SOPHOCLES' AJAX, a Translation by Dennis Daly
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HOMERIC-ILIAD.Pdf
Homeric Iliad Translated by Samuel Butler Revised by Soo-Young Kim, Kelly McCray, Gregory Nagy, and Timothy Power Contents Rhapsody 1 Rhapsody 2 Rhapsody 3 Rhapsody 4 Rhapsody 5 Rhapsody 6 Rhapsody 7 Rhapsody 8 Rhapsody 9 Rhapsody 10 Rhapsody 11 Rhapsody 12 Rhapsody 13 Rhapsody 14 Rhapsody 15 Rhapsody 16 Rhapsody 17 Rhapsody 18 Rhapsody 19 Rhapsody 20 Rhapsody 21 Rhapsody 22 Rhapsody 23 Rhapsody 24 Homeric Iliad Rhapsody 1 Translated by Samuel Butler Revised by Soo-Young Kim, Kelly McCray, Gregory Nagy, and Timothy Power [1] Anger [mēnis], goddess, sing it, of Achilles, son of Peleus— 2 disastrous [oulomenē] anger that made countless pains [algea] for the Achaeans, 3 and many steadfast lives [psūkhai] it drove down to Hādēs, 4 heroes’ lives, but their bodies it made prizes for dogs [5] and for all birds, and the Will of Zeus was reaching its fulfillment [telos]— 6 sing starting from the point where the two—I now see it—first had a falling out, engaging in strife [eris], 7 I mean, [Agamemnon] the son of Atreus, lord of men, and radiant Achilles. 8 So, which one of the gods was it who impelled the two to fight with each other in strife [eris]? 9 It was [Apollo] the son of Leto and of Zeus. For he [= Apollo], infuriated at the king [= Agamemnon], [10] caused an evil disease to arise throughout the mass of warriors, and the people were getting destroyed, because the son of Atreus had dishonored Khrysēs his priest. Now Khrysēs had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had brought with him a great ransom [apoina]: moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant’s wreath [15] and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. -
Sophocles' Philoctetes Roisman, Hanna M Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Summer 1997; 38, 2; Proquest Pg
The appropriation of a son: Sophocles' Philoctetes Roisman, Hanna M Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Summer 1997; 38, 2; ProQuest pg. 127 The Appropriation of a Son: Sophocles' Philoctetes Hanna M. Roisman ANHOOD in archaic and classical Greece-as in modern times-is generally manifested not so much in relation M ships with women as in relationships with other men, especially in the relationship between father and son. The Greek male is expected to produce sons who will continue his oikos (e.g. Soph. Ant. 641-45; Eur. Ale. 62lf, 654-57). Further, as Hesiod makes clear, sons should resemble their fathers in both looks and conduct, especially the latter (Op. 182,235; ef Ii. 6.476-81; Theophr. Char. 5.5). Such resemblance earns the father public esteem and proves his manliness; the lack of it may be cause for disparagement and calls his manliness into question. 1 We learn from Ajax and Philoctetes that Sophocles follows the Hesiodic imperative that sons should resemble their fathers in their natures and their accomplishments. Ajax sees himself as an unworthy son, having lost Achilles' arms to Odysseus, and prefers to commit suicide rather than face his father, Telamon, who took part in Heracles' expedition to Troy and got Hesione, the best part of the booty, as a reward (Aj. 430-40,462-65, 470ff, 1300-303; Diod. 4.32.5). At the same time, he expects his son, Eurysaces, to be like himself in nature, valor, and in everything else ('ttl.~' aA.A.' OIlOlO~, Aj. 545-51). Sophocles' Philoctetes, on the other hand, presents the strug gle between Odysseus and Philoctetes for the 'paternity' of Neoptolemus, as each tries to mold the young man in his own 1 Even in contemporary Greece the intense male rivalry for proving oneself takes place among men alone, while women and flocks serve as the object of this rivalry. -
Sophocles' Ajax and the Greek Epic Cycle
