In Homeric poetry, apart from family members there are other members of the household [oikos] who are described by many different Greek words, and carry out differing roles. We were interested in understanding what those words would have meant and how servitude was portrayed, in the context of ancient Greek song culture of the Iliad and Odyssey. We start our exploration with female slaves/servants. Some were captured in war, as foreseen… Read more
[1] Anger [mēnis], goddess, sing it, of Achilles, son of Peleus— 2disastrous [oulomenē] anger that made countless pains [algea] for the Achaeans, 3 and many steadfast lives [psūkhai] it drove down to Hādēs, 4 heroes’ lives, but their bodies it made prizes for dogs [kuōn, pl.] [5] and for all birds, and the Will of Zeus was reaching its fulfillment [telos]. Iliad 1.1–5 In this very familiar passage we see the… Read more
We were pleased to welcome Jeffrey Rusten of Cornell University, Department of Classics for an Open House discussion about Zeus in Comedy. In preparation, you might like to read: Iliad 14.153–360, 15.1–235, 16.419–461, 22.157–187 Aristophanes Plutus (“Wealth”) lines 33–144 and 1019–1190 Passages from Lucian (PDF) You can watch the event in the frame below, or on our YouTube channel. You can join the discussion in the forum. For further videos please visit the Watch… Read more
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
We welcomed Professor Dan-El Padilla Peralta of Princeton University for an Open House Discussions on Waste in Antiquity. The discussion took place on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. EST, and was recorded. You may like to read the following focus passages in the Sourcebook to get ready for the event. Iliad 22.395–428 Iliad 23.770–785 Odyssey 17.280–300 You can watch the recording in the frame below, or on our YouTube… Read more