This latest exploration of Core Vocabulary terms from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2] is esthlos [ἐσθλός] “‘genuine, good, noble’; synonym of agathos.” The first thing I noticed is that it is far less frequent than agathos. In poetry I wondered if it was employed for metrical reasons (two syllables, starting with a long, as opposed to three syllables starting with two short) or whether… Read more
In this part of our series on marriage in ancient Greek texts (following part 1: Music, and part 2: Wedding), we look at the courtship phase. How are suitors or prospective bridegrooms portrayed, what agency does the bride-to-be have, and how are marriages arranged? Émile Benveniste, in Indo-European Language and Society[1], discusses how “there is, properly speaking, no Indo-European term for “marriage.”” He explains that the words are different for… Read more
This latest post about Core Vocabulary terms from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2] is mantis [μάντις], glossed as “seer, prophet”. There are other words for this function which also feature in some of these passages; these are listed at the end. In the Iliad the mantis Kalkhas makes an appearance, when Achilles summons an assembly to try and resolve the plague that has been… Read more
Our next Core Vocab term, taken from terms listed in H24H[1] and tracked in the associated Sourcebook[2] is nomos [νόμος]. Gregory Nagy glosses the word as follows: “nomos, plural nomoi ‘local custom; customary law; law’.” In Eumenides we see Athena changing the old system of vendetta, personified by the Furies or Erinyes, to that of a justice system and trial by jury[3]. The Furies complain (twice): Younger gods, you have ridden down… Read more
After our previous post about snow and winter, we were inspired by this delightful fable from Aesop: Χειμὼν καὶ ἔαρ. Χειμὼν ἔσκωψε εἰς τὸ ἔαρ καὶ αὐτὸ ὠνείδισεν ὅτι εὐθὺς φανέντος ἡσυχίαν ἄγει ἔτι οὐδείς, ἀλλ’ ὁ μέν τις ἐπὶ λειμῶνας καὶ ἄλση γίνεται, ὅτῳ ἄρα φίλον δρέπεσθαι ἀνθέων καὶ κρίνων, ἢ καὶ ῥόδον τι περιαγαγεῖν τε τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ὄμμασιν, καὶ παραθέσθαι [ἣ] παρὰ τὴν κόμην· ὁ δὲ ἐπιβὰς νεὼς… Read more