Multitext Editions and Digital Publication


We are pleased to feature the following publications and resources that highlight multitextuality and digital publication.

Online Publications

Casey Dué and Mary Ebbott, Iliad 10 and the Poetics of Ambush: A Multitext Edition with Essays and Commentary
Cover of Iliad 10 and the Poetics of AmbushDué and Ebbott confront deeply entrenched ideas about the Doloneia. Ignoring or only barely acknowledging Iliad 10 is a strategy employed by many scholars, who likely feel they must ignore it so as not to incur the charge of making arguments about Homer based on an “interpolated,” “un-Homeric,” or otherwise problematic text. Nevertheless, the authors feel that there is an entirely different way of treating this book. Rather than dismiss it as “un-Homeric” or pass over it in silence, they propose to show that Iliad 10 offers us unique insight into such important topics as the process of composition-in-performance, the traditional themes of Archaic Greek epic, the nature of the hero, and the creativity and artistry of the oral traditional language.
Classics@ Issue 5, Proceedings of the Derveni Papyrus Conference

In July, 2008, the Center for Hellenic Studies hosted a three-day symposium on the Derveni Papyrus in light of the recent publication of the edition by Theokritos Kouremenos, George M. Parássoglou, and Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou. This issue of Classics@ includes an introduction by Ioanna Papadopoulou as well as papers and presentations by Alberto Bernabé, Anton Bierl, Walter Burkert, Claude Calame, Fritz Graf, Richard Hunter, Sarah Iles Johnston, Jeffrey Rusten, David Sider, Evina Sistakou, Yannis Z. Tzifopoulos, and Prof. (EMER.) Kyriakos Tsantsanoglou.
Casey Dué (ed.), Recapturing a Homeric Legacy: Images and Insights from the Venetus A Manuscript of the Iliad (3.5 MB PDF download). Also available in print here.
Recapturing a Homeric LegacyMarcianus Graecus Z. 454 [= 822], known to Homeric scholars as the Venetus A, is the oldest complete text of the Iliad in existence, meticulously crafted during the tenth century CE. Two thousand years later, technology offers a new opportunity to rediscover this scholarship and better understand the epic that is the foundation of Western literature.

 

iMouseion and the Derveni Papyrus

A few years ago The Center for Hellenic Studies, working in conjunction with other key institutions, made the Greek text of the Derveni Papyrus available online, as it was published in 2006 (© Olschki, Firenze). Continuing our effort to improve the digital edition of the papyrus, we developed a new form for the text under the framework of the CHS-iMouseion Project. We are happy to announce the new edition of the first six columns by Franco Ferrari, under the multiversion iMouseion environment.
The iMouseion Project (based in both the US and Europe) is a virtual research environment where scholars and IT architects interact closely while creating processes and tools to support innovative models of interdisciplinary research. This work is oriented towards digital publication with a strong collaborative component. The term “iMouseion” conveys the idea of a multimedia virtual laboratory inspired by the paradigm of the Library of Alexandria–a meeting place where scholars work collaboratively on experimental teaching and publishing methods in different fields.

Homer Multitext Project

VenA detail Iliad 20 249
Detail, verso folio 264 of the Venetus A (Iliad XX.249).παντοῖοι. ἐπέων δὲ πολὺς νομὸς ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα”

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.
For the next two weeks, four teams of undergraduate researchers and faculty mentors will convene at the Center in Washington, D.C. for the 2012 Homer Multitext Summer Seminar. This seminar will provide undergraduate researchers an introduction to fundamental ideas about the oral composition and transmission of the epics, and basic training in editing digital texts. For an example of current undergraduate research, read “Identifying Aristarchean Commentary in the Venetus A Scholia,” a guest post by Thomas Arralde, Class of 2013, College of the Holy Cross.

Heroes Course

As part of its educational mission, CHS offers free access to a distance learning course taught by Center Director Gregory Nagy. Concepts of the Hero in Greek Civilization provides an engaging introduction to the major themes of ancient Greek myth, cult, and poetics. All readings are in translation and include the epics of Homer, seven tragedies, two Platonic dialogues, and the dialogue On Heroes by Philostratus. We invite you to learn more by exploring the selected resources below. Then access all the content from 2010 via our recent blog post on kleos@CHS.
Week Nine, 2010
Dialogue 13: Herodotus (High Res Video | Low Res Video)
Proseminar: Hesiod (High Res Video | Low Res Video)
Dialogue 14: Hesiod and Theognis (High Res Video | Low Res Video)
Section: Hesiod, Works and Days, 225–264 (Low Res Video)
Reading: Selections from Philostratus, On Heroes (1.1–16.6; 25.1–25.16; 44.5–54.1; Nagy’s introduction to On Heroes is optional), Hesiod (Theogony, lines 1–115; Works & Days, lines 1–286) (SB2), and Herodotus (Histories, 1.1–91; 9.114–122) (SB2); review, Nagy,“The Epic Hero.”