Greek Literature Research Articles

A Defense of “Blood-Price” in Pindar Fr. 133 (Maehler): Ποινη in Homer, Aeschylus, the Orphic Fragments, and Pindar

This paper argues that Pindar fr. 133 (Maehler) is best interpreted as referring to the Orphic myth of the murder of Dionysus. The author traces the use of the word ποινή “blood-price” in early Greek literature to show that the word is typically associated with familial violence and reciprocity for murder.

Bigger Fish to Fry: Evidence (or Lack of) for Fish Consumption in Ancient Syracuse (Sicily)

Abstract Fish and fish products are considered important sources of nutrition due to their high protein, fat, and fat-soluble vitamin content. These food items have been extensively discussed and celebrated in various genres of Greek literature. However, there is a discrepancy between the rich textual evidence of fish cooking and consumption and the limited archaeological evidence of fishing gear, especially with respect to Greek Sicily. Such scarcity of evidence is particularly evident in the Archaic period. To address the issue of fish consumption in Greek Sicily and to determine the role of fish in the local communities’ diet, this study focuses on the new data that have emerged from stable isotopes analysis on skeletal remains from a recently discovered Archaic period necropolis in Syracuse. The study analyzes the dietary habits of the individuals buried in the necropolis and establishes possible connections between burial practices and diet. Additionally, the study compares the dietary patterns with the social status of the individuals, as demonstrated by the funerary context. The comparison of the new evidence with similar contexts will allow for a critical review of the literary sources and the reinterpretation of the archaeological record. Through this, the study aims to establish the role of fish in the diet of the Greeks of Sicily and their significance at the dining table.

Why a Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint?

Abstract Since 2010, an international team has been working on the first comprehensive lexicon dedicated to Septuagint Greek, which aims to fill an important gap in the fields of ancient philology and religious studies. The entries include all the relevant word groups used in the translation of the Hebrew Bible, Greek glosses that captured central concepts from classical Hebrew terms and sought to establish suitable expression for certain Realien. This lexicon aims to give a wide perspective on selected lemmas, taking the legacy of classical Greek literature as a starting point and subsequently analyzing the diffusion and usage of the word up through early Christian Literature. This paper will address some of the questions that are being faced by the team and will explore the innovative approach of this lexicographical project through the presentation of samples.

Greek Literature and Christian Doctrine in Early Christianity: A Difficult Co-Existence

This paper traces the complex relationship between classical literature and Christian doctrine in the first four centuries. In the earliest period of Christianity, we can identify two attitudes of Christians towards Greek literature: the hostile attitude shown by Tatian, Theophilus, and Tertullian, and the openness to Greek culture and philosophy demonstrated by Justin the Martyr, Athenagoras of Athens, and Minucius Felix. A notable change happened in the Alexandrian milieu when Clement of Alexandria and Origen started considering Greek classics the embodiment of an authentic Christian spirit. In keeping with Origen, Basil of Caesarea realized a good synthesis between Greek thought and Christian faith. Noting germs of divine revelation in ancient Greek thought, Christian authors took the tools of Greco-Roman criticism and ancient philosophy to develop their doctrine.

Rohde’s Theory of Relationship between the Novel and Rhetoric and the Problem of Evaluating the Entire Corpus of Post-Classical Greek Literature

The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of Rohde’s monograph on the Greek novel is drawing near, affording a welcome occasion to raise the big question as to what remains of it today, all the more so since the ancient novel, due to his classical work, has become a major area of research. The aforesaid monograph, considered to be one of the greatest scientific achievements of the nineteenth century, can be justifiably used as a litmus test for ascertaining how efficient the methods hitherto employed were or, in other words, whether we are entitled to speak of continuous progress in research or the opposite is true. Finally, the questions raised in the monograph will turn out to be more important than the results obtained by the author, in so far as the latter, based on his unfinished theses, proved to be very harmful to evaluating both the Greek novel and the entire corpus of post-classical Greek literature. In this paper we focus our attention on two major questions raised by the author such as division of the third type of narration in the rhetorical manuals of classical antiquity and the nature of rhetoric, as expressed in the writings of the major exponents of the Second Sophistic so as to be in a position to point to the way out of aporia, with the preliminary remark that we shall not be able to get a full picture of the Greek novel until the two remaining big questions posed by the author, namely the role played by both Tyche and women in the mentioned genre, are fully answered.

