Theogony, as many helpful writers, critics, and professors tell me, means “birth of the gods”. I’m not entirely sure whether Hesiod thought up this title himself, or if it was given to him by the various copiers and transcribers who set his oral poem into writing (like Homer, who seems to have been more or [...]
Archive for the ‘Early/Pre-Christian Lit’ Category
Hesiod’s Theogony: Everything You Wanted To Know About Greek Myths, But Were Afraid To Ask
Posted in Ancient Greece, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Epics, Hesiod, Poetry, Theogony on December 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Odyssey: A Terrific Yarn
Posted in Ancient Greece, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Homer, The Odyssey on November 19, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I still feel sort of bad about the Iliad leaving me so cold. I understand its importance, its primacy, even, as one of the first works of western literature. I can sort of appreciate the beauty of the language (it’s hard to judge when reading a translation, especially one that is prose rather than verse). [...]
Homeric Epithets As Parlor Game
Posted in Ancient Greece, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Homer, The Iliad on November 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I didn’t really like the Iliad, as I mentioned earlier (you know, a month ago), but after I’d read it I found that some of the stylized language was sticking with me. Specifically the epithets. Ox-eyed Hera, lovely-maned horses, Hektor of the glinting helmet/gleaming armor/ godlike strength, and so on and so forth. It began [...]
“And his armour clattered about him.”
Posted in Ancient Greece, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Epics, Homer, The Iliad, The Mediterranean World on October 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Sorry about the hiatus. I’ve been on vacation– away from home, and away from screens. It was much-needed. I’d like to point out that my blogging is a lagging indicator of this project’s progress: currently I’m neck-deep in the Upanishads, which is a fair few entries down the list. Like anyone else with a kid [...]
Who Was Homer?
Posted in Ancient Greece, Archaeology, Biographical Information, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Epics, Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey on September 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Moving on now to Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey. These stories are not only a hugely important part of the Greek identity: for more than three thousand years, artists from Dante to William Shakespeare to Led Zeppelin have drawn on the characters and themes laid out in Homer’s treatment of the Trojan [...]
Going Forth By Day
Posted in Ancient Egyptian Literature, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Egyptian Book of the Dead on August 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
So much of Ancient Egyptian culture seems to be about living fast, dying young, and leaving a leathery, heavily salted corpse.
Book of the Dead: A Digression About The History Of Writing
Posted in Ancient Egyptian Literature, Ancient Greece, Archaeology, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Homer, Sumer, The Epic of Gilgamesh on August 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been sitting on my hands vis-a-vis this blog lately because I learned a few weeks back that a friend would be coming in to London, giving us an excuse to pop round to the British Museum, where I’d be able to get a look at the Papyrus of Hunefer with my own eyeballs. [...]
“This Thing Reads Like Stereo Instructions.”
Posted in Ancient Greece, Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Reading List on July 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This month, I will be reading and discussing: Various Anonymous Authors, Egypt, 1000 BCE, Egyptian Book of the Dead Homer, Greece, 800 BCE, The Iliad Homer, Greece, 800 BCE, The Odyssey As a matter of fact, I have finished the Egyptian Book of the Dead and am organizing my notes. I knew absolutely nothing about [...]
Gilgamesh via The Brothers Quay
Posted in Early/Pre-Christian Lit, Epics, Film Adaptations, Sumer, The Epic of Gilgamesh on June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Here is one of the more unusual adaptations of the Gilgamesh story, from expatriate American animators the Brothers Quay. This Unnameable Little Broom (The Epic of Gilgamesh) deals mostly with the seduction of Enkidu. This is a minor masterpiece of animation, done entirely in stop-motion. Thanks to Amanda for bringing this to my attention. Wicked.