Eating from the Tables of Others: Sophocles’ Ajax and the Greek Epic Cycle1 Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistai remarks that “Sophocles took great pleasure in the Epic Cycle and composed whole dramas in which he followed the Cycle’s version of myths” (ἔχαιρε δὲ Σοφοκλῆς τῷ ἐπικῷ κύκλῳ, ὡς καὶ ὅλα δράματα ποιῆσαι κατακολουθῶν τῇ ἐν τούτῳ μυθοποιίᾳ, Deipnosophistai 277c).2 This statement is equally apposite for his Ajax Philoctetes, Oedipus (both Tyrannus and Coloneus) and Antigone. However, while examining in depth the plot and the construction of some of the characters in Sophoclean tragedy, one realizes that Sophocles, although indebted to the poets of the Epic Cycle for his plots, feasts at Homer’s table as well, reminding us of what Aeschylus said about his tragedies as being slices from Homer’s great dinner parties (τὸ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ λαμπροῦ Αἰσχύλου, ὃς τὰς αὑτοῦ τραγῳδίας τεμάχη εἶναι ἔλεγεν τῶν Ὁμήρου μεγάλων δείπνων, Athenaeus Deipnosophistai 347e). The second point I would like to make refers to a methodological principle. I subscribe to the view that a playwright of fifth c. BCE Athens not only “feasts” at the tables of others but freely transforms and adapts his borrowings to the new ideology of his genre and the social and political circumstances of his time.3 In Sophocles’ time, there is the polis, with a value system that has evolved gradually but steadily, from the Homeric, through the archaic, down to the classical period. Moreover, Sophocles, as with all poets, had a particular style and personal preoccupations that characterize his work.4 1 I would like to thank the participants in the Greek Epic Cycle Conference, held in ancient Olympia on 9–10 July 2010, for their useful comments on the oral presentation of the present paper. -
The Iliad Book 1 Lines 1-487
The Iliad Book 1 lines 1-487. Homer. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134:book=1:card=1 [1] The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles, that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and every bird; thus the plan of Zeus came to fulfillment, from the time when first they parted in strife Atreus' son, king of men, and brilliant Achilles. [8] Who then of the gods was it that brought these two together to contend? The son of Leto and Zeus; for he in anger against the king roused throughout the host an evil pestilence, and the people began to perish, because upon the priest Chryses the son of Atreus had wrought dishonour. For he had come to the swift ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, bearing ransom past counting; and in his hands he held the wreaths of Apollo who strikes from afar, on a staff of gold; and he implored all the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, the marshallers of the people: Sons of Atreus, and other well-greaved Achaeans, to you may the gods who have homes upon Olympus grant that you sack the city of Priam, and return safe to your homes; but my dear child release to me, and accept the ransom out of reverence for the son of Zeus, Apollo who strikes from afar. -
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Homer's Roads Not Taken
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Homer’s Roads Not Taken Stories and Storytelling in the Iliad and Odyssey A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Classics by Craig Morrison Russell 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Homer’s Roads Not Taken Stories and Storytelling in the Iliad and Odyssey by Craig Morrison Russell Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Alex C. Purves, Chair This dissertation is a consideration of how narratives in the Iliad and Odyssey find their shapes. Applying insights from scholars working in the fields of narratology and oral poetics, I consider moments in Homeric epic when characters make stories out of their lives and tell them to each other. My focus is on the concept of “creativity” — the extent to which the poet and his characters create and alter the reality in which they live by controlling the shape of the reality they mould in their storytelling. The first two chapters each examine storytelling by internal characters. In the first chapter I read Achilles’ and Agamemnon’s quarrel as a set of competing attempts to create the authoritative narrative of the situation the Achaeans find themselves in, and Achilles’ retelling of the quarrel to Thetis as part of the move towards the acceptance of his version over that of Agamemnon or even the Homeric Narrator that occurs over the course of the epic. In the second chapter I consider the constant storytelling that [ii ] occurs at the end of the Odyssey as a competition between the families of Odysseus and the suitors to control the narrative that will be created out of Odysseus’s homecoming. -
