Lowell Edmunds
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165127
- eISBN:
- 9781400874224
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165127.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Folk Literature
It's a familiar story: a beautiful woman is abducted and her husband journeys to recover her. This story's best-known incarnation is also a central Greek myth—the abduction of Helen that led to the ...
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It's a familiar story: a beautiful woman is abducted and her husband journeys to recover her. This story's best-known incarnation is also a central Greek myth—the abduction of Helen that led to the Trojan War. Stealing Helen surveys a vast range of folktales and texts exhibiting the story pattern of the abducted beautiful wife and makes a detailed comparison with the Helen of Troy myth. This book shows that certain Sanskrit, Welsh, and Old Irish texts suggest there was an Indo-European story of the abducted wife before the Helen myth of the Iliad became known. Investigating Helen's status in ancient Greek sources, the book argues that if Helen was just one trope of the abducted wife, the quest for Helen's origin in Spartan cult can be abandoned, as can the quest for an Indo-European goddess who grew into the Helen myth. The book explains that Helen was not a divine essence but a narrative figure that could replicate itself as needed, at various times or places in ancient Greece. It recovers some of these narrative Helens, such as those of the Pythagoreans and of Simon Magus, which then inspired the Helens of the Faust legend and Goethe. This book offers a detailed critique of prevailing views behind the “real” Helen and presents an eye-opening exploration of the many sources for this international mythical and literary icon.Less
It's a familiar story: a beautiful woman is abducted and her husband journeys to recover her. This story's best-known incarnation is also a central Greek myth—the abduction of Helen that led to the Trojan War. Stealing Helen surveys a vast range of folktales and texts exhibiting the story pattern of the abducted beautiful wife and makes a detailed comparison with the Helen of Troy myth. This book shows that certain Sanskrit, Welsh, and Old Irish texts suggest there was an Indo-European story of the abducted wife before the Helen myth of the Iliad became known. Investigating Helen's status in ancient Greek sources, the book argues that if Helen was just one trope of the abducted wife, the quest for Helen's origin in Spartan cult can be abandoned, as can the quest for an Indo-European goddess who grew into the Helen myth. The book explains that Helen was not a divine essence but a narrative figure that could replicate itself as needed, at various times or places in ancient Greece. It recovers some of these narrative Helens, such as those of the Pythagoreans and of Simon Magus, which then inspired the Helens of the Faust legend and Goethe. This book offers a detailed critique of prevailing views behind the “real” Helen and presents an eye-opening exploration of the many sources for this international mythical and literary icon.
- Published in print:
- 1986
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780856682940
- eISBN:
- 9781800342729
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780856682940.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Joseph wrote his epic around the year 1180, and revised it at the court of Henry II of England where he had obtained some sort of post through the influence of his uncle, Baldwin, Archbishop of ...
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Joseph wrote his epic around the year 1180, and revised it at the court of Henry II of England where he had obtained some sort of post through the influence of his uncle, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury. The work is one of a series of texts in Latin and Anglo-Norman, apparently commissioned by the King, helping to trace back the Plantagenet line to the Trojans. It is a pendant to the Anglo-Norman Roman de Troie written by Benoit de Sainte-More in the 1160s. Joseph rejected the Vergilian 'mendacious poetic' account of the war in favour of the 'historical' narrative of Dares Phrygius, an 'eye-witness' of the events. This version not only coincided with the Plantagenets' preference for historical material but also presented Aeneas, the founder of the Romans, as a traitor. In Henry's struggles with the Pope over the Investiture problem any slur on the origins of the Romans could be useful ammunition. Books I–III cover the first Trojan war when Laomedon was besieged, the Judgement of Paris and the Rape of Helen. In style, Joseph closely resembles Lucan whom he had read “with an eye that allowed little to escape” (Raby), yet his imitation is far from servile. Sedgwick even goes so far as to say that Joseph “surpasses the bold constructions of Silver Latin.” Moreover, Joseph restores to epic the gods that Lucan had banished. The result is an epic that in the 17th century was still considered to have been written in the classical period. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less
Joseph wrote his epic around the year 1180, and revised it at the court of Henry II of England where he had obtained some sort of post through the influence of his uncle, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury. The work is one of a series of texts in Latin and Anglo-Norman, apparently commissioned by the King, helping to trace back the Plantagenet line to the Trojans. It is a pendant to the Anglo-Norman Roman de Troie written by Benoit de Sainte-More in the 1160s. Joseph rejected the Vergilian 'mendacious poetic' account of the war in favour of the 'historical' narrative of Dares Phrygius, an 'eye-witness' of the events. This version not only coincided with the Plantagenets' preference for historical material but also presented Aeneas, the founder of the Romans, as a traitor. In Henry's struggles with the Pope over the Investiture problem any slur on the origins of the Romans could be useful ammunition. Books I–III cover the first Trojan war when Laomedon was besieged, the Judgement of Paris and the Rape of Helen. In style, Joseph closely resembles Lucan whom he had read “with an eye that allowed little to escape” (Raby), yet his imitation is far from servile. Sedgwick even goes so far as to say that Joseph “surpasses the bold constructions of Silver Latin.” Moreover, Joseph restores to epic the gods that Lucan had banished. The result is an epic that in the 17th century was still considered to have been written in the classical period. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780856687655
- eISBN:
- 9781800343214
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780856687655.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Athenian tragic dramatist Sophocles wrote over 120 plays in his sixty-year career, of which only seven have survived complete. This volume presents what is known, or can be inferred or ...
