interview

An Interview with Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, Director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

Dr. Polyxeni Adam-Veleni of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki welcomed us for an interview on the premises of the museum, a museum that features artifacts of great historic value from throughout Macedonia. Dr. Adam-Veleni talks about her research interests and the museum’s exhibitions and general projects. Northern Greece, she said, has still many unrevealed artifacts that will be of great interest to the academic community worldwide. The Museum… Read more

Homer's Hidden Muse and Related Questions: a conversation with classicist Douglas Frame

Mindful of hidden and absent signifiers, classicist Douglas Frame brings new light to Nestor, nostos, and the Homeric question. We are especially pleased to share the following conversation with CHS author and classicist Douglas Frame about his innovative approach to Homer, the non-traditional path of his career, and his influential publications. CHS: You’ve authored two important books on Homer that are closely related but separated by… Read more

Homer’s Hidden Muse and Related Questions: a conversation with classicist Douglas Frame

Mindful of hidden and absent signifiers, classicist Douglas Frame brings new light to Nestor, nostos, and the Homeric question. We are especially pleased to share the following conversation with CHS author and classicist Douglas Frame about his innovative approach to Homer, the non-traditional path of his career, and his influential publications. CHS: You’ve authored two important books on Homer that are closely related but separated by almost… Read more

Homeric Variations: Interview with Classicist and Jazz Musician Graeme Bird, Gordon College

Graeme Bird and a student from Gordon College examine an 1800-year-old Homeric papyrus.Photo Credit: Cyndi McMahon, Gordon College   "True improvisation has nothing really to do with “making stuff up on the spot”; rather it is the creative and inspired weaving together of previously rehearsed material…" --Graeme Bird We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with professor, musician, and CHS author Graeme D. Bird about his work on ancient Homeric papyri, jazz improvisation, and the surprising intersections between the two. Read more

Q&A with Anna Bonifazi

We recently had a chance to talk with Anna Bonifazi about her research, Homeric diction, and her new book, Homer's Verisicolored Fabric: The Evocative Power of Ancient Greek Epic Wordmaking. CHS: Your book examines two main subjects: 1) the pronominalization of Odysseus as ἐκεῖνος and as αὐτός 2) the treatment of particles and adverbs deriving from αὐ- and from αὐτός with a focus on the notion of discourse markers. Why was it important to consider these two subjects together? Bonifazi: There is a specific and a general reason. The specific one is that the au- adverbs I discuss and autos share some discourse functions (which supports the hypothesis that autos derives from *au-, by the way); sometimes grammatical distinctions do not help identifying cognate significances. The general reason is that both groups of words are particularly sensitive to the context of their utterance; far from having a stable (univocal) meaning, they contribute, together with their verbal environs, to signal different communicative intentions, a situation which prompts purposive rather than mechanical usages. Read more

Q&A with Anna Bonifazi

We recently had a chance to talk with Anna Bonifazi about her research, Homeric diction, and her new book, Homer's Verisicolored Fabric: The Evocative Power of Ancient Greek Epic Wordmaking. CHS: Your book examines two main subjects: 1) the pronominalization of Odysseus as ἐκεῖνος and as αὐτός 2) the treatment of particles and adverbs deriving from αὐ- and from αὐτός with a focus on the notion of discourse markers. Why was it important to consider these two subjects together? Bonifazi: There is a specific and a general reason. The specific one is that the au- adverbs I discuss and autos share some discourse functions (which supports the hypothesis that autos derives from *au-, by the way); sometimes grammatical distinctions do not help identifying cognate significances. The general reason is that both groups of words are particularly sensitive to the context of their utterance; far from having a stable (univocal) meaning, they contribute, together with their verbal environs, to signal different communicative intentions, a situation which prompts purposive rather than mechanical usages. Read more