Ancient Greek Research Articles

Античная культура и буддизм на дальнем Востоке эллинистического мира

The topic of the book by Olga Kubica, a professor at the University of Wroclaw, is the interaction between ancient Greek and Indian civilizations in the far East of the Hellenistic world in the epoch from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the emergence of the Kushan Empire. The influence of ancient artistic traditions on the fine arts of northwestern India (the so-called “Gandhāra school”) is well known, and it has been suggested on this basis that the influence of Greece extended to the philosophical and religious views of Indians. It was seen, in particular, in the themes and structure of the early Buddhist treatise “Milinda’s Questions” (Pali Milindapañha). However, the author of the monograph proves that the actual interaction of Greek and Indian cultures in the intellectual sphere was not so large and profound and therefore the term “Greco-Buddhism”, widespread in Oriental studies, has no sense. This conclusion is based on an deep analysis of extensive material, including not only texts, but also archaeological sites, numismatic data and other sources. Analyzing the material, the author uses, along with the usual philological methods of working with sources, also methods of sociology and cultural studies, considering the Greeks in Bactria and northwestern India as a social group that obeys all the laws of behavior of such objects interacting with society as a social system.

On some ancient Greek and Latin medical recipes in verse. Their position in the world. Part A

In Part A of our article, we examine medical recipes in verse within Greek literature, spanning from the Hellenistic period to the Roman Imperial era. We also briefly touch upon analogous recipes in Classical and Late Latin, as these two literary forms were intertwined for centuries. A comprehensive analysis of Latin literature in this domain remains a necessity. We explore the motivations behind these didactic poems and the metrical patterns employed in their composition. The article presents fragments of these recipes, all translated into English and several retained in their original language as well, arranged chronologically alongside succinct biographical details of their authors. These include Homer, considered their distant forebear, followed by Ovid, Aglaias of Byzantium, Andromachus the Elder, Philo of Tarsus, Damocrates, Nicander, Rufus of Ephesus, Eudemus of Pergamum, Galen, Serenus Sammonicus, The Carmen graecum de herbis, and Marcellus Empiricus. In Part B, we will continue to explore similar recipes from the Middle and Late Byzantine periods. This section will also feature examples from Medieval Latin and Islamic medical literature, illustrating the intercultural context in which these Greek verses stood. A General Discussion and Conclusions will be provided at the end of Part B.

Perspectives from military neonatal transport: past, present, and future.

This article traces the historical development of neonatal transport, from ancient Greek mythology to the modern era, with a particular focus on the contributions of U.S. military aviation. The narrative begins with early efforts in thermoregulation through stationary incubators and progresses to the pivotal role of aerial hospitals during World War II. Post-WWII, the establishment of neonatal transport services in New York and advancements in incubator technology set the stage for further innovation. The U.S. military's involvement in neonatal transport, initiated in the 1970s, witnessed significant milestones, including the adaptation of ECMO technology for air transport. The narrative unfolds through the lens of U.S. military neonatology in the Western Pacific, particularly at Clark Air Base. The article concludes with insights into the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's neonatal transport mission, highlighting challenges faced during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and the development of specialized infection containment transport systems.

Life inside Logos: Discourse, Anthropogenesis and World-Effects in Cassin and Sloterdijk

This article performs a ‘logological’ and ‘spherological’ reading of globalization to critique the topical generality of spatial rhetoric. Posited respectively by Barbara Cassin and Peter Sloterdijk, these seemingly distant theories both show how ‘world’ is created by discourse — that being is an effect of saying. An appropriately equivocal translation of the Greek logos, discourse is here read as the rhetorical forms of ‘inning’ that make space sensible. Cassin's ‘counter-philosophical’ reading of the ancient Greek Sophists challenges post-Parmenidean philosophy's ‘ontopological’ generalization of space into topics, instead attending to the worlds opened by the different ways space is described. This is read alongside Sloterdijk's spherology and its emphasis on transference and ‘inning’, arguing that space is a discursive product, a shared ‘canopy’ under which we make worlds to share meaning. Throughout ‘human’ history, these meanings have, as both Cassin and Sloterdijk argue, determined human life as the ontological being that can be represented under these discursive atmospheres. The article suggests that this can be thought less exclusively by taking up the Sophists’ rhetorics of time and kairos, which reimagines the discursive production of space through contingency and particularity — the sense of reality as the autonomy of the political.

