A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter A

Athenian Hermaia

Historical Festival
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Athenian celebrations for Hermes emphasizing youth, athleticism, and social transition.

Detailed Definition
The Athenian Hermaia honored Hermes, god of roads, messages, commerce, and youthful athletic energy. Although local forms varied, the festival was associated with gymnasia, contests, and the education of young men moving toward civic adulthood. Hermes made transition itself sacred: the god stood at boundaries, doorways, and changing identities. Literary treatments can use the festival to frame a runner's departure, a messenger's ambiguous truth, or the moment when play becomes responsibility.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem about the Athenian Hermaia could address Hermes as patron of travelers, heralds, merchants, and youthful athletes; A poet might describe boys competing in the gymnasium under Hermes’s protection; A witty lyric could imitate the god’s quick speech and talent for crossing boundaries; A festival ode for the Hermaia could turn athletic speed into an image of eloquence
Additional Notes
The Hermaia honored Hermes, especially as a patron of young men, athletic contests, travel, and changing social status. Athletic activity made the festival relevant to education and initiation into adult civic life. It can be compared with other Greek rites that used competition to shape communal identity.
Also Known As
Hermaia Hermaea
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