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The Athenian tragic dramatist Sophocles wrote over 120 plays in his sixty-year career, of which only seven have survived complete. This volume presents what is known, or can be inferred or conjectured, about half a dozen plays known to us only from quotations, indirect references, and occasionally a papyrus. The selection includes four plays about the Trojan War and its aftermath, all concerned with Achilles or his son Neoptolemus (The Diners, Troilus, Polyxene, and Hermione), and two presenting episodes from Athenian legend (Tereus and Phaedra). The editors have taken a special interest in the history of the myths that Sophocles dramatised and the often startling modifications he made to them; several of the plays also throw important light on parallel dramas of Euripides such as Hippolytus, Andromache, and Hecuba. The book presents Greek text with facing-page translation.Less
The Athenian tragic dramatist Sophocles wrote over 120 plays in his sixty-year career, of which only seven have survived complete. This volume presents what is known, or can be inferred or conjectured, about half a dozen plays known to us only from quotations, indirect references, and occasionally a papyrus. The selection includes four plays about the Trojan War and its aftermath, all concerned with Achilles or his son Neoptolemus (The Diners, Troilus, Polyxene, and Hermione), and two presenting episodes from Athenian legend (Tereus and Phaedra). The editors have taken a special interest in the history of the myths that Sophocles dramatised and the often startling modifications he made to them; several of the plays also throw important light on parallel dramas of Euripides such as Hippolytus, Andromache, and Hecuba. The book presents Greek text with facing-page translation.
Guy Hedreen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546510
- eISBN:
- 9780191594922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546510.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses Pindar's Paean 6 and its mythology in the light of contemporary art, especially sculpture. The Aphaia pediments and Pindar's poem enhance Aegina's heroes, while engaging with ...
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This chapter discusses Pindar's Paean 6 and its mythology in the light of contemporary art, especially sculpture. The Aphaia pediments and Pindar's poem enhance Aegina's heroes, while engaging with the mythology of the fall of Troy. The Aphaia pediments rethink the pictorial conventions of the last night of Troy, and put the pairing of pediments of equal scale to good semantic use to suggest that the first Trojan War was at least as significant as the famous second campaign. With Paean 6 there was no denying Apollo's involvement in the deaths of Achilles and Neoptolemos; but by emphasizing Apollo's interest in Troy as a motivation for his actions, it was possible to avoid mention of the ugliest deeds attributed to those two heroes. Pindar also tightened the links between the Trojan War, the Delphic Theoxenia, and the Aeginetan cult of Zeus Hellanios, through emphasis on the pious Aeginetan culture-hero Aiakos.Less
This chapter discusses Pindar's Paean 6 and its mythology in the light of contemporary art, especially sculpture. The Aphaia pediments and Pindar's poem enhance Aegina's heroes, while engaging with the mythology of the fall of Troy. The Aphaia pediments rethink the pictorial conventions of the last night of Troy, and put the pairing of pediments of equal scale to good semantic use to suggest that the first Trojan War was at least as significant as the famous second campaign. With Paean 6 there was no denying Apollo's involvement in the deaths of Achilles and Neoptolemos; but by emphasizing Apollo's interest in Troy as a motivation for his actions, it was possible to avoid mention of the ugliest deeds attributed to those two heroes. Pindar also tightened the links between the Trojan War, the Delphic Theoxenia, and the Aeginetan cult of Zeus Hellanios, through emphasis on the pious Aeginetan culture-hero Aiakos.
David Quint
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161914
- eISBN:
- 9781400850488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161914.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter focuses on book 2 of Paradise Lost. In book 2, Milton continues the story of the demilitarization of the fallen angels and of his epic more generally when he bases all of its action ...
