Heralded by the running of Sirius the dogstar as it chases Lepus the hare across the sky, the dog days of summer were documented with sweltering heat and pestilence in the ancient mediterranean.
Thankfully, the dog days of summer in Virginia have been less difficult with cool evenings and whispers on the wind that promise an impending new season.
“Wet your lungs with wine: the dogstar, Seirios, is coming round, the season is harsh, everything is thirsty under the heat, the cicada sings sweetly from the leaves .. the artichoke is in flower; now are women most pesilential, but men are feeble, since Sirios parches their heads and knees.” Alcaeus, Fragment 347 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric I) (C7th to 6th B.C.)