Linguistic and Contextual Analysis of Fasting in Surah al-Baqarah: A Jewish-Christian Heritage in 7th Century Arabia

This research examines the Islamic obligation of fasting during the month of Ramadan as outlined in the Quran (Q 2:183-5). The author argues that many Islamic scholars have underestimated the importance and significance of this religious duty, instead focusing on the allowances and exemptions provided in the Quranic verses. Through a semantic analysis of the language and structure of Q 2:183-5, the paper contends that the Quran emphasizes fasting as a crucial act of worship that should not be taken lightly. The conditional sentence structure in the verses is interpreted as a rhetorical device to highlight the benefits of fasting, rather than merely providing relief or exceptions. Furthermore, the paper argues that the Quranic mandate for fasting was not novel, as it built upon pre-existing fasting traditions among earlier faith communities like Judaism, Christianity, and even ancient Greek and Buddhist practices. This suggests that the first recipients of the Quran would have understood fasting as a serious religious obligation. In conclusion, the research challenges the common scholarly view that the Quran provides extensive leniency regarding the Ramadan fast. Instead, it posits that the Quranic approach emphasizes the importance and wisdom behind this act of devotion, which Muslims should not underestimate or treat too lightly.

Владимир Соловьев и Вячеслав Иванов: принципы философской герменевтики и традиция диалогов Платона

The article is dedicated to the problem of comparative study of the hermeneutics principles in religious-philosophical and literary-critical discourse of Vladimir Solovyov and Vyacheslav Ivanov. It is shown that Plato’s dialogue traditions in the works of Ivanov were intellectual reflections and expressed “Plato’s turn” in hermeneutical tradition of text interpretation that outlined in Russian religious philosophy. Special comparative study of this problem had not been conducted. It is proved that Ivanov’s interest to Plato’s dialogues derived from various sources. Solovyov’s works and translations of Plato’s works in Russia played a major role in it. Solovyov was a translator and commentator of Socratic dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher. His introductory chapters made for Plato’s dialogue translations, his literary and philosophical criticism are considered in the article. Materials form Ivanov’s personal archive are analyzed and they show that he was interested in Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus”, “Phaedrus” and others. His articles, lectures, under-investigated materials and the books “Dionysus and Pre-Dionysianism” (1923) and “Dostoevsky. Tragedy-Myth-Mysticism” (1932) are considered. A.F. Losev’s works on ancient philosophy and his research on Solovyov and works of F. Schleiermache, H.G. Gadamer and became the object of the comparative analysis. It is shown that Plato’s dialectics and dialogues became major source for development of philosophical hermeneutics principles for Solovyov, Ivanov and Losev. It is shown that a myth in Solovyov’s, Ivanov’s and Losev’s works as well as in Plato’s dialogues becomes a category of thinking, a way of religious-philosophical perception, a form of artistic representation of the image-symbol and a basis of hermeneutical dialectic understanding. Solovyov and Ivanov’s view on Plato and Platonism is important for studying the development of hermeneutic ideas in Russian philosophy and literature studies.

ANALYSIS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT'S KNOWLEDGE OF RECOGNIZING EUCLIDEAN ELEMENTS

Euclid's Elements is a work written by an ancient Greek mathematician named Euclid in the 3rd century BC. It is one of history's most famous and influential mathematical works, serving as a significant basis for studying geometry and number theory for centuries. This research aims to describe Euclid's Elements and determine the extent of high school students' knowledge about Euclid and his work and their level of understanding in solving mathematical problems. This qualitative research utilizes case study methods and literature reviews. Data were collected through problem-solving exercises and interviews. Thematic data analysis was conducted to elucidate Euclid's Elements and students' level of knowledge. The case study involved presenting mathematics problems and interviewing five high school students, using assessment instruments incorporating problem-solving and open interviews. The findings reveal that many students lack familiarity with the elements of Euclid's Elements but demonstrate proficiency in solving mathematical problems related to it.

The Syntax of the Genitive Case in Longus’ Novel Daphnis and Chloe

This study aims to explore the syntactic functions and characteristics of the genitive case in the ancient Greek novel “Daphnis and Chloe” by Longus, a text from the 2nd century AD, which exemplifies the “second sophistic” period of rhetorical development. The primary source for this research is the text of “Daphnis and Chloe”, which has been thoroughly analysed to ascertain the usage of the genitive case in various syntactic roles. The research employs descriptive and structural methods of linguistic analysis. The descriptive method identifies and explains instances of the genitive case within the text, while the structural method examines the relationships between these instances and other linguistic elements. The genitive case in the novel is found to perform multiple syntactic functions, including controlling verbs, nouns, adjectives, and expressing various semantic nuances. Detailed examples are provided to illustrate these functions and their impact on the text’s meaning. The findings offer a foundation for further studies of the genitive case in ancient Greek texts, providing significant insights for researchers and linguists interested in ancient Greek grammar and its syntactic constructions. The study enhances understanding of ancient rhetorical techniques and their application in literary texts during the “second sophistic” period.

