Questions tagged [greek-language]
Questions about works of literature that were originally written in the Greek language, regardless of whether they were written or published in Greece or elsewhere.
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Catharsis in Medea
Catharsis is defined by Aristotle as a pure release of supressed emotions. It generally occurs at the end of the play or at the resolution, when the audience undergoes a powerful experience of a range ...
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Greek Alexander Romance - Plot device or other function of Alexander's surreptitious stealing of Persian drinking cups?
In one of the more common form factors of the Greek Alexander Romance (by Pseudo-Callisthenes), we have this passage, located in Book II, 15:
As they began to drink more deeply, Alexander had an idea:...
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Who is the 'pale Titan-woman' in Swinburne's 'Ave atque Vale'?
For those fond of intertextual references, 'Ave atque Vale' by Algernon Charles Swinburne, an English poet's lament for the French poet Charles Baudelaire, is something of a goldmine, being absolutely ...
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Did Lord Byron fluff his Greek in his poem beginning 'Maid of Athens, ere we part'?
One of Lord Byron's most famous poems appears, in the earliest editions of his works, under the simple title of 'Song', but is now more widely know by its first line, 'Maid of Athens, ere we part'. ...
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Unabridged version of the Alexander Romance
It would appear that there is a myriad of different versions of the Alexander Romance, varying by period and geography. For my purposes, an English translation of the Greek account will be sufficient. ...
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Who are the '12 children of Aiolos Hippotadês', as introduced in Book 10, The Grace of the Witch, of Homer's Odyssey?
Below is an excerpt of Book 10, The Grace of the Witch, of Homer's Odyssey
We made our landfall on Aiolia Island, domain of the Aiolos Hippotadês, the wind king dear to the gods who never die- an ...
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What is the "black sphinx" in Greek magical papyrus IV?
In the Greek magical papyri (Papyri Graecae Magicae or PGM), lines 2307–2314 of papyrus IV were translated into English by Hans Dieter Betz as follows:
The hair of a virgin cow, the seed of Pan
Fire ...
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Short form of dedication in Greek? "Αφιερωμένο σε~" -> "Στον ~" or something else?
Note: I am asking this question here because a number of other questions have suggested that there is no Greek StackExchange and that these questions should be asked in Literature StackExchange. If I ...
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Tebtunis Papyri - The Land Survey
I'm trying to find an English translation of The Land Survey within the Tebtunis Papyri. Thanks!
I've included the section I'm particularly interested in which is designated as "61(b) 237f" ...
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Why is this line about prophecy in book 2 of the Odyssey thought to be "spurious"?
In my translation of the Odyssey by Emily Wilson, she translates part of a speech concerning prophecy by Eurymachus at the end of book 2 as this:
You know many ancient forms of wisdom,
but if you ...
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Euripides - Were his Argonautical works considered canon?
After reading his work "Medea", I'm left wondering how the immediate audience and subsequent generations thought about it. Namely, whether it was accepted straight away as part of this wider ...
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In Homer's Odyssey, how can the one-eyed Cyclops have multiple brows?
When Odysseus meets the Cyclops, the text never explicitly states that he has only a single eye. However, the unfolding action in which Odysseus and his crew blind the Cyclops by pushing a stake into ...
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Euripides - mystai or evidence of higher-ranked status?
Euripedes has quite an extensive catalog on the so-called mystery cults. In the wiki, it does state the tragedian had some involvement in a mystery cult:
He served for a short time as both dancer and ...
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What are "inward meats" in Homer?
In both the Iliad and the Odyssey there are many mentions of "inward meats," such as:
When the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put ...
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Why are sea creatures Sirens "in a meadow" in The Odyssey?
The Odyssey offers this description of Sirens from wise Circe:
The Sirens bewitch everybody who approaches them. There is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares...For with their high ...
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Meaning of "For if women become so bold..." from "Orestes"
In the play Orestes by Euripides, what is meant by the following, from line 567?
"For if women become so bold as to murder their husbands, taking refuge in their children, hunting down pity with ...
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Where did Euripides say "keep a balance in your life"?
I've seen this attributed to Euripides in various places:
The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live ...
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Meaning of "lovers" in Hector's monologue in the "Iliad"
In the twenty-second book of the Iliad, where we see the inner monologue of Hector before fighting against Achilles, there is this interesting metaphor(?) which I couldn't give a nice explanation to:
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English translation of Corpus Hippiatricorum Graecorum
I'm trying to find a translation of HIPPIATRICA, Hippiatrica Berolinensia, preferably
an interlinear Greek/English version. I'm especially interested in chapter 20 and references to the Greek word &...
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Translation of a phrase in Julius Pollux's "Onomasticon"
Could anyone provide a translation of "τὸ δὲ συναμφότερον φάτνας. καὶ σύμπας μὲν ὁ τῶν ὀδόντων στοῖχος φραγμὸς ὀνομάζεταi" from the Onomasticon by Julius Pollux (2.93)? I'm particularly ...
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Did the play “Prometheus the Fire-Bringer” provide an aetiology for a festival honouring Prometheus?
The Wikipedia article on the lost play Prometheus the Fire-Bringer attributed to Aeschylus tells us:
Finally, Athenaeus wrote of a contemporary Athenian festival dedicated to Prometheus:
Aeschylus ...
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What evidence confirmed a late date for Aeschylus’ “The Suppliants”?
The Wikipedia article on the play The Suppliants by Aeschylus tells us:
It was long thought to be the earliest surviving play by Aeschylus due to the relatively anachronistic function of the chorus ...
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How could the old woman's lover become rich, if it goes against the play's comic project?
I just finished reading Pluto by Aristophanes.
