Our Book Club selection for January is Pausanias Description of Greece, Book 1. In this work we possess a plain, unvarnished account by an eye-witness of the state of Greece in the second century of our era. … Pausanias, a contemporary of Hadrian … wrote his description of Greece. He came in time, but just in time. … Again and again he notices shrunken or ruined cities, deserted villages, roofless… Read more
We’ve had some great discussions in the Book Club over the past year, both on Zoom and in the Forum. As always, it’s been a voyage of discovery, enriched and enlivened by comparing thoughts and ideas! Due to the holiday season there will be no Book Club selection for December, but here is a preview of what is coming up in the first part of 2022. January: Pausanias Description of… Read more
We were excited to welcome Manuela Pellegrino for an Open House entitled “Greek Language, Italian Landscape.” The event took place on Friday, December 3 at 11:00 a.m. EST and was recorded. To get ready for the event, you might like to read Chapter 6, “Certain Things Never Change and Those Sound Better in Griko” from her book Greek Language, Italian Landscape: Griko and the Re-storying of a Linguistic Minority You… Read more
As a complement to the post on the two shorter Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite, this time I wanted to look at the two short Homeric Hymns to Artemis, #9 and #27. Unlike those for Aphrodite, there is not a longer Hymn to Artemis. As before, I want to think about what kind of narrative or myth might have accompanied either of these Hymns, if we take them as prooemia, and… Read more
Diogenes Laertius’s main intention was to write biographies of male philosophers[1]. However, his writings also reveal, sometimes unintentionally, women’s roles and attitudes to women in ancient times. His anecdotes and longer exploratory writing include references to wives, daughters, slaves and courtesans. He quoted from wills and letters, and also from hearsay. The general themes include misogyny, as explored in part 2, but he also gave examples of respectful behavior towards… Read more