*Humming the tune from Oliver…*
Curls glorious curls
Oh please can I touch them? Everybody now…curls, glorious curls!
The Armitageworld blogosphere has been buzzing since the release of images from the red carpet for the Wellington Premeire of World’s End revealed Richard Armitage sporting slightly longer hair with delicious curls, especially at his nape.
Richard Armitage walks the red carpet in Wellington July 13, 2013
Source: http://www.richardarmitagenet.com
Perry of Armitage Agonistes threw down the gauntlet here for me to connect those winsome waves to examples from the classical tradition – challenge accepted! (I didn’t want to do laundry today anyway 🙂 )
References to curls are fairly uncommon in the literary tradition, but I did find a doozy! In Book XVII of the Iliad, the action centers around the battle for the body of Patroklos, the cousin of Achilles who had been killed by the Trojan prince Hektor. In the process of the battle, another Trojan hero, Euphorbos is killed. Homer describes the fallen as folllows:
For those not familiar with myrtle blossoms (I had to look them up) they do have a certain curl along the edge of each flower, and do resemble cropped curls when in bunches. Myrtle blossoms had multiple uses in Greek ritual practice, so Homer’s metaphor would have been quite vivid to his original audience.
I found one depiction of the fight for Euphorbos’ body, but unfortunately, his notably curly hair is hidden under his helmet.
Curls obscured…Fight for the body of Euphorbos
Source: Wikimedia
Greek art is littered with images of curly haired men. Close cropped curls, long spiral curls, loose wavy curls, curls, curls, curls. For me though, the most iconic head of hair in the classical tradition is that of Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας – Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered much of the known world by the age of 30 and was not known for his modesty. Portraits of him abound, and one thing is always striking – his gorgeous wavy hair. The faces of the portraits vary to a degree, but Alexanders are almost instantly recognizable as long as the hair is intact.
Portrait Bust of Alexander – British Museum
Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Alexander Mosaic” from Pompeii
Even his horse (his name was Bucephalos) has flowing wavy locks…
Source: Wikimedia
Macedonia coin of Alexander as Ammon
*note the nape curls everyone!
Source: Wikimedia
Let’s come in a little closer on captivating curls of Richard Armitage shall we?
Exhibit C…for curls obviously!
Source: http://www.richardarmitagenet.com (my zoom/crop)
Pardon the pixelation, but I submit that if someone were to get his or her fingers in there and tousle up those neatly combed waves… any volunteers? I thought so…get in line! My blog, I get to go first 🙂 …. Sorry, my point was that if we ran our fingers through his hair a bit he’d come out the other side with a vertibly Alexandrine ‘do. I have to go and compose myself now…ὅ παῖς καλός!!
Ancient Armitage 
Great research Obscura! I had my money on you. Laundry tomorrow?
Shhh…don’t tell anyone, but I worked on it while my students were watching this week’s ROME episodes 😉
Ugh…everyday is laundry day around here!
Ditto on the laundry
Lovely — you know all too well I couldn’t resist those curls. Almost all Western ancient art shows us men with curls, but oh, how I prefer Richard’s!
Yeah, re. laundry, it’s not just death and taxes that persist, but laundry and dishes. Soon, progeny can be allotted laundry days when they do their own, once they have been taught to sort by colour and fabric, how to use the machine correctly, when to use bleach and what type, etc. Spouses can also be trained, but this is more challenging. Then there is the ironing basket…
Trained Mr 70 and the boys. 21 year old son1 does his own laundry, has yet to figure out the iron. They even clean house. After all we are a equal opportunity house. Everyone gets stuck in.
I like it a lot too…it looked nice and wavy last summer in Michigan too 🙂
I know that I should take the time to train the kids…esp. my son (my husband’s mother left her son woefully undertrained in such things). The thing is, I’ve sort carved out a mom cave in the basement which they will invade if they start doing laundry. It’s a wicked Catch 22!
I tried to reply earlier and WordPress would not let me, even for the first time did copy an paste.
Our laundry is in the hall to the garage no doors just there. I do love the fold jobs on the clothes we get sometimes. There are also the mom’s underware that has gone MIA and found in a boys drawer because they don’t pay attention to were they are putting things,but it is getting better and maybe after my MIL asked son3 if son1 needed a bra. He was bright red.
My hold up cooking, I have a hard time giving it up. Son1 wanted to learn to cook and I didn’t really let him. I am getting better, son2 is cooking supper tomorrow night, Chipotle Pepper and Chicken Soup, he likes hot food. Mr 70 is a good cook but if someone learns to cook the food he makes he will not make it as in Jambalaya that son2 now makes. If I come home and say I don’t feel like cooking he will cook. Son1 is now learning to cook some too, I just want clean up.
The wavy hair looks great on him.
You want waves? You want curls? What about his hair on ‘Robin Hood’? Season 1 & 2 only. Not season 3 with those god-awful extensions. My favorite is ‘Brothers in Arms’ from season 1. The scene where Guy finds out that Marian gave the necklace back? OH MY GOODNESS…… I defy anyone to not want to run your fingers through those curls, there are quite a few shots from the back, just gorgeous..
Oh indeed…there’s an abundance of Robin Hood era locks to behold!
Thanks for commenting!
RA is becoming ever more Greek-god-like every day, or what??? 😉 *ooof* I really can’t anymore. The nape curl porn is turning into a private nape curl-gate for me. Comparisons with Greek princes do not help, *at all*, especially when they also contain references to flowing locks of horses – which immediately brings the long tresses of Thorin to mind. http://25.media.tumblr.com/57a04cdebb6293d1b859582854188fe9/tumblr_mpys1zSbeb1so62bro1_400.gif
Good gods…I don’t think I’d seen that gif before. The curls have really gotten to me too…I was humming that old Mötley Crüe tune today with replacement lyrics, “curls, curls, curls.” I wonder what the going rate for interventions is? 😀
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