A guest post by Sarah Scott This month I looked for sophos [σοφός] ‘skilled, skilled in understanding special language’; sophiā [σοφία] ‘being sophos’.[1] For if one possesses good things without a lengthy ordeal [ponos], many think that he is sophos, that he is not one of the ignorant, [75] the way he arranges his life, they think, with straight-planned stratagems. But that is not ordained to be, in this world… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott This month I’m inviting everyone to explore the word turannos [τύραννος], which is defined in the Core Vocabulary: “turannos, plural turannoi (Lydian word for ‘king’): ‘king’ (from the viewpoint of most Greek dynasties); ‘unconstitutional ruler’ (from the viewpoint of Greek democracy).” A more detailed explanation is given in H24H[1][1] 19§6, where the focus is on Oedipus in the Sophocles drama Oedipus Tyrannus: In this book, the… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott This month I’ve chosen a word that represents something that sounds very appealing: hēsukhos ‘serene’; hēsukhiā ‘state of being hēsukhos’.[1] My guess was that the word would not be very frequent. Although not shown in the Sourcebook[2], I did find it in Iliad: Πηλεΐδης δ᾽ ὁρμήσατ᾽ Ἀγήνορος ἀντιθέοιο δεύτερος: οὐδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἔασεν Ἀπόλλων κῦδος ἀρέσθαι, ἀλλά μιν ἐξήρπαξε, κάλυψε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἠέρι πολλῇ, ἡσύχιον… Read more
This month’s Core Vocab word is phrēn, plural phrenes, [φρήν, φρένες] which is given the definition ‘physical localization of the thūmos‘.[1] As a reminder, the definition of thūmos is ‘heart, spirit’ (designates realm of consciousness, of rational and emotional functions); we have already looked at some passages relating to thūmos: you can find the post here. In modern English we refer to the mind as residing in the brain, and emotion is… Read more
A guest post by Sarah Scott With the Olympic Games coming up, this month’s Core Vocab word from H24H[1] and tracked in the associated Sourcebook[2] is āthlos (aethlos) [ἆθλος/ἄεθλος] ‘contest, ordeal; competition’; and āthlētēs [ἀθλητής], ‘athlete’ . In HeroesX Gregory Nagy introduces the word āthlētēs in a section about the Labors of Hēraklēs and the founding of the Olympic Games: Hēraklēs not only founded this major festival: he also competed in every athletic event… Read more