Plato

The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours | Gallery: Part 6

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 | October 2018: Plato Ion

Hold it right there. Tell me this, Ion—respond to what I ask without concealment. When you say well the epic verses and induce a feeling of bedazzlement [ekplēxis] for the spectators [theōmenoi] —as you sing of Odysseus leaping onto the threshold and revealing himself to the suitors and pouring out the arrows at his feet, or of Achilles rushing at Hector, or something connected to the pitiful things about Andromache… Read more

Open House | Re-Re-Counting Plato: This Time with More Data, with Thomas Köntges

We were pleased to welcome Thomas Köntges of University of Leipzig for an Open House discussion titled, Re-Re-Counting Plato: This Time with More Data. It took place on Thursday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m. EST, and was recorded. In preparation, you might like to read these short passages with the following questions in mind: How does Aristotle usually quote Plato? When Aristotle mentions Socrates, does he refer to Plato’s Socrates?… Read more

Gallery: Who’s Who?

In this Gallery, you will see some familiar people from the past. Writers, heroes, politicians, philosophers, among them: Pittacus, Epicurus, Socrates, Pericles, Alexander the Great, Cesar, Augustus… Are also present Zeus and his wife Hera (or Juno), Medusa, and don’t be scared to look at her… If you want to know more about these famous people, Plutarch wrote many biographies. Among them, he offers a long, and beautiful physical description… Read more

Connections: Drugs, Roosters, and Asklepios

Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Socrates”(1787), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Many community members have been reading Gregory Nagy’s “The Last Words of Socrates in the Place Where He Died” on Classical Inquiries. In that post he explores the meaning of sacrificing a rooster to Asklepios. We are happy to share a curated selection of resources designed to help readers explore this topic in greater depth and make new connections. Primary Texts… Read more