Google resource on sitemap automator2/12/2024 ![]() Google has a host of tools for the webmaster and most of them are free. Now that you have a site map, you need to tell Google about it. Use the file manager software provided by your site-hosting vendor and upload the file to the root directory of your site (generally this is wwwroot, public_html, or something similar). Name the file something descriptive, such as c-shaffstall-sitemap.txt.Do not include any information other than a list of URLs.Generally this is an option during the save process. When you save the file, save it as a plain- or simple-text file in UTF-8 encoding.Do not put more than one URL on a line.Here are more guidelines for an effective site-map list: You might have lots of nested folders, and in that case, separate the folder and file names with slashes as I have done in the example above. If you have folders in your site directory, you might have an entry that looks like this: All formatting will be lost when you save the file as a plain text file. ![]() You may use any word processor to create your list, but do not bother to format it. ![]() If I were to make a list of files for this site, it would look something like this: Your view may be different, but look for the similarities. If you don’t want a page to be returned in search results, don’t include it in the list. Don’t forget to look inside folders for other nested folders or files. This makes it easy to create a list to be used at a site map. Log in as the administrator of your site using an FTP software or using the file-manager software that your hosting company provides (as I have shown below).įigure 1 When you access your site using an FTP software or the file manager application provided by your hosting company, you can get a view of every page of your site. (If your HTML site has more than 50 or so pages, I recommend the Google Sitemap Automator from RAGE Software.) Assuming that you have a few dozen or less pages, and that you have access to your file list, you can make your own list of articles and pages. Depending upon the size of your site, this could be a very big project or an easy task. Since a site map is a list of all of the pages within your site, you need to first generate a list. Create a list of all of the pages in your site. There are software applications to automate the creation of site maps but the purpose of this whitepaper is to show you how to create a site map for your HTML site for free.ġ. In addition to telling the search engine what pages are within your site, you can also send instructions to the search engine - such as hide pages or prioritize pages. A site map is a listing of the pages within your site. If you have a web site but it’s nowhere to be found on Google, you can easily improve your rankings by submitting a site map.
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Mcat question bank2/12/2024 Question: One of the many reasons that the eukaryotic cell can possess so much information in its DNA is the ability to condense coding regions when they are not being expressed. Question #2Ĭategory: Chemical and Physical Foundations Amino acid hormones can have the ability to enter the cell, but are usually made up of very small combinations of amino acids, and never of cholesterol, a four hydrocarbon ring. Peptide hormones, such as insulin, act on outer membrane receptors, but are polarized, so they cannot enter the cell. Thus, they are found both inside and out of the cell. This will likely be categorized as which type of hormone?Īnswer: B. Steroid hormones, derived from cholesterol, act on intracellular receptors and produce mRNA specific to the outcome they produce. Question: A scientist using mouse models to determine the response of blood hormones to large levels of glucose in the body discovers a new hormone not previously described.Īccording to his data, this hormone is found both inside and out of cells when carrying out its function, increase the amount of nucleic acid in the cell while functioning, and are derived from a structure containing four hydrocarbon rings. Question #1Ĭategory: Biological and Biochemical Foundations In order to provide you with a better understanding of MCAT practice questions, we have provided you with some example questions. Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations Questions ResourceĬhemical and Physical Foundations Questions ![]() ** Source: Association of American Medical Colleges, Summary of MCAT Total and Section Scores, /media/13381/download.If you want some more MCAT questions and resources to help you study, check out the table below. Acceptance rate based on those who started with a score of 486-489. # Source: Association of American Medical Colleges, Table A-23: MCAT and GPA Grid for Applicants and Acceptees to U.S. § Achieve a score of 515 or higher on the MCAT ® exam when you start with a 500 or higher on your baseline exam (OR, if you start with less than 500 on your baseline exam, a 15-point score improvement) guaranteed when you purchase and engage extensively in Online Bootcamp or Premium Tutoring, or your money back. The sample includes 185 students who used Kaplan study materials when preparing for the MCAT. For this survey, a sample of 385 adults age 21–35, currently in medical school from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii was interviewed online in English. ‡ This is one of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 15–26, 2021, on behalf of Kaplan. † Higher Score Guarantee: Conditions and restrictions apply for complete guarantee eligibility requirements, visit /hsg. Cannot be combined with any other promotion or offer. Offer valid for new enrollments only from December 21, 2023, to January 8, 2024, at 11:59 pm PT. To redeem online, enter code MCAT500 at checkout. $500 off applies to 12 months of Live Online, 12 months of In Person, and Bootcamp prep only. To redeem online, enter code MCAT400 at checkout. $400 off applies to 12 months of On Demand, 9 months of Live Online, 9 months of In Person, and Tutoring prep only. To redeem online, enter code MCAT300 at checkout. $300 off applies to 9 months of On Demand, 6 months of Live Online, and 6 months of In Person prep only. To redeem online, enter code MCAT200 at checkout. Offer: $200 off applies to 6 months of On Demand prep only. ![]() was interviewed online, of which 142 respondents were exposed to a set of Kaplan's practice MCAT questions and 130 respondents were exposed to a set of AAMC's practice MCAT questions. For this survey, a sample of 272 past MCAT test takers U.S. Realistic Prep: This is one of the findings of a quantitative survey conducted by Kaplan between July 27 and August 15, 2022. MCAT ®, AAMC ® and AAMC PREview™ are trademarks registered and/or owned by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which is not affiliated with Kaplan and was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this website or product. Pmp requirements nys2/12/2024 The goal of the PMP is to strengthen the academic, professional and social skills of new students as they enter New York Medical College. To enhance camaraderie amongst the incoming students.To develop relationships between students and faculty, as well as academic support/student affairs resources. ![]() To ease the transition to undergraduate medical education.To enhance study skills of incoming students using an applied approach, by incorporating study skills workshops for first-year course material.Housing, classroom space, faculty lectures, workshops, outings & lunches will be included. The program runs from July 10 th to July 21 st 2023, with a move-in date of July 9 th 2023. Live Sessions PMP Dates: July 10 th to July 21 st 2023. ![]() ![]() Pre-matriculation Program Student Applicant InformationĮnsuring Success in Medical School Pre-matriculation Program This will be in collaboration with the Office of Academic Support, Office of Student Affairs, and Office of Undergraduate Medical Education.Īll students who have been accepted to NYMC School of Medicine (SOM) and have committed to attending NYMC SOM this Fall may apply. Live Sessions PMP Dates: July 10 th to July 21 st 2023Ībout the Summer Pre-Matriculation Program for Incoming First-year Medical StudentsĮvery summer, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) hosts an intensive two-week face-to-face Pre-Matriculation Program (PMP). Games like x3 terran conflict2/11/2024 ![]() The Federation will then use the information to attack and defeat the Rebel Factions and save the world. You must capture and contain the data packets, captured from Rebel ship communication intercept and deliver it to the Federation. ![]() The Galactic Federation is on the verger of a drastic and mega devastation after they lost the great war against the Rebels. “FTL: Faster than Light” lets you defeat your enemies by directly getting into the permadeath styled combats, in a roguelike fashion. Your task is to guide your ship safely all the way to your allied fleet and deliver the information by dodging and saving your ship from the rebel ship attacks. ![]() According to the story, you control a crew and an FTL (Faster Than Light) capable spaceship (Owned by the Galactic Federation) that is tasked to deliver critical information to an allied fleet of spaceships eight sectors away and is also being chased by a huge rebel spaceship fleet. The game provides with Permadeath Mechanics and allows you to engage yourself in an amazing space themed environment. Try it out.