
When I was at school, we learned of Ri-Pa-Pe – the rhythmic chant of Athenian oarsmen pulling a trireme’s 180 oars. Contrary to what you might think, triremes were manned not by slaves but by some 200 free men from all social strata. Indeed, for a 5th-century BC Athenian, the ships were an extension of […]
Sea Shanties of the Ancients
I just geeked out and read the Greek…