Now! I’d like to string together various tales in the Milesian style, and charm your kindly ear with seductive murmurs, so long as you’re ready to be amazed at human forms and fortunes changed radically and then restored in turn in mutual exchange, and don’t object to reading Egyptian papyri, inscribed by a sly reed from the Nile. From Book I:1 Apuleius’ address to the reader, translated by A.S. Kline… Read more
There has been much discussion in the forum about the birth of Aphrodite, taking as a starting point the account in the Hesiodic Theogony, after Kronos cuts off the genitals of his father Ouranos: But the genitals, as after first severing them with the steel, he had cast them into the heaving sea from the continent, 190 so kept drifting long time up and down the deep, and all around… Read more
I was familiar with some of the longer Homeric Hymns, which are available in the Text Library in translations by Gregory Nagy[1], but I had not previously paid much attention to the shorter Homeric Hymns. Gregory Nagy, in “The Earliest Phases in the Reception of the Homeric Hymns,”[2] has explained that the setting for the Homeric Hymns were festivals; and that they started with a prooemium. He also points out… Read more
When one thinks about Greece nowadays, surrounded by sea with crystal clear water, delicious food, and especially sea-food, comes to mind. It is peculiar that, in antiquity, fish was not used in sacrifices. Fish and gods did not get along well. Fish is not a sacrifice gods fancy. In Aristophanes’ Knights, Aristophanes criticizes Pericles with a grain of humor. And by Zeus! he carries off bread, meat, and slice of… Read more
Our next Book Club selection is different this month. You can bring your own selection, one book that you like or dislike, and share your thoughts about it. You can read any book you like, whether primary or secondary source, and depending on how many are in the session you will be allotted some time to convince us to read (or not) the book. We will start and continue discussion… Read more