Greeks on Greekness Colloquium INTRODUCTION TO THE COLLOQUIUM ABSTRACTS BY DAVID KONSTAN back to Past Conferences main page The abstracts that follow summarize the papers distributed and discussed at the colloquium, “Greeks on Greekness: The Construction and Uses of the Greek Past among Greeks under the Roman Empire,” held at the Center for Hellenic Studies on 25-28 August 2001. The eleven participants who presented the papers were joined… Read more
Greek Priests from Homer to Julian Conference Greek Priests from Homer to Julian Organized by Professor Beate Dignas, the University of Michigan and Professor Kai Trampedach, the University of Konstanz back to Past Conferences main page From the conference program: The intent of the symposium is to bring together scholars of Greek history and religion in order to present their work and discuss the social… Read more
Women and Property in Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean Societies August, 2003 back to Past Conferences main page Introduction, by conference organizers and editors, Deborah Lyons and Raymond Westbrook Scholars in the two disciplines of Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies have recently focused a great deal of attention on the economic roles of women in the societies that they each study. In societies that are generally labeled “patriarchal,”… Read more
Perspectives on Plato’s Symposium ‘Perspectives on Plato’s Symposium‘: Issues in Interpretation and Reception August 16-18, 2005 back to Past Conferences main page Plato’s Symposium occupies a special place in Western thought. Not only is it an acknowledged classic of ancient Greek philosophy and literature, it is also one of the most influential works ever created. From the time of Plotinus in the third century of the common… Read more
Lecture Four Champions of dikê (justice) A) Odyssey xix: “Lady;” answered Odysseus, “who on the face of the whole earth can dare to chide with you? Your fame [kleos] reaches the firmament of heaven itself; you are like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness [= good dikê], as the monarch over a great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and barley, the trees… Read more
Lecture Three Part 1 This brief segment explores the Odyssey and its “captain” Odysseus as a metaphor for governing the Greek city state. On the surface the Odyssey is a story about a voyage and homecoming, but the subtext has to do with the agenda of the city state. The Greek word for captain, kubernêtes, becomes the Latin word gubernator and our word “gubernatorial. Part 2 The ainos as Key… Read more
Lecture Two Part 1 A) from Odyssey i: [1] Tell me, O Muse, of that many-sided hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the people with whose customs and thinking [noos] he was acquainted; many things he suffered at sea while seeking to save his own life [psukhê] and to achieve the… Read more
Lecture One A. Here is an essential fact about ancient Greek religion (for a working definition of this general term, see item B): not only were the gods worshipped. Heroes too were worshipped. The worship of heroes was very much like ancestor worship. (Compare similar customs in other traditional societies, including the Japanese.) A1. Besides the word worship, we may use the word cult. As… Read more
Background Lecture For this series, we have provided an on-line text of the Homeric Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler and revised by Gregory Nagy and Timothy Power. This revised translation includes glosses of key Greek words in the text. The entire Odyssey can be found here (or by using the button on the menu to the left). You may also use another translation if you prefer. Relevant facts about… Read more
Punishment in Ancient Athens Danielle S. Allen, University of Chicago Part I) Introduction Ask any modern citizen to name a punishment meted out by their state and odds are the first thing she will say is “imprisonment.” Ask the same citizen then to say why modern states use imprisonment as their preferred penalty, and he’ll say, “We need to keep the bad guys off the street! Prisons are for deterrence.”… Read more
