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Book Club | November 2024 : Aristophanes’ Peace

Peace, comedy by Aristophanes, performed at the Great Dionysia in 421 BCE. The plot concerns the flight to heaven on a monstrous dung beetle by a war-weary farmer, Trygaeus (“Vintager”), who searches for the lost goddess Peace only to discover that the God of War has buried her in a pit.  The play was written during the Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta. It was staged about seven months… Read more

Open House | Killing With Words: Character Assassination with Dr. Maria G. Xanthou

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Maria G. Xanthou FHEA, of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies to join members of the Kosmos Society for an Open House discussion on: “Killing with words: Isocrates, Dio Chrysostom, and Libanius on how to commit character assassination with style.” As Monty Python’s sketch Argument Clinic illustrates, abusive discourse (psogos, loidōria, mempsis) lies at the heart of oratory and rhetorical education. Abuse informs the… Read more

Ambrosia and Nectar: Where? What? When?

Hebe serving her father [Zeus] nectar Ivory-armed Hera smiled at this, and as she smiled she took the cup from her son’s hands. Then Hephaistos drew sweet nectar from the mixing-bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and the blessed gods laughed out a loud approval,[1] According to mythology ambrosia is a food of the gods, thus named because it is ‘a-brotos,’ not for… Read more

Women and Sport in the Ancient World: Response to Olympics

This post has been inspired by recent posts regarding the Olympic Games. It consists of some thoughts that occurred to me when reading the posts, and various other musings from reading a number of sources over the years. What struck me most was the relative absence of women in the written and pictorial record of ancient sports. This is reflected, too, in the absence of women in the early modern… Read more

Book Club | September 2024: Meno

Plato’s Meno (or Menon): “Can Virtue Be Taught?” “If the Phaedon and the Gorgias are noble statues, the Menon is a gem.” [1] Meno’s, or the Learner’s Paradox: [A] man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to enquire; and if not, he cannot; for he does not know the very subject about… Read more

Olympic Fame

Water is best, and gold, like a blazing fire in the night, stands out supreme of all lordly wealth. But if, my heart, you wish to sing of contests, [5] look no further for any star warmer than the sun, shining by day through the lonely sky, and let us not proclaim any contest greater than Olympia. Pindar, Olympian 1, 1–7, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien[1] The ancient Olympic Games… Read more

Book Club | August 2024: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Books 5 & 6

A screen of foliage filters out the sun. Boughs keep it shaded, and the dewy ground puts forth assorted blooms. It’s always spring. Inside this grove, Proserpina is playing as she picks violets or bright white lilies. With girlish eagerness she fills her baskets and skirt, eager to beat her friends at picking. Almost at once, Dis sees her, wants her, steals her. So quick is love. The terror-stricken goddess calls sadly for her mother and her friends — her… Read more

Olympic Games

The Ancient Olympic Games were not the first occurrence of organized sport in the ancient world. There were funeral games, ancient Egyptian sports during the reign of the Pharaohs, and other ancient civilizations (Sumer, Hittite, Chinese etc.) most probably had forms of organized sport. It may be safe to say that the first organized sport originated long ago with whoever could launch a projectile (rock, spear, archery, or sling to… Read more

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Nov
3
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Daylight Saving Time North America
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9:00 am Odyssey Study Group (Phaeacians)
Odyssey Study Group (Phaeacians)
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11:30 am Poetry Study Group (Mnēmai)
Poetry Study Group (Mnēmai)
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1:00 pm Iliad Study Group (Scamandrians)
Iliad Study Group (Scamandrians)
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3:00 pm Euripides Medea (Thespians)
Euripides Medea (Thespians)
Nov 5 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
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11:00 am Herodotus Translation Study Group
Herodotus Translation Study Group
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4:00 pm Thucydides Book One
Thucydides Book One
Nov 7 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
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4:00 pm Plato|Symposium
Plato|Symposium
Nov 8 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
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