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This chapter focuses on book 2 of Paradise Lost. In book 2, Milton continues the story of the demilitarization of the fallen angels and of his epic more generally when he bases all of its action around the figure of Ulysses, the hero of eloquence and fraud, whose own epic comes in the aftermath of the Trojan War. The chapter demonstrates that the Odyssey, imitated and parodied in Satan's voyage through Chaos to God's newly created universe in the book's last section, is just one of the classical stories about the career of Ulysses that Milton evokes as models for its different episodes. The various parts of book 2 are held together by this pattern of allusion, as well as by the Odyssean figures of Scylla and Charybdis, the emblem of bad choices, or of loss of choice itself.Less
This chapter focuses on book 2 of Paradise Lost. In book 2, Milton continues the story of the demilitarization of the fallen angels and of his epic more generally when he bases all of its action around the figure of Ulysses, the hero of eloquence and fraud, whose own epic comes in the aftermath of the Trojan War. The chapter demonstrates that the Odyssey, imitated and parodied in Satan's voyage through Chaos to God's newly created universe in the book's last section, is just one of the classical stories about the career of Ulysses that Milton evokes as models for its different episodes. The various parts of book 2 are held together by this pattern of allusion, as well as by the Odyssean figures of Scylla and Charybdis, the emblem of bad choices, or of loss of choice itself.
James Morwood
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199208791
- eISBN:
- 9780191709029
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199208791.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses Murray's work as a translator of Greek tragedy, examining the linguistic and dramatic aspects of his translations, and emphasizing the scale of his achievement in bringing ...
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This chapter discusses Murray's work as a translator of Greek tragedy, examining the linguistic and dramatic aspects of his translations, and emphasizing the scale of his achievement in bringing tragedy to an greater audience. The chapter mentions his translations of Euripides' Hippolytus, Electra, and the The Trojan Women.Less
This chapter discusses Murray's work as a translator of Greek tragedy, examining the linguistic and dramatic aspects of his translations, and emphasizing the scale of his achievement in bringing tragedy to an greater audience. The chapter mentions his translations of Euripides' Hippolytus, Electra, and the The Trojan Women.
Jacqueline Baxter
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447326021
- eISBN:
- 9781447326229
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447326021.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
What impact have the unprecedented and rapid changes to the structure of education in England had on school governors and policy makers? And what effect has the intensifying media and regulatory ...
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What impact have the unprecedented and rapid changes to the structure of education in England had on school governors and policy makers? And what effect has the intensifying media and regulatory focus had on volunteer school governors? Jacqueline Baxter takes the 2014 ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal, in which it was alleged that governors at 25 Birmingham schools were involved in the ‘Islamisation’ of secular state schools, as a focus point to examine the pressures and challenges in the current system. Informed by her twenty years’ experience as a school governor, she considers both media analysis and policy as well as the implications for the future of a democratic system of education in England.Less
What impact have the unprecedented and rapid changes to the structure of education in England had on school governors and policy makers? And what effect has the intensifying media and regulatory focus had on volunteer school governors? Jacqueline Baxter takes the 2014 ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal, in which it was alleged that governors at 25 Birmingham schools were involved in the ‘Islamisation’ of secular state schools, as a focus point to examine the pressures and challenges in the current system. Informed by her twenty years’ experience as a school governor, she considers both media analysis and policy as well as the implications for the future of a democratic system of education in England.
Victoria Wohl
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691166506
- eISBN:
- 9781400866403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166506.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter asks about the ethics of (lyric and structural) beauty and the politics of pathos in two plays, Trojan Women and Hecuba. The first, Trojan Women, presents a tale of unmitigated misery ...
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This chapter asks about the ethics of (lyric and structural) beauty and the politics of pathos in two plays, Trojan Women and Hecuba. The first, Trojan Women, presents a tale of unmitigated misery and renders it self-consciously beautiful. But how are we to watch this sublime suffering? The play won't let us maintain a safe spectatorial distance; it demands that we watch with pity, but also suggests the insufficiency of that response. Our tears do no good. The insufficiency of pity is also a central theme of the second play, Hecuba. Here pity is shown to be not only politically ineffectual, but in fact morally dangerous: the beauty of tragic suffering generates a perverse investment in that suffering itself, and our longing for the beautiful symmetry of justice makes us complicit in a vicious act of injustice. Both plays thus propose that aesthetic judgments bear ethical and political consequences, but neither takes it for granted that beauty will make us just.Less
This chapter asks about the ethics of (lyric and structural) beauty and the politics of pathos in two plays, Trojan Women and Hecuba. The first, Trojan Women, presents a tale of unmitigated misery and renders it self-consciously beautiful. But how are we to watch this sublime suffering? The play won't let us maintain a safe spectatorial distance; it demands that we watch with pity, but also suggests the insufficiency of that response. Our tears do no good. The insufficiency of pity is also a central theme of the second play, Hecuba. Here pity is shown to be not only politically ineffectual, but in fact morally dangerous: the beauty of tragic suffering generates a perverse investment in that suffering itself, and our longing for the beautiful symmetry of justice makes us complicit in a vicious act of injustice. Both plays thus propose that aesthetic judgments bear ethical and political consequences, but neither takes it for granted that beauty will make us just.
