Mythology

Rome, sacred ground for nearly 3,000 years, and counting

According to legend, Rome was born April 21, 753 BC, when Romulus, the survivor of its feuding twin founders, hitched his plow and furrowed a circular perimeter in the hills above the Tiber River. Everything inside was urbs, city space consecrated by priests who interpreted the will of the gods; everything outside was ager - unhallowed open territory.

Reunions can be nostalgic and painful as well as happy – as the ancient Greek heroes Achilles and Odysseus show us

Celebrations are a joyous time of reuniting with family and friends. But afterward, people can sometimes be left uneasily mulling over their relationships. Annual returns home can induce an uncomfortable nostalgia in the tension between how the past is remembered and how the present is experienced.

Pages