8. The Homeric Hymn to Apollo Translated by Rodney Merrill Translator’s Note My main aims in translating this hymn are similar to those I have set forth at some length in the translator’s introduction to my version of the Odyssey (Ann Arbor, 2002, 64–85), and more briefly in the introduction to my version of the Iliad (Ann Arbor, 2007, 1–22). They have to do with… Read more
Contributors CURTIS DOZIER received his Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California, Berkeley, and is Visiting Assistant Professor of Latin at Vassar College. His research focuses on the social context of Latin poetry: where and in what format Romans encountered it, what intellectual and social role it played in Roman society, and how Roman social practices shaped its interpretation. DAVID LARSEN is a Postdoctoral Associate… Read more
Acknowledgments This book was a long time in the making. I could neither have begun nor completed it without the understanding and support of my wonderful mother and father, Michele and Conrad, and my dear sisters, Suzanne and Stephanie. I am indebted for intellectual and moral support to all my colleagues and friends at Harvard University, University of Washington, Seattle, the Center for Hellenic Studies, and Rutgers… Read more
Preface This book examines the origins, development, and elaboration of kitharôidia in its social and political contexts and in its relation to other poetic, musical, and discursive forms and practices. It is thus, in part, an archaeology of a performative practice (singing to the kithara) and a song genre, the citharodic nomos; a social history of the production and consumption of professional agonistic music in ancient Greece… Read more
Part I. Princeps Citharoedus 1. Setting the Scene: A Citharode in Naples He made his performance debut at Naples, and, even though the theater was rocked with a sudden earthquake, he did not cease singing until he had finished the nomos that he had begun. In the same city he sang frequently over the course of several days. Even when he took a short… Read more
Part II. Anabolê, Prooimion, Nomos: Form and Content of Citharodic Songs 1. Prelude/Anabolê In their descriptions of Nero’s performance in Naples, neither Tacitus nor Suetonius says anything about an instrumental lead-in, but a prelude to the song proper, typically called the anabolê, was a standard element of citharodic performance, and so would most likely have been performed by Nero in Naples. The proto-citharodic Homeric bards Demodocus… Read more
4. Itinerant Sophoi One of the most distinctive features of the sophists is their itinerant status, and it will be the focus of this chapter. [1] We shall start by reviewing the evidence of the sophists’ travel to understand better its scope and character. We shall then explore the theme of travel in our sources on other practitioners of wisdom, prior to or… Read more
5. Sages at the Games In one of the stranger accounts of sophists at work, we hear how Hippias of Elis made a conspicuous appearance at Olympia. In the words of Plato (Hippias Minor 368b-e): This passage perfectly illustrates the strangeness of the material on the sophists, and it also draws attention to how little we know about the performance context of their activities. It thus invites us to… Read more
6. Competition in Wisdom The aim of this chapter is to examine in closer detail the elements of competition involved in the ancient Greek wisdom tradition. [1] This aspect of Greek intellectual life is particularly relevant since there is in our material a close affiliation on the part of sophoi with the Panhellenic games, the sites of competition par excellence. [2]… Read more
Apendix. Primary Sources for the Sophists It would be difficult to regard the story of the tripod as legend, since it seems to have been invented simply as an illustration of a type of wisdom. Still, it remains a legend because of the recognizable persistence of certain traditional ideas or images, and because of the mythological basis it retains (more or less faithfully, depending on the authors). Without such… Read more
