Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where outraged iconoclasts and horrified philosophers are told that seeing is believing.
Where outraged iconoclasts and horrified philosophers are told that seeing is believing.
Bruce Heiden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195341072
- eISBN:
- 9780199867066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341072.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter analyzes the actions of the whole Iliad to address the question of whether or in what sense the Iliad could present a “single action” as Aristotle said it did. The analysis uses Pavel's ...
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This chapter analyzes the actions of the whole Iliad to address the question of whether or in what sense the Iliad could present a “single action” as Aristotle said it did. The analysis uses Pavel's method of Move diagrams, derived from game theory, to represent and study how story events develop in trajectories from problem situations in which agents make choices. It finds that the events of the Iliad comprise seven major Moves that all intersect through a single common agent, Zeus, whose planning therefore demarcates a central orientation of all the epic's action. These major Moves include Achilles' plan to achieve compensatory honor from Zeus, Zeus's conflict with the pro-Trojan trio of Hera, Athena, and Poseidon; and Hektor's inability to heed warnings, especially from Zeus, that his successes are only temporary.Less
This chapter analyzes the actions of the whole Iliad to address the question of whether or in what sense the Iliad could present a “single action” as Aristotle said it did. The analysis uses Pavel's method of Move diagrams, derived from game theory, to represent and study how story events develop in trajectories from problem situations in which agents make choices. It finds that the events of the Iliad comprise seven major Moves that all intersect through a single common agent, Zeus, whose planning therefore demarcates a central orientation of all the epic's action. These major Moves include Achilles' plan to achieve compensatory honor from Zeus, Zeus's conflict with the pro-Trojan trio of Hera, Athena, and Poseidon; and Hektor's inability to heed warnings, especially from Zeus, that his successes are only temporary.
Bruce Heiden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195341072
- eISBN:
- 9780199867066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341072.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter turns the investigation of thematic trajectories to books 8 and 15, the last segments of the first and second cycles respectively. These are the books that narrate Zeus's critical ...
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This chapter turns the investigation of thematic trajectories to books 8 and 15, the last segments of the first and second cycles respectively. These are the books that narrate Zeus's critical choices in steering events, and whose position cues attention to Zeus's consequential agency. In these books the Olympians face off in conflict, as the heroes do in other books. But analysis of the thematic trajectories shows that the Olympians prove wiser than the heroes at transforming their differences into symbolic terms that facilitate compromise.Less
This chapter turns the investigation of thematic trajectories to books 8 and 15, the last segments of the first and second cycles respectively. These are the books that narrate Zeus's critical choices in steering events, and whose position cues attention to Zeus's consequential agency. In these books the Olympians face off in conflict, as the heroes do in other books. But analysis of the thematic trajectories shows that the Olympians prove wiser than the heroes at transforming their differences into symbolic terms that facilitate compromise.
Bruce Heiden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195341072
- eISBN:
- 9780199867066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341072.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter turns to the last book of the Iliad, whose analogies of theme and positioning relate it to books 1, 8, 9, 15, and 16. Apollo's speech to the Olympians in book 24 is situated in a ...
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This chapter turns to the last book of the Iliad, whose analogies of theme and positioning relate it to books 1, 8, 9, 15, and 16. Apollo's speech to the Olympians in book 24 is situated in a trajectory of thematic development reaching back to Chryses's prayer to Apollo in book 1 and including Patroklos's appeal to Achilles in book 16. Hera's reply to Apollo in book 24 is situated in a trajectory that includes Agamemnon's reply to Chryses in book 1, Achilles' replies to the embassy in book 9, and Hera's refusal to permit Zeus to save Sarpedon in book 16. Zeus's mediation in book 24 is situated in a trajectory that Nestor's attempted reconciliation in book 1 and Zeus's agreement with Hera in book 15. Concluding observations liken the effect of the thematic suggestions to that of an epiphany.Less
This chapter turns to the last book of the Iliad, whose analogies of theme and positioning relate it to books 1, 8, 9, 15, and 16. Apollo's speech to the Olympians in book 24 is situated in a trajectory of thematic development reaching back to Chryses's prayer to Apollo in book 1 and including Patroklos's appeal to Achilles in book 16. Hera's reply to Apollo in book 24 is situated in a trajectory that includes Agamemnon's reply to Chryses in book 1, Achilles' replies to the embassy in book 9, and Hera's refusal to permit Zeus to save Sarpedon in book 16. Zeus's mediation in book 24 is situated in a trajectory that Nestor's attempted reconciliation in book 1 and Zeus's agreement with Hera in book 15. Concluding observations liken the effect of the thematic suggestions to that of an epiphany.
Bruce Heiden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195341072
- eISBN:
- 9780199867066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341072.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter focuses upon the ubiquitous theme of design and fabrication. Particular attention is devoted to the shield that Hephaistos designs for Achilles in book 18. Analysis explores the design ...