Victoria Wohl
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691166506
- eISBN:
- 9781400866403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166506.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter summarizes key themes and presents some final thoughts. It argues that Euripides' imperfect alignment of form and meaning forces form itself onto center stage. It makes us aware of a ...
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This chapter summarizes key themes and presents some final thoughts. It argues that Euripides' imperfect alignment of form and meaning forces form itself onto center stage. It makes us aware of a play's form, granting it density and texture. Even at its emptiest, form is always full, replete with meaning. We have seen Euripides exploring that meaning, thinking in form about tragic form and its fullness and emptiness. The plays have shown us form as generative and enabling, producing, for example, an aspiration to justice (in Hecuba and Trojan Women), or a renewed attachment to the polis (in Ion), or even history itself (in Suppliants and Orestes. We have also seen the constraints and oppressions of form, both dramatic and social. In Electra, empty forms encrusted with outdated content constrained human behavior and foreclosed radical social possibilities. Form functioned as a deadweight upon the play's own imagination.Less
This chapter summarizes key themes and presents some final thoughts. It argues that Euripides' imperfect alignment of form and meaning forces form itself onto center stage. It makes us aware of a play's form, granting it density and texture. Even at its emptiest, form is always full, replete with meaning. We have seen Euripides exploring that meaning, thinking in form about tragic form and its fullness and emptiness. The plays have shown us form as generative and enabling, producing, for example, an aspiration to justice (in Hecuba and Trojan Women), or a renewed attachment to the polis (in Ion), or even history itself (in Suppliants and Orestes. We have also seen the constraints and oppressions of form, both dramatic and social. In Electra, empty forms encrusted with outdated content constrained human behavior and foreclosed radical social possibilities. Form functioned as a deadweight upon the play's own imagination.
John Holmwood and Therese O'Toole
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447344131
- eISBN:
- 9781447344179
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447344131.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Educational Policy and Politics
In 2014 the UK government launched an investigation into the “Trojan Horse” affair: an alleged plot to “Islamify” several state schools in Birmingham. Twenty-one schools in Birmingham were subjected ...
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In 2014 the UK government launched an investigation into the “Trojan Horse” affair: an alleged plot to “Islamify” several state schools in Birmingham. Twenty-one schools in Birmingham were subjected to snap Ofsted inspections and included in the various inquiries into the affair. The book's authors — one who was an expert witness in the professional misconduct cases brought against the teachers in the school, and the other, who researches the government's counter-extremism agenda — challenge the accepted narrative, arguing that a major injustice was inflicted on the teachers, and they go on to show how the affair was used to criticize multiculturalism and justify the expansion of a broad and intrusive counter-extremism agenda. The government cites the 'plot' in its argument about the need to develop a new counter-extremism strategy that confronts extremist ideology and not just threats of violence. However, the Kershaw Report and some other commentators argue that there was, in fact, no evidence of extremism.Less
In 2014 the UK government launched an investigation into the “Trojan Horse” affair: an alleged plot to “Islamify” several state schools in Birmingham. Twenty-one schools in Birmingham were subjected to snap Ofsted inspections and included in the various inquiries into the affair. The book's authors — one who was an expert witness in the professional misconduct cases brought against the teachers in the school, and the other, who researches the government's counter-extremism agenda — challenge the accepted narrative, arguing that a major injustice was inflicted on the teachers, and they go on to show how the affair was used to criticize multiculturalism and justify the expansion of a broad and intrusive counter-extremism agenda. The government cites the 'plot' in its argument about the need to develop a new counter-extremism strategy that confronts extremist ideology and not just threats of violence. However, the Kershaw Report and some other commentators argue that there was, in fact, no evidence of extremism.
