Found in Translation: The Paradise That is Arcadia

When we talk about the term Arcadia, the first that comes to mind is the classical Greece province sharing the same name, Arcadia. The place is known as a landlocked territory famously thought of as an agricultural paradise since the dawn of time.

However, Arcadia is also a poetic and philosophical concept. A quick look at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary will define it as ‘a region or scene of simple pleasure and quiet’, but we’re going to go much deeper than that!

“Does not the pleasantness of this place carry in itself sufficient reward for any time lost in it, or for any such danger that might ensue? Do you not see how everything conspires together to make this place a heavenly dwelling? Do you not see the grass, how in color they excel the emeralds [...]? Do not these stately trees seem to maintain their flourishing old age, with the only happiness of their seat being clothed with a continual spring, because no beauty here should ever fade?” — Arcadia: Prose and Verse (1598), Lope de Vega

Arcadia is a word that refers to the idea of pastoralist and harmony with nature. It is the paradise as seen in the unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is synonymous with utopia, but more specifically as the idea clings strictly to landform paradise. Renaissance painters used to have a fixation for this concept as they often showed shepherds, nymphs and the like frolicking in rich forests. Thomas Eakins’ Arcadia is one of the many examples. Writers such as the poet Garcilaso de la Vega and Spanish playwright Lope de Vega often played with the Arcadia theme. Another poet named Sir Philip Sidney published the famous poem The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, which established the Arcadia concept as a defining quality of the Renaissance.

Picture the Garden of Eden. Seek out lush greenery and leafy, open terrains. Plan your trips to provinces and mountainous landscapes, and don't forget to bring a wide-angle lens such as the Lomo LC-A Minitar-1 to attach to your favorite camera.

2018-09-20 #places #arkadia #found-in-translation