Tag: Tempe

“She weaves the gods with their familiar attributes. … There she portrays the Ocean god, standing and striking the rough stone, with his long trident, and seawater flowing from the centre of the shattered rock, a token of his claim to the city. She gives herself a shield, a sharp pointed spear, and a helmet for her head, while the aegis protects her breast. She shows an olive-tree with pale trunk, thick with fruit, born from the earth at a blow from her spear, the gods marvelling [sic]: and Victory crowns the work.”

From A. S. Kline’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses [Book VI.70ff], describing Athena’s contest with Poseidon, in which she created the first olive tree. 

“She weaves the gods with their familiar attributes. … There she portrays the Ocean god, standing and striking the rough stone, with his long trident, and seawater flowing from the centre of the shattered rock, a token of his claim to the city. She gives herself a shield, a sharp pointed spear, and a helmet for her head, while the aegis protects her breast. She shows an olive-tree with pale trunk, thick with fruit, born from the earth at a blow from her spear, the gods marvelling [sic]: and Victory crowns the work.”

From A. S. Kline’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses [Book VI.70ff], describing Athena’s contest with Poseidon, in which she created the first olive tree. 

The Tempe Lake Monster. 

Spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) in Tempe, Arizona. This turtle’s shell was about 18 inches long (45 cm). Its extended neck and head add about 6 more inches to its total length. 

Please click photo to enlarge.