Malcolm Hebron
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186205
- eISBN:
- 9780191674440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186205.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter explores medieval texts on the siege of Troy. The significance of Troy lies in the fact that it is a great city, physically invincible, which is besieged and falls. Explanations of the ...
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This chapter explores medieval texts on the siege of Troy. The significance of Troy lies in the fact that it is a great city, physically invincible, which is besieged and falls. Explanations of the disaster that befell the Trojans had important ramifications for medieval perceptions of later history. Related to this theme are the subjects of the identity of royal houses who traced their foundation back to Trojan exiles, the use of Troy as a reference point in commentaries and other works, the portrayal of a besieged king, and the ways in which Troy itself was imagined.Less
This chapter explores medieval texts on the siege of Troy. The significance of Troy lies in the fact that it is a great city, physically invincible, which is besieged and falls. Explanations of the disaster that befell the Trojans had important ramifications for medieval perceptions of later history. Related to this theme are the subjects of the identity of royal houses who traced their foundation back to Trojan exiles, the use of Troy as a reference point in commentaries and other works, the portrayal of a besieged king, and the ways in which Troy itself was imagined.
Suzanne Said
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693979
- eISBN:
- 9780191745324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines the allusions in the Histories to what we nowadays call the ‘myth’ of the Trojan War. It first attempts to define its status: where should it be placed on Herodotus' scale of ...
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This chapter examines the allusions in the Histories to what we nowadays call the ‘myth’ of the Trojan War. It first attempts to define its status: where should it be placed on Herodotus' scale of credibility, with muthoi undeserving of belief on the one end and plain historical facts on the other? Does Herodotus, in this respect, differentiate between a spatium mythicum and a spatium historicum? Next, it explores Herodotus' strategies in demythologizing the stories of the Trojan War and offers a suggestion about the deeper purpose behind his rationalizing agenda. It then addresses the role that excerpts of the Trojan War myth play in the rhetoric ascribed to Herodotus' characters, especially in the context of individual and collective propaganda. Finally, it investigates Herodotus' own rhetorical use of these mythical stories as an exemplum in a work that, in Herington's words, ‘stands exactly at the frontier where two great literary eras meet, the era [of] poetry and legend…and the era of prose, of history’. For as in archaic poetry or Attic tragedy, the myth of Troy reverberates throughout the work and helps us to understand the more recent past (the Persian Wars) as well as the present (the Peloponnesian War).Less
This chapter examines the allusions in the Histories to what we nowadays call the ‘myth’ of the Trojan War. It first attempts to define its status: where should it be placed on Herodotus' scale of credibility, with muthoi undeserving of belief on the one end and plain historical facts on the other? Does Herodotus, in this respect, differentiate between a spatium mythicum and a spatium historicum? Next, it explores Herodotus' strategies in demythologizing the stories of the Trojan War and offers a suggestion about the deeper purpose behind his rationalizing agenda. It then addresses the role that excerpts of the Trojan War myth play in the rhetoric ascribed to Herodotus' characters, especially in the context of individual and collective propaganda. Finally, it investigates Herodotus' own rhetorical use of these mythical stories as an exemplum in a work that, in Herington's words, ‘stands exactly at the frontier where two great literary eras meet, the era [of] poetry and legend…and the era of prose, of history’. For as in archaic poetry or Attic tragedy, the myth of Troy reverberates throughout the work and helps us to understand the more recent past (the Persian Wars) as well as the present (the Peloponnesian War).
Rosaria V. Munson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693979
- eISBN:
- 9780191745324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In the fifth century, traditional myths about gods and heroes of a remote age still constituted a shared cultural language for speaking about a variety of more or less specific current issues of a ...
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In the fifth century, traditional myths about gods and heroes of a remote age still constituted a shared cultural language for speaking about a variety of more or less specific current issues of a philosophical, ethical, social, and political nature. Other than tragedy and epinician poetry, we should especially remember the role of myth in Thucydides, whose ‘Archaeology’ sets down his fundamental, and ideologically charged, view of history. It is time to reassess Herodotus' participation in this contemporary coded discourse and examine the ways in which he uses the mythical past as well as the cases when he appears to signal his choice not to use it. One dismissive passage in Herodotus (3.122) confirms the significance of Minos — the focus of this chapter — in fifth-century discourse as a precursor or rival of Athenian thalassocracy (Thucydides and Bacchylides). But two additional mentions, in Books 1 and 7 respectively, connect Minos in more interesting ways to present realities of Greeks and non-Greeks in the East and West. How is the treatment of Minos in the Histories representative of Herodotus' ‘myth-speak’?Less
In the fifth century, traditional myths about gods and heroes of a remote age still constituted a shared cultural language for speaking about a variety of more or less specific current issues of a philosophical, ethical, social, and political nature. Other than tragedy and epinician poetry, we should especially remember the role of myth in Thucydides, whose ‘Archaeology’ sets down his fundamental, and ideologically charged, view of history. It is time to reassess Herodotus' participation in this contemporary coded discourse and examine the ways in which he uses the mythical past as well as the cases when he appears to signal his choice not to use it. One dismissive passage in Herodotus (3.122) confirms the significance of Minos — the focus of this chapter — in fifth-century discourse as a precursor or rival of Athenian thalassocracy (Thucydides and Bacchylides). But two additional mentions, in Books 1 and 7 respectively, connect Minos in more interesting ways to present realities of Greeks and non-Greeks in the East and West. How is the treatment of Minos in the Histories representative of Herodotus' ‘myth-speak’?
