Hey, as usual when I finally get to my journal I'm too tired and in a hurry to give a full account, but...

Please direct your browsers to this link. Note especially, but not exclusively, the entry titled "The Medinet-Hubbu Cippus."

Wait... pleading!? That's not what happened!

I've submitted (with their permission) a corrected version due to some minor typos, but they haven't put it up yet. Still, if you spot any mistakes, it's fair game to mention them here.

And bonus points if you can explain the pun in the title.

Here is my latest new userpic. I've been sitting on this one for a relatively long time, because after I made it I started second guessing myself, and trying to re-crop it in various ways, so that it would be clearer what is going on in the picture. Finally I decided that my initial composition was the best, and went with that. I may eventually create an animated version, so that you can see more detail.

So just what is going on in this picture? Well it's a modified version of a famous Greek vase painting (you can see the original here). The human character is Eurystheus, whose claim to fame is that he was Hercules' (mortal) tormentor. It was his job to come up with all those labors for him to perform. As you may recall, Hercules' final task was to bring Cerberus back from the underworld. This task was chosen preicsely because it was impossible, but of course Hercules scoffs at impossibility. Eurystsheus, who was totally expecting Hercules to fail, and presumably get stuck forever in the Underworld, was taken by surprise when Hercules brought in the ferocious giant three-headed dog (note also the SNAKES ON A HELLHOUND in the picture). Never known for his manliness, he dove into a nearby urn to hide, and ordered Hercules to take the dog back right away.

So far so good. Now... what does the Greek caption say? Well, it's a word-for-word translation of a certain English expression Eurystheus would have been likely to say (had he spoken English). What expression? I'd rather not say, but you can figure out if you look up the icon's keywords ;) (Another clue: in Greek, the question mark looks like our semicolon.)

Note that the translation, being essentially literal, is not very idiomatic, but I have always loved translating it that way because it plays on two very Greek constructions:

1. The articular infinitive
2. The accusative of respect

So, despite the fact that this is translationese, one could almost see a Greek understanding it. But not quite.

Like the last one, I suspect this icon will come in very useful.

Another new icon, yay!

This one is based off another screencap from HBO's Rome, kindly provided by scapeartist. I cropped it and added the lettering. Unfortunately it was illegible, so I needed kinkyturtle's help to render it useable. A big thanks to both of you!

As for what it says, see here for an explanation.

Hopefully I won't need to use this userpic very much then ;)