Book Club | July 2020: Quintus Smyrnaeus Fall of Troy 5–9
This month we continue our “long summer read” of The Fall of Troy, or Posthomerica, by Quintus Smyrnaeus. For July, we will read Books 5–9, which feature the contest for the arms of Achilles, Eurypylos the son of Telephos, Neoptolemos, and the death of Eurypylos. Discussion will start and continue in the forum, and we will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, July 28, at 11 a.m. EDT. Read more…
Marriage | Part 2: Wedding
A wedding ceremony is a celebratory marker for the bride and groom as well as for their two families. Further, this joyful event, rich with rituals, extends to the community that the bride and groom are part of. In ancient Greece, weddings were celebrated with many customs and rituals attached. The roles were assigned and expected to be performed according to traditions. In this post, let us journey through wedding rituals with ancient Greek texts and vases. Read more…
Marriage | Part 1: Music
In this post we are going to examine some aspects of marriage, and its music which come traditionally with singing and dancing. In today’s marriages music, singing and dancing play an essential role in rituals and traditions. Music is played at the beginning of the ceremony, carefully chosen songs are sung during the ceremony, and people dance and sing during the feast. Were rituals and traditions related to music in weddings also important in ancient Greece? Read more…
Kimon: the siege of Eion, Skyros, and Naxos
In 478 BCE, after Pausanias had been recalled from Byzantion, the leadership of the Hellenic League was taken over by the Athenian Kimon II. The remaining members of the Hellenic League, assembled in a council on Delos, decided to form an alliance led by Athens. The objective of this newly formed Delian League was the continuation of the counter-attack against the Persians, clearing the Aegean Sea of pirates, securing Athenian access through the Hellespont and Bosporus, and to further avenge the wrongs that the Persians had done to them. Read more…
Online Open House | Itinerant professionals of literature and music in the epigraphic sources of the Hellenistic period. “Poeti Vaganti” in Delphi and Delos.
We were excited to welcome Angela Cinalli of “La Sapienza” University of Rome, for an Online Open House, titled “Itinerant professionals of literature and music in the epigraphic sources of the Hellenistic period. “Poeti Vaganti” in Delphi and Delos.” The event took place on Friday, June 12 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, and was recorded. Read more…
Book Club | June 2020: Quintus Smyrnaeus Fall of Troy 1–4
“… peerless amid all the Amazons unto Troy-town Penthesileia came. To right, to left, from all sides hurrying thronged the Trojans, greatly marvelling, when they saw the tireless War-god’s child, the mailed maid, like to the blessed gods; for in her face glowed beauty glorious and terrible. Her smile was ravishing: beneath her brows, her love-enkindling eyes shone like to stars, and with the crimson rose of shamefastness bright were her cheeks, and mantled over them unearthly grace with battle-prowess clad.” Our “long summer read” is The Fall of Troy, or Posthomerica, by Quintus Smyrnaeus, starting with Books 1–4. Read more…
