be the Emperor!

sch 6/2