"I too am in Arcadia"
- Ariane Bilheran
- Sep 1, 2024
- 8 min read
La Lucarne by Ariane Bilheran, in Antipresse 457 - September 1, 2024.
Thanks to a request for exploration for my Savoir des Anciens workshop, I recently had to delve back into the Bucolics of the Latin poet Virgil, as well as Ovid's Fasti and Metamorphoses, which described Arcadia as an idyllic place, populated by loving shepherds living in harmony with nature. And I thought that in the midst of so many atrocities and terrible news in our current world, a detour through myth and the destiny of myth would do our readers the greatest good.
Arcadia was a mountainous region of Greece located in the center of the Peloponnese Peninsula, bordered to the east by the Aegean Sea. It was named after Arcas, a mythological king. The Arcadians were considered the first inhabitants of the region. For bucolic Latin and Hellenic poetry, Arcadia represented the golden age, the ideal country. Arcadia is notably mentioned by Diotima the priestess in Plato's Symposium.
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