After we finish reading the Iliad, we might wonder what happens in Troy after Hector’s funeral. We have parts of what happens next in the Odyssey, in tragedies, and in fragments and plot-summaries. However, in his Description of Greece Pausanias writes an interesting description of a painting in Delphi which depicted “Troy taken and the Greeks sailing away," Read more
We are excited to welcome Andrew Koh, of the MIT Center for Materials Research and the Harvard Semitic Museum, for an Open House discussion entitled ‘A Land Called Crete: From Harriet Boyd Hawes to the Cretan Collections Project’. There are readings and links to the project. The event was streamed live on Thursday, October 24 at 11 a.m. EDT, and was recorded. Read more
In this segment Douglas Frame, Leonard Muellner, and Gregory Nagy discuss Odyssey 1.239–251. Topics include the Pan-Achaeans, as a parallel to Panhellenes; the contra-factual tomb of Odysseus at Troy and an implicit comparison to the tomb of Achilles; the verb 'to smash' and the troubles of Telemachus. Read more
In this segment Douglas Frame, Leonard Muellner, and Gregory Nagy discuss Odyssey 1.230–238. Topics include grieving over one who is missing in action; the concept of "blameless" as originating in the sacrificial language; a metaphor of ending (the war) as winding up a wool thread into a ball; and a discussion of the relation of movable nu and pauses at lines' ends. Read more
In this segment Douglas Frame, Leonard Muellner, and Gregory Nagy read, translate, and discuss Odyssey 1.221–229. Topics include long-term and short-term genealogies; asyndeton as an expressive tool; a hubristic feast; Telemachus, son of Odysseus/son of Penelope; larger-than-life heroes. Read more
