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
Tapestry of the story of Achilles, Ateliers Bruxellois de Jean François et Pierre Van Der Boorcht (around 1740) “Thetis plunging Achilles in the Styx In September, I saw a nice Rembrandt exhibition at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris. This is a wonderful museum, with an amazing collection. The restaurant is decorated with four tapestries. A fifth tapestry is in the hall. The tapestries represent some events from the myths… Read more
Apollo, Golden Bronze, (200CE) Louvre A guest post by Kevin McGrath Greetings everyone and welcome to Hour 25. What I would like to do today is to view briefly the first sixty-seven lines of Scroll 1 of the Homeric Iliad and then, prompted by you, to reread some of those lines and images more closely. As you well know the first word of the poem, mēnis, indicates ‘anger’, as both… Read more
A guest post by Timothy Banks When we first meet Helen in the Iliad the goddess Iris has led her to the Scaean Gates of Troy, where she looks out onto the battlefield. There she laments the actions that brought her to Troy and longs for home: “…would that I had chosen death rather than to have come here with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my… Read more