Classical Continuum

Five essays, ready for newer annotations, centering on theories about oral traditions: Orality and literacy – Essay Three

Essay 3. Homeric problems and bibliographical challenges, Part I: On the performances of rhapsodes at the festival of the Panathenaia 2022.1.23 | By Gregory Nagy This essay was originally published in Classical Inquiries 2018.11.22. §0. No one who claims expertise in the study of Homer will ever have the… Read more

A History of the Proverb in Greece and Rome

What is a “proverb”? What is a “sententia”? What is a “saying”? To many readers, the question may seem superfluous, and the answer rather obvious, if even one of the greatest scholars of proverbs, namely Archer Taylor, declared that “an incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial, and this one is not.” To all of us, in fact, proverbs, sententiae, sayings, and many more (maxims, apophthegms, aphorisms, and so… Read more

Five essays, ready for newer annotations, centering on theories about oral traditions: Orality and literacy – Essay Two

Essay 2. Orality and literacy revisited 2022.1.9 | By Gregory Nagy A slightly rewritten version of an essay originally published 2017 in Classical Inquiries, https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/orality-and-literacy-revisited/. §1. I am surprised that I have never been asked the question: since Albert Lord was your mentor, and since you count yourself among… Read more

Ancient Greek heroes, athletes, poetry Part III: Achilles the charioteer – Essay 10

2023.01.02 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 10. Achilles the charioteer 10§0. In the Odyssey, where the death of Achilles in battle is being retrospectively narrated, Homeric poetry eulogizes the dead hero for being the master charioteer that he had been in his epic lifetime. In the battle scenes narrated by… Read more