nomos

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Themis, thesmos and nomos: are there “divine laws” in ancient Greece?, with Vinciane Pirenne

We were excited to welcome Vinciane Pirenne for an Open House entitled “Themis, thesmos, and nomos: are there “divine laws” in ancient Greece?” The event took place on Friday, April 30 at 11:00 a.m. EDT and was recorded. In connection with this discussion, you might like to read: Hesiod, Theogony, 392–396, 901–906 Solon, Solon fragments Aeschylus, Eumenides, 169–172, 389–396, 483–484, 570–579, 614–615, 681–693, 778–779. Xenophon Cyropedia 1.6.6 You can watch… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: nomos

Our next Core Vocab term, taken from terms listed in H24H[1] and tracked in the associated Sourcebook[2] is nomos [νόμος]. Gregory Nagy glosses the word as follows: “nomos, plural nomoi ‘local custom; customary law; law’.” In Eumenides we see Athena changing the old system of vendetta, personified by the Furies or Erinyes, to that of a justice system and trial by jury[3]. The Furies complain (twice): Younger gods, you have ridden down… Read more