Classical Inquiries

CHS Learning Module

Classical Inquiries | Just to look at all the shining bronze here, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven: Seeing bronze in the ancient Greek world

Head of a Bearded God, first century BC, bronze, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson Today, February 25, at 3:30 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington DC, Gregory Nagy and Gloria Ferrari Pinney are holding a panel discussion on “A poet or a god: The Iconography of Certain Bearded Male Bronzes.” This is… Read more

CHS Learning Module, News

Classical Inquiries | Diachronic Sappho: some prolegomena

Detail from Attic krater attributed to the Brygos painter, 480-470 BCE. Line drawing by Valerie Woelfel. “A diachronic as well as synchronic approach to the songmaking of Sappho” by Gregory Nagy In his posting Diachronic Sappho: some prolegomena, Gregory Nagy argues that the art of Sappho’s songmaking can be viewed as an evolving medium through time. He offers his views in support of this argument. Read more

CHS Learning Module

Classical Inquiries | Diachronic Sappho: some prolegomena

Detail from Attic krater attributed to the Brygos painter, 480-470 BCE. Line drawing by Valerie Woelfel. “A diachronic as well as synchronic approach to the songmaking of Sappho” by Gregory Nagy In his posting Diachronic Sappho: some prolegomena, Gregory Nagy argues that the art of Sappho’s songmaking can be viewed as an evolving medium through time. He offers his views in support of this argument. Read more

CHS Learning Module

Classical Inquiries | Homo ludens in the world of ancient Greek verbal art

Mosaic showing theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy, from the Baths of Decius on the Aventine Hill, Rome, 2nd century CE. [image by antmoose, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons  In his recent Classical Inquiries posting, Gregory Nagy argues that “the capacity of ancient Greek poetry to imitate, in a playful way, language in all its forms, both artful and artless” is what ultimately shaped all verbal arts,… Read more

CHS Learning Module

Classical Inquiries | Homo ludens in the world of ancient Greek verbal art

Mosaic showing theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy, from the Baths of Decius on the Aventine Hill, Rome, 2nd century CE. [image by antmoose, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons In his recent Classical Inquiries posting, Gregory Nagy argues that “the capacity of ancient Greek poetry to imitate, in a playful way, language in all its forms, both artful and artless” is what ultimately shaped all verbal arts, including… Read more

CHS Learning Module, News

Classical Inquiries | “Genre, Occasion, and Choral Mimesis Revisited,” by Gregory Nagy

"What happens if the occasion for performing a given genre of song becomes obsolete?" Gregory Nagy considers this question in his recent article on Classical Inquiries: "Genre, Occasion, and Choral Mimesis Revisited—with special reference to the 'newest Sappho'.” (2015.10.1) Drawing on the songs of Sappho and the modern lyrics of Lesley Gore, Nagy argues that genre can compensate for, and even absolutize, the occasion of performance. For Nagy, the occasion of choral performance is the mimesis of emotions by way of song and dance. "The emotions themselves are not the occasion." Read more

CHS Learning Module

Classical Inquiries | "Genre, Occasion, and Choral Mimesis Revisited," by Gregory Nagy

"What happens if the occasion for performing a given genre of song becomes obsolete?" Gregory Nagy considers this question in his recent article on Classical Inquiries: "Genre, Occasion, and Choral Mimesis Revisited—with special reference to the 'newest Sappho'.” (2015.10.1) Drawing on the songs of Sappho and the modern lyrics of Lesley Gore, Nagy argues that genre can compensate for, and even absolutize, the occasion of performance. For Nagy, the occasion of choral performance is the mimesis of emotions by way of song and dance. "The emotions themselves are not the occasion." Read more