Archive

Texts,  Topic for Discussion

Connections: Poets, Performance, and Reception

Classical Inquiries has published a set of videos and texts featuring the work of Gregory Nagy and Olga M. Davidson on myths relating to the “Lives of Homer” and the “Life of Ferdowsi.” These papers and videos were originally part of an international conference held at Baku, 27–28 November 2015. Together, Nagy and Davidson argue that “the traditional ‘biographies’ about these two poets, as transmitted by a vast variety of communities, can… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: khoros

What better way to celebrate the end of another year and the start of the next with a group singing and dancing together! So this month’s Core Vocab word is khoros [χορός] which Professor Nagy defines as “‘chorus’ = ‘group of singers/dancers’”[1] As usual, I will start with Homeric usage. [590] The renowned one [= the god Hephaistos], the one with the two strong arms, pattern-wove [poikillein] in it [=… Read more

Gallery

Gallery: Presents from the Past

Botticelli, Venus and the Three Graces offering presents to a young girl (1485) Louvre Greek has five words that are commonly translated uniformly by “gift.” A careful examination of their use shows that they do in fact correspond to as many different ways of envisaging a gift—from the purely verbal notion of “giving” to “a contractual prestation [benefit] imposed by the terms of a pact, an alliance, a friendship, or… Read more

Book Club

Book Club | January: The Epic of Gilgamesh

I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world.  He was wise,  he saw  mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the  flood.  He went on a long journey, was weary,  worn-out with labor, returning he rested, he engraved on a… Read more

Announcements,  Texts

Sappho…Continued

We are pleased to share the news that CHS is broadcasting to the public a live stream of events from SapphoFest 2015, to be held on Friday, December 11–Saturday, December 12. Please follow this link for further details. Recent posts at Classical Inquiries have featured translations by Gregory Nagy of the newest Sappho poems and fragments. Here is a selection. Sappho Song 1.3–4 |3 Do not dominate with hurts [asai] and… Read more