Elton T.E. Barker
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199542710
- eISBN:
- 9780191715365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542710.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines representations of debate in the Iliad. Focusing on scenes of assembly among the Achaeans, it argues that dissent is made institutional as the poem unwinds: Achilles establishes ...
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This chapter examines representations of debate in the Iliad. Focusing on scenes of assembly among the Achaeans, it argues that dissent is made institutional as the poem unwinds: Achilles establishes the precedent for challenging the king in the opening act; subsequent episodes in books 2 and 9 explore possibilities for dissent by not relying on Achilles' individual performance but working within the institution of assembly he set up; the assembly of book 19 reflects on the Iliad's achievement by replaying tensions between Achilles and Agamemnon. This hypothesis is tested by considering two other groups who hold assemblies, the Trojans and gods, both of whom prioritize authority over dissent. Diverging from previous attempts to locate an emerging civic framework in the Iliad, this study argues that the poem does not represent a ‘ready-made’ system of institutions but, as a foundational narrative, initiates a process towards enacting them from its beginning.Less
This chapter examines representations of debate in the Iliad. Focusing on scenes of assembly among the Achaeans, it argues that dissent is made institutional as the poem unwinds: Achilles establishes the precedent for challenging the king in the opening act; subsequent episodes in books 2 and 9 explore possibilities for dissent by not relying on Achilles' individual performance but working within the institution of assembly he set up; the assembly of book 19 reflects on the Iliad's achievement by replaying tensions between Achilles and Agamemnon. This hypothesis is tested by considering two other groups who hold assemblies, the Trojans and gods, both of whom prioritize authority over dissent. Diverging from previous attempts to locate an emerging civic framework in the Iliad, this study argues that the poem does not represent a ‘ready-made’ system of institutions but, as a foundational narrative, initiates a process towards enacting them from its beginning.
Jed Z. Buchwald and Mordechai Feingold
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154787
- eISBN:
- 9781400845187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154787.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
More than three decades separate Isaac Newton’s explorations of astronomical chronology and his youthful engagement with problems of perception and measurement. By the time of his first computations ...
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More than three decades separate Isaac Newton’s explorations of astronomical chronology and his youthful engagement with problems of perception and measurement. By the time of his first computations in the area, shortly before the publication of the Opticks, Isaac Newton’s understanding of measurement had been refined through years of experimental and computational experience, not the least of which occurred as he worked on the motions of bodies in fluids during the 1680s. The previous decade had given Newton considerable familiarity with words from the past, and he had slowly developed a highly skeptical attitude toward ancient remarks that did not have a continuous textual ancestry, or that reflected what he considered to be unreliable “poetic fancies.” Thus, aiming to produce a compelling argument grounded in computation for his new chronology, Newton faced a treacherous triple problem: he had first to argue that the words with which he worked were originally produced near the time of the Trojan War; then he had to transform these words into astronomical data; finally, he had to deploy a technique for working with what he rapidly learned was a set of extremely discrepant observations. He labored over these problems until his death. This chapter follows Newton as he transformed words and calculated.Less
More than three decades separate Isaac Newton’s explorations of astronomical chronology and his youthful engagement with problems of perception and measurement. By the time of his first computations in the area, shortly before the publication of the Opticks, Isaac Newton’s understanding of measurement had been refined through years of experimental and computational experience, not the least of which occurred as he worked on the motions of bodies in fluids during the 1680s. The previous decade had given Newton considerable familiarity with words from the past, and he had slowly developed a highly skeptical attitude toward ancient remarks that did not have a continuous textual ancestry, or that reflected what he considered to be unreliable “poetic fancies.” Thus, aiming to produce a compelling argument grounded in computation for his new chronology, Newton faced a treacherous triple problem: he had first to argue that the words with which he worked were originally produced near the time of the Trojan War; then he had to transform these words into astronomical data; finally, he had to deploy a technique for working with what he rapidly learned was a set of extremely discrepant observations. He labored over these problems until his death. This chapter follows Newton as he transformed words and calculated.
