~ A guest post by Myrmidon ~ Apollo and Achilles are ritual antagonists. So how do we explain the strategic alliance Achilles forms with the god early in Iliad Scroll 1? The hero does this through Kalkhas, the seer who received his prophetic powers from Apollo. Achilles further aligns himself with the god when he “swears by Apollo” to protect the seer from Agamemnon. Clearly, in these two events Achilles… Read more
|524 This is how [houtōs] we [= I, Phoenix] learned it, the glories [klea] of men [andrōn] of an earlier time [prosthen], |525 who were heroes [hērōes], whenever one of them was overcome by tempestuous anger. |526 They could be persuaded by way of gifts and could be swayed by words. |527 I totally recall [me-mnē-mai] how this was done—it happened a long time ago, it is not something new—… Read more
|4 He [= Hēraklēs] used to travel all over the boundless earth and all over the sea, |5 veering from his path and wandering off, all because of the missions assigned to him by Eurystheus the king. |6 He [= Hēraklēs] performed many reckless things on his own, and he suffered many such things in return. (trans. Gregory Nagy, Hour 22 Text D, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours)… Read more
~ A guest post by Laura Ford ~ Did Odysseus return to Troy after his initial departure? And if so, why? The Iliad, which ends before the fall of Troy, gives us no information about the sack of the city or the departure of the Greeks. But there are some scanty details offered in the Odyssey and in the summaries of the poems of the epic cycle. In Odyssey 3… Read more
|76 Then Agamemnon, the king of men, spoke up at their meeting, |77 right there from the place where he was sitting, not even standing up in the middle of the assembly. |78 “Near and dear ones,” said he, “Danaan [= Achaean] heroes, attendants [therapontes] of Arēs! |79 It is a good thing to listen when a man stands up to speak, and it is not seemly |80 to speak in relay after him. [9] It would… Read more