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Part III. Hour 20. The hero as mirror of men’s and women’s experiences in the Hippolytus of Euripides

Hour 20. The hero as mirror of men’s and women’s experiences in the Hippolytus of Euripides The meaning of telos 20§1. The key word for this hour is telos, ‘end, ending, final moment; goal, completion, fulfillment; coming full circle, rounding out; successfully passing through an ordeal; initiation; ritual, rite’. We have already seen this word in many of the contexts that fit the translations that I give here (1§49, 5§119,… Read more

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Part II. Hour 14. Longing for a hero: A retrospective

Hour 14. Longing for a hero: a retrospective The meaning of pothos 14§1. The key words for this hour are the noun pothos and its variant pothē, which both mean ‘longing’ or ‘yearning’ or ‘desire’, and the verb derived from this noun, which means ‘long for’ or ‘yearn for’ or ‘desire’. As we will see, such longing can be directed toward the sacred. In fact, as we have already seen… Read more

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Part II. Hour 15. What the hero ‘means’

Hour 15. What the hero ‘means’ The meaning of sēmainein 15§1. The key word for this hour is sēmainein, which means ‘mean [something], indicate [something] by way of a sēma’. In Hour 7, the key word was sēma (plural sēmata), meaning ‘sign, signal, symbol; tomb, tomb of a hero’. The verb sēmainein is a derivative of the noun sēma. As we will see in this hour, the very idea of… Read more

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Part III. Introduction to Tragedy

Introduction to tragedy III§1. In considering the traditions of tragedy, it is important to keep in mind that the medium of tragedy in particular and of drama in general was the central context for the evolution of traditions in poetry, song, and dance in Athens during the classical period of the fifth century BCE and thereafter. The primary setting was a synthetic festival in honor of the god Dionysus. This… Read more

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Part III. Hour 16. Heroic aberration in the Agamemnon of Aeschylus

Hour 16. Heroic aberration in the Agamemnon of Aeschylus The meaning of atē 16§1. The key word for this hour is atē, the meaning of which can be interpreted as ‘aberration, derangement, veering off-course; disaster; punishment for disaster’. In Homeric poetry, as we saw in Iliad XIX 91 as quoted in Hour 1 Text C, atē is perceived as a noun derived from the verb aâsthai, ‘veer off-course’. A basic… Read more

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Part I. Hour 5. When mortals become ‘equal’ to immortals: Death of a hero, death of a bridegroom

Hour 5. When mortals become ‘equal’ to immortals: death of a hero, death of a bridegroom The meaning of daimōn 5§1. The key word for this hour is daimōn (plural daimones), which I translate for the moment simply as ‘superhuman force’. This word is used to refer to an unspecified god or hero intervening in human life. The word daimōn is to be contrasted with theos, ‘god’, which is used… Read more

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Part I. Hour 6. Patroklos as the other self of Achilles

Hour 6. Patroklos as the other self of Achilles The meaning of therapōn 6§1. The key word for this hour is therapōn, ‘attendant; ritual substitute’. And the key passage comes from a climactic moment in the Iliad when Achilles, while praying that Zeus should preserve Patroklos from harm, uses the word therapōn in referring to his nearest and dearest friend: Hour 6 Text A |233 “King Zeus,” he [= Achilles]… Read more

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Part I. Hour 7. The sign of the hero in visual and verbal art

Hour 7. The sign of the hero in visual and verbal art The meaning of sēma 7§1. The key word for this hour is sēma (plural sēmata), meaning ‘sign, signal, symbol; tomb, tomb of a hero’. An important word that derives from this noun sēma is the verb sēmainein, ‘mean [something], indicate [something] by way of a sēma’. Modern words that derive from sēma include semantic and semiotic. 7§2. As… Read more