įTL: Faster than Light, developed by Subset games is a Rouguelike Real-time Strategy (RTS) and Shooting Simulation by Subset Games. X3: Terran Conflict includes key features such as New Factions, Largest X Universe, over 100 Spaceship, Management Tools and more. The Ship can be upgraded by using experience points that the player earned by complete objectives. He has to fight against rival alien races to protect his colony and defeat them to earn amazing rewards. The game world comprises thousands of stations and ships and the player can create his colony, gather resources, and trade with NPCs to earn money. There are different races such as Xenon, Terran, Split and more and the player can select one of them and start his journey to navigate ship around different sectors. ![]() To get into the game world, the player must create and customize his/her starship with different items. The game takes place in the massive space environments and lets the player explore the game world from first-person perspective. It is developed by Egosoft and published by Deep Silver. Get your hands on it, fire up those engines, and let's conquer the stars together, one awesome mission at a time! GameGal out! Peace ✌️.X3: Terran Conflict mixes different genres such as Trading, Combat, Exploration, and Space Simulation. So if you're ready to jump into a universe brimming with excitement, mind-blowing graphics, epic stories, and unforgettable ship battles, X³: Reunion is the game for you. They won't know what hit 'em when you whip out your gaming genius! But watch out for pirates and rival factions who'll try to rain on your parade. X³: Reunion is all about that economic complexity, baby! It's like playing a game of interstellar Monopoly, where you can strategically build your empire, trade goods, and rack up that sweet, sweet space cash. Now, let's get to the heart of it – the economy. There's a ship for every type of galactic bad-ass! Whether you like to obliterate enemies with firepower or maneuver your way around like a sly fox, X³: Reunion has got you covered. Talk about adrenaline rush!Īnd hold onto your joysticks, because the ship roster got a serious upgrade too! We're talking about a whole new fleet of ships, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles. It's like being the hero in your very own space opera! Just imagine soaring through the cosmos with your crew, ready to take on any challenge in your path. It's as if the developers cranked up the awesomeness meter to 11 and went, "We ain't settling for anything less than mind-blowing visuals!" So say goodbye to dull and hello to jaw-dropping!īut hey, the magnificence doesn't stop there! X³: Reunion brings a brand-new story to the table, showcasing epic battles, thrilling adventures, and oh-so-sweet spaceship action. Hey there, fellow gamers! Get ready to buckle up and enter the mesmerizing world of X³: Reunion! This game is the ultimate sequel to X²: The Threat, and let me tell you, it's leveling up the game in every imaginable way!įirst off, prepare to have your mind blown with the totally boss new 3D engine. ![]() And what were Nirvana’s best songs but demonstrations of how the most corrosive blasts of noise could turn into lullabies fit for a T-Mobile ad? If you buy flowers, you already know: nothing stinks quite like a big, sweet bouquet of lilies. Cobain himself regularly appeared in torn dresses and smeared makeup, storming through performances with the fury of a shattered debutante, more Sunset Boulevard than Black Flag. A treatment for the “Rape Me” video documented in his diaries called for lilies and orchids-“ya know, vaginal flowers,” Cobain wrote-to be shown blooming and withering in time-lapse, as though incapable of retaining pageant posture for more than a few seconds. He’d ordered the stage to be decorated with black candles and stargazer lilies, a funereal scheme routinely invoked as a premonition of his suicide, when in actuality it had more to do with his penchant for twisting conventional beauty into something grotesque. At the very least, he hadn’t clawed his way out of Aberdeen, Washington to let Nirvana become Mr. The day before Nirvana filmed their set, the show’s guest was Duran Duran.Īs with all creative endeavors, Cobain seemed eager to strip the charade of its artifice and do something he perceived to be real. A few hair metal bands came through in an attempt to be taken seriously, as though the lust of teenage girls was not serious enough. Between 19, guests of the show included middlebrow alternative acts like Elvis Costello and R.E.M., legacy artists like Eric Clapton and Paul Simon, and contemporary pop stars like Mariah Carey. (The name alone-“Unplugged”-conjured an imagined utopia where music was nothing more than the spontaneous expression of people in a room.) You’d come in, strip down, show your fans the heart bleeding under the armor. MTV had started hosting “Unplugged” in 1989 as a way to package famous artists in comparatively approachable contexts. “Kurt,” she said, “they think you are Jesus Christ.” Afterward, Cobain reportedly complained to Unplugged programmer Amy Finnerty that the audience must not have liked it because they were so quiet. For musicians whose sound was so essentially electric, the idea of playing acoustic-or, as it came to pass, in a subdued, semi-amplified state-wasn’t just like going on stage naked, but amputated. “We play so hard that we can’t tune our guitars fast enough.” As few as 24 hours before Unplugged, he was considering having Dave Grohl sit out because he thought Grohl’s drumming would overpower the rest of the band. “We’re just musically and rhythmically retarded,” he’d told Guitar World in the wake of 1991’s Nevermind. ![]() ![]() “This is from our first record,” he mutters before “About a Girl.” “Most people don’t own it.” Never mind the five million people who had bought the one that came next.