

Colour Symbolism in Ancient Mesopotamia - benbreen
https://www.academia.edu/2026013/Colour_Symbolism_in_Ancient_Mesopotamia

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andyjohnson0
Related: _The Wine-Dark Sea: Color and Perception in the Ancient World_ by
Erin Hoffman [1]. Extract:

 _" We may never know for sure, but one peculiar fact casts the mystery in an
interesting light: there is no word for “blue” in ancient Greek. Homer’s
descriptions of color in The Iliad and The Odyssey, taken literally, paint an
almost psychedelic landscape: in addition to the sea, sheep were also the
color of wine; honey was green, as were the fear-filled faces of men; and the
sky is often described as bronze."_

Edit: Interestingly, Russian appears not to have a single word for blue [1].
Instead, light blue and dark blue are thought of as separate colours.

[1]
[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hoffman_01_13/](http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hoffman_01_13/)

[2]
[http://www.pnas.org/content/104/19/7780.full](http://www.pnas.org/content/104/19/7780.full)

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mohawk
With regard to Homeric interpretation of colour, i found this interesting.

[http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bodysphere/feat...](http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bodysphere/features/5267698)

Some of the comments are interesting as well, such as that Homer might have
been blind.

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jdonaldson
Not only do different cultures apply different meanings to colors, they may
perceive them entirely differently than how you do.
[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7cgh_horizon-do-you-
see-w...](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7cgh_horizon-do-you-see-what-i-
see-part-1-4_shortfilms)

~~~
partomniscient
That was one the most impressive documentaries I'd ever seen.

Makes trying to understand consensus reality a real mind-bender.

Also tangentially related to light and colo[u]r perception and how dramatic
it's effects can be:

[http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm](http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm)
(Search for "Phase response curve (PRC)")
[https://justgetflux.com/](https://justgetflux.com/)

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simongray
Tried downloading the PDF and man... fuck everything about that intrusive
piece of shit website.

