Our Core Vocab term this time is hubris [ὕβρις], defined as "‘outrage’; the opposite of dikē [δίκη]." Gregory Nagy further discusses the term: "dikē or ‘justice’ is straight and direct or unidirectional, whereas hubris as the opposite of justice is crooked and indirect or multi-directional ... In the human realm, hubris refers to acts that provoke a sense of moral outrage, which calls for a response by humans and gods… Read more
In 2014 members of Hour 25 shared a revised translation of Sophocles' Antigone that matches and complements the Sourcebook of Primary Texts in Translation as used in HeroesX. This year Hour 25 members planned an intensive, collaborative workshop to "heroize" another ancient Greek text, Euripides' Medea. Read more
Our next exploration of Core Vocab terms is about thūmos [θυμός] ‘heart, spirit’ (designates realm of consciousness, of rational and emotional functions). Here Professor Nagy explains the meaning a little further: "The word thūmos, which I translate here as ‘heart’, expresses in Homeric diction the human capacity to feel and to think, taken together. ... In other Homeric contexts, on the other hand, thūmos is pictured as the vital force… Read more
For this month's Core Vocab I thought it might be interesting to look at the word moira (plural moirai), defined in the Core Vocab as 'portion; portion of meat divided at a sacrifice; lot in life, fate, destiny.' Just that range of meanings in the definition is intriguing. I am curious to see whether it appears that all those meanings are in play when the word is used, or whether… Read more
...sometimes they would dance deftly in a ring with merry twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his work and making trial of his wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would go all in line with one another, and many people were gathered joyously about the place of dancing [khoros]. There was a singer also to sing to them and play his lyre, while… Read more
