The Odyssey is the hot topic for the summer of 2026. At Kosmos Society we have discussed the epic over the years, so here are just a few of the article posts, videos, and learning resources for those who wish to explore further. You can find a copy of the poem in the Text Library. Articles This is a selection of posts written by community members about aspects of the characters… Read more
In mid-July, Christopher Nolan’s new movie rendition of The Odyssey will be released. The Kosmos Society will host a special Friday Café Social on August 7. 11 a.m. EDT, so we can gather and discuss what we thought of the movie. All Kosmos Society members are invited. The link for café will be posted in the thread Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey a few days before the meeting. In the meantime, please… Read more
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] is based on a course that Professor Gregory Nagy has been teaching at Harvard University since the late 1970s. The book discusses selected readings of texts, all translated from the original Greek into English. The texts include the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey; selected Homeric Hymns; the Hesiodic Theogony and Works and Days; selected songs of Sappho and Pindar; selections from the Histories of Herodotus;… Read more
We are pleased to share the following video in which Jeffrey Rusten, of Cornell University, provides some suggestions on how to analyze the language of Thucydides, different types of sentence structure, patterns of contrast and comparison, the use of phrases, and word order. He demonstrates a method of visualizing the structure of a sentence through the use of layout. He also discusses the style of Thucydides compared with other Greek… Read more
“Dué argues that the attested multiforms of the Iliad—in ancient quotations, on papyrus, and in the scholia of medieval manuscripts—give us glimpses of the very long history of the text, access to even earlier Iliads, and a greater awareness of the mechanisms by which such a remarkable poem could be composed in performance. Using methodologies grounded in an understanding of Homeric poetry as a system, Achilles Unbound argues for nothing… Read more
The latest Kosmos Book Club Discussion included a passage about a father giving advice to his son. An experienced father was lending his knowledge to his child. Ovid’s story of Phoebus and Phaethon inspired us to look at other passages from antiquity with father figures advising their children. In the production of children both [parents] share alike; but each makes a different contribution to their upbringing. It is the mother… Read more
Quick she changes form and feature, Makes herself another body; Takes five sharpened scythes of iron, Also takes five goodly sickles, Shapes them into eagle-talons; Takes the body of the vessel, Makes the frame-work of an eagle; Takes the vessel’s ribs and flooring, Makes them into wings and breastplate; For the tail she shapes the rudder; In the wings she plants a thousand Seniors with their bows and arrows; Sets… Read more
You’re invited! Join the New Alexandria Foundation for a lively dialogue with Naomi Weiss, Professor of Classics at Harvard University and creator of Ancient Greece Today, a podcast from the Center for Hellenic Studies. This special Dialogue invites the public into a conversation about the Bacchae and Episode 7 of Ancient Greece Today, featuring Lucy Jackson (Durham University) and Monica Youn (poet, academic, lawyer). What to Expect This is not… Read more
You’re invited! Join the New Alexandria Foundation for a dialogue with Olga M. Davidson, Executive Editor of NAF’s Ilex Project. Olga will discuss her research on Ferdowsi and introduce the latest volume in Ilex’s Mizan Series: Iran Amplified: One Hundred Years of Music and Society in Iran. What to Expect This is not a formal lecture — it’s a guided conversation with plenty of time for your questions. Iran Amplified… Read more
“Then they laid the child of wonder, Fatherless, the magic infant, In the cradle of attention, To be rocked, and fed, and guarded; But he rocked himself at pleasure, Rocked until his locks stood endwise; Rocked one day, and then a second, Rocked the third from morn till noontide; But before the third day ended, Kicks the boy with might of magic, Forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards, Kicks in miracles of… Read more
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