Carolyn Higbie
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199241910
- eISBN:
- 9780191714351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199241910.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
When the Lindians erected the stele with its inventories of votives and epiphanies by 99 BC, oral tradition about the antiquity and wealth of the sanctuary or city was not sufficient, as the Greek ...
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When the Lindians erected the stele with its inventories of votives and epiphanies by 99 BC, oral tradition about the antiquity and wealth of the sanctuary or city was not sufficient, as the Greek world was developing new ways of using written sources and discovering new texts to use in its study of the past. The Lindians had played a role in the adventures of Herakles, the Trojan War, the colonization to the coast of Asia Minor and to Magna Graecia, the Persian Wars, and the conquests of Alexander the Great. They bask in the reflected glory of their goddess, Athena Lindia, who is indisputably resident on their acropolis. The citation of sources reveals the Lindians grafting new ways of thinking onto traditional storytelling patterns. Pride in their past of military victories, colonising expeditions, and great heroes may have helped to compensate the Lindians for their place in the present.Less
When the Lindians erected the stele with its inventories of votives and epiphanies by 99 BC, oral tradition about the antiquity and wealth of the sanctuary or city was not sufficient, as the Greek world was developing new ways of using written sources and discovering new texts to use in its study of the past. The Lindians had played a role in the adventures of Herakles, the Trojan War, the colonization to the coast of Asia Minor and to Magna Graecia, the Persian Wars, and the conquests of Alexander the Great. They bask in the reflected glory of their goddess, Athena Lindia, who is indisputably resident on their acropolis. The citation of sources reveals the Lindians grafting new ways of thinking onto traditional storytelling patterns. Pride in their past of military victories, colonising expeditions, and great heroes may have helped to compensate the Lindians for their place in the present.
Eirene Visvardi
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199562329
- eISBN:
- 9780191724978
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562329.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter focuses on the choral discourse of pity in Euripides’ Hecuba and Trojan Women and suggests that both Athenocentrism and a panhellenic scope are often integral to the emotional politics ...
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This chapter focuses on the choral discourse of pity in Euripides’ Hecuba and Trojan Women and suggests that both Athenocentrism and a panhellenic scope are often integral to the emotional politics of Athenian tragedy. By proposing the inclusion of pity in the morality and practice of war, the two choruses construct a highly politicized concept of pity. Such concept can be shared, they suggest, because emotional experience and understanding are shaped by participation in the social, religious, and political institutions of the polis. In addition to giving prominence to Athenian institutions, the choruses also foreground the communal practices and values of the panhellenic Greek polis. They thus render their concept of pity potentially effective in the context of different Greek political communities. Given the centrality of the representation and evocation of pity in tragedy, this aspect of its choral manipulation contributes to the panhellenic appeal of the plays.Less
This chapter focuses on the choral discourse of pity in Euripides’ Hecuba and Trojan Women and suggests that both Athenocentrism and a panhellenic scope are often integral to the emotional politics of Athenian tragedy. By proposing the inclusion of pity in the morality and practice of war, the two choruses construct a highly politicized concept of pity. Such concept can be shared, they suggest, because emotional experience and understanding are shaped by participation in the social, religious, and political institutions of the polis. In addition to giving prominence to Athenian institutions, the choruses also foreground the communal practices and values of the panhellenic Greek polis. They thus render their concept of pity potentially effective in the context of different Greek political communities. Given the centrality of the representation and evocation of pity in tragedy, this aspect of its choral manipulation contributes to the panhellenic appeal of the plays.
TREVOR BRYCE
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199281329
- eISBN:
- 9780191706752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281329.003.14
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The citadel with which the name Troy is associated lies in the north-west corner of Anatolia in the region called the Troad, so named by Graeco-Roman writers who believed that the whole area was ...
