Reading Homer

Greek dialects in the language of Homer: Mycenaean, and Arcadian

In this video, Gregory Nagy, Douglas Frame, Leonard Muellner, and Keith Stone have an informal discussion about the role of dialects in the Homeric poetic tradition, introducing the Mycenaean phase, and Homeric forms in Arcadian. They include examples from formulas such as epithets within Homeric poetry, and also refer to the work of Aristotle and Theophrastus. Related topics Greek dialects and the poetic super-language Greek dialects in epic: the cake… Read more

Greek dialects and the poetic super-language

In this video, Gregory Nagy, Douglas Frame, and Leonard Muellner provide an introduction to how ancient Greek dialects function in Homeric poetry: : what the different dialects are, how different forms fit into the metrical structure, and the evolution and perpetuation of the poetic super-language.. Topics include: Attic Greek koinē Ionian Aeolian metrical differences and lack of redundancy formulae evolution and perpetuation of the poetic super-language Related topics Greek dialects… Read more

A Homer Commentary in Progress

An evolving, collaborative commentary based on the cumulative research of Milman Parry and Albert Lord The intellectual goal of the original editors is simple and at the same time most ambitious: of all existing commentaries on Homeric poetry, this project is the first and only such commentary that is based squarely on the cumulative research of Milman Parry and his student, Albert Lord, who created a new way of thinking… Read more

Homeric Greek | Odyssey 1.136–143: Dining, and serving food

We are pleased to share this segment in the series on reading Homeric epic in ancient Greek. In each installment we read, translate, and discuss a small passage in the original Greek in the most accessible way. If you’ve ever dreamed of reading Homer in the original, here is your chance to do so with teachers who have spent a lifetime thinking about this poetry. With their guidance even new… Read more