Ĭobain was reportedly miserable before the taping, worried the band didn’t have the grace to pull off something so subtle. A month or so after Unplugged was taped, he bought a black Lexus, but was so mortified by it-and mocked so thoroughly by his friends-that he returned it within a day. Of course, that was the point of Unplugged, and, in a way, of Nirvana: Even after Cobain got famous, he tried, often painfully, to seem normal. ![]() If you are writing it to a number of people, you can just allow a placeholder next to the receiver’s name and print the rest.Address the concerned reader directly.Use words that convey positivity and connect with the reader emotionally.Use the regular format and take care of alignment.When you draft a letter, you need to keep a few things in mind. These small appreciation letters during the holiday make them really happy and they are likely to play nice when you need time preparing Instagram-worthy house corners. You can surprise kids in your home by sending them cute letters that they think have come directly from the desk of Santa Claus. Such a practice also promotes good behavior and positive behavior among little ones in the long run because they become sensitive to other’s needs by behaving nice. Kids want to get rewarded for being nice for the whole year and especially during holidays. Kids are excited about such letters because they have written to Santa, about their whole year’s routine and they expect a reply from him. You can write the name of the kid with a pen if you want and all other information will be pre-available. You simply need to select one of the templates from the examples given below and download it. These are filled letterhead templates to save you all the time during this holiday season. If you are not sure what to enter as the text, you should take a look at the templates listed in this section. Filled Letterheads From The Desk Of Santa Claus It motivates them and creates a bit of extra magic.ĭo you know someone that would enjoy a note that comes directly from Santa and feel extra special?ĭownload one of these templates and let them have all the fun this season. They can speak of their likes or hobbies and can remind them to try harder on something they may be struggling with. ![]() These personalized notes from the big man to the children are addressed directly to them. When children in your home are small, you can start the tradition of sending them letters from Santa.Įach note must be printed on official Santa letterhead that you can create or download from here. Of course, all you need to do is fill the text and print it.Īlternatively, you can just download and then present a handwritten one. You can print these printables in the usual A4 papers. It is good to get a colored print as the letter will look appealing to the children and they will read it again and again. Letterheads give little one’s surety that the letter has arrived directly from Santa Claus and they follow the points mentioned in it religiously. It is easy to download these blank templates and write what you want for your little ones. This is to stay aligned with Christmas eve. Official Blank Letterheads from North Poleīlank Printable templates listed in this section follow the usual color theme of red and white. This post presents a range of attractive new letters from Santa templates and printables. When children at home read such letters, they get excited and become serious about life. The footer can include the address of the North Pole. It has to include the phrase ‘from the desk of Santa Claus’. Letters from Santa are incomplete without a proper letterhead. Conclusion Download Letterhead from Santa Templates in Word & PDF Clip pro raster layer or vector layer2/11/2024 ![]() → The sub tool will reduce the number of control points that make the line → When applied near the endings of two lines, the sub tool will connect them as one line Ticking the option will apply the change all over that individual line → The sub tool allows you to thicken, narrow, scale up or down and even fix the width of a line with a set variable when applied. Here are a few sub tools that might be of help. More adjustments to the line can be done by using the