Review of Gómez & Berger (): Politeness in Ancient Greek and Latin

Review of Gómez & Berger (): Politeness in Ancient Greek and Latin

Les Métamorphoses D’Apulée 1. Le scénario initiatique archétypal

Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. 1. The Archetypal Initiation Pattern. In this paper I apply a concept I have coined and defined – the anarchetype – to the ancient Greek and Latin novel, more specifically to Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. The text suffers, in my view, from the tension between two contrary formal tendencies, one which is archetypal, another which is anarchetypal. The first structural constraint is the archetypal one. In contrast to the popular narrative Onos, that Apuleius takes as his epic source, The Golden Ass receives a strong organizing pattern, that of an initiation journey. Transformed by mistake, within a sorcery ritual, into an ass, Lucius suffers a series of adventures and encounters with different mystery and philosophical cults (Dea Syria, Dionysos, Isis, Medio-platonism) which bring him back to the human, and then divine condition. This rite of passage offers an archetypal structure to the novel. Keywords: Greek and Latin novel; Apuleius; The Metamorphoses; Mystery Cults; initiation travel; archetype; anarchetype.

OPERA "CREONT" BY DMYTR BORTNIANSKY: FROM PORTUGAL TO UKRAINE

The article examines the creative activity of the outstanding Ukrainian artist Dmytro Bortnyanskyi as an opera composer. The focus is on the operas of his Italian creative period (1768 - 1779) - Creont (1776, Venice), Alcides (1778, Venice) and Quintus Fabius (1779, Modena). The happy modern stage fate of the opera "Alkid" is indicated, its score was published in Kyiv in 1985. The found manuscript of the score by Dmytro Bortnyansky's first opera "Creont" provides new opportunities for studying the artist's work, this score was considered to be lost for a long time; after establishing the location of the score in one of the archives of the Portuguese city of Lisbon, its copy was brought to Ukraine. The history of transfers of the surviving manuscripts of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera works was studied, in addition, the author analyzes the plot, structure and musical dramaturgy of the opera "Creont". The author uses a combination of scientific methods to achieve the goal of investigation, in particular: the source method — for searching and analyzing contemporary handwritten and printed sources; the historical method — to establish historical and cultural parallels in the study of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera heritage and to outline prospects for further study of the specified issues; theoretical method — for the systematization of musical and stylistic factors of the study of the musical text of the opera "Creont" and the creation of certain generalizations. The study determines the numerical structure of the two-act opera "Creont", the plot of which is based on the tragedy "Antigone" by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. It is noted that the main conflict of Dmitry Bortnyanskyi's opera takes place between the king of Thebes, Creont, and Antigone, the daughter of the deceased king Oedipus (compared to the tragedy of Sophocles, the ending in the opera is changed from tragic to happy — all the characters remain alive, Antigone becomes the queen of Thebes and wins in the confrontation with by Creont). It is emphasized that the preserved score of the opera "Creont" provides grounds for a deeper understanding of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera heritage and the composer's achievements in the genre of Italian opera, and that an important task is the production of this opera in Ukraine, in the composer's homeland

Reflections on Ganymede

During the Ancient Greek and Roman periods, the myth of Ganymede, a beautiful Trojan boy who was abducted by Zeus on Mount Ida to be his immortal cupbearer, became the legendary origin and symbol of the aristocratic practice of pederasty. Resultingly, the various retellings of the myth reflect changes in societal perceptions of pederasty and display the unique relationship between myth, humanity, and culture. In the 21st century, artificial intelligence has similarly shone a new light on the relationship between human creativity and technology which will evolve over time as its place in society and academia is found. This paper has a two-fold goal: first to analyze the changes of which story elements are emphasized, the authors’ attitudes towards Ganymede and Zeus’ relationship, and the parallels between Ganymede’s character and eromenoi in twenty-four literary references to Ganymede across approximately 1300 years of Antiquity, and secondly, to compare those findings to the AI program ChatGPT, given the same prompt and data.