Focusing on the 'Margins' of Sophocles' Ajax
Focusing on the “Margins” of Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes Associate Professor Christy Stanlake United States Naval Academy Adjusting Our Lenses: When we read the classic plays of 5th Century B.C. Athens, we have to shift our contemporary notions of what a play is and how theatre functioned in Attica. We notice that the structure of these plays is different. There are choral odes in which a group of characters sing and dance in unison (kind of like today’s musical theatre numbers) and episodes in which the central characters speak or sing to one another, to the chorus, to the gods, and to the audience. The odes are broken into strophes, “turning,” and antistrophes, “turning back,” that rhythmically mirror one another. The parallel structure allowed for viewers to understand the agon, the “struggle” or “contest,” between opposing views through three physical senses: sight (as the chorus danced one direction and then literally turned the opposite direction); sound (the equally balanced measures of music that supported each view); and touch (the rhythm the dancers’ feet made as they stepped in rhythm with the odes’ poetry. [Incidentally, the way we describe lines of poetry as being comprised of “feet” comes from the Greek tradition of literally stomping out the odes’ rhythm upon the ground with one’s feet.] Aristotle’s Poetics (335 B.C.), the first work of theatrical criticism, sought to describe the substance and nature of theatre. His thesis that classical tragedy was intended to influence catharsis, a purging of emotions such as pity and fear, forever shaped how people view western drama. -
The Recovery of Helen
THE RECOVERYOF HELEN JrT is my purposehere to examineaspects of the iconographyof the Recoveryof Helen on the night that Troy fell. The attempt seems the more worth while now that a canonical pattern of interpretation is likely to be established by Kunze's short but authoritative study and by the detailed, well-illustrated treatment in the recent book by Mme. Lilly B. Ghali-Kahil.1 The main episodes of the Recovery, established by the end of -the sixth century B.C., are credited to the Cyclic Epic poets Arktinos and Lesches, the lyricists Ibykos and his older contemporary Stesichoros. The first three alone are concerned with the iconography of the Recovery as it appears during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.2 The earliest extant reference to an episode of the Recovery is found at Andro- mache 627-631, Euripides' play staged about 425 B.C.3 The old lord Peleus speaks, insulting Menelaos: EAXW&E Tpotav.. OvKOKKravEg EKT,E 7VcvKLyvvatKa XEtptav~'~ XacW,8AaBV, aAAX,g eTet&Eg pacrrov, EK/ctXOv ti'oo 4n I E8E!, IT/ O8OTlV atKaAXOVKva, 71rTOIV -7TE4VK&J KVmpt8og, d' KaaKUtrTE 01. When you took Troy, you failed to put your wife to death, though you had her in your power- on the contrary, when you looked at her breast, you threw away your sword and accepted her kiss, caressing the traitorous bitch, you miserable wretch, born slave to lust. E. Kunze, Archaische Schildbander (Olympische Forschungen, II, 1950), pp. 163-167; Lilly B. Ghali-Kahil, Les enlevements et le retour d'Helene, Paris, 1955, particularly pp. -
* Asterisked Similes Not Listed in Lee List a Similes of the Iliad Book 9 (Ι) SUMMARY Scenes: #1 (4) [Achaean Hearts Torn ≈