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This chapter focuses upon the ubiquitous theme of design and fabrication. Particular attention is devoted to the shield that Hephaistos designs for Achilles in book 18. Analysis explores the design of the shield description as well as the shield, and the shield's thematization of design in the cosmos. A concluding section relates the mythology of Troy in the Iliad to a wider body of myth in which Zeus's continuous planning, including the inspiration of poetry through the Muses, enables human beings to better their lives.Less
This chapter focuses upon the ubiquitous theme of design and fabrication. Particular attention is devoted to the shield that Hephaistos designs for Achilles in book 18. Analysis explores the design of the shield description as well as the shield, and the shield's thematization of design in the cosmos. A concluding section relates the mythology of Troy in the Iliad to a wider body of myth in which Zeus's continuous planning, including the inspiration of poetry through the Muses, enables human beings to better their lives.
Barbara Kowalzig
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546510
- eISBN:
- 9780191594922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546510.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Taking as its starting-point the image of song as cargo from the opening of Pindar's Nemean 5, this chapter discusses the political and economic identity of the archaic and classical Aeginetans ...
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Taking as its starting-point the image of song as cargo from the opening of Pindar's Nemean 5, this chapter discusses the political and economic identity of the archaic and classical Aeginetans through detailed exploration of myths and religious practices, on Aegina itself, as well as in the Saronic Gulf and the wider Greek Mediterranean, in particular with regard to Aiakos and the Aeginetan cult of Zeus. The Aeginetan mythic self is profoundly linked to the island's commercial activities; a set of interconnected myths and cults embeds the island in patterns of local and regional economic activity in the Saronic Gulf; and Aeginetans also form part of a wider elite-born network of commercial and maritime enterprise in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Stereotypical Aeginetan characteristics such as ‘strength at sea’ and ‘justice’ or ‘hospitality’ towards strangers are reflections of the island's role as a cosmopolitan hub in the Saronic Gulf.Less
Taking as its starting-point the image of song as cargo from the opening of Pindar's Nemean 5, this chapter discusses the political and economic identity of the archaic and classical Aeginetans through detailed exploration of myths and religious practices, on Aegina itself, as well as in the Saronic Gulf and the wider Greek Mediterranean, in particular with regard to Aiakos and the Aeginetan cult of Zeus. The Aeginetan mythic self is profoundly linked to the island's commercial activities; a set of interconnected myths and cults embeds the island in patterns of local and regional economic activity in the Saronic Gulf; and Aeginetans also form part of a wider elite-born network of commercial and maritime enterprise in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Stereotypical Aeginetan characteristics such as ‘strength at sea’ and ‘justice’ or ‘hospitality’ towards strangers are reflections of the island's role as a cosmopolitan hub in the Saronic Gulf.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568314
- eISBN:
- 9780191723018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568314.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines the presentation of Zeus in Aeschylus' Agamemnon. He desires that Agamemnon should lead the Greek army to punish the Trojans for Paris's abduction of Helen, yet sends an omen ...
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This chapter examines the presentation of Zeus in Aeschylus' Agamemnon. He desires that Agamemnon should lead the Greek army to punish the Trojans for Paris's abduction of Helen, yet sends an omen which angers Artemis into forcing Agamemnon to choose between sacrificing his daughter Iphigeneia and abandoning the expedition. It is argued that Zeus is not to be regarded in this play as a wise and foresighted god, but as the ruler and organizer of a ‘rotten, stupid world’. However, modern spectators should remember that Agamemnon is only one-third of the complete drama, and that its end is not the last word.Less
This chapter examines the presentation of Zeus in Aeschylus' Agamemnon. He desires that Agamemnon should lead the Greek army to punish the Trojans for Paris's abduction of Helen, yet sends an omen which angers Artemis into forcing Agamemnon to choose between sacrificing his daughter Iphigeneia and abandoning the expedition. It is argued that Zeus is not to be regarded in this play as a wise and foresighted god, but as the ruler and organizer of a ‘rotten, stupid world’. However, modern spectators should remember that Agamemnon is only one-third of the complete drama, and that its end is not the last word.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568314
- eISBN:
- 9780191723018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568314.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter seeks to interpret the statement in Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176–8 that Zeus laid down the law pathei mathos (‘learning through suffering’), asking in particular whether we are meant to ...