tool. Right clicking on a control point will give the option to split the line, as well as add or delete a control point. Square control points define the endings of the line, and if dragged, will increase its length. Round control points are found across the line, and are used to make curves. ![]() Click OK, and the new shapefile will be added to the map.Dragging a control point will change the shape of the line.For this example, the input vector layer is the nationwide census tracts, the clip layer is the NC state boundary.Output shapefile: the folder where you want to save the new shapefile to and the name of the new shapefile.This will typically be a state, country, etc. Clip layer: the boundary you want to clip the input layer to.Input vector layer: the larger shapefile.There are 3 areas to this tool you will need to be concerned with:.Click the Vector menu at the top of the QGIS program, mouse-over Geoprocessing Tools, and click Clip.(With the Spatial Query tool you have not changed the dataset or created a new shapefile, it is only a visual change.) This tool creates a new shapefile whereas the Spatial Query only displays the new information. For this example, I have nationwide census tracts and a North Carolina state boundary, and I want a layer of just the census tracts in North Carolina. At least in some versions of QGIS, they will need to be in the same projection. To use the Clip tool, you will need 2 shapefiles.Under "Encoding you will need to check "Save only selected features." Click OK. You will need to specify an output location under the Save as area.Right click the larger layer that has the selected features (i.e.U sing the same data from above, it will be North Carolina. Set the "Reference features of" option to the layer you want the input features to be clipped to (i.e., the "cookie cutter" layer).Set the "Where the feature" option to "Within." **NOTE: this option changes amongst the different QGIS versions and you should use the one that makes the most sense to you.**.Set the "Select source features from" to the larger dataset (using the same data from above, it will be the census tracts).Click Vector menu, Spatial Query, and click Spatial Query.Also make sure the box next to Spatial Query Plugin is checked. Type Spatial Query in the Search box, select Spatial Query, and click Install Plugin at the bottom of the screen.Go to the Plugins menu at the top of QGIS, and click "Manage and Install Plugins." You will need to add the Spatial Query plugin.You can remove the query by going back to the Query Builder and clearing the expression.Click OK to close the Query Builder and click OK to close the Layer Properties.Verify the Expression is "STATE_FIPS" = '37'.Click the All button under the Values box and double click "37".Click the = button under the Operators box.Double click the STATE_FIPS in the "Fields" box.I want to use the "States FIPS" field since this filed gives a unique number for each state and every census tract has a state FIPS number attached to it (North Carolina's FIPS number is 37).For this example, I have a shapefile that is nationwide census tracts and I want to query census tracts to North Carolina.Provider specific filter expression - where the expression is written out.(ILIKE is the case insensitive version of LIKE.) For details, see the w3schools SQL Operators page. Values - when you click on a field, you can click on All to view all the values in that particular field.Fields - a list of all the fields/columns in the attribute table.There are 4 areas you will need to be concerned with:.In the lower-right hand corner click on the "Query Builder" button.Open the Layer Properties of the layer you want to shrink by double-clicking the layer or right-click the layer and select "Properties.". Instaling Yate2/11/2024 ![]() Start the bladeRF-cli utility and issue the version command: $ sudo bladeRF-cli -iįirmware version: 1.6.1-git-053fb13-buildomatic usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 Next, install a few dependecies we’re gonna need soon: sudo apt-get install git apache2 php5 bladerf libbladerf-dev libbladerf0 automakeĪt this point, you should already be able to interact with the BladeRF, plug it into one of the USB ports of the RPI, dmesg should be telling you something like: usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1d50, idProduct=6066 Let’s start by installing the latest Raspbian image to the micrsd card ( use the “lite” one, no need for UI ) ), boot the RPI, configure either the WiFi or ethernet and so forth, at the end of this process you should be able to SSH into the RPI. An USB battery pack ( I’m using a 26800mAh Anker Astro E7 ).A Raspberry Pi 3 ( model 2 and below are too slow ).Two Quad-band Cellular Duck Antennas SMA.In order to build your BTS you’ll need the following hardware: I’m not writing this post to help script kiddies breaking the law, my point is that GSM is