Similes of the Iliad Book 9 (Ι) SUMMARY Scenes: #1 (4) [Achaean hearts torn ≈ sea stirred by winds] #2 (14) [weeping Agamemnon ≈ a fountain] #3 (323) [Achilles ≈ (a mother) bird] #5 (481) [Peleus > Phoenix ≈ loving father > a beloved son] Short Clauses and Phrases: #4* (ὅσα/τόσα) (385) [Agamemnon’s gifts ≈ sand and dust] #6* (563) [the mother of Alcyone ≈ a halcyon bird] #7 (648) [Achilles ≈ an alien] * * * 1 (4) ὡς δ᾽ ἄνεμοι δύο πόντον ὀρίνετον ἰχθυόεντα Βορέης καὶ Ζέφυρος, τώ τε Θρῄκηθεν ἄητον 5 ἐλθόντ᾽ ἐξαπίνης: ἄμυδις δέ τε κῦμα κελαινὸν κορθύεται, πολλὸν δὲ παρὲξ ἅλα φῦκος ἔχευεν: ὣς ἐδαΐζετο θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν Ἀχαιῶν. As two winds stir up the teeming sea, / Boreas and Zephyrus that blow from Thrace, / coming suddenly, and at the same time the dark wave / rears itself in crests and casts much sea weed out along the sea; / so were the hearts of the Achaeans torn within their chests. [Achaean hearts torn ≈ sea stirred by winds] Narrator *** ἷζον δ᾽ εἰν ἀγορῇ τετιηότες: ἂν δ᾽ Ἀγαμέμνων 2 (14) ἵστατο δάκρυ χέων ὥς τε κρήνη μελάνυδρος ἥ τε κατ᾽ αἰγίλιπος πέτρης δνοφερὸν χέει ὕδωρ: 15 ὣς ὃ βαρὺ στενάχων ἔπε᾽ Ἀργείοισι μετηύδα. So they sat in the assembly, deeply troubled, and Agamemnon / stood up weeping like a fountain of dark water / that down over the face of a jutting rock pours its dusky water; / thus with deep groaning he spoke to the Argives. [weeping Agamemnon ≈ a fountain] Narrator *** 3 (323) ὡς δ᾽ ὄρνις ἀπτῆσι νεοσσοῖσι προφέρῃσι μάστακ᾽ ἐπεί κε λάβῃσι, κακῶς δ᾽ ἄρα οἱ πέλει αὐτῇ, ὣς καὶ ἐγὼ πολλὰς μὲν ἀΰπνους νύκτας ἴαυον, 325 ἤματα δ᾽ αἱματόεντα διέπρησσον πολεμίζων ἀνδράσι μαρνάμενος ὀάρων ἕνεκα σφετεράων. -
Apollo and His Purpose in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus
APOLLO AND HIS PURPOSE IN SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPUS TYRANNUS Stuart Lawrence Abstract Apollo actively intervenes in the fulfilment of Oedipus’ destiny through oracles and immanently in the onstage action. Rather than to punish him for any offence, the god’s purpose appears to be to impress upon Oedipus his existential insignificance. In the context of an ordered but absurd universe, Sophocles emphasises the paradox of the moral greatness of a man whose ‘official’ existential value is less than zero. With the partial exception of Athena in the Ajax, Sophocles’ gods are largely inscruta‐ ble. In no play is this inscrutability more problematical than in the Tyrannus, and the resulting difficulties for the interpreter are well stated by R. Parker (1999), who warns us about drawing inferences where the poet is silent. Sensitive critics have always been struck by these silences of Sophocles’ text, of which the most famous is doubtless the apparent silence in Oedipus Tyrannus about the ulti‐ mate motivation for the destiny prophesied for Laius and Oedipus. In a sense the cen‐ tral problem for any study of Sophocles’ presentation of the divine is that of respond‐ ing to these silences: at all events, it is at this point that the paths of even the best critics diverge. Does Sophocles leave the divine will unexplained because to reason about it would be a distraction from the true human centre of the plays? Or is the point rather the ultimate incomprehensibility to mortals of the divine world? And if so, if the ways of the gods are incomprehensible, is that because those ways are good, but human comprehension weak? Or because mortals seek justice where none is to be found?1 Apollo never appears in person in the Tyrannus, though he declares his condition for the salvation of Thebes in the oracle that requires the discovery of Laius’ killer while he predicts the parricide in the original oracle to Laius and both the parricide and the incest in the later oracle given to Oedipus. -
Troy Myth and Reality
Part 1 Large print exhibition text Troy myth and reality Please do not remove from the exhibition This two-part guide provides all the exhibition text in large print. There are further resources available for blind and partially sighted people: Audio described tours for blind and partially sighted visitors, led by the exhibition curator and a trained audio describer will explore highlight objects from the exhibition. Tours are accompanied by a handling session. Booking is essential (£7.50 members and access companions go free) please contact: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7323 8971 Thursday 12 December 2019 14.00–17.00 and Saturday 11 January 2020 14.00–17.00 1 There is also an object handling