Indo-European poetics

Comparative Studies in Greek and Indic Meter

Reversing the generally accepted notions about formula and meter in epic poetry, Gregory Nagy seeks to show that meter is an outgrowth of formula. To make his point he links the Parry-Lord techniques of formulaic analysis with the researches of Meillet, Jakobson, and Watkins on Indo-European metrics. In the process he evolves a new theory about the origins of the Homeric hexameter and offers controversial fresh material for pursuing the problem of… Read more

Achilles and Patroclus as Indo-European Twins: Homer’s Take

[Forthcoming in Gemini and the Sacred: Twins and Twinship in Religion and Mythology, edited by Kimberley C. Patton (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022).] There are two forms of the Indo-European twin myth relevant to the story of Patroclus and Achilles in the Iliad. In one the twins remain together, in the other they separate. The Greek Dioscuri remain together, and the dynamic between them is the following: Castor, who is mortal,… Read more

Indo-European Language and Society

Translated from the French by Elizabeth Palmer, this online edition has been revised and updated by Jeremy Lin, Jacqueline Lewandowski, and Vergil Parson. “This work belongs in a bountiful tradition. Less than a decade after Devoto’s Origini indeuropee, Benveniste, leaving aside most apparatus but ever so supremely in control of the data, has produced a classic. We may see it as a collection of monographs or as the systematic work… Read more

Now Available Online | The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics

The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics, by Christos Tsagalis The Center for Hellenic Studies is pleased to announce the online publication of The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics, by Christos Tsagalis on the CHS website. The work is also available for purchase in print through Harvard University Press. Oral intertextuality is an innate feature of the web of myth, whose interrelated fabrics allow the audience of epic… Read more

Now Available Online | The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics

The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics, by Christos Tsagalis The Center for Hellenic Studies is pleased to announce the online publication of The Oral Palimpsest: Exploring Intertextuality in the Homeric Epics, by Christos Tsagalis on the CHS website. The work is also available for purchase in print through Harvard University Press. Oral intertextuality is an innate feature of the web of myth, whose interrelated fabrics allow the audience of epic song… Read more

Gregory Nagy's Short Writings, Vol. 1 & 2

New in Online Publications Gregory Nagy is a renowned authority in the field of Homeric and related Greek studies and has written almost one hundred articles and reviews. In Short Writings, Volumes 1 and 2, we have collected together in digital form almost thirty of his most influential works. Many of these articles have been expanded or updated since their original publication. See below for contents and details. The links provided lead directly to the full text on the CHS website. Short Writings, Volume 1 "The Aeolic Component in Homeric Diction." Expanded online edition of an article originally published in 2011 in Proceedings of the 22nd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (ed. S. W. Jamison, H.C. Melchert, B. Vine) 133–179. Bremen: Ute Hempen Verlag. Copyright, Ute Hempen Verlag. "'Dream of a Shade': Refractions of Epic Vision in Pindar’s Pythian 8 and Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes." 2012 online version of an article that originally appeared in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 100 (2000) 97–118. Published here by permission of Harvard University Press. Copyright, Harvard University Press. "Epic." 2010 online version of an essay that originally appeared as Chapter 1 of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Literature (ed. R. Eldridge; Oxford 2009) 19-44. Copyright, Oxford University Press. Read more

Gregory Nagy’s Short Writings, Vol. 1 & 2

New in Online Publications Gregory Nagy is a renowned authority in the field of Homeric and related Greek studies and has written almost one hundred articles and reviews. In Short Writings, Volumes 1 and 2, we have collected together in digital form almost thirty of his most influential works. Many of these articles have been expanded or updated since their original publication. See below for contents and details. The links provided lead directly to the full text on the CHS website. Short Writings, Volume 1 "The Aeolic Component in Homeric Diction." Expanded online edition of an article originally published in 2011 in Proceedings of the 22nd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (ed. S. W. Jamison, H.C. Melchert, B. Vine) 133–179. Bremen: Ute Hempen Verlag. Copyright, Ute Hempen Verlag. "'Dream of a Shade': Refractions of Epic Vision in Pindar’s Pythian 8 and Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes." 2012 online version of an article that originally appeared in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 100 (2000) 97–118. Published here by permission of Harvard University Press. Copyright, Harvard University Press. "Epic." 2010 online version of an essay that originally appeared as Chapter 1 of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Literature (ed. R. Eldridge; Oxford 2009) 19-44. Copyright, Oxford University Press. Read more