Space, Sound, and Acousmatic Music. The Heart of the Research

The acoustic and musical relationship with architectural space has a long history: ancient Greeks, the Romanesque Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, for example, utilized it in various ways. Electroacoustic composition on a support (acousmatic music), with its deliberate choice of “nothing to see,” and the acousmonium as an instrument for spatialized performance, serves as a laboratory for researching space as a musical element both during composition and as the principal agent of performance. Four categories of space emerge from this particular practice of interpreting and understanding the acousmatic repertoire: ambiophonic space immerses the listener in a sonic ‘bath’, source space localizes sounds, and geometric space structures a work in planes and volumes. These three categories most often pertain to multiphonic pieces. The fourth, illusion space, is consciously or unconsciously addressed in works in a stereophonic format, which create the illusion of depth of field through two loudspeakers. A few examples, diagrams, and explanations demonstrate how various spatialization systems are designed, particularly the acousmonium as designed by François Bayle in 1974. The performance of an acousmatic work tends to connect various spatial figures that reinforce the composition’s writing, highlight existing figures, or create new ones. Stereophonic works offer the performer greater freedom of choice. Sixteen figures are listed, along with their musical function. Depending on the character of each piece, a different spatial approach can emphasize one aspect of the composition over another: icons, movement, unmixing of polyphony, phrasing and variations, subjectivity, and matter. Thus, we can observe the significant role of the ‘spatializer’ and the necessity of their active presence in concerts. We witness the emergence of a new musical profession with numerous other applications. The spatial writing of multiphonic works also employs these figures in the studio. Some software is dedicated to this function, but multichannel control is essential in the studio. Lastly, figuralism, by playing with spatial figures, appears to be a key approach to giving meaning to and justifying space as an element that enhances the expressiveness of musical works. Annette Vande Gorne’s opera Yawar Fiesta is an exploration of this topic. The spatial projection of music for acousmatic listening – sound in space – opens up the future space to a fifth dimension of expressive music: the Space of Sound.

Contrasting philosophical and scientific views in the long history of studying the generation of form in development

Focusing on the opposing ways of thinking of philosophers and scientists to explain the generation of form in biological development, I show that today's controversies over explanations of early development bear fundamental similarities to the dichotomy of preformation theory versus epigenesis in Greek antiquity. They are related to the acceptance or rejection of the idea of a physical form of what today would be called information for the generating of the embryo as a necessary pre-requisite for specific development and heredity.As a recent example, I scrutinize the dichotomy of genomic causality versus self-organization in 20th and 21st century theories of the generation of form. On the one hand, the generation of patterns and form, as well as the constant outcome in development, are proposed to be causally related to something that is "preformed" in the germ cells, the nucleus of germ cells, or the genome. On the other hand, it is proposed that there is no pre-existing form or information, and development is seen as a process where genuinely new characters emerge from formless matter, either by immaterial "forces of life," or by physical-chemical processes of self-organization.I also argue that these different ways of thinking and the research practices associated with them are not equivalent, and maintain that it is impossible to explain the generation of form and constant outcome of development without the assumption of the transmission of pre-existing information in the form of DNA sequences in the genome. Only in this framework of "preformed" information can "epigenesis" in the form of physical and chemical processes of self-organization play an important role.

Hollywood and history: What the movies get wrong from the Ancient Greeks to Vietnam By JemDuducu, New York: Rowman and Littlefield. 2023. 264 pp. $38.00 (hardcover)

Hollywood and history: What the movies get wrong from the Ancient Greeks to Vietnam By JemDuducu, New York: Rowman and Littlefield. 2023. 264 pp. $38.00 (hardcover)

Contemporary Applications of Ancient Greek Drama in the Light of Philosophy

Ancient dramas (tragedies and comedies) by the major representative authors – Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, as samples of the greatest artistic expressions of human life, bring together the weaknesses and tensions of human actions in relation with the challenges of life at any historical period or geographical and cultural context.

The Orientalizing Period: Influence of Near Eastern on the Greek World

The Orientalizing period, which occurred from around the mid-8th to mid-7th centuries B. C. E. , was characterised by the obvious influence of Eastern culture on different aspects of ancient Greek material culture. This includes the spread of ideas, motifs, and techniques from the Near East to Greece and the wider Mediterranean region. The content of this paper is organised into three sections. The initial section will present the distinctive historical context of the Orientalizing period and its fundamental factors. The subsequent section will determine the specific geographic origins of this influence from the east and examine the processes through which it spread to the Greek realm. The third part will explore the significant cultural exchanges between the Greeks and the Near Eastern regions, especially between Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Syrians. These interactions had a significant impact on Greek society, influencing the development of arts and technology, as well as the broad social dynamics in the ancient Greek world.