How to Become a Good Artist – Kant on Humaniora and the ‘Propaedeutic for All Beautiful Art’

Abstract In § 60 of the Critique of Judgment, entitled ‘On the doctrine of method of taste,’ Kant suggests that the study of so-called humaniora (ancient Roman and Greek literature) will help one to become a good artist. I will argue that a proper, namely emotional, engagement with humaniora will further the two components of humanity in ourselves: the feeling of sympathy and the ability to communicate feelings. I will discuss two options of how a strengthening of these two components might contribute to the creation of good artworks: it will help one to create artworks that arouse the universal communicable pleasure in the beautiful, or it will help one to create artworks that arouse sympathetic feelings. Siding with the latter option, I will argue that emotions can contribute to the enlivening of aesthetic ideas and, thus, to good art.

Alain Le Boulluec; ed. David Lincicum and Nicholas Moore; trans. A. K. M. Adam, Monique Curry, Nicholas Moore, Warren Campbell and Jordan Daniel Wood, (2022) The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature of the Second and Third Centuries

Alain Le Boulluec; ed. David Lincicum and Nicholas Moore; trans. A. K. M. Adam, Monique Curry, Nicholas Moore, Warren Campbell and Jordan Daniel Wood, (2022) The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature of the Second and Third Centuries

Between archaic and modern: σκύθαι and πατζινάκοι in The Alexiad of Anna Komnene

Since the emergence of Byzantine culture, the influences of Ancient Greece stood out due to the authors' desire to be inspired by the erudition of classical works. For this reason, medieval Greek literature is the product of a classicizing style that intertwines with modern tendencies. This practice had the merit of increasing the artistic quality of the chronicles but simultaneously caused numerous confusions. Frequently, authors borrow classical terminology to name contemporary ideas or concepts, but sometimes they even use ancient and modern terminology in the same phrase. The reasons behind the writers' intention to alternately use a common and a scholarly language are challenging to discern, especially since the complexity of some works such as The Alexiad makes the terminology used highly open to interpretation. The situation becomes much more complicated when, for three Eurasian nomadic peoples (Pechenegs, Uzes, and Cumans) different naming techniques are applied.

A Study on Leonardo Da Vincis Renaissance and the Influence on His Way of Painting

In the fourteenth century, the era of Medieval governance came to an end. The exploration of ancient Roman and Greek literature and art inspired artists to replicate those glories. By no means a mere reproduction, this advanced the Renaissance by deepening the artists' awareness of the world and their all-encompassing humanistic appreciation of the leading personalities of the day. Among the most influential Renaissance leaders was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. The High Renaissances Italian polymath Leonardo was an architect, sculptor, theorist, scientist, engineer, draftsman, and painter. Along with his recognition as a famous painter, he also made his name due to his manuscripts, where he made notes and drawings on various subjects, such as paleontology, painting, cartography, botany, astronomy, and anatomy. Leonardo is normally considered as an intellectual individual, who personified the humanist ideal of the Renaissance, and his collective pieces have inspired artists of the later generations. This study analyses Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci and his influence on his way of painting.

The rise, function, and fall of the σχῆμα Σοφόκλειον

The combination of the verb ἔχω with the active or middle aorist participle (e. g. ἔχω γράψας) acquires a limited degree of productivity as a periphrastic construction in classical Greek literature, notably tragedy (Sophocles, Euripides) and Herodotean prose. Traditionally, this so-called σχῆμα Σοφόκλειον has been regarded as a suppletive periphrasis stepping in for as yet unavailable synthetic perfect forms at a time when the (object-)resultative use of the perfect became increasingly widespread. However, a variety of distributional, formal, and semantic arguments speak against this theory. Instead, it is argued here that the σχῆμα Σοφόκλειον arose as a means of disambiguating resultative from narrative aorists, and that only its disappearance in the fourth century is directly related to the history of the perfect. Since it had always been confined to a relatively narrow range of linguistic registers and pragmatic contexts, the σχῆμα fell out of use as the perfect gradually strengthened its hold on the resultative domain.

Greek words in Roman comedy

Previous interpretations of the use of Greek loanwords and purely Greek expressions in Roman comedy are not supported by the ancient texts. There is no solid evidence for the hypothesis that the use of Greek was either an upper-class or a lower-class phenomenon in Plautus’ day. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the Roman poets wanted to depict a specifically South Italian Greek or a Roman slang, for the expressions that have been considered unidiomatic in the past are either modern emendations or have good parallels in classical Greek literature. Drawing from recent research on code-switching we argue that Greek expressions and loanwords are used for a variety of purposes and are central constituents of the funnily absurd and exotic fantasy world of Roman comedy.