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The citadel with which the name Troy is associated lies in the north-west corner of Anatolia in the region called the Troad, so named by Graeco-Roman writers who believed that the whole area was controlled by Troy. For almost 3,000 years, the story of the Trojan War pitting the Trojans against the Greeks has provided one of the western world's richest sources of inspiration in the realms of art and literature. However, the question remains: did the Trojan War really happen? This chapter considers possible Anatolian sources on Troy including Hittite texts, the discovery of a bronze seal bearing a brief inscription in Luwian hieroglyphs during excavations in 1995, Troy's role in Anatolian Affairs, Troy VIh as the more likely candidate for Homeric Troy, and the making of Homer's epic Iliad.Less
The citadel with which the name Troy is associated lies in the north-west corner of Anatolia in the region called the Troad, so named by Graeco-Roman writers who believed that the whole area was controlled by Troy. For almost 3,000 years, the story of the Trojan War pitting the Trojans against the Greeks has provided one of the western world's richest sources of inspiration in the realms of art and literature. However, the question remains: did the Trojan War really happen? This chapter considers possible Anatolian sources on Troy including Hittite texts, the discovery of a bronze seal bearing a brief inscription in Luwian hieroglyphs during excavations in 1995, Troy's role in Anatolian Affairs, Troy VIh as the more likely candidate for Homeric Troy, and the making of Homer's epic Iliad.
Alan H. Sommerstein, David Fitzpatrick, and Thomas Talboy
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780856687655
- eISBN:
- 9781800343214
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780856687655.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses Sophocles's play Syndeipnoi or Achaiôn Syllogos, which is based on two separate stories about quarrels among the leaders of the Achaean army during the Trojan war. It recounts ...
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This chapter discusses Sophocles's play Syndeipnoi or Achaiôn Syllogos, which is based on two separate stories about quarrels among the leaders of the Achaean army during the Trojan war. It recounts how the stories appears first in the Odyssey and then in Cypria, in which the cyclic epic is narrated in the Trojan War saga from its beginning up to the point where the Iliad commences. It also compares the quarrel between Achilles and Odysseus in the Odyssey from the quarrel in the Cypria, which took place when the Achaeans saw Troy for the first time. The chapter explains how Sophocles merged the two stories into his play by inserting the Odyssey's Achilles-Odysseus quarrel into the framework of the Cypria's Tenedos feast. It analyses the eight surviving citations from Sophocles' Syndeipnoi and six citations from Achaiôn Syllogos.Less
This chapter discusses Sophocles's play Syndeipnoi or Achaiôn Syllogos, which is based on two separate stories about quarrels among the leaders of the Achaean army during the Trojan war. It recounts how the stories appears first in the Odyssey and then in Cypria, in which the cyclic epic is narrated in the Trojan War saga from its beginning up to the point where the Iliad commences. It also compares the quarrel between Achilles and Odysseus in the Odyssey from the quarrel in the Cypria, which took place when the Achaeans saw Troy for the first time. The chapter explains how Sophocles merged the two stories into his play by inserting the Odyssey's Achilles-Odysseus quarrel into the framework of the Cypria's Tenedos feast. It analyses the eight surviving citations from Sophocles' Syndeipnoi and six citations from Achaiôn Syllogos.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266519
- eISBN:
- 9780191884238
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266519.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter explores the theme of witnessing in Harrison’s later theatre works, especially the contrast between photographic and poetic records and accounts of trauma. It argues that Harrison’s ...
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This chapter explores the theme of witnessing in Harrison’s later theatre works, especially the contrast between photographic and poetic records and accounts of trauma. It argues that Harrison’s choice of ancient plays to adapt and translate (Hippolytus, Medea, Hecuba, Iphigenia in Tauris, Trojan Women), and the central topics discussed in his original play FRAM, are closely related to his experience of the ancient Greek tragedian Euripides, especially to his messenger speeches, and above all to the messenger speech in his HERACLES. It also discusses his engagement with the figure of Gilbert Murray, whose pro-suffragette translations of Euripides were directed in Edwardian London by Harley Granville Barker, and who appears in FRAM, and describes the genesis of Harrison’s IPHIGENIA IN CRIMEA, in which Hall was closely involved.Less
This chapter explores the theme of witnessing in Harrison’s later theatre works, especially the contrast between photographic and poetic records and accounts of trauma. It argues that Harrison’s choice of ancient plays to adapt and translate (Hippolytus, Medea, Hecuba, Iphigenia in Tauris, Trojan Women), and the central topics discussed in his original play FRAM, are closely related to his experience of the ancient Greek tragedian Euripides, especially to his messenger speeches, and above all to the messenger speech in his HERACLES. It also discusses his engagement with the figure of Gilbert Murray, whose pro-suffragette translations of Euripides were directed in Edwardian London by Harley Granville Barker, and who appears in FRAM, and describes the genesis of Harrison’s IPHIGENIA IN CRIMEA, in which Hall was closely involved.