broken by design and it’s about time vendors do something about it considering how much we’re paying for their services. In this blog post I’m going to explain how to create a portable GSM BTS which can be used either to create a private ( and vendor free! ) GSM network or for GSM active tapping/interception/hijacking … yes, with some (relatively) cheap electronic equipment you can basically build something very similar to what the governments are using from years to perform GSM interception. The last week I’ve been visiting my friend and colleque Ziggy in Tel Aviv which gave me something I’ve been waiting for almost a year, a brand new BladeRF x40, a low-cost USB 3.0 Software Defined Radio working in full-duplex, meaning that it can transmit and receive at the same time ( while for instance the HackRF is only half-duplex ). Betty boop in color2/11/2024 Her magical dress transformation has her rags slowly disappear, revealing a modest long undergarment, which promptly transforms into skimpy, lacy lingerie before the ballgown forms over it. Betty Boop Color Animation Cel, Original Art A color remake of a classic Betty Boop cartoon resulted in producing this nice stand-alone image of Betty. And while this Hays Code-era version of Betty is more demure and less of a sex symbol than in her notorious pre-Code cartoons, there's still a hint of the Fleischers' classic risqué humor. During the slipper-fitting, one Stepsister's big toe grows a face to glare at her as she tries to cram it in. (A moment that's either charming or creepy, depending on your viewpoint.) At the ball, Cupid wallops the stuffy Prince with a mallet when he sees Betty/Cinderella, sending him sliding headfirst down the staircase to greet her, and a caricature of popular crooner Rudy Vallée appears to sing the theme song. Animals and inanimate objects talk and sing here and there: even the pumpkin, just before being turned into a coach, grows a jack o'lantern face and sings about how glad he is not to be carved up for a pie. But the cartoon still finds room for some irreverent jokes, modern references and classic surreal Fleischer gags. (Sometimes it even simplifies it – for example, there's no Stepmother in sight, only the two Stepsisters.) Dialogue is sparing, with most of the story sung rather than spoken, and the musical style is gentle and sweet, with the waltz-time theme song, "I'm Just A Poor Cinderella" (a guaranteed ear-worm) composed in the style of an old romantic parlor ballad. It faithfully retells the familiar tale in simple, broad strokes. In no way a definitive Cinderella, but endearing. ![]() Technical innovations aside, this is an endearing cartoon short. Cinderella's ride in her coach to the ball and her whirling with the Prince on the ballroom floor are especially striking examples of this technology. This cartoon also makes good use of the stereoptical camera, Fleischer's equivalent of Disney's multiplane camera designed to give the animation more depth: some of the aforementioned lavish backgrounds were actual, physical 3D models, rotated behind the animation cells. Born in the 30s, Betty Boop made her first appearance in cartoons with a walk-on role playing the dog-like love interest to Fleischer Studios Bimbo character. To show off the color to the fullest, even Betty/Cinderella's hair is colored red instead of its usual black. But even with this limited palette, they create a charming little fairy-tale world with what another reviewer has described as a stained glass-like quality, and with lavishly detailed, beautiful storybook backgrounds, even though most of the characters are drawn in Fleischer's usual bouncy, cartoony and slightly grotesque style. Betty may, on the other hand in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, just be drawn in ink, which is made up of black pen and white paper.Because Disney had an exclusive contract with Technicolor at the time, though, the Fleischers used Cinecolor instead: a two-strip process which produced only two colors, red and blue-green. ![]() In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Betty says she doesn't get much work since cartoons are now in color, claiming to be colorless. Betty solely has black hair in the main reboots, proving this. All they will discuss is the history of the color process of Poor Cinderella, this is possibly because they too are unaware of Betty's true colorized origins. The license owners today won't divulge that Betty ever had red hair. ![]() Betty having red hair is not acknowledged by Betty's new model sheets by King Features or the descendants of the original Fleischer Studios, for all current endeavors, Betty's hair is just jet-black. The roots of Betty's red hair are unknown to those who are not fans of the "original" Betty Boop series or who do not know about the origin in great detail. With her red hair, Betty resembles the "It" girl Clara Bow, who served as partial inspiration for the development of Betty. In Poor Cinderella, Betty's hair was changed red to take advantage of the 3-strip Technicolor colors. Greek mythology creatures2/11/2024 ![]() Perhaps the most dramatic example is the gorgon Medusa who in early Greek art is all fangs and wrinkles and by the mid-Fifth Century is a beautiful woman.”