22. Kallimakhos and Anyte.

It's not always easy to appreciate ancient literature, even if you're interested in it. We can't know with certainty how the texts would have sounded out loud. We can only make educated guesses as to how exactly they were performed. Few people are fluent enough in the language to develop an intuition for it; no one's a native speaker.

I've found that the way for me to enjoy ancient poetry (epigrams in this case) is to try and distance myself from modern aesthetics and focus on the images present in the poems. Many of them are nowadays clichés, and you have to stop and think about the literal sense of the image and how it would affect you if it was unique rather than a topos. (This isn't to say clichés weren't used in antiquity - quite the opposite, actually.) As an urban dweller, I'm not one for bucolic poetry, but Kallimakhos and Anyte have some poems that can still reach something in me after more than two thousand years.

By Kallimakhos:

I detest those old tales told over and over again and take no pleasure
in a road carrying many to and fro.
I hate a lover who's made the rounds, and I
don't drink from the fountain. I despise all things common.
Lysanias, you truly are lovely, lovely. But before I
find these words, some echo says, "He belongs another."

I found a translation by George Economou that's very free but somehow captures how concise ancient Greek can be. (I feel compelled to point out this particular poem isn't very concise at all in the original.)

I loathe the serial poem, rejoice not
in a road that many people travel,
and hate a beloved who's made the rounds.
No fountain drinks, things public disgust me.
But you, Lysanias, I thought fair, I thought fine.
No sooner said than Echo replies, "But not mine."

Another one by Kallimakhos:

By Pan and by Dionysos, there is some
fire hidden underneath these ashes.
I don't trust myself. Do not pull me into this. Often
a calm river can eat away at a wall unnoticed.
This is why, Meneksenos, I fear even now lest
this quiet lurker slowly enters me and casts me in love.

Here is some Anyte:

Often did mother Kleine cry here on her daughter's grave
lamenting her child, dead before her time.
She called back the soul of Filainis, which before her wedding
stepped over the pale stream of river Akheron.

And to finish on a lighter note:

Myro built a common grave for the cricket, that nightingale of the fields,
and for the cicada living in the tree.
She spilled the tears of a maiden,
for relentless Hades snatched her two playmates.

21. Stretching.

I had a spectacular stretching lesson today, and I thought I would share some of my favourites with you. Most of them are for the back or stretches you don't necessarily do at the gym every time; I trust you all know and do your hip flexor stretches frequently. (Seriously, hip flexors are the single muscles you can't stretch too much.) As a bonus, you get to see me in unflattering poses with my messy flat in the background, as photos of stretches are surprisingly difficult to find online.

Some basics first, though. Stretching is good for you. Not only does it prevent overworked muscles from getting sore, it also increases blood flow to the muscles, speeds up metabolism, helps get rid of all sorts of gunk in your body, strengthens muscles, improves your posture, makes you less prone to hurting yourself while exercising, and also makes you high with endorphins.

Stretching is a form of exercise. Warm up before stretching. Stretching without a warm-up will only make your muscles cramp and detract; stretching too intensely soon after heavy exercise will do the same. Keep your stretches short after hardcore sweating and puffing. A good way to warm up for stretching is to do different sorts of swings and rolls. For example, start rolling your shoulders, then add elbows and finally the entire arm. Gently swing your head from side to side and gradually start bending over more and more until you're brushing the floor with your fingertips, making the swings bigger and bigger. Or you can just twist your back, head, arms, and legs this way and that - but don't overdo it.

Holding a stretch for thirty seconds will retain a level of flexibility; anything above that will actually stretch your muscles further. (Approximations vary here. Point being, fifteen seconds of jerkily forcing your fingers towards your toes won't do a whole lot of good.) It's important to hold a steady stretch. Gentle pumping is okay, but if a stretch is too painful or uncomfortable to hold, you're doing it wrong. Say, sitting up straight with your legs in front of you or tipping forward only an inch or two with your back supported is more effective than banging your forehead against your knees without caring what you're doing to your back or your muscles. Try it: it'll even feel more intense. The line between good and bad pain can be a thin one, and it's something your body will learn to know gradually. Start slowly. If your muscles shake, stop - your muscles are telling you they've had enough. Deepen the stretch on an exhale, but never make any sudden movements. Remember this when you're easing out of a stretch as well.

