By Gregory Nagy | 2022.12.29 Introduction The three terms sacred space and frame and lyric occasions in the title of this essay all need to be questioned for their meanings, which depend in each case on the overall meaning of the title that combines these terms. As for the word… Read more
2022.12.26 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 9. “The apobatic moment”: An interaction between an athletic event and a heroic experience 9§0. At ancient Greek festivals, as we have just seen, there were seasonally recurring competitions in performances of poetry and song, not only in athletic events. And now we will… Read more
Five essays, ready for newer annotations, centering on theories about oral traditions Essay 1. Orality and literacy. 2022.12.19 | By Gregory Nagy Originally published 2001 in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. T. O. Sloane, 532–538; Oxford. In this online version, the original page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces… Read more
2022.12.12 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 8. Combinations of competition in athletics and competition in the performance of epic 8§0. Ever since Essay 1, we have considered the meaning of the word agōn as ‘competition’ in contexts of athletics. And, ever since Essay 2, we have considered the same meaning… Read more
Listed In Alphabetical Order “Achilles and Patroklos as Models for the Twinning of Identity.” A pre-printed and pre-edited online version; a final printed version, published 2022, appeared in Gemini and the Sacred: Twins and Twinship in Religion and Myth, ed. Kimberley C. Patton, pp. 268–288. Bloomsbury Academic Publishers. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/gemini-and-the-sacred-9781848859319/. Read more
2022.12.05 | By Gregory Nagy This essay is a pre-edited and pre-printed version of a paper I delivered on December 3, 2022, for the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, at Session IX-10, “Premodern Fables and their Audience.” A printed version of the papers presented at this… Read more
2022.12.05 | By Olga M. Davidson This essay is a pre-edited and pre-printed version of a paper I delivered on December 3, 2022, for the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, at Session IX-10, “Premodern Fables and their Audience.” A printed version of the papers presented at… Read more
2022.11.28 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 7. Athletics at Panhellenic festivals 7§0. Pindar’s epinician songs were textual transmitted in the form of four scrolls canonically arranged to match the four most prestigious festivals celebrated in the Peloponnesus: – The Olympic Games, operating on a four-year cycle, were celebrated at Olympia… Read more
2022.11.21 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 6. The epinician or epinikion: singing the athlete’s victory 6§0. There was an ancient Greek poetic tradition, historically attested, that concentrated specifically on athleticism, It was a kind of songmaking that coordinated the ritualized experiences of athletes with the mythical experiences of heroes. Modern… Read more
2022.11.14 | By Gregory Nagy Essay 5. The hero’s engagement in athletic competitions 5§0. As we have seen by examining the relevant interactions of myth and ritual in ancient Greek thinking, athletes who participate in athletic competitions are undergoing a ritual ordeal that re-enacts the mythical ordeals of heroes. This… Read more