Performance of epic | Part 1: Aoidoi in epic poetry
“…the Muse impelled the singer to sing the glories of men, starting from a thread [of a song] that had at that time a glory reaching all the way up to the vast sky.” In Homeric poetry, there are several examples of singers performing. So in this post we will focus on the singer [aoidos] as featured in epics themselves. How does epic depict the role of singers and their performances? Read more…
CHS Online Open House | Song of Moses, Song of Deuteronomy, with Keith Stone
We are pleased to welcome back Keith Stone as guest for a discussion about the textual development of the biblical book of Deuteronomy, which will take place on Thursday, October 18th, at 11 a.m. EDT. The “Song of Moses”, usually considered as a late addition, displays themes and locutions that are strikingly and organically reflected among what are usually considered to be the earliest parts of Deuteronomy. Read more…
Core Vocab: mēnis
In the gloss provided by Gregory Nagy in H24H and the associated Sourcebook, mēnis is summarized as “superhuman anger, cosmic sanction”. Following the Kosmos Society Book Club discussion about Leonard Muellner’s The Anger of Achilles: Mênis in Greek Epic, we became interested in finding out how the word was used in other texts, so it seems appropriate to choose this for the next Core Vocab discussion. To whom is the term applied? What situations incur mēnis? How closely do they correspond to the epic examples? Is there a difference between male and female mēnis? And how are the related terms used in other texts?
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Book Club | October 2018: Plato Ion
“Hold it right there. Tell me this, Ion—respond to what I ask without concealment. When you say well the epic verses and induce a feeling of bedazzlement for the spectators…are you then in your right mind, or outside yourself? Does your mind, possessed by the god, suppose that you are in the midst of the actions you describe in Ithaca or Troy, or wherever the epic verses have it?” This month we will be reading and discussing Plato’s Socratic dialogue Ion—which features a performer of Homeric epic. Read more…
CHS Online Open House | Theognis, earwax and the end of the Lelantine War, with Natasha Bershadsky
We are pleased to welcome Natasha Bershadsky, Fellow in Ancient Greek History at the Center for Hellenic Studies, for an Online Open House discussion on the Lelantine War, an ancient conflict between Chalcis and Eretria. The event will be streamed live on Thursday, October 4, at 11 a.m. EDT, and will be recorded. Read more…
The Classic Ship | Part 2: The Battle of Artemision
The Greeks had prepared themselves for the Persian invasion by forming the Hellenic League. Sparta and Athens took a leading role in joining together 70 of the 700 city-states, many of which were still technically at war with each other. They were planning to stop the Persians that came by land at the narrow pass of Thermopylae. To prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and Allied navies planned to block the straits of Artemision. In the 5th century BCE, the trireme was the largest and most powerful battle ship. Read more…
