goddess

Topic for Discussion

Mothers and sons in epic | Part 1: Divine mothers

In these posts we are looking at the way the relationship between mothers and sons is portrayed in Homeric epic. In this first post we look at some divine mothers: Aphrodite, mother of Aeneas, and Thetis, mother of Achilles; Hera and Hephaistos, and the role Thetis played in caring for Hephaistos. Does their own immortality shape the care they have for their children? Is there a difference between mothers whose… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: nemesis

Gregory Nagy says that "nemesis indicates the process whereby everyone gets what he or she deserves." Here are some passages in which the word is used, as a starting point for further exploration and discussion of the word and its use both as a process and in its personification as a goddess. How did the ancient Greeks view nemesis? Was it seen negatively, or as a necessity? What situations triggered… Read more