The Core Vocab word this time is aretē [ἀρετή] which Professor Nagy translates as ‘striving for a noble goal, for high ideals; noble goal, high ideals’[1]. There are several passages in the Sourcebook[2] where we can find this word; for example, during the Embassy scene Phoenix says: “Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride and beat it; cherish not your anger for ever; the might [aretē] and majesty [timē]… Read more
I sing of arms and the man, he who, exiled by fate, first came from the coast of Troy to Italy, and to Lavinian shores – hurled about endlessly by land and sea, by the will of the gods, by cruel Juno’s remorseless anger, long suffering also in war, until he founded a city and brought his gods to Latium: from that the Latin people came, the lords of Alba… Read more
We are pleased to share the news that Epic Singers and Oral Tradition by Albert Bates Lord is now available in electronic form, for free, from the CHS website, here. In the Introduction, he writes: “It is of the nature of things that Homer and his poems should play some role, directly or indirectly, in all the articles in this volume. It is not surprising, either, that South Slavic oral-traditional… Read more
Bourdelle, Penelope Penelope is waiting for Odysseus to come back. She is not a widow, Odysseus’ death is unknown. She is not looking for a new husband. Yet, her house is full of suitors. She is not going back to her father to choose a new husband. Her status seems ominous. She is the Queen of the blameless Odysseus who is missing for ten years after the Trojan War. More… Read more
“The poetry of Virgil, I take it as a given, rivals that of Homer. Historically, Virgil the Classic even displaced Homer the Classic in the Latin culture of the Roman empire (though not in the Greek) – already in the age of Virgil. But the question is: what is it exactly about the poetry of Virgil that made it rival the poetry of Homer in the first place – not… Read more