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Having trouble keeping all the
names in the Iliad straight? You can use the
Encyclopedia Mythica of Greek
heroes or
Greek
mythology for a brief
description of who's who and related to whom. Another
excellent site, devoted to the study of women and gender in
the ancient world, is Diotima.
It contains several types of links to resources on related
topics. Another
starting point with Links
to several
classical sites is maintained by the University of Michigan.
For our purposes in the class, the first section, "Texts,
projects,..." is probably the most useful, but it also
provides links to other search engines dealing with the
classical world. The
Perseus Project
This
amazing site is a database of classical Greek and Latin
texts, translations, lexica, images of classical art and
archaeology, archaeological site plans, and pretty much
anything else your heart desires. For background
and ancient sources for the Trojan War myth see Carlos
Parada's Greek
Mythology Link.
For the Trojan War myth in ancient art see Robin
Mitchell-Boyask's Images
of the Trojan War Myth.
You can read a
condensed
version of Thomas Martin's Ancient
Greece
on-line on The
Perseus Project.
Homer's
Poetic Justice:
This
series of five video dialogues examines the major themes of
the Iliad through the lens of a litigation scene
depicted on the shield of Achilles. As these dialogues will
show, the shield can be seen as a microcosm, exploring in
compressed form the big issues of the Iliad. The
biggest issue of them all is the one that the dispute on the
shield most directly concerns: What is the price of a human
life? Homeric
Odyssey and the Cultivation of
Justice:
"Homeric
Odyssey and the Cultivation of Justice" is an exploration of
the Homeric Odyssey, with a particular emphasis on the
heroic search for the goal of social justice. In the poetic
imagination, this goal is pictured through the metaphor of a
beautifully cultivated garden. Homeric poetry links this
paradisiacal metaphor with the hero's efforts to win back
his or her own "soul" (psykhê). The
Odyssey itself is such a heroic journey of a
soul. Homeric
Questions
An on-line version of Gregory Nagy's 1996 book. The Milman
Parry Collection of Oral Literature is
here. Homer
Performed
Gregory
Nagy recites several passages from the Iliad,
including the first sixteen lines and two attested shorter
variants of those lines. Click
here
to see images of an Attic Red Figure vase (dated
480-470 BC) which depicts on one side Agamemnon
taking Briseis from the hut of Achilles and on
the other the embassy to Achilles which we know
of as Iliad IX. Note the differences
between these two scenes and their Homeric
counterparts! Selected
bibliography
on the "Homeric questions"
"Performance
and Performer: The Role of Tradition in Oral Epic
Song"
Clips
from two lectures delivered by the late Harvard professor
and pioneer in the field of oral traditional literature
Albert Lord with accompanying commentary.
"A
different beginning of the Iliad?" you may well
ask. For more about variation,
compression, and expansion in oral
composition,
check out the expansion
and compression page.
Roger Dunkle's
Introduction
to Greek Tragedy
from Brooklyn College provides a
wealth of information about Greek drama accompanied by
images and maps. It
discusses tragic festivals, actors, the chorus, and the
structure of the plays. Cambidge
Classics
offers a
basic introduction
to tragedy
including discussion of tragedy's origins, social context,
language, and performance. There is also a list
of known tragedies and their dates with links to texts. An
article discussing theatrical and philosophical responses to
Greek tragedy is here. For more background on the
origins of drama see Professor Dora Pozzi's Greek
Drama and its Precursors.
You might also find helpful her Terms
Related to Greek Myth and Theater. For a better understanding of
the performance space of Athenian drama see Recreating
the Theater of Dionysus in Athens,
published by UC Berkely's Didaskalia. Have you ever wondered how
translation can affect
our interpretation of these ancient texts? Read
Mary
Ebbott's review
of a new translation of 4 tragedies of Euripides. The Perseus
Project Encylopedia entry for Aeschylus is
here.
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