The Little Known Language of Biblical Colors: The Example of melas in the Septuagint and the New Testament

Color descriptions depend on both culture and era. An explicit example consists in the Greek term melas which was used at the earliest stage of developing the Greek literature to describe various dark colors, as well as difficult mental states and negative emotions, whereas in the Hellenistic papyrus texts it was used in noun form to describe the writing material and pigment in painting. Analyzing the Hebrew equivalent of šāḥōr has revealed a similarity in terms of perceiving and the nomenclature concerning dark colors also in Jewish environments. The conducted study constitutes an attempt to solve methodological difficulties as well as an attempt to capture the elusive semantics and symbolism of the Greek chromatic system in biblical terms.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and War: A Systematic Review

PTSD has been linked in the literature to traumatic experiences of car accidents, natural disasters, sexual assaults and especially war. This is evidenced by the relevant literature research reported in the thesis.  The research was guided by PRISMA 2020, which helped to ensure the quality of the research (Page et al., 2021a; 2020b). Initially, research was sought that addressed the association between this disorder and experiences of war. Of the found sources of material, a part was the category of previous similar type of research (N=7) on the relevant topic, from which the usefulness of the present study became apparent, with the limited Greek literature and the focus of the existing one on veteran soldiers. An important finding was the much higher prevalence of the general population and children and youth, compared to veterans. The association between PTSD and war, its intensity and prevalence, depends on other factors such as demographics, the type of trauma, the psychosocial make-up of the individual and his/her socio-cultural identity. There is a need for further research into this phenomenon, with the aim of formulating targeted policies for prevention, treatment-intervention and rehabilitation of people who have experienced the inhuman situations of war.

The Poetics of Pain

Abstract Modern Greek poetry has been influenced by a tradition of lament that is still practiced in rural Greece, and by the tragic events of modern Greek history. In contrast to the elegiac tradition, laments and their women practitioners ascribe a positive value to pain. Male poets of the generation of 1930 made use of the imagery of folk lament in their poetry, and women poets of the second half of the 20th century addressed the dead directly as their village counterparts still do. The Asia Minor catastrophe of 1922 dominated 20th-century modern Greek literature and drew on another traditional poetic form, the “lament for lost cities.” More recently, songwriters have mourned the political and economic tragedies of contemporary Greece in lyrics that seem much closer, in their expression of pain, to the tradition of lament than to elegy.

A new Chinese-language textbook of ancient Greek with a historical outline of teaching Greek and Latin in China

In this paper we present the project of a new Chinese-language textbook of ancient Greek. This textbook is intended for students majoring in philosophy. In the first part of the paper, we provide an introduction to the historical circumstances inwhich ancient Greek literature and philosophy were originally introduced to China. We draw an outline of the cultural significance of the studies of ancient Greek in China, especially from the beginning of the 20th century. This helps explains the reasons why studies of ancient Greek were tightly connected to those of ancient Greek philosophy — and hence shed light on the intended focus of our textbook. In the second part of the paper, we present the textbook properly speaking: its intended audience and general structure, and an overview of the linguistic diff erence between ancient Greek and modern Chinese. This overview will reveal the types of issues faced by native Chinese speakers when learning ancient Greek and show that in some cases, such as the verbal aspect, Chinese has better resources to translate Greek sentences than English. We provide the example of a sample chapter to make the discussion more material and also to illustrate how the specific resources of Chinese language allow the translator to render the uses of subjunctive in ancient Greek.

Whence the Womb?

Abstract In John 7:38, Jesus makes the proclamation ποταµοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Among a variety of other issues—textual problems, ambiguous syntax, and an unclear scriptural referent—an enduring problem for translators has been the word κοιλία. Here, the author argues that the most natural meaning for κοιλία in this context is “womb.” Although governed by the masculine possessive pronoun αὐτοῦ, κοιλία’s most common NT meaning is “womb,” and a survey of Greek literature corroborates “womb” as a viable translation, and preferable to the alternatives in standard Bible translations (such as “heart,” “belly,” or “side”). Reading John 7:38’s κοιλία as “womb” is supported by the immediate context and literary background and sheds further light on the Gospel’s themes of rebirth.

