TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Mug

It’s Saturday in Perth! Yee haaaa!

German Historismus Beer Stein in stoneware from the turn of the 20th century

Sipping at my beer,

Strange how my drunken mind turns,

To Ancient Greece.

The subject of this absurdly huge German mug (or Großer Bierkrug Humpen if you want to get technical) derives from Homer’s Iliad, Book I. King Agamemnon decides that if his lovely captive Chryseis is to be sent back to her father, then he will take Briseis, Achilles’ delightful captive. Achilles, enraged by this pronouncement, draws his sword to attack Agamemnon, but Minerva (whom Juno sent to prevent violence) restrains him.

All very blokey stuff and probably the result of drinking the amount of beer needed to fill this mug (it is over a foot high). No one seems to care what poor Chryseis and Briseis thought about the whole affair. Minervra, the Goddess of war, certainly looks like she may enjoy a glass or two of the old “amber fluid”too.

The technical term for this type of ware, produced in Germany around the turn of the 20th Century is “Historismus” ware and it seems strangely incongruous to find a beer mug emblazoned with such lavish attention to ancient Greek legends. I had to buy it for the sheer bravado of the piece.

If you would like to join in then you can use any inspiration from this or your own “mugs”. It could be a picture on you mug, what you like to drink, what it is made of, anything at all. Please leave a link to your post in the comments and I will feature it next week! Feel free to use the photo if you don’t want to use one of your own. (love to see what you could do with the prompt though!)

Last Week’s Prompt “Light” led to some brilliant haiku

Tucked Into a Corner gave use some wonderful perspectives of light.

https://tuckedintoacorner.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/household-haiku-light/

Life Home and Away has flooded us with wonderful light here.

https://livehomeandaway.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/versions-of-light/

Behind Distant Doors reminds us beautifully how we can be lights for others.

https://behinddistantdoors.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/true-light/

A brilliant trio of haiku from Kat Myrman. Makes you think like all good haiku must.

https://kmmyrman.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/light-haiku/

Here are the other characters on the “mug”. The rams’ skulls around the bottom are also a little disturbing.

Minerva in her fetching shell hat wait to intervene.

 

Note the delightful ram’s skull at the base.

Impressed Mark of Gerz, West German made stoneware

 

 

 

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