Core Vocab

Word Study

Core Vocab: kharis, kharites, part 2 | The Graces

We continue this month’s Core Vocab exploration—taken from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (H24H)[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2]—of kharis [χάρις], plural kharites [χάριτες] which Gregory Nagy glosses as ‘reciprocity, give-and-take, reciprocal relationship; initiation of reciprocal relationship; the pleasure or beauty derived from reciprocity, from a reciprocal relationship; gratification; grace, gracefulness; favor, favorableness; gratitude; for the sake of’. In part 1 we looked at it as an ordinary noun,… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: kharis | part 1

In the United States we are approaching Thanksgiving, so it seems apt to choose for this month’s Core Vocab exploration—taken from The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] and the associated Sourcebook[2]—a word that includes this concept among others: kharis [χάρις], plural kharites [χάριτες] which Gregory Nagy glosses as ‘reciprocity, give-and-take, reciprocal relationship; initiation of reciprocal relationship; the pleasure or beauty derived from reciprocity, from a reciprocal relationship; gratification; grace,… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: mētis

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

Word Study

Core Vocab: biā / biē

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

Word Study

Core Vocab: nemesis

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