Bal Masqué

Translated by Peter Mackridge, who until his recent death was Emeritus Prof of Modern Greek Literature at Oxford University. To Katerina To write one line you first have to write another. To recite Shakespeare’s Sonnet VIII you first have to hear Catullus’ nightingale singing in your garden. To describe the shades of green on Cézanne’s apple you first have to snatch the palette out of Velasquez’ hands. I know what it means to be in love: You dive head first into the sea from a rock, you touch the bottom, stroke the sand with your fingers and, watching the sun’s rays refracted in the water, you very slowly rise to the surface. When you pronounce her name you are already someone else.

Fury or Folly? ἄνοια in Luke 6.11

AbstractIn Luke 6.11, the scribes and Pharisees are filled with ἄνοια after they witness Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath. Modern English translations, beginning with the RSV, translate the word ἄνοια as rage or fury, whereas older English translations render it as madness, and modern German translations follow Martin Luther by rendering the phrase with terms such as unsinnig (‘wurden ganz unsinnig’) or Unverstand (‘wurden mit Unverstand erfüllt’). This article argues that Plato's explanation of the word ἄνοια in Timaeus 86b provides the typical semantic range of the word; it includes ἀμαθία (the folly of ignorance) and μανία (the folly of madness, or the loss of one's rational faculties), but not anger.1 This twofold usage is reflected in Greek literature from the fifth/fourth century bce through the fifth century ce, including in 2 Tim 3.9, the only other text in which ἄνοια occurs in the New Testament. To say that the scribes and Pharisees are filled with rage in Luke 6.11, therefore, both exceeds the typical function of the word ἄνοια and risks further dehumanising two groups of people who are too often dehumanised by Christian tradition.

Greek literature

Stephen Halliwell has, at last, completed his three-volume verse translation of Aristophanes. The first instalment, published in 1997, covered Aristophanes’ ‘longest play, Birds, his sexiest play, Lysistrata, and two works from very near the end of his career, Assembly-Women and Wealth’. Geoffrey Arnott's review of that first volume was positive: ‘H.'s style is lively, modern, and generally effective, closer perhaps in its presentation of the complexities of Aristophanic detail and reference than most of his rivals…He is virtually always accurate without being over-literal, and far more often graphically idiomatic than flat.’ Arnott's assessment was generally favourable, although he did identify some imperfections: ‘errors in detail are few and far between (Birds 244, “marshy greens”, not “rolling hills”; 266, “like a stone curlew”, not “with a waterfall of sound”; Eccl. 1092, βολβoί not “onions”; Plut. 192, μάζα not “bread”)’, and Halliwell ‘would have benefited from having his translation of Birds vetted by an ornithologist, who would have removed the phantasmagorical blue thrush (979), and turned the moorhen (304), siskins (1079), and curlews (1140) into gallinule, chaffinches, and stone curlews’. I confess that I could not possibly have managed that menagerie myself; Arnott, of course, was an accomplished ornithologist. Halliwell's original plan was to deal with ‘the “political” plays from the 420s, Acharnians, Knights, Wasps, and Peace’ in the second instalment, and ‘the comedies on more “cultural” themes, Clouds, Women at the Thesmophoria, and Frogs’ in the third. In the event, the sequence of ‘cultural’ and ‘political’ volumes was recast in biblical form: ‘the last shall be first and the first shall be last’ (Matthew 20.16). Or, perhaps, vice versa. The format for each volume is, at any rate, consistent: each volume has a substantial introduction, with a bibliography and brief chronology; and each play has its own introduction, together with fourteen or so pages of explanatory notes. As a sample of Halliwell's translation, consider (for example) this taster from Peace (996–1,014):Blend all us Greeks,As we once used to be,In an essence of friendship, and mix our mindsIn a milder spirit of sympathy.Allow our market to teem with goods:From Megara bring us heads of garlic,Early cucumbers, apples, pomegranates,Fancy cloaks for slaves to wear.From Boiotian traders we'd like to seeGeese, ducks, wood-pigeons, and wrens,As well as baskets of Kopaic eels.Then may we all crowd round these basketsAnd buying our food get into a jostleWith Morychos, Teleas, Glauketes,And numerous other gluttons. And nextMay Melanthios come to the market too late,When the eels are all sold: let him ululate,Then sing a solo from his Medea,‘I'm doomed, I'm doomed, now quite bereftOf a female embedded in beetroot’.

:Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity

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