The comic project of the play is to obtain a more fair distribution of richness which is at the beginning given only to dishonest people (or to people ...
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Would the chorus leader typically speak/sing along with the chorus in classical Greek plays?
I had assumed that the chorus leader would speak along with the chorus. He is a part of it, after all. However, when I asked my literature professor on a whim he wasn't completely sure. Doing my own ...
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Why was it necessary to put out Patroclos' pyre with wine in the Iliad?
In Book XXIII of the Iliad, after Patroclos' body has been burnt, Achillês tells the Greeks to put out the pyre with wine:
Now the people were all gathering round Agamemnon. They made such noise and ...
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What does this passage about the sun and Hera mean in the Iliad?
In Book XVIII of the Iliad, after Patroclos's body has been recovered, there's this passage about the sun setting:
Then the Achaians were glad indeed to draw back the body of Patroclos out of the ...
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Why is it so important to Aias that he die in the light as opposed to the mist in "The Iliad"?
In Book XVII of The Iliad, when Patroclus is killed and Zeus has turned the tide to the favor of the Trojans, we have this statement by Aias:
Aias and Menelaos also saw that the victory was passing ...
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Why are all of these things described as "ambrosial" in "The Iliad"?
In Book XIV of The Iliad, when Hera is preparing to distract Zeus on Mount Ida, her preparations are described:
She closed the doors, and first she washed every speck and stain from her lovely body ...
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What does it mean when Scully's translations of Sophocles use center-aligned text?
Short version:
I am reading The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. In both of Scully's translations (Aias and Philoktetes), though none of Bagg's, sections of ...
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Why does Odysseus decide to leave without Philoktetes?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. At one point, after getting ...
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Purpose of the stage direction "Burst of light, fading. Distant rumbling." in "Philoktetes"
I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. There was a stage direction which ...
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Why does the chorus pray to Rhea in "Philoktetes"?
This is from James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. After Neoptolemos tells ...
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On what basis are lines attributed to the whole chorus or just the chorus leader?
I was cross-referencing my translation of Aias*, James Scully's from The Complete Plays of Sophocles (translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully), with a free online translation by Ian Johnston. I ...
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Why is Philoktetes specifically hunting "doves"?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. Twice it is mentioned that the ...
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Why are "doves" used in this simile from "Aias"?
This is from James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully.
Son of Telamon, rock of Salamis
towering up ...
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How is Aias's initially informal reintroduction speech reflected in the original text?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. When Aias enters for the second time, during the ...
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What does it mean when the chorus speaks "severally" in "Aias"?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. Eleven different times, per the search function ...
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What does it mean to "graze on the fizzy air"?
This is from James Scully's translation of Aias (also known as Ajax), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully.
Dear boy
may you be ...
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English translation of Hermias' commentary on Plato's "Phaedrus"
Does there exist an English translation of the Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus (In Platonis Phaedrum Scholia) by Hermias of Alexandria?
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What does "reet fain" mean in Poseidon's message to Agamemnon in the Iliad?
In Book XIV of The Iliad, when Poseidon is encouraging the Greeks while the Trojans are attacking their ships, he says this to Agamemnon while disguised:
But the famous Earthshaker kept no blind man'...
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Why is Helen's speech here in the Iliad described as being given "warmly"?
In Book VI of The Iliad, when Hector has come to try to get Paris to fight, Helen chips in with her point of view:
Hector answered nothing, but Helen said warmly:
"Brother dear, I am ashamed; I ...
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What does Nestor's love of a "good horse" have to do with anything?
In Book IV of The Iliad, there's a part where King Agamemnon is going through the soldiers and talking to everybody. He speaks to Nestor at one point:
He passed on to Nestor, and found him among his ...
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Which ancient Greek politician punched a teacher for failing to carry his copy of Homer?
When I first studied the Iliad in middle school, I remember a story about about a politician in Athens punching a traveling tutor for the sin of not carrying his copy of Homer on him at all times. ...
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Is there a connection between Achilles's talking horse in the Iliad and Balaam's talking donkey in the Bible?
At the end of Book XIX of The Iliad we find that Achilles's horse spontaneously begins talking to him:
Automedon, whip in hand, sprang up behind the horses, and after him Achilles mounted in full ...
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Why do Athena and Talthybios speak "plainly" in the Iliad?
In Book IV of the Iliad, there are several instances where the translation refers to someone speaking "plainly":
Athena now took the form of a Trojan, the doughty warrior Laodocos Antenor's ...
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Why does Aphrodite speak like this while disguised as the old woman?
In Book III of The Iliad, there's an incident where the goddess Aphrodite disguises herself to speak to Helen. The translator wrote her speech like this:
Now she took the shape of an old woman who ...
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What is the difference between the narration of the Fall of Troy in The Aeneid, The Iliad, and The Odyssey?
I have not fully read Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey and I'm only in the Book 3 of The Aeneid. All I know is that in the Iliad, there is the fighting of the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, there is a ...
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Is Anathem a version of Plato's Republic?
Is Neal Stephenson's novel Anathem a version of Plato's Republic?
Those who have read the novel and have a little Plato will understand why I ask. We often point to Swift as the originator of modern ...
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Why does this copy of the Iliad mention "the will of God"?
In my copy of the Iliad, which is a Mentor Book published in April 1938, it opens like this:
An angry man—there is my story: The bitter rancour of Achillês, prince of the house of Peleus, which ...
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Are all Aesop's fables available in English?
There is an index of all Aesop's fables, called Perry Index, that was organized by Ben Edwin Perry in the 20th century.
But some stories are nowhere to be found, like "579 - The Sword and the ...
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