Chapter 3. Vedic {58|59} §1.42 The twin gods of the Rig-Veda have two dual names: they are not only Aśvínā, “horse-possessors,” a name that occurs 398 times in the Rig-Veda, but also Nā́satyā, a name that occurs 99 times in the Rig-Veda. [117] The name Nā́satyā is old. It has an exact cognate in Avestan Nā̊ŋhaiθya, the name of a demon in… Read more
Endnotes, Part 1 EN1.1 (Endnote to n1.181) {94|95} If the Dioskouroi were thought of as buried beneath the earth at Therapne, their cult must, one assumes, have included the principal feature of hero cults, namely a grave. Unfortunately nothing is known of the twins’ cult at Therapne, which after Pindar is never mentioned again. Bölte RE ‘Therapne’ 2365 suggests that after Pindar’s time the twins’ cult… Read more
Part 2. Nestor’s Homeric Role Chapter 4. Iliad 11 {102|105} §2.1 The basic text for Nestor’s myth is his story in Iliad 11.670–761. [1] I have already suggested that the essence of Nestor’s myth is that he is a twin who has lost his brother and who therefore must take his brother’s place. What points to this is the etymological correspondence… Read more
Chapter 5. Iliad 23 {130|131} §2.19 We have so far looked only for similarities between Nestor and Patroclus in their respective bids to become horsemen. There is also a glaring difference between the two, namely that Nestor survived his battle with the Epeians and lived to reach old age, but in his battle with the Trojans Patroclus is slain. It is thus very significant that at the… Read more
Chapter 6. Odyssey 3 and Iliad 8 {172|173} §2.56 In the Odyssey Nestor is the same figure as in the Iliad except that he is now at home in Pylos ten years after the war. In the Iliad he is said to have outlived two generations of men and to rule in yet a third; in the Odyssey much the same is said of him. [… Read more
Chapter 7. Odyssey 11 and the Phaeacians {225|227} §2.100 Nestor is mentioned twice more in the Odyssey, in Odyssey 11 and Odyssey 24. [128] In Odyssey 11, as discussed already, only his name occurs: when Odysseus meets the ghost of Nestor’s mother Chloris in the underworld, Nestor is named as one of three sons she bore to Neleus (Odyssey 11.281–286): … Read more
Endnotes, Part 2 EN2.1 (Endnote to n2.62) {329|331} The terms mē̂tis and bíē, denoting “intelligence” and “strength,” are explicitly opposed to each other only once in Homer (μήτι τοι δρυτόμος μέγ’ ἀμείνων ἠὲ βίηφι, “by intelligence the woodcutter is much better than by strength,” Iliad 23.315), but the opposition between them matches up well with a contrast between the two heroes of the Iliad and the… Read more
Afterword. Old Habits Die Hard or New Customs Follow Old Paths? The sophisticated burial rites and customs presented above are obviously not unique to ancient Greece. The burial–coins, the wreaths, and the gold lamellae and epistomia, incised or unincised, are items ingeniously devised by humans to help them face the most terrifying fact of life. They attempt to solve practical problems and at the same time come to terms with… Read more
Appendix 1 Group A Texts A1 Thourioi, Italy, Timpone Piccolo: eight hexameters, and the last line in prose (indicated by a vertical line). Bibliography: Zuntz 1971, 281–305, 328–329, 333, 344–364; Riedweg 1998, 389–398, and 2002; Pugliese Carratelli 2001, 102–103, no. IIB1; Bernabé and Jiménez San Cristóbal 2001, 270–271 no. L9; Bernabé 2005, fr. 488; Graf and Johnston 2007, 12–13 no. 5; Edmonds forthcoming-2. A ἔρχομαι ἐκ… Read more
Appendix 2 Long- or Short-Text Epistomia, and Provenance Epistomia Engraved with Long Texts Group Provenance Date BCE Leaves/Coins 1 A1 Thourioi, Italy IV c. 2 A2 Thourioi, Italy IV c. 3 A3 Thourioi, Italy IV c. 4 A4 Thourioi, Italy IV c. 5 C1 Thourioi, Italy Iv c. 6 B1 Petelia, Italy IV c. 7 B10 Hipponion, Italy ca. 400 8 B2… Read more
