Texts

Texts

The Structure of Greek Tragedy: An Overview

There are different terms for different parts of a Greek drama, some of which modern scholars took from Aristotle and other ancient drama critics. The typical structure of an Ancient Greek tragedy is a series of alternating dialogue and choral lyric sections. (There are exceptions, and technical divisions naturally do not explain intellectual and emotional “soft power” aspects of a great Greek tragedy.) The dialogue sections are in typically speechverse,… Read more

Texts,  Topic for Discussion, 

Hermione’s Birth Suddenly Triggered Zeus’s Plan

To say my mother was “a force of nature” is an understatement! As Hilda Doolittle wrote, she [Helen] is “the admitted first cause of all time and all history.” She was, is, and will always be “the destroyer of worlds,” well at least the world before my birth. I can’t begin to tell you how inhumanly beautiful she was. The effect the very sight of her had on men and… Read more

Texts

Pindar Pythian 2

Introduction, Translation, and Notes by Jack Vaughan Introduction Pindar’s second Pythian Ode, as the poem has come down to us arranged in a book of “Pythians” is the second of three odes addressed to Hieron, who was the ruler of Syracuse after the death of his brother Gelon in 478 BCE and until his own death in 466. The poem is in four strophes (marked, as in Greek editions, Α’,… Read more

History,  Texts,  Video

Introducing an augmented translation of Thucydides: Book 1

We are pleased to share in the Text Library a revised translation of the first part of Book 1 of Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War that tracks key terms. The selection, chapters 1-23, includes Thucydides’ opening statement, the ‘Archaeology’, and a Preface in which he outlines his methods. Jeffrey Rusten, Keith DeStone, Janet M Ozsolak, Sarah Scott, Hélène Emeriaud This edition was the result of a community-driven collaborative “augmented translation” project. The group… Read more

History,  Texts,  Video

Introducing an augmented translation of Thucydides: Book 2

We are pleased to share in the Text Library a revised translation of selections from Book 2 of Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War that tracks Key terms. The selected part of Book 2—chapters 34–65—includes some important and famous sections, and within these are particular focus passages indicated by highlighting: Pericles’ Funeral Oration The plague in Athens Pericles’ last speech Thucydides’ assessment of Pericles This edition was the result of a community-driven… Read more