As Rich as...

We are reading A Child's History of the World by Villier. I'm reading it aloud and the older 3 or 4 are drawing pictures to accompany it. Great fun with the added bonus of extra projects with any story that catches our fancy. In this case the story was missing from Child's History but well worth telling. We came across the story of Croesus (the very rich king). What Child's History skipped was the story of Solon (the wise) and Croesus.

My very dear friend, Fr. Mark, is slogging toward his comps for his doctorate in Church History, but his original major was Classical History. Add to this a natural flair for story telling and throw in a quirky sense of humor and you will see why he is both a sought after dinner companion and our number 1 favorite history resource! He got me hooked on his favorite author, Plutarch (whom I used to confuse with Petrarch!). This story is from Plutarch's Life of Solon and will be acted out, dinner theater style for Fr. Mark tonight!

Croesus invited Solon to view his (ostentatious) wealth and expected, and then demanded, that Solon compliment him as the happiest man in the world. Solon gently declined saying that he knew of one happier. Who could that possibly be? A farmer who owned his own small farm, raised good kids and died fighting for his homeland, honored by all.

Hm. Not what Croesus had in mind. Well then, would the wise Solon allow that Croesus was the second happiest? No. There was this little old lady who wanted to go to a festival to honor the gods, but she was too poor to afford horses to draw her cart. Her kids hitched themselves up and took her there and back and that night she died content.

The king was pretty irritated now, but Solon explained that sure, Croesus had wealth now, but he had to defend it. How was he to know if Croesus would end up wealthy and happy or poor and miserable?

Croesus threw the bum out.

Some time later, Cyrus of Persia dropped by and snatched Croesus' kingdom. As Croesus was tied up and led away to be burned, he cried out, "Solon!" three times as loud as he could.

Curious, Cyrus called him over and got the whole story. He got the point immediately. Sure he was as rich as Croesus now, but... He turned Croesus loose and treated him with honor for the rest of his days. "Thus," says Plutarch, "Solon had the honor of saving one king and instructing two."

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The Play Was the Thing!

It started with a series of signs (made by Klenda) which read:

Coming Soon....

King Cyrus!.....

Solon!.....

and King Croesus!....

HISTORY! the play.


It was very well recieved. Not to be missed were:

Klenda as Croesus using a rich brogue (like Scrooge McDuck).

Mxyl as Solon, enjoying the shocked expression of Croesus.

Zorg bounding on stage as a singing Cyrus (he was convinced it ought to have been a musical): "I am King Cyrus! I conquered you!!! And now all your treasure and palaces and gold mines are....MINE!"

Leena, the scene stealing soldier, tying up and untying Croesus.

The whole thing was way too much fun! I think we will do more plays.... Maybe this was HISTORY, the play, Act 1!

Fashionistas of Zoom

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On a positive note, the Dreaded Clothes Switch does bring out the fashionistas. Klenda is modeling her self designed "Cute Suit." Even more stunning in person, I assure you.

Zorg is reading in his own fashion statement.

Behind her you can see a faux tiger skin nailed to our living room wall. What you are missing is the faux lion skin nailed abpve it and the 2 faux marble columns on either side of the couch.

The Emporer assures me that some wives would be displeased if they came home and their husband had nailed faux animal skins on the wall. True, he doesn't usually take such an active hand in our interior decorating, but he fashioned the best possible back drop to our play about Croesus and Solon.

No stuffed animals were harmed in the making of this play.

Presenting the Practically Perfect Plutarch Party 3

Who was who:

Fr Mark was a very surprised Plutarch (It was a surprise party). He wore a modified himation.

The Emporer was Scipio Africanus, the general who beat Hannibal. He wore a toga.

I was Cornelia Graccha, and wore a pallium (simple tube pinned at the shoulders) and stola (shawl like long cloth). She was entertaining another noble Roman woman who was showing off all her jewels. The woman asked Cornelia where her jewels were, and Cornelia called her 2 sons saying, "These are my jewels." The boys grew up to become the Gracchi, noble men who were martyred for their staunch defense of the rights of the poor.

Mxyl was Solon, the wise lawgiver. He wore a himation (like a toga but simpler).

Klenda was Pieria, a Greek maiden known for her beauty and virtue . When Phrygius, an opposing general fell in love with her and asked what he could do to please her, she asked for peace for her country - and got it! The Greek women at weddings would tell the bride, "May your husband love you as much as Phyrigius loved Pieria!" She wore a white pelops trimmed with blue and gold which you see above.

Zorg was Julius Caesar complete with the purple toga of a triumphant general. His favorite joke was, "All Gaul is divided into 3 parts. I used Caesars!"

Leena was Lysistrata, the poetess who rallied the women to defend the city of Argos while the men were away at battle. Her pelops was trimmed with purple and yellow and tied with purple ribbon (the trim on all the pelops was painted).

Choclo was Horatius (of Horatio at the bridge fame. The Romans were chopping down the bridge that crossed the Tiber to prevent an invasion by the Etruscans. Horatio held them off until the bridge was down then jumped in the water and swam across in full armor. Demolishing the bridge was the closest thing in Plutarch to construction trucks...) He wore a belted tunic, the same as in his Halloween costume.

Oob was baby Romulus. Although I wasn't a wolf, he was still nursing!

Info on making your own Greek costumes can be found here.

Awesome History: Minoans, Persians, Early Greeks and the Olympics

 This was a class that combined two weeks since we had missed a week with sickness in the co-op.

I had intended to do a baking soda and vinegar volcano (for the eruption that wiped out the Minoans), but it got skipped for lack of time.

We acted out the story of Solon, Croesus, and Cyrus.

For our art project, we wrote our names using the Greek alphabet.

And then we had the Table Setting Olympics!

Which we do every six years, evidently.

For a snack we had pomegranates, hummus, feta, olives, and crackers. Yum!

This was Story of the World chapters 18-22.