This page is about the fictional land of Arcadia - for the real Greek region see Arcadia, or for other uses arcadia (disambiguation) The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... A region can be either: an administrative subdivision of a country a sometimes vaguely-defined geographical area of a country or continent It is important to realize that regions are found in the minds of humans and so regions can be of any size and that each region is unique... Arcadia or Arkadía (Greek Αρκαδία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. ... Arcadia refers to more than one thing. ...

Arcadia was a concept in Greek mythology or a land untouched by human civilisation, free of war and a place of outstanding natural beauty - in this way it can be referred to as a utopia. Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a perfect society that does not exist (yet), or that can never exist because people are unable to reach perfection or endure tyranny forever. ...

The Historical Arcadia

According to Greek mythology, Arcadia was the domain of Pan and was totally unspoilt by humans. It was a version of paradise, but was not connected with the afterlife as in some religions. Marble sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat, recovered from Herculaneum Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ...

As an artistic concept the scene of Arcadia was a popular one, particulary Et in Arcadia ego by Nicholas Poussin, which has become famous both in its own right and because of its (possible) connection with the gnostic histories of the Freemasons - dealt with here later. In 1502 Jacopo Sannazaro published his long poem Arcadia that fixed the Early Modern perception of Arcadia as a lost world of idyllic bliss, remembered in regretful dirges. In the 1590s Sir Philip Sidney circulated copies of his poem The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia which soon got into print, and so Arcadia became an icon of the Renaissance. It is also refered to in poetry as Arcady. Et in Arcadia ego by Nicolas Poussin. ... Gnostic Histories are parts of history have have been deliberately covered up. ... American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance *French Renaissance *German Renaissance *English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

'Modern' usage

The concept of Arcadia has recently been popularized by its connection to the pseudohistory of the Freemasons - in particular the latin motto Et in Arcadia Ego (even here, I [Death] exist. However this phrase can be an anagram of I Tego Arcana Dei (Begone! I know the secrets of God). For more on this see Et in Arcadia ego (For the painting) and to a certain degree The Da Vinci Code. Pseudohistory is a term for information about the past, which purports to be historic or supported by archeology, but which is judged to fall outside the domain of mainstream history (sometimes it is an equivalent of pseudoscience). ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A motto is a phrase or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention of a sociological grouping or organization. ... Et in Arcadia ego is a Latin phrase that most famously appears as the title of two paintings by Nicolas Poussin 1594–1665). ... For the movie, see The Da Vinci Code (film). ...