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This chapter seeks to interpret the statement in Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176–8 that Zeus laid down the law pathei mathos (‘learning through suffering’), asking in particular whether we are meant to assume that learning and/or suffering existed before Zeus laid down this law, and, if we are, what the relationship was between them. It argues that the only answer consistent with Aeschylus' text, and with current popular beliefs about primeval times, is that before Zeus there was no suffering (all man's needs were produced spontaneously by the earth) and no learning (because it was unnecessary). Zeus deprived man of happiness, so that he could survive only by acquiring wisdom — which, at the end of the Oresteia, the Athenians at least have succeeded in doing.Less
This chapter seeks to interpret the statement in Aeschylus, Agamemnon 176–8 that Zeus laid down the law pathei mathos (‘learning through suffering’), asking in particular whether we are meant to assume that learning and/or suffering existed before Zeus laid down this law, and, if we are, what the relationship was between them. It argues that the only answer consistent with Aeschylus' text, and with current popular beliefs about primeval times, is that before Zeus there was no suffering (all man's needs were produced spontaneously by the earth) and no learning (because it was unnecessary). Zeus deprived man of happiness, so that he could survive only by acquiring wisdom — which, at the end of the Oresteia, the Athenians at least have succeeded in doing.
Benjamin Sammons
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195375688
- eISBN:
- 9780199871599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195375688.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines two passages in which characters catalogue women or heroines (Iliad 14.315–28, Odyssey 11.225–329). In the first (Zeus recounts his past erotic conquests), the discussion ...
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This chapter examines two passages in which characters catalogue women or heroines (Iliad 14.315–28, Odyssey 11.225–329). In the first (Zeus recounts his past erotic conquests), the discussion continues to focus on the divine perspective implied in the catalogue form and how it is undermined, in this case through the humor of the whole episode (Dios apate). In the second case (Odysseus’s catalogue of the famous women he saw in Hades) the emphasis is on how the catalogue reflects the hero’s limitations both as a viewer and as a speaker or poet. These catalogues also have a kind of paradigmatic tendency and threaten to impose a pattern or interpretation on the narrative in which they appear; yet in each case, formal or rhetorical properties of the catalogue distort or undermine that tendency. In both cases, the discussion considers whether Homer interacts directly with a Hesiodic tradition of catalogue poetry.Less
This chapter examines two passages in which characters catalogue women or heroines (Iliad 14.315–28, Odyssey 11.225–329). In the first (Zeus recounts his past erotic conquests), the discussion continues to focus on the divine perspective implied in the catalogue form and how it is undermined, in this case through the humor of the whole episode (Dios apate). In the second case (Odysseus’s catalogue of the famous women he saw in Hades) the emphasis is on how the catalogue reflects the hero’s limitations both as a viewer and as a speaker or poet. These catalogues also have a kind of paradigmatic tendency and threaten to impose a pattern or interpretation on the narrative in which they appear; yet in each case, formal or rhetorical properties of the catalogue distort or undermine that tendency. In both cases, the discussion considers whether Homer interacts directly with a Hesiodic tradition of catalogue poetry.
Ory Amitay
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520266360
- eISBN:
- 9780520948174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520266360.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This book has shown how Alexander the Great framed his life after the venerable precedents of Greek Myth, which were often, at the same time, his family traditions. Emulating Dionysus, Perseus, ...
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This book has shown how Alexander the Great framed his life after the venerable precedents of Greek Myth, which were often, at the same time, his family traditions. Emulating Dionysus, Perseus, Achilles and, not least, Herakles, Alexander lived his life as a character of myth. In hindsight, the mythologization of Alexander, by himself and by others, appears a natural response to changing circumstances, rather than the result of a well-executed master plan. Alexander may perhaps have suborned the priests of Siwah to acknowledge his status as the Divine Son, but he cannot have planned in advance such circumstances as the discovery of Prometheus's cave, the strange yet familiar legends told at Aornos, or his special reception as the third Son of Zeus by the Indian kings. Through his myth, Alexander also provided Christianity with a theological framework, including Divine Sonship, dual paternity, and deification, which helped to strike a delicate balance between the polytheistic and monotheistic worlds. But the inherent difficulties posed by the Jesus Christ myth to any true-hearted monotheist are obvious.Less
This book has shown how Alexander the Great framed his life after the venerable precedents of Greek Myth, which were often, at the same time, his family traditions. Emulating Dionysus, Perseus, Achilles and, not least, Herakles, Alexander lived his life as a character of myth. In hindsight, the mythologization of Alexander, by himself and by others, appears a natural response to changing circumstances, rather than the result of a well-executed master plan. Alexander may perhaps have suborned the priests of Siwah to acknowledge his status as the Divine Son, but he cannot have planned in advance such circumstances as the discovery of Prometheus's cave, the strange yet familiar legends told at Aornos, or his special reception as the third Son of Zeus by the Indian kings. Through his myth, Alexander also provided Christianity with a theological framework, including Divine Sonship, dual paternity, and deification, which helped to strike a delicate balance between the polytheistic and monotheistic worlds. But the inherent difficulties posed by the Jesus Christ myth to any true-hearted monotheist are obvious.