Īs ancient Greece shifted into the classical era, says Stewart, “The most noticeable trend is that the monsters become more realistic. “In the Greek world,” explains Joan Mertens, curator of Greek and Roman art at the Metropolitan Museum, “many creatures that start off ferocious and ugly evolve into beautiful figures or animals. But a century or two later, artists would present monsters in a radically different fashion. “Perhaps this imagery had connotations of exotic and prestigious imports,” explains Stewart, “but it probably also echoed the characters of Greek mythology and religious belief.” A popular choice for decorating cauldrons was the savage, sharp-beaked griffin, which reappeared in Greek art with ferocious flair – and an oriental flavour – having disappeared from view for centuries.įantastical creatures in ancient Greek art now had their utmost ferocity and bristling, bare-fanged power. Decorating the rims of these magnificent objects were monstrous heads influenced by the art of far-flung peoples. To give thanks for their good fortune, these enterprising seafarers often dedicated bronze cauldrons to their gods in religious sanctuaries. For Greek merchants, it was a time of prosperity, as they traded right across the Mediterranean. In this period, ancient Greek society was still under the influence of foreign cultures. “This is sometimes called the ‘orientalising period’,” he says, “and we start to find a profusion of fantastic creatures on Greek pottery, metalwork, and other media influenced by the art of the Near East and Egypt.” Yet according to Peter Stewart, director of the Classical Art Research Centre at the University of Oxford, the exploding popularity of “mixed creatures” such as centaurs really occurred around the Seventh Century BC. ![]() Five hundred years later, centaurs would play a prominent role among the extravagant public sculptures adorning the Parthenon in Athens. He is probably a centaur (an unruly creature from the fringes of civilisation), offering a surprisingly early example of a sculptor portraying a character from Greek mythology. It is a ceramic figurine dating from the 10th Century BC that depicts a sweet-looking monster: half-man, half-horse. Yet a significant find from a cemetery near the modern town of Lefkandi on the large Greek island of Euboea suggests greater sophistication during these murky centuries than was previously thought. Traditionally, historians term the chaotic period that followed the catastrophic breakdown of the Mycenaean palace centres as the ‘Dark Ages’. Because these beasts are headless (the lost heads, which would have faced outwards, were once attached using dowel pins), there is a theory that they weren’t lions at all, but griffins – perhaps in honour of the griffins that had appeared in earlier Minoan art. They flanked the chamber’s so-called throne, as though conferring supernatural power upon whoever sat there.Īt the site of Mycenae on mainland Greece, the splendid ‘Lion Gate’, a monumental limestone relief featuring two leonine creatures on either side of a central column, dominates one entrance to the citadel. The famous ‘Throne Room’ in the Minoan palace at Knossos on Crete was decorated with frescoes of elegant griffins – hybrid creatures with the bodies of lions and the heads of birds of prey. For instance, they star in the art of both the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations of the Bronze Age. What was the significance of all these ferocious supernatural beasts? Fantastical animals were already part of the repertoire of Aegean craftsmen in prehistory, a millennium before the high point of the classical age in Athens in the Fifth Century BC. Lots of them were on show recently in New York, decorating all sorts of objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age. ![]() When we consider Greek art, we tend to envisage marble statues of Olympian gods – but gorgons, griffins, centaurs and sphinxes are actually just as common. One of the most intriguing aspects of ancient Greek art is its glut of fantastical creatures. And nowhere is this more visible than in their art. Their society was shaped by strange and primal forces as much as the guiding light of reason. But it would be a mistake to imagine them as exclusively rational. ![]() After all, they invented democracy, philosophy and drama. What do you think about when you hear the words ‘ancient Greece’? The conventional view is that the ancient Greeks provided the bedrock for Western civilisation. AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |