Now Online from Gregory Nagy

Two of Professor Nagy’s most recent articles have become available under the online publication Short Writings Volume IV, the fourth volume in a series of online anthologies, all available online for free at the CHS website.
“The idea of an archetype in texts stemming from the empire founded by Cyrus”
This essay discusses the idea of an archetype as encountered in the text of the so-called Cyrus Cylinder, as well as other writings that stem from the Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great. Nagy argues that the very idea of an archetype is multilevel, and attempts to show it holds a deeper ritualized meaning.
“Diachronic Homer and a Cretan Odyssey”
Nagy explores the kaleidoscopic world of Homer and Homeric poetry from a diachronic perspective, combining it with a synchronic perspective. As Nagy argues “when you look at Homeric poetry from a diachronic perspective, you will see not only an evolving medium of oral poetry. You will see also a medium that actually views itself diachronically. In other words, Homeric poetry demonstrates aspects of its own evolution.”