Oedipus

Gallery

The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours | Gallery: Part 5

The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours[1] is based on a course that Professor Gregory Nagy has been teaching at Harvard University since the late 1970s. The book discusses selected readings of texts, all translated from the original Greek into English. The texts include the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey; selected Homeric Hymns; the Hesiodic Theogony and Works and Days; selected songs of Sappho and Pindar; selections from the Histories of Herodotus;… Read more

Book Club

Book Club | May 2019: Seneca Oedipus

The Book Club selection for May is a drama: Seneca the Younger’s Oedipus. The discussion will start and continue in the forum, with a live conversation on Tuesday May 28th at 11 a.m. EDT. There will also be a community reading on Tuesday May 21st at 11 a.m. EDT; estimated duration 2–3 hours. We are familiar with the treatment of the myth by Sophocles from The Ancient Greek Hero in… Read more

Video

CHS Dialogues | Oedipus, the downfall of Heroes, and Night of the Iguana

In this episode, Gregory Nagy and Claudia Filos respond to comments and questions from the community about: The hero as a cult hero and as a tragic hero Oedipus as a savior Myth, ritual and miasma Oedipus as a turannos Hippolytus and Phaedra with reference to Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, and Hippolytus of Euripides.   This dialogue also includes discussion about the following movie clips: The opening scene from The Night… Read more

Word Study

Core Vocab: turannos

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