Strigil

Since you guys liked the Strigil so much, I thought I would post a coupla pix here of the item itself (with a glass jar containing olive oil for rubbing) and of a pottery shard that shows us how the ancients used strigils. I consider the strigil ominous looking and a dangerous thing to scrape oneself with ; I guess I am influenced by our modern concern for safety features and the ubiquitous plastic for every day items....but the use of metal to make items that are now plastic is not really that old, as I found out recently: a few weeks ago I drove with a friend to Arcadia (1.5 hrs south-east of Tampa) to browse around in antique stores. I was shocked and dismayed to see children's items and toys from the 50's and 60's (cribs, easy-bake ovens, trucks, etc.) made out of really sharp tin, which at parts was extremely jagged and rusty. I mean, these are your parents who played with stuff like that! Did I mention that I didn't see any child-seats for cars anywhere??!! I just love some historical perspective. The ancient world is much more contemporary than we think, and our modern (western) world is only as recent as a blink. The mind boggles....

Cras, O puellae puerique,

Magistra Vestra