Ancient Greece

Ancient history is just, well, "old news" to young middle school students. But George Fox Middle School teachers, staff, parents and older students are making history come alive (at least for a day) for sixth-graders studying ancient Greece.On Thursday, 350 toga-clad sixth grade students will begin their journey back in time to take part in the Greek Olympiad program. After being divided into 10 groups, representing Greek city-states, students will become ancient Greek citizens. During the morning, they'll learn about Greek customs, language, culture, drama, mathematical discoveries, science, dance, art, food and leisure activities.

Talk about traveling first-class. Four slabs of marble and two clay vases bound for Baltimore received exit visas issued by the Hellenic minister of culture himself. They were driven to the airport in Athens, Greece, in a truck with a suspension so steady that a plastic cup of water didn't spill a drop. And the van received a police escort, just to make sure that nothing untoward occurred. None of that stopped Eleni Vlachogianni's pulse from pounding on the recent day when she unlocked the cases in which the treasures were enclosed.

In ancient Greece, it was typical for a young woman of 14 to be married to a 30-year-old man whom she hardly knew, if she had met him at all. Then she'd spend most of her time at home, bearing children, spinning and weaving, and managing the household.While in the presence of men, she'd keep her eyes downcast and arms at her sides to show her modesty. She was not a citizen of the city-state -- only men were citizens -- and she took no part in its political life.But she had a prominent role in religious life and was regarded as essential to the stability and prosperity of the community.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I went through the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the first time on a recent vacation. Not surprisingly, I left wondering how I could have waited so long. Touring the Hall (FYI, it took me two days) only strengthened my respect for the remarkable chronicle of baseball history. And there were some surprises. I never expected to find, of all people, Armando Benitez within 100 miles of the place, but he is among the top 10 active saves leaders, and the top 10 active and all-time leaders in the major statistical categories are posted on a wall.

For an original, inexpensive theater experience, consider Saturday's minimarathon of stage readings. Three full-length plays will be read at the Fell's Point Corner Theatre. After the readings, the writers will take questions. The readings are part of a series sponsored by the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. The only requirement for submitting a play: The writer must have some connection to Maryland. Here is a preview of the works that will be read. Patricia Montley - a free-lance writer living in Lutherville, - adds a twist to the classic Greek comedy by Aristophanes in her Adaptation of Lysistrata.

These are some of the artworks that have been created in the United States in the aftermath of war: A grand old white marble, porticoed building where Virginia law is passed. A Civil War- era photograph of a mass burial, one booted foot kicking out of a grave. An abstract painting done in jarring, sharp-edged hues of gold, brown, orange and black. The visual language these pieces employ and the feelings they evoke couldn't be more different. But study them long enough and a surprising thread of continuity emerges.

The ancient Greeks built them long and narrow, in the shape of a slender horseshoe, and cut the seating area into the side of hills. The Romans, who had the advantage of concrete and iron clamps, made them free-standing, self-supporting structures, the most famous being the Colosseum in Rome.So stadiums and opening days with big crowds are not entirely new.Watching a baseball game on Opening Day -- or pondering the design of a new stadium for football -- is an endeavor with well-established precedents.

Bluma L. Trell,94, a scholar of ancient Greece, died Tuesday in Englewood, N.J. She was an expert on the Temple of Artemis, built about 550 B.C., and her reconstruction of it is on display at the British Museum.

"Libraries in the Ancient World," by Lionel Casson (Yale University Press, 177 pages, $22.95). With today's explosion of knowledge and book publishing, compounded by electronics, there's much discussion and controversy over the role and responsibilities of libraries. It's fair to assume that books have always been kept and catalogued. But it has often been a battle. This remarkably readable and provocative little volume goes to the origins of libraries -- clay tablets stored by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia shortly before 3000 B.C. From there, with scholarly attention to archaeology as well as literature, Casson traces the trials and development of libraries in ancient Greece, Alexandria, Rome and into the Middle Ages.

IN ANCIENT GREECE, a caryatid was a draped female figure that held up the entablature of a building. One of the best surviving examples of a building with caryatids is the Erechtheum, a temple on the Acropolis in Athens.This month, contractors will begin construction of a building in Baltimore that will use caryatids to symbolize what is happening inside.Marian House is an independent, nonprofit organization in Better Waverly that provides transitional housing and other services for women who have suffered from spousal abuse, drug addiction and homelessness.

