Iliad

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Charioteers, with Kevin McGrath

We were pleased to welcome Kevin McGrath, Associate in the Department of South Asian Studies at Harvard University, to discuss how charioteering and charioteers are emblematic—if not signal—of warrior song and culture in the Mahābhārata. Our discussion included reference to focus passages from the Iliad and Mahābhārata noted below, as well as McGrath’s article on Kṛṣṇa in Mahābhārata. Focus Passages & Scholarship Iliad 2. 545ff Iliad 4. 297ff Iliad 5. 239ff… Read more

Visiting Scholars,  Word Study

Audio: Casey Dué & Mary Ebbott on Iliad 10 and the Poetics of Ambush

We are pleased to share this recent audio conversation (see below) with Casey Dué and Mary Ebbott, during which they discussed their findings on the poetics of ambush in Iliad 10. During the conversation, they explain why they chose to look at Iliad 1 0 in the light of oral poetics, and examine the evidence for a night ambush as a traditional theme, and how this activity is as heroic as, for… Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Iliad 9, and the responses of Achilles, with Leonard Muellner and Gregory Nagy

We were pleased to welcome Professor Leonard Muellner, Professor Gregory Nagy, and Allie Marbry, for another Open House. The conversation this week (shown in the video below), centered on Iliad Scroll 9, with a focus on the way that Achilles responds to Odysseus, Phoinix, and Ajax during the Embassy, giving particular attention to the following focus passages: Iliad 9.356–363 So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector did not let… Read more

Topic for Discussion

Under Discussion: Fatal Attraction

~ A guest post by Myrmidon ~ Fatal Attraction in that Michael Douglas-Glenn Close movie I understand. But fatal attraction in the Iliad? Frankly, I’ve found the idea hard to grasp, and some of the explanations in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] prompt me to ask some additional questions. What is fatal attraction? How do we know it exists? What kind of attraction? And why would anyone be… Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Epic Cycle, Oral Poetics, and Composition in Performance, with Gregory Nagy and Guests

We were pleased to welcome Gregory Nagy and guests, for an Open House session during which we discussed the epic cycle, oral poetics, and composition in performance, including: what the wheel of a chariot means how ring composition works how a performer relates to the audience what happens with predictions within the narrative the difference between improvisation and deep structure/surface structure multiformity vs interpolation You can watch the recording on… Read more