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8. Conventions, themes and formulae

8. Conventions, themes and formulae We have seen in the last chapter that the structure of the ancient thrênos had much in common with the structure of the hýmnos, enkómion and epitáphios. The same is true of many of the ideas. [1] The similarities between these ancient forms arise from their common ritual basis: since the dead were not infrequently men who… Read more

Part I. BackgroundBasic Biographical Information

Basic Biographical Information about Singers Dilić, Haska Born in early 1890s in Plana59 songs in the Parry Collection; 1 included here Dizdarević, Đula Born in mid 1860s in Mulji338 songs in the Parry Collection; 13 included here Hrustanović, Hasnija Born in late 1860s/early 70s in Kula Fazlagića 466 songs in the Parry Collection; 30 included here Ovčina, Hata Born in 1884 in Prijevor6 songs in the… Read more

Conversations

Conversations Hasnija Hrustanović’s biography and family background as told by her son Ibrahim Hrustanović Interview conducted by Nikola Ivanov Vujnović in Gacko, 1935. Hard cover notebook no. 11Text 6314, phonograph records 2999-3002 Nikola: You wrote down songs by Hasnija Hrustanović? Ibrahim: Yes, she is my mother. (…) Nikola: How old is she? Ibrahim: Well, she is about seventy. She is an old woman who, as perhaps no other woman… Read more

Glossary

Glossary Agha – honorary title for a respected male citizen who did not belong to the Ottoman nobility. It was customarily added after the first name. Also used for commanders of the Ottoman-paid military forces. abdest – ritual washing of one’s face, neck, ears, arms up to the elbows, and feet which Muslims are obligated to perform before prayer. alaybey – military governor of a province. This word appears also… Read more

Selected Bibliography

Selected Bibliography Aarne, Antti and Stith Thompson. The Types of the Folk-Tale. A Classification and Bibliography. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1928. Reprint in FF Communications no. 74. Andersen, Flemming G. “Technique, Text, and Context: Formulaic Narrative Mode and the Question of Genre.” In The Ballad and Oral Literature, edited by Joseph Harris. Harvard English Studies 17. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991. Andrić, Nikola, ed. Hrvatske narodne pjesme. Vol. 5, Ženske… Read more

Foreword, Gregory Nagy

Foreword to the work of Robert T. Teske on Ariadne, 1970 Gregory Nagy, 2018.03.29 As I re-read “Origins of the goddess Ariadne,” written in 1970 by Robert T. Teske and republished forty-eight years later in 2018 by the Center for Hellenic Studies, http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_TeskeR.The_Origins_of_the_Goddess_Ariadne.1970, I marvel at the elegant beauty of it all. His bibliography is out of date, but, somehow, the freezing of… Read more

Author’s Preface

Author’s Preface Late last year, I received an e-mail announcing a symposium celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Folklore and Mythology Program at Harvard University. As a member of the first class to be awarded degrees in the program, and as the only member of that class to have gone on to pursue graduate study and a career in the discipline, I responded to… Read more

I. Introduction

I. Introduction The many facets of the Ariadne-figure have long been the subject of classical scholarship. The peculiar cultic customs surrounding the goddess have been assiduously interpreted, in part successfully and in part unsuccessfully. Her relation to the figure of Dionysus has been explored in hopes of proving the Mycenaean origins of the god; as for her own Minoan origins, identification with the early nature goddess of… Read more

II. The Variants of the Myth

II. The Variants of the Myth The variant accounts of the abduction by Theseus of Ariadne, daughter of the Cretan king·Minos, at first appear to be not only numerous but confusing as well. The oral tradition has been in this case most prolific. Indeed, Plutarch was prompted to write: Πολλοὶ δὲ λόγοι καὶ περὶ τούτων ἔτι λέγονται καὶ περὶ τῆς Ἀριάδνης, οὐδὲν ὁμολογούμενον ἔχοντες. There… Read more