In this section we will consider the ships that are described as megakētēs [μεγακήτης], usually translated as "huge", "hollow", and "gaping."The word is made up of two parts, mega [μέγα-, “great”], and an adjective form of kētos [κῆτος, “any sea-monster”]. A related word is kētōeis [κητώεις], which means “full of hollows”. Read more
We are pleased to share this segment in the CHS series on reading Homeric epic in ancient Greek. In each installment we read, translate, and discuss a small passage in the original Greek in the most accessible way. In this segment, Gregory Nagy, Leonard Muellner, and Douglas Frame read Odyssey 1.63–79. Topics include: epithets and relationship of Zeus and Poseidon, land and sea, Polyphemos and the Kyklopes, the barrier of… Read more
We were pleased to welcome Yiannis Petropoulos, Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, to a CHS Open House discussion on 'Monster Menageries of Homer and Hesiod'. He introduces the topic: "Liberally populating ancient Greek poetry, monsters cannot be taken for granted and should not be treated as preposterous irrelevancies. ..." This post includes handouts of focus passages associated with the discussion. Read more