Try varying your stretches. This means different sorts of positions but also subtle changes. When you're bending forward over your legs, try turning slightly to one side. When you're stretching your sides, turn your chest slightly towards the floor or the ceiling and see how it feels.


Here are some stretches that made my muscles ache delightfully today:



This is a stretch for the backs of your shoulders. You basically twine your arms together: first bend one arm to a ninety-degree angle in front of you, then twine the other arm underneath it and onwards so you can push your palms together. It might take a while to find the right way to do it, and you can feel the stretch in different places depending on which spot is the sorest. The trick is to keep your back straight, steadily push your shoulders down and your hands up. You don't actually have to raise your hands much (although it's worth trying out different levels), it's the idea of raising them that counts so you can get the right pull.

This is for the front of the shoulders. Place your hands behind you so that your fingers point towards you, lean back a little bit and push your chest out like crazy. People tend to slump not because of poor back muscles but because of too tight chest muscles, so it's important to open up your chest and the front of your shoulders regularly.

This one stretches your back, chest and even buttocks, depending on how tight your muscles are. It's wonderful for the vertebrae; don't worry if your back pops a time or ten. I find I can relax best if I bend both my knees and place the bottom knee on top of the top one to hold it in place. You can also keep the bottom leg straight. If you lift the arm you're looking towards (my right one in this pic) towards your head ("up"), you can feel a stretch in your pecs. Be very careful when you ease out of this stretch, and make sure to let your spine settle back to normal, eg by pulling your knees to your chest or making your back round.

I've been told this stretch speeds up metabolism and is good for losing weight. I don't know, but it's very good for your spine and for letting squashed-together vertebrae breathe. Be careful, though: the stretch is much more effective and safe if you control it with your abs. You can help support your back with your hands if you want to. Ease slowly out of the stretch. The slower you can ease your legs down, vertebra by vertebra, the better. (This is also good for your abs.) Try to keep your legs behind for as long as you can, that is, don't lift them up into a pseudo-headstand (shoulderstand?), but concentrate on staying folded in two. This way your spine stays curved for as long as possible. Use your hands to control the motion if you feel you need extra support.

This is a stretch for the buttocks, but I sometimes feel it in my inner thighs as well. Fold one leg in front of you, stretch the other one out and "roll up" so you're putting your weight on the folded leg rather than just sitting on the floor. You can vary the stretch by pulling your heel down so your leg is folded over (like in the picture), or you can form a ninety-degree angle with your front leg. The latter can be hard on your knees and hips, though, so be careful. The main point is to not tip over onto the side of the front leg. You should be dead-centre. If you find your hips are close to or pressed against the floor, you're either tilting to the side or just really limber.

This can be a tricky one, and it took me a while to figure out how to do it so I could actually feel the stretch. You should feel it in your side and perhaps your lower back. Use one hand to push down on the folded leg, then tilt sideways. It's very important to keep your back as straight and open as possible and make sure you don't tilt forward because you won't feel a thing in that case. You should be able to feel the stretch without tilting heavily to the side. Keep your head in line as well and don't let it droop.

This stretch not only looks humiliating, it also feels really, really uncomfortable - at least for me. It also opens up my sucky hips and stretches muscles I haven't figured out how to stretch otherwise. It's a stretch for your hips, but when I do it, I feel it all over my inner thighs from hip to knee. Get up on all fours, then start spreading your knees to the sides until you feel an ache in your upper inner thighs. The goal is to improve your turn-out, that is, the way you can turn your knees, thighs and the rest of your leg to the side without twisting something. (Think ballerinas or Charlie Chaplin and you get the idea.) It feels different from most stretches, so don't worry if it feels a bit odd. That said, make sure you keep your knees at a ninety-degree angle and don't push too far down lest you put strain on your knees. As said, it's a really uncomfortable stretch at least for me, which is why it's really important to not overdo it and ease out of it slowly. You can vary the level of intensity by leaning more or less of your weight on you elbows.