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Sissel Undheim

@unsissel.bsky.social

Religious studies professor @University of Bergen, studying religion in Late Antiquity, Lego, pop culture and public schools. https://www4.uib.no/en/find-employees/Sissel.Undheim

213 Posts1586 Follower924 Folgt
Sissel Undheim@unsissel.bsky.social · last wk.

Matias Faldbakken’s "En opprettholdelse" ('Upholding'), a mosaic consisting of 300 000 pieces framed by a blue steel rig. Commemorating the killings at Utøya and Regjeringskvartalet 22. July 2011. #MosaicMonday on a Sunday morning in Oslo ❤️‍🩹

Monumental 300 000 tesserae black and white mosaic depicting a fragile wading bird and its upside-down reflection in the water, surrounded by thin reeds, framed and supported (also partially) over the motif by a massive blue steel rig. The sun only reaches the upper half, leaving the bird's reflection in the lower half in the shadow. Side view shoving the monochrome red back and the blue rig of the mosaic Upholding (Matias Faldbakken, 2026).
Sissel Undheim@unsissel.bsky.social · last wk.

Matias Faldbakken’s "En opprettholdelse" ('Upholding'), a mosaic consisting of 300 000 pieces framed by a blue steel rig. Commemorating the killings at Utøya and Regjeringskvartalet 22. July 2011. #MosaicMonday on a Sunday morning in Oslo ❤️‍🩹

Monumental 300 000 tesserae black and white mosaic depicting a fragile wading bird and its upside-down reflection in the water, surrounded by thin reeds, framed and supported (also partially) over the motif by a massive blue steel rig. The sun only reaches the upper half, leaving the bird's reflection in the lower half in the shadow. Side view shoving the monochrome red back and the blue rig of the mosaic Upholding (Matias Faldbakken, 2026).
Sissel Undheim@unsissel.bsky.social · 2w ago

So much to say, and much written by wise and erudite experts, but what really haunts me after seeing Nolan's The Odyssey is this faded fresco from the museum at Ostia Antica. (I should perhaps label this with a #spoileralert, or maybe it's just me)

Cassasanda clinging to the altar and statue of Athena while Ajax forecefully drags her away from it. The motif is well known in myth as well as visual art. From the museum's label: "Decorazione pittorica di una nicchia con Aiace e Cassandra Dalla Necropoli di Porto all'Isola Sacra, tomba 87 Pictorial decoration of a niche with Ajax and Cassandra From the Necropolis of Portus on the Isola Sacra, tomb 87 Meta del II secolo d.C. / Mid-2nd century AD Intonaco dipinto (affresco)/ Painted plaster (fresco) Inv 10115
Ida Östenberg@idaostenberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ger cyklopbetyg till en stilig drottning, en enastående bågklang, en klaustrofobisk häst, en knådande Kirke. Om att Homeros Odysseus INTE FÖRÄNDRAS, att gudar och det grymmaste våldet inte visas. att alla tider gör sina tolkningar. Att antiken lever! www.dn.se/kultur/ida-o...

Ida Östenberg: Så många cykloper delar jag ut till den episka ”The Odyssey”

Fotot och musiken är klart bäst ”The Odyssey”. Världsklass! Antikvetaren Ida Östenberg har sett Christopher Nolans aktuella filmatisering av ”Odysséen”.

dn.se

Ida Östenberg@idaostenberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

Många konstiga missförstånd och felaktigheter när massa skribenter som kan mycket lite om antiken ger sig i kast med Odysséen. Får be @owenil.bsky.social att binda mig vid masten så att jag inte kommenterar surt 🤐 Homeros tillhör ju oss alla! 😬 Och det är underbart att så många upptäcker antiken! 😇

Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · 3w ago

μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, of this special Homer issue! Resident Homer sage @sentantiq.bsky.social weighs in, Yoandy Cabrera has a list of Hispanic reimaginings of The Odyssey, saving Chaco Canyon, Mayan ruins reveal an ancient astronomer, new ancient world journals via @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & more 👁️‍🗨️

Pasts Imperfect (7.16.26)

μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, of this special Homer issue to prepare you to head to the theaters to see The Odyssey this week. Our resident Homer sage, Joel Christensen, discusses his new book, Why Odysseus?: Su...

pasts-imperfect.ghost.io

Chapps@chapps.bsky.social · 3w ago

Objects in elite #Etruscan households were deliberately marked for the tomb, ensuring they would not be used by the living. Here, the Etruscan word 'śuthina' ('for the tomb') has been inscribed on the forehead of this remarkable bronze head vase. 🏺 1/ Orvieto, 225-175 BCE (Musée du Louvre). 📸 me

