iMOUSEION and the CHS are joint sponsors of Lectures d’Homère, an international, interdisciplinary workshop on Homeric epic to be held at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France on June 4-5.
The Homeric Iliad and Odyssey have been studied for thousands of years, and much progress has been made regarding our understanding of their dating, composition, and transmission. Yet important questions remain open. While philology has been and will remain a primary field of inquiry for answering such questions, an interdisciplinary approach that synthesizes evidence from multiple fields of study promises to elicit new responses and even new Homeric Questions. The work of Douglas Frame on the role of Nestor and absent signifiers in Homeric epic offers a valuable model for current and future scholars. While remaining fully committed to philological methods, Frame deftly finds and follows previously hidden threads in these narratives by pursuing leads beyond the boundaries of philology into the fields of history, archeology, history of religion, linguistics, comparative philology, and Indo-European poetics.
With a focus on open dialogue, the “Homer at CHS Workshop” will explore Frame’s research, as well as the research of Gregory Nagy (CHS & Harvard University), Leonard Muellner (CHS & Brandeis University), and others. The objective is to revisit old problems and better redefine our questions about these beautiful Homeric epics.
For an introduction to Douglas Frame’s research, read our interview from January 2013: “Homer’s Hidden Muse and Related Questions: a conversation with classicist Douglas Frame“. Frame’s books and articles are freely available online: The Myth of Return in Early Greek Epic, Hippota Nestor, “The Homeric Poems after Ionia: A Case in Point”, “New Light on the Homeric Question: the Phaeacians Unmasked”, “Achilles and Patroclus as Indo-European Twins: Homer’s Take.” To find an extensive selection of research on ancient Greek civilization and literature, visit the CHS online at chs.harvard.edu.