Video

CHS Dialogues | The Song of Moses, The Shield of Achilles, and ox-vision Hera

In this episode, “The Song of Moses, The Shield of Achilles, and ox-vision Hera,” Gregory Nagy and Keith Stone discuss: A new book by Keith Stone: Singing Moses’s Song: A Performance-Critical Analysis of Deuteronomy’s Song of Moses  The Shield of Achilles in Iliad 18 and in myths about the life of Homer The meaning of epithets associated with Hera and Athena, which are sometimes translated into English as “ox-eyed’/’owl-eyed’, or better… Read more

The Psychology of Alcibiades

Professor Norman Sandridge of Howard University gave a speech at Villanova University titled The Psychopathy of Alcibiades: Applying a Modern Psychological Construct to an Ancient Leader. Professor Sandridge says, “In this lecture I make the argument that Plutarch’s portrait of the fifth-century Athenian statesman, Alcibiades, shares many character traits with the contemporary construct of the psychopath, namely, grandiosity, low emotional affect, instrumental aggression, and chameleon-like versatility. Moreover, Alcibiades’ conduct as… Read more

Homeric Questions with Leonard Muellner

In his book Homeric Questions, Gregory Nagy explains his choice of title as follows: The title of this work is marked by the word Questions, in the plural. It takes the place of the expected singular, along with a definite article, associated with that familiar phrase, “the Homeric Question.” Today there is no agreement about what the Homeric Question might be. Perhaps the most succinct of many possible formulations is this… Read more

CHS Dialogues | Oedipus, the downfall of Heroes, and Night of the Iguana

In this episode, Gregory Nagy and Claudia Filos respond to comments and questions from the community about: The hero as a cult hero and as a tragic hero Oedipus as a savior Myth, ritual and miasma Oedipus as a turannos Hippolytus and Phaedra with reference to Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, and Hippolytus of Euripides.   This dialogue also includes discussion about the following movie clips: The opening scene from The Night… Read more

Dialogues | Justice, Palm Trees, and the Transition to Prose

In this episode, Gregory Nagy and Keith Stone respond to comments and questions from the community about the relationships between: poetry and prose, Homeric and Hesiodic traditions, justice and vegetal images In particular they discuss an Attic red-figure column-krater (c. 450 BCE) that features Apollo, Artemis, and a sacred palm tree. Image: (from left to right) Artemis holding an oinochoe; Apollo holding a laurel branch and a phiale, about to… Read more