Objects used by men and women in households of status and wealth were deliberately marked for the tomb, ensuring that they could not be used by the living. Here, the Etruscan word śuthina (for the tomb), has been inscribed on the forehead of this vase's female head, which made certain that the vessel was destined for the tomb of the owner. The face is almost classical, but with eyes and hairstyle that look typically Etruscan. Her lips are slightly parted, and her hair's topknot is removable, enabling it to function as a vase for liquids (perhaps wine or olive oil for the afterlife). Etruscan, Orvieto (Velzna) (?), found in Sovana (Soana) (?), ca. 225-175 BCE. 6 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (16 x 9 cm) 3.1 lbs. (1415 g) Musée du Louvre (MNC 706; Br 2949) ----- Photographed at the exhibition 'The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy' mounted at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.
Erin Grievances@erinbartram.bsky.social · 3w ago

Is there any research on how being raised within a particular religious tradition’s approach to text shapes the approach you have to text as a scholar (whether you remain in that religious tradition or not)?

Łukasz Sokołowski@sokolowskilukasz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

1. A striking image in the Tomb of the Three Brothers at Palmyra shows a richly dressed woman carrying a child. At 1.67 m tall, the figure is larger than most other painted figures in the tomb and was likely intended as a funerary portrait 🏺

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Łukasz Sokołowski@sokolowskilukasz.bsky.social · 6mo ago

In the lunette of the vault a mythological scene: Odysseus discovers Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes on Skyros. A symbolic call to leave domestic safety and embrace a warrior’s fate resonant in frontier #Palmyra during the Persian wars c. 150–250 CE #FrescoFriday #ancientbluesky 🏺

Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele@drdragases.bsky.social · 3w ago

"[T]iming could hardly be worse. It seems obvious that in a world where geopolitical, environmental & technological change is reshaping our lives we need these subjects to help us understand what's happening & how we might move forward... We need to understand history, culture, languages & theology"

We need humanities more than ever in the age of AI

Subjects like literature, languages and history are vital to a thoughtful and prosperous society

ft.com

Archaeology News Online Magazine@archaeologynews.bsky.social · 3w ago

Italy has placed one of the best surviving works of Etruscan art on public display after bringing the famous François Tomb frescoes into state ownership. The painted panels, created between 340 and 320 BCE, now... More info: archaeologymag.com/2026/07/ital...

Italy returns 2,300-year-old François Tomb frescoes to the public after more than a century | Archaeology News Online Magazine

Italy returns the 2,300-year-old François Tomb frescoes to the public, placing a masterpiece of Etruscan art on display in Rome.

archaeologymag.com

Amy Pistone@apistone.bsky.social · 4w ago

Almost every classicist I know thinks O Brother is the best film adaptation of Homer, despite its one glaring inaccuracy of the costuming being wildly anachronistic for the Bronze Age

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 4w ago

In my experience, scholars of a particular historical period are the LEAST uptight about "accuracy" in fictional representations of their period, which is why, as a medievalist, I can assure you that A Knight's Tale is the greatest movie set in medieval England that has ever been made.

Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · 4w ago

A game board from the forum of Timgad (Algeria) is a more Roman spin on the trite ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ sign. Replacing hunting w/cheese & and I am in, y’all. ‘venari lavari / ludere ridere / (h)oc{c} est / vivere’: ‘to hunt, to bath, to play, to laugh — This is to live!’ (CIL VIII, 17938). 🛁

A famous board from the forum of Timgad, for instance, gives us an idea of fun pastimes in and around the city: ‘venari lavari / ludere ridere / (h)oc{c} est / vivere’: ‘to hunt, to bath, to play, to laugh — This is to live!’ (CIL VIII, 17938).
Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · last mo.

One of the most gorgeous cameos to survive from Roman Antiquity is this one (15 BCE-25 CE), now at the British Museum. It’s likely a depiction of Paris pondering the beauty contest that would lead to the Trojan War. As a Templar knight once said—he did not choose … wisely (image is my own).

a young man Cameo glass, probably made in Rome About 15 BC - AD 25 The original pointed base of the vase was broken in ancient Roman times, and was replaced with this disc, made from a large flat plaque of cameo glass. The disc may show a scene from mythology in which Prince Paris of Troy judges a 'beauty contest' between three goddesses Juno, Minerva and Venus. His choice of Venus over Juno helped to spark the Trojan War. From Rome, formerly in the Barberini and Portland Collections GR 1945.9-27.2
Ida Östenberg@idaostenberg.bsky.social · last mo.

Skulle vara intressant att höra om fler råkar ut för detta? Har liksom ingen aning om hur vanligt det är. Berätta gärna, här eller i DM.

Ida Östenberg@idaostenberg.bsky.social · last mo.

Sak som verkligen stör mig är när TV eller radio eller tidningar hör av sig och vill intervjua och så slänger man sig över ämnet för uppdatering och gör grejen och säger till sina föräldrar att kolla på det och det programmet och så sänds/publiceras inslaget bara inte. Händer det er?