desk at the exhibition entrance that is open daily from 11.00 to 16.00. For any queries about access at the British Museum please email [email protected] 2 Sponsor’sThe Trojan statement War For more than a century BP has been providing energy to advance human progress. Today we are delighted to help you learn more about the city of Troy through extraordinary artefacts and works of art, inspired by the stories of the Trojan War. Explore the myth, archaeology and legacy of this legendary city. BP believes that access to arts and culture helps to build a more inspired and creative society. That’s why, through 23 years of partnership with the British Museum, we’ve helped nearly five million people gain a deeper understanding of world cultures with BP exhibitions, displays and performances. Our support for the arts forms part of our wider contribution to UK society and we hope you enjoy this exhibition. -
Ajax: Introduction
Ajax: Introduction I Outline The parts of a play: A Greek tragedy is divided into distinct sung (STASIMA , “formations” or ODES, “songs”) and spoken parts (EPISODES parts “between the songs”), with the occasional mixing of the two in a KOMMOS (“beating” [of the breast] or “lament” between actors and chorus). Like most Greek plays, the Ajax begins with a PROLOGUE. Sophoclean Prologues are usually in dialogue form.1 The prologue of Ajax adds a third character, but there is no triangular scene of the three characters interacting. The prologue tells us or shows us where we are in the story, but it is also part of the play. All parts of the plays are in verse: the most common meter for the dialogue portions is iambic trimeter (considered the meter most like ordinary speech) in dipodic units (groups of two feet): that is six iambs (¢ ¯ and their variations, called resolutions). The prologue characters leave and the chorus enters usually chanting in anapests (¢ ¢ ¯), suitable for making an entrance. Their entrance song is called the PARODOS (the entrances on the sides of the stage area are also called PARODOI “side-walks” or EISODOI “entrances”). After the anapestic entrance the chorus forms into a group to sing and dance in various lyric meters. Their song is in strophic form, that is, matched sets of STROPHE/ANTISTROPHE (“turning”, “opposite turning”) in the same meter and generally thought to be accompanied by the same choral movements; sometimes an ode ends with an astrophic (unmatched) EPODE. The scene after the last choral ode (or STASIMON) is called the EXODOS (“exit”). -
Sing, Goddess, Sing of the Rage of Achilles, Son of Peleus—
Homer, Iliad Excerpts 1 HOMER, ILIAD TRANSLATION BY IAN JOHNSTON Dr. D’s note: These are excerpts from the complete text of Johnston’s translation, available here. The full site shows original line numbers, and has some explanatory notes, and you should use it if you use this material for one of your written topics. Book I: The quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon begins The Greeks have been waging war against Troy and its allies for 10 years, and in raids against smaller allies, have already won war prizes including women like Chryseis and Achilles’ girl, Briseis. Sing, Goddess, sing of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus— that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies carrion food for dogs and birds— all in fulfilment of the will of Zeus. Start at the point where Agamemnon, son of Atreus, that king of men, quarrelled with noble Achilles. Which of the gods incited these two men to fight? That god was Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto. Angry with Agamemnon, he cast plague down onto the troops—deadly infectious evil. For Agamemnon had dishonoured the god’s priest, Chryses, who’d come to the ships to find his daughter, Chryseis, bringing with him a huge ransom. In his hand he held up on a golden staff the scarf sacred to archer god Apollo. He begged Achaeans, above all the army’s leaders, the two sons of Atreus: “Menelaus, Agamemnon, sons of Atreus, all you well-armed Achaeans, may the gods on Olympus grant you wipe out Priam’s city, and then return home safe and sound.