Following on from our discussion of biā / biē it seems natural to continue with another, contrasting Core Vocab word: mētis [μῆτις] glossed by Gregory Nagy in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2] as ‘artifice, stratagem, cunning intelligence’. It’s a word I immediately associate with Odysseus, and in particular his cunning ploy with the Cyclops. There are two words for ‘not’ in ancient Greek, depending… Read more
This month’s Core Vocabulary discussion, based on terms listed in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and tracked in the Sourcebook[2] is “biā [βία] (biē [βίη] in the language of Homeric poetry) ‘force, violence’.” As we read passages together, among the questions we might ask are: what kinds of force are exhibited, and is it ever depicted as a desirable or undesirable quality? Here are a few examples to… Read more
In our Core Vocab definitions, found in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2], Gregory Nagy provides the following definition: “nemesis indicates the process whereby everyone gets what he or she deserves.” Here are some passages in which the word is used, as a starting point for further exploration and discussion of the word. When Penelope complains about the bard Phemios’ song: [345] “Mother,” answered the… Read more
In this series inviting exploration of the Core Vocabulary terms from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] it seems fitting for this community to look at the word kosmos [κόσμος] which is glossed as ‘arrangement, order, law and order, the social order, the universal order; cosmic order, orderliness of costume, hairdo; orderliness of group or society, of cosmos, of song; ritual adornments’. There is also a related verb, kosmeîn… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott This month I’ve chosen as our Core Vocab word (from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (H24H)[1] and the Sourcebook[2]) menos [μένος] ‘power, life-force, activation’ (divinely infused into cosmic forces, like fire and wind, or into heroes); a partial synonym of thūmos; a partial synonym of mēnis‘. As a reminder of those other words: thūmos is defined as ‘heart, spirit’ (designates realm of consciousness,… Read more