Mixing bowl (volute krater)Museum of Fine Arts of BostonAccession Number 03.804 He is one of those bit players in Homer who are so unforgettable. Caustic, repulsive, and comedic all at the same time, Thersites has always been the source of controversy. Who was he? And was he intended to be dangerously insurrectionist or only entertaining? It is an often overlooked aspect of the Thersites story that he was said by post-Homeric… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott I have become interested in the role of the herald. Does this carry a special status and have particular responsibilities? Is a herald the same as a messenger, or do they have separate functions? They are different words in Greek, κῆρυξ, plural κήρυκες, dual κήρυκε [kērux, kērukes, keruke], and ἄγγελος plural ἄγγελοι [angelos, angeloi]. Here are a few examples to start the conversation. But Agamemnon did not… Read more
Bourdelle, Telemakhos at Nestor’s Palace in Pylos, Plaster (1883) Bourdelle Museum Nestor in the Odyssey is home in Pylos. He got a safe nostos, he is surrounded by his beloved wife and his children: six boys and several daughters and daughters-in-law. He seems ageless. In this passage from the Sourcebook, a wonderful scene with his guests and family is shown. The setting is perfect. The sacrifice is detailed beautifully. Athena herself is… Read more
A guest post by Timothy Banks When we first meet Helen in the Iliad the goddess Iris has led her to the Scaean Gates of Troy, where she looks out onto the battlefield. There she laments the actions that brought her to Troy and longs for home: “…would that I had chosen death rather than to have come here with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my… Read more
The point tore through the ambrosial robe which the Graces had woven for her [=Aphrodite], and pierced the skin between her wrist and the palm of her [=Aphrodite’s] hand, so that the immortal blood,[340] or ikhōr, that flows in the veins of the blessed gods, came pouring from the wound; for the gods do not eat bread nor drink wine, hence they have no blood such as ours, and are immortal.… Read more