My Best Shot June Ray Smith, Shrewsbury, Pa. The beaches of Normandy Last summer I was taken with the tranquillity of this sunny beach and its lone, bright yellow umbrella standing in such stark contrast to the scene played out at that very site on June 6, 1944 - Omaha Beach, Normandy, France. A Memorable Place The enduring allure of ancient Greece Steven Speaks SPECIAL TO THE SUN I have never been much for traveling, which probably explains why it took me a full year to decide to leave Baltimore and move to Belgium to pursue a Ph.D.

The former students of Baltimore's renowned resident painter Grace Hartigan are surely one of the most diverse groups of artists anywhere, each having taken something of their mentor's approach to painting while turning it to their own distinctive purposes. Maura Maguire, whose paintings are on view at Galerie Francoise, is a former Hartigan student whose densely layered images pick up on her teacher's fascination with mythological subjects but treat them in an altogether more figurative style than Hartigan's abstractions.

ATHENS, Greece -- The Olympic Games return today to the land of their ancient origin and to the city where they were revived in 1896. The Greeks are already celebrating because Athens is ready to host the Games after the preparations were completed in the nick of time. Let's hope the Greeks and the rest of the world will celebrate a successful Olympics after the Games have ended Aug. 29. Greece has a lot riding on these Games. It is very rare for this country to be in the international limelight for two weeks.

For an original, inexpensive theater experience, consider Saturday's minimarathon of stage readings. Three full-length plays will be read at the Fell's Point Corner Theatre. After the readings, the writers will take questions. The readings are part of a series sponsored by the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. The only requirement for submitting a play: The writer must have some connection to Maryland. Here is a preview of the works that will be read. Patricia Montley - a free-lance writer living in Lutherville, - adds a twist to the classic Greek comedy by Aristophanes in her Adaptation of Lysistrata.

These are some of the artworks that have been created in the United States in the aftermath of war: A grand old white marble, porticoed building where Virginia law is passed. A Civil War- era photograph of a mass burial, one booted foot kicking out of a grave. An abstract painting done in jarring, sharp-edged hues of gold, brown, orange and black. The visual language these pieces employ and the feelings they evoke couldn't be more different. But study them long enough and a surprising thread of continuity emerges.

Sometimes when I watch the Olympic games, I get the same feeling as when I gaze upon Michelangelo's David. There he stands, one of the most handsome men I've ever seen. He virtually defines the classical notion of beauty: well-defined musculature, chiseled cheekbones, noble countenance. Atop his pedestal in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence, he exudes determination and youthfulness. It is as though, merely standing before me, he is mustering his energy and courage before the battle with Goliath.

ATHENS, Greece -- The Olympic Games return today to the land of their ancient origin and to the city where they were revived in 1896. The Greeks are already celebrating because Athens is ready to host the Games after the preparations were completed in the nick of time. Let's hope the Greeks and the rest of the world will celebrate a successful Olympics after the Games have ended Aug. 29. Greece has a lot riding on these Games. It is very rare for this country to be in the international limelight for two weeks.

Sometimes when I watch the Olympic games, I get the same feeling as when I gaze upon Michelangelo's David. There he stands, one of the most handsome men I've ever seen. He virtually defines the classical notion of beauty: well-defined musculature, chiseled cheekbones, noble countenance. Atop his pedestal in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence, he exudes determination and youthfulness. It is as though, merely standing before me, he is mustering his energy and courage before the battle with Goliath.

"Libraries in the Ancient World," by Lionel Casson (Yale University Press, 177 pages, $22.95). With today's explosion of knowledge and book publishing, compounded by electronics, there's much discussion and controversy over the role and responsibilities of libraries. It's fair to assume that books have always been kept and catalogued. But it has often been a battle. This remarkably readable and provocative little volume goes to the origins of libraries -- clay tablets stored by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia shortly before 3000 B.C. From there, with scholarly attention to archaeology as well as literature, Casson traces the trials and development of libraries in ancient Greece, Alexandria, Rome and into the Middle Ages.

IN ANCIENT GREECE, a caryatid was a draped female figure that held up the entablature of a building. One of the best surviving examples of a building with caryatids is the Erechtheum, a temple on the Acropolis in Athens.This month, contractors will begin construction of a building in Baltimore that will use caryatids to symbolize what is happening inside.Marian House is an independent, nonprofit organization in Better Waverly that provides transitional housing and other services for women who have suffered from spousal abuse, drug addiction and homelessness.