Registration is now open for Module 3 of the Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (Hours 12-15), “Cult of Heroes”, on edX. HUM 2.3x., the third of five modules in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, “Hours 12-15: Cult of Heroes” explores the vast variety of perspectives brought to bear on the idea of the ancient Greek hero in the versatile medium of prose, as exemplified by authors as varied as… Read more
Registration is now open for Module 2 of the Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (Hours 6-11), “Signs of the Hero in Epic and Iconography”, on edX. HUM 2.2x., the second of five modules in The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, “Hours 6-11: Signs of the Hero in Epic and Iconography” explores the interactions of text and image in a culture where the “text”… Read more
Registration is now open for the latest session of “The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours,” a groundbreaking, open-access educational project from HarvardX that introduces participants to the literature and heroes of ancient Greece. Based upon one of Harvard College’s longest running residential courses, “HeroesX,” for short, is now divided into five separate but integrated units, or learning “modules,” all running on the edX platform. Directed by Gregory Nagy,… Read more
Registration is now open for the latest session of “The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours,” a groundbreaking, open-access educational project from HarvardX that introduces participants to the literature and heroes of ancient Greece. Based upon one of Harvard College’s longest running residential courses, “HeroesX,” for short, is now divided into five separate but integrated units, or learning “modules,” all running on the edX platform. Directed by Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones… Read more
Explore what it means to be human today by studying what it meant to be a hero in ancient Greek times Registration is now open for the latest session of The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, a unique MOOC that introduces participants to the literature and heroes of ancient Greece via the content from one of Harvard’s longest running courses. The first of five modules on The Ancient… Read more
Hercules and Corona Borealis as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, by Sidney Hall, c. 1825 (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain) According to many multiforms of the Ariadne myth, Dionysus places Ariadne’s garland in the sky as immortal compensation and memory for the heroine. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.176-182 (trans. C. Filos) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) Desertae et multa querenti amplexus et opem Liber tulit; utque… Read more
The Sleeping Ariadne in Naxos by John Vanderlyn (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain) In a recent post we shared a description of Ariadne as offered by Philostratus the Elder: But look at Ariadne, or rather her sleep. Her breasts are bare to her navel, her neck is back and her soft throat, and her armpit, the right one, is all visible. Her left hand lies upon her… Read more
Opera, like ancient Greek lyric and epic, is a highly visual art capable of mesmerizing audiences with spectacles of joy, shocking humor, and the depths of grief. The current Glimmerglass production of Ariadne in Naxos sets the Ariadne myth in modern times. Below are renderings of Bacchus and Ariadne by designer Erik Teague for this beautiful production. Costume renderings by Erik Teague for The Glimmerglass Festival’s 2014 production of… Read more
CHS Director Gregory Nagy has long been interested in comparative work on ancient Greek poetry and the modern mediums of film and opera. For many years now, Nagy has been using the 1951 film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann to introduce new readers to concepts related to ancient Greek heroes. In fact, Nagy has developed detailed, almost frame-by-frame commentary on this cinematic masterpiece. This work led Nagy and the Center… Read more
The Homer Multitext project, the first of its kind in Homeric studies, presents the textual transmission of the Iliad and Odyssey in a historical framework. It offers free access to a library of texts and images, a machine-interface to that library and its indices, and tools to allow readers to discover and engage with the Homeric tradition. The HMT team has always provided open access to their source images and editorial work. Read more