The vertical axis and the agôn between theatre and philosophy

ABSTRACT This article explores the controversy between ancient Greek dramatists and their fellow philosophers over the vertical axis, with special reference to Socrates. I begin with a discussion of the vertical axis in Greek theatre, and turn to Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus to discuss the vertical as a manifestation of the tragic preference ascribed to our “divine” upper body over our “bestial” lower body. Then, I discuss the deus ex machina as an image of divine vertical intervention in the horizontal human plot, and claim that Plato’s and Aristotle’s philosophical critique of this theatrical convention fails to notice that the dramatists made a subversive use of the illogicality of this convention. The second part of the article is dedicated to the vertical as an expression of man’s desire to transcend the boundaries of the human sphere. I discuss the negative treatment of this desire by Greek dramatists, who regard it as an unworthy aspiration, compared to its positive treatment by Greek philosophers, who presents it as a worthy aspiration, since it is only through such an ascent that one can get a glimpse of the eternal. In this context, I examine two representations of Socrates: his deus ex machina appearance in Aristophanes’ Clouds, implying the hubristic stance of philosophers; and his habit of long immobile standings as introduced in Plato’s Symposium, implying the philosophers’ superiority over the dramatists. However, the publicly-visible nature of Socrates’ standstills also turns them into a display of philosophizing, meaning that Socrates of the Symposium is a philosopher who (perhaps unfairly) theatricalizes his verticality so as to challenge the art of theatre.

THEODOR KORSCH’S ANCIENT GREEK AND LATIN WORKS IN HIS SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY

The paper deals with the sources of the biography of Theodor Korsch, Professor of the Department of Classics of the Imperial Moscow University, which are collected and analyzed (Theodor Korsch’s autobiography, works by Apollo Hrusch ka, Nikolai Dmitriev, Anatoly Bogdanov, the Baskakovs (Nikolai and Nikolai), Vera Smyshlyaeva, etc.); the main milestones of Korsch’s life as an academic are described; his close connection with the Moscow University is emphasized. The paper demonstrates that Ancient Greek and Latin composition was an integral part of Korsch’s scholarly and creative activity and allowed him to establish the connection with the Ancient tradition. At the same time, Korsch cannot be classified as the type of a pedantic classicist often portrayed in the popular culture of the time (v. Chekhov): on the contrary, he was always characterized by scientific enthusiasm and Anacreontic humor. Despite the fact that Korsch can be described as half-forgotten, many prominent philologists recognized his merits as an academic and a poet (Sergei Sobolevsky, Jozef IJsewijn, etc.), noting Korsch’s extraordinary giftedness and the versatility of his talent. The second part of the paper analyzes the peculiarities of both Korsch’s artistic works and scientific papers in Ancient Greek and Latin. In order to accomplish this task, archive materials from the Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library, the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department of the Science Library of Lomonosov Moscow State University are involved. Special attention is paid to Ἐφημερίς (1860–1862), Korsch’s student diary, and the only published collection of his original poems and translations in Ancient Greek and Latin called Στέφανος (1886).

К вопросу о линиях интерпретации феномена гражданской войны в античной философии: stasis и bellum civile

The concept of civil war remains relatively underdeveloped given a steadily increasing interest of political philosophers in the study of civil conflicts in general. The multi-layered genealogy of this notion includes elements of significantly different approaches to its definition. The two divergent lines of interpretation of the phenomenon of civil wars can be traced back to the ancient philosophy: the Greek stasis and the Roman bellum civile. In recent years, the concept of stasis is making a comeback to the academic circles due to its use in the works of Nicole Loraux, Giorgio Agamben and a number of other authors. At the same time, the dominant approach to analyzing civil wars is based primarily on their perception in line with the Roman concept, which presupposes a monistic social ontology model and has significant limitations when applied to modern conditions. In the article, the author analyzes the main features of the perception of the phenomenon of civil wars in the ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Based on the texts of Plato and Aristotle, who elaborated the theory of stasis in the most systematic way, the author demonstrates that admitting the possibility to overcome just the extreme external manifestations of stasis (but not to eradicate it altogether) inevitably impacts the evaluation of the importance of pluralism in the life of a political community, the interpretation of the actions of the defeated party and memory politics. Hence, the author analyzes how the perception of a civil conflict as a phenomenon inherent in the life of the polis and, in one form or another, an “inevitable evil”, can again be relevant in the context of the philosophical and political discussions of the 21st century.