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Book Club

Book Club | October 2019: Greek and Roman Actors

For October’s Book Club, we will be reading selections from Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession, edited by Pat Easterling and Edith Hall, which will provide the opportunity to read different perspectives about various aspects of theatrical performance in ancient Greece. Our suggested readings are: Chapter 1: “The singing actors of antiquity” by Edith Hall Chapter 6: “Looking for the actor’s art in Aristotle” by G.M. Sifakis… Read more

Topic for Discussion

Mothers and sons in epic | Part 1: Divine mothers

In these posts we are looking at the way the relationship between mothers and sons is portrayed in Homeric epic. In this first post we look at some divine mothers: Aphrodite, mother of Aeneas, and Thetis, mother of Achilles; Hera and Hephaistos, and the role Thetis played in caring for Hephaistos. Because Aphrodite’s and Thetis’ sons have mortal fathers, their sons are also mortal, and will die. Both these mothers… Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Persian epic and the embedding of a song of lament, with Olga M. Davidson

We were pleased to welcome back Olga M. Davidson, Boston University, for a discussion on ‘Persian epic and the embedding of a song of lament’. The event took place on Thursday, September 19 at 11 a.m. EDT, and was recorded. You can watch the event on our YouTube channel, or in the frame below. In connection with this discussion, you might like to read her article “Women’s Lamentations and the… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: nomos

Our next Core Vocab term, taken from terms listed in H24H[1] and tracked in the associated Sourcebook[2] is nomos [νόμος]. Gregory Nagy glosses the word as follows: “nomos, plural nomoi ‘local custom; customary law; law’.” In Eumenides we see Athena changing the old system of vendetta, personified by the Furies or Erinyes, to that of a justice system and trial by jury[3]. The Furies complain (twice): Younger gods, you have ridden down… Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Recall Strategies in the Iliad, with Lynn Kozak

For the first Open House discussion of Fall 2019, we were delighted to welcome Lynn Kozak, McGill University, to discuss ‘Recall Strategies in the Iliad‘. The event took place on Thursday, September 12, at 11 a.m. EDT and was recorded. In connection with this discussion, you might like to read Iliad 16; Iliad 22 https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Ilhome.php You can watch it on our YouTube channel, or in the frame below. Lynn Kozak… Read more