Annotation on §4b. Minoan hanging nodules (which, Hallager 1996 argues, could have sealed papyrus documents) in fact, could have hung from almost anything that was not very heavy. Papyrus documents, however, may be less likely than bags or small containers because, if the still-wet clay of the nodules had occasionally… Read more
Annotation on §4a. [Editor’s note: please click “Show More” to see the full contents of this annotation.] A sealed leather document from Bactria, early 4th century BCE, its sealing visually identical to Minoan flat-based clay sealings; found closed under its sealing (right) and opened for photography: addressed to… Read more
Notes to G. Nagy's articles on Ajax and the (other) suitors of Helen, Classical Inquiries, June 16 – July 7, 2021 By J. F. Nagy (July 17, 2021) 1. Another Indo-European instance of "viewing from the wall" where a wife unjustly abducted (in this case, unjustly treated) identifies males (in this… Read more
At line 910 of Euripides’ Electra, in the presence of Orestes, the titular protagonist can finally revile the body of Aegisthus (907-956); her prosopopoeia to the dead enemy follows the other long nocturnal prosopopoeias of hatred and grievance she had addressed to Aegisthus in his absence, which are clearly evoked… Read more
In my 20`10 book with Mary Ebbott (Iliad 10 and the Poetics of Ambush) and my 2019 book (Achilles Unbound), I have argued that stories about cattle raids and ambush (two closely interconnected forms of warfare in Homeric poetry, with closely interconnected poetics) are some of the most ancient forms… Read more
I think the position of her feet, which you don’t mention, bear your point out: her right foot faces the viewer but the left foot points away from the lyre player. All the implied momentum of her body as she turns is about turning away from the young man, including… Read more
My sentence here in §55 about line 910 in the Electra of Euripides as worded in the original version of 2015.10.01 has been rewritten 2021.07.12, thanks to the guidance of my esteemed colleague Marco Fantuzzi, whom I invite to add a further annotation to the annotation I am making… Read more
[Editor’s note: Click “Show More” for additional commentary by Joseph F. Nagy.] This finale to the triad of wonderful posts opens up all sorts of perspectives within Greek and without. Off the top of my head: 1) The whole cattle-and-sheep raiding context in relation to initiation. Both Nestor (Iliad 11)… Read more
There seems to have been a great deal of variation in traditional narratives about the setting for the trickery of Odysseus when he succeeded in recruiting Achilles to join the Achaeans in fighting the Trojan War. In the version mediated by Statius, the setting is the island of Skyros: Achilles,… Read more
About the myth that tells about the conception of Baby Homer, fathered by the god Apollo, I refer to one of my all-time favorites when it comes to writing footnotes—which does not have to be a tedious thing to do. The footnote I am thinking about is at p. 259… Read more