Chapter 19. More on Strife and the Human Condition 19§1. The deaths of Aesop and Thersites result directly from their engaging in blame, [1] and the result of their deaths is purification. [2] It follows, then, that their engaging in blame is itself an ultimately purifying act. Thus even in the ideology of myth, blame and the… Read more
Chapter 20. Achilles beyond the Iliad 20§1. Having just seen how the neîkos ‘quarrel’ between Hesiod and Perses (Works and Days 35) serves as the context for a grand definition of díkē by way of its opposition to húbris, [1] we return one last time to the neîkos between Odysseus and Achilles (Odyssey viii 75) in the first song of Demodokos (Odyssey… Read more
Appendix. On the Forms Krataió– and Akhaió– A§1. Our point of departure is the verse-final form krataiís/Krátaiin in Odyssey xi 597/xii 124. [1] The conventional explanation, that we have here an id-stem feminine built from the adjective krataió-, is plagued with difficulties on the formal and functional levels. [2] I cite in particular the verse-final ā-stem feminine… Read more
Bibliography Adkins, A.W.H. 1960. Merit and Responsibility: A Study in Greek Values. Oxford. ———. 1969. “Threatening, Abusing, and Feeling Angry in the Homeric Poems.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 89: 7–21. Aitchison, J. M. 1964. “The Achaean Homeland: AXAIFIA or AXAIFII?” Glotta 42: 19–28. Alexiou, M. 1974. The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge. … Read more
4. Introduction to the Discourse on the Miracle That Occurred in the Blachernae [Church]: A Novel Resolution of a Judicial Impasse 4.1. Psellos’ oration on the miracle at Blachernae is a command performance requested by the Emperor Michael VII Doukas in the summer of 1075 (5.29:752–757). Psellos examines a recent legal case at some length and in some detail, dividing his narrative of events into two separate… Read more
5. Discourse on the Miracle that Occurred in the Blachernae [Church] 5.1. The court that was constituted [at Blachernae] was not a civil [institution] for investigating matters of civil law, but the place of judgment that resulted from the action of the virginal Mother of God was a mystical and ineffable [institution] for [solving] the problem set before her; [1] the decision… Read more
References 1. Edited works of Michael Psellos Dennis, G. 1994. Michaelis Pselli Orationes forenses et acta. Stuttgart. Duffy, J. 1992. Michaelis Pselli Philosophica minora I. Stuttgart. Fisher, E. 1994. Michaelis Pselli Orationes hagiographicae. Stuttgart. Gautier, P. 1989. Michaelis Pselli Theologica I. Leipzig. Kurtz, E., and F. Drexl. 1941. Michaelis… Read more
Acknowledgments to the 1979 Edition It took a long time to write this book, and I now have anxieties about whether I can recall the names of all those who have given advice along the way. The list that I offer here may be incomplete, and I hope that anyone accidentally left out will not think me an ingrate. Let me start with those who have endured… Read more
Foreword to the 1999 Second Edition F§1. The Best of the Achaeans is intended for both non-specialists and specialists in Homer and in other forms of archaic Greek poetry. [1] More generally, it is for non-Classicists as well as Classicists (that is, those who study Greek and Roman antiquity). All quotations from the ancient texts are translated, and all cited words are… Read more
Introduction. A Word on Assumptions, Methods, Results [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] I§1. My approach to… Read more
