Arcadia - Thomas Eakins 1883
ARCADIA is the title of a magazine produced by the Council for the residents of Richmond Upon Thames.
So what is Arcadia and what has it got to do with our area?
Well, Arcadia is a region of Greece. As Wikipedia says:
“Arcadia remained a rustic, secluded area, and its inhabitants became proverbial as primitive herdsmen leading simple, pastoral unsophisticated yet happy lives, to the point that Arcadia may refer to some imaginary idyllic paradise”.
Sound like Richmond? No? Well try this (Wikipedia again)
“The Libertines, especially Pete Doherty and Carl Barat, use Arcadia as the destination their ship Albion is sailing towards. It is thought of as a place without rules or authority, where cigarettes grow on trees and park benches are covered in denim, and it is evenly populated by Cockney Rudeboys and Dickensian Gentlemen.”
Fair enough – sounds alright to me…
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(utopia)
i would like to know more about it, because my name is arcadia and would like to kinow how it came to be and were it came from…
It derives from f. L. Arcadius f. Gr. a mountainous district in the Peloponnesus, taken as the ideal region of rural contentment. [OED]
Hi, Can I add that Alexander Pope translated Classic texts, (Homer) and was an expert in the classics. Living in Twickenham he lived his life with a view of recreating classical texts into contemporary scenes. Added to this the architecture of the time was Palladin. This view of life by Pope and his contemporaries saw an idea of Arcadian life in Twickenham and the surrounding area..they were neo classicists of the time. This idea of Arcadia related to the area was a result of Pope.
Can I also plug a website
Arcadia , I love your name!
The website is http://www.arcadiantimes.co.uk, if you did not notice the link in my name! Ta.