"... Sinis used to take hold of pine trees and draw them down. All those whom he overcame in fight he used to tie to the trees, and then allow them to swing up again. Thereupon ... the bound man...was torn in two. This was the way in which Sinis himself was slain by Theseus." I looked for examples of myths, rituals, and sacred spaces associated with trees and wood. Read more
This month's selection comprises two of the Homeric Hymns: #3 to Apollo, and #4 to Hermes. They relate myths connected with the gods; in the Hymn to Apollo there are two stories. Discussion will start and continue in the Forum, and we will meet via Zoom on Tuesday, March 29, at 11 a.m. EDT. Read more
I wanted to look at the two short Homeric Hymns to Artemis, #9 and #27, and to think about what kind of narrative or myth might have accompanied either of these Hymns, if we take them as prooemia, and to see what key words stand out. Do they have much in common, or do they concentrate on different aspects of Artemis? Read more
"I will swear a great oath by my father’s head and vow that neither am I guilty [aitios] myself, neither have I seen any other thief [klopos] of your cows —whatever cows may be; for I know them only by hearsay [kleos].” Following the recent posts "Divine Doppelgänger: Hermes and Odysseus" and “The Divine Doublet: Odysseus and Hermes," I became intrigued to learn more about Hermes as deceiver, as portrayed… Read more
As you well know the first word of the poem, mēnis, indicates ‘anger’, as both Greg and Lenny have so carefully discussed. This first word establishes a tone or mode for the complete work as anger is exchanged through an economy of metaphors with violence, death, grief, lamentation, and ultimately with kleos itself as the final price of an heroic life: that is, the poetic medium of this narrative song.… Read more
