Archive

Visiting Scholars

Transcript: nostos, Names, and the Younger Generation of Heroes | Open House, with Gregory Nagy

We were pleased to welcome Gregory Nagy, and Allie Marbry, for another Open House session. Following last week’s conversation, and in conjunction with the readings of the Book Club, our discussion topics included questions from the community about some of the issues that emerged from those conversations, including: The nostos of Odysseus, and the nostos of Telemakhos The naming of Odysseus by Autolykos, and their association with Hermes, including the… Read more

Topic for Discussion

Under discussion: What’s in a name?

~ A guest post by Sarah Scott ~ I was fascinated by the recent CHS Open House discussion about names as micronarratives, and in particular how the name of a son can reflect a main characteristic of the father. One example mentioned was Telemakhos “he who fights at a distance”, which so aptly describes Odysseus both for his being away at Troy for so much of Telemakhos’ early life, and… Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | The Odyssey, Kingship, and Nestor, with Gregory Nagy and Guests

We were delighted to welcome Professor Gregory Nagy (Harvard University) with his guests Professor Leonard Muellner (Brandeis University) and Douglas Frame, for an Open House Discussion. You can watch the recording below (or on our YouTube channel), and scroll down to see a summary of the main themes discussed and links to works referenced during the discussion: We had been invited to post questions ahead of this week’s visit and… Read more

Topic for Discussion

In Focus: Odyssey 1, lines 1–10

|1 That man, tell me O Muse the song of that man, that versatile [polu-tropos] man, who in very many ways |2 veered from his path and wandered off far and wide, after he had destroyed the sacred citadel of Troy. |3 Many different cities of many different people did he see, getting to know different ways of thinking [noos]. |4 Many were the pains [algea] he suffered in his… Read more

Topic for Discussion

Community Discussion: Fostering Civil Dialogue

We are pleased to share the following video, which was filmed for a HeroesX segment of AlumniX. In this clip Professor Nagy responds to a question about whether or not heroes can hope to achieve something that is beyond their portion or fate [huper moiran]. Nagy argues that within the ancient Greek song culture, the poetic phrase “beyond fate” can be equivalent to saying something is “beyond tradition.” This idea becomes… Read more