Take a minute to explore the highlights of 2017 at the CHS!
This past year has been filled with events and activities, online discussions, print and online publications, ongoing projects, and so on.
Featured Publications from the CHS and Partnering Institutions
In print
Hélène Monsacré, The Tears of Achilles, Hellenic Studies Series 75
Pernille Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell, Jens Peter Schjødt, Amber J. Rose, eds. Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives, Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature 3
Online
Jean Bollack, The Art of Reading: From Homer to Paul Celan, Hellenic Studies Series 73
John Curtis Franklin, Kinyras: The Divine Lyre, Hellenic Studies Series 70
Forthcoming from the Hellenic Studies Series
Katherine L. Kretler, One Man Show: Poetics and Presence in the Iliad and Odyssey
Andrew Porter, Agamemnon, the Pathetic Despot: Reading Characterization in Homer
Forthcoming from the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature
Albert B. Lord, The Singer of Tales: Third Edition, ed. David F. Elmer
Forthcoming from Cornell UP’s Myth and Poetics II Series
Richard Martin, Mythologizing Performance
Classical Inquiries: Professor Gregory Nagy’s Commentary on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
During 2017, Gregory Nagy shared samplings of his commentary on rhapsodies 1 through 24 of the Odyssey, through Classical Inquiries (CI) the online, rapid-publication project of Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies. It forms a fitting companion piece for professor Nagy’s 2016 commentary on the Iliad. The commentaries for both Homeric epics are gathered on this dedicated page. Professor Nagy has also started similar projects on Pausanias and Pindar. By focusing on these works and experimenting with a variety of features in his comments, Professor Nagy offers a preview of the larger projects A Homer Commentary in Progress and A Pindar Commentary in Progress, as well as the forthcoming A Pausanias Commentary in Progress.
Kosmos Society: Online Community for Classical Studies
When Hour 25 opened its doors in 2013, it was envisioned as a community-driven companion project to “The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours,” the edX/HarvardX MOOC (massive open online course) directed by Gregory Nagy, which is also known as HeroesX. The idea was that Hour 25 would allow participants to go beyond the 24 Hours of HeroesX by providing a friendly, safe, and stimulating environment for community members to continue learning in an open-ended way with others who shared their passion for close reading and the ancient Greek world. Οver the years, our community has evolved beyond its initial goal, reaching out to wider audiences beyond HeroesX and bringing together a wider variety of content. To address this evolution, Hour 25 was reconceptualized as The Kosmos Society: An Online Community for Classical Studies.
The Kosmos Society continues to work with dedicated community members to provide access to a growing collection of resources and an international community of learners who participate in close readings. We welcome new members who are interested in learning while engaging in a respectful and friendly dialogue on a wide variety of topics in Classics—and beyond. Some of the organized community activities involve online discussions with visiting scholars, and group sessions of studying ancient Greek and Latin. Please join in the conversation and the Kosmos Society by sending an e-mail at kosmos_help@chs.harvard.edu. A new session of the HeroesX, starts on January 11, so if you haven’t had the chance to take the MOOC before, start off the new year by enrolling in the Ancient Greek Hero!
10-year anniversary of the CHS in Greece
The Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece (CHS GR) was inaugurated in 2008 by way of a joint decision between the Provost and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Having begun as a remote office of the Center of Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., it has evolved into a European base of operations for Harvard University.
CHS GR plays a key role in Harvard’s continuing effort to expand its international presence. In furtherance of that effort, the CHS participated in the Harvard Worldwide Week, a new initiative by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs to showcase the remarkable breadth of Harvard’s global engagement, hosting the “Role of an international Center in supporting the University’s global presence,” a panel discussion on its programs and collaborations in Greece. During the event, faculty, students, and other colleagues from the Harvard community shared perspectives on their experiences working with different aspects of CHS programs.
Organized this year for the first time, the Worldwide Week at Harvard coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Center’s presence in Greece, which adds a symbolic value to the CHS’s participation and makes for a unique opportunity to celebrate the Center’s evolution and expansion. Gregory Nagy, Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard and Director of the CHS, used the event as an opportunity to share the vision that led him to establish the Center in Greece, a vision linked to the Center’s mission to support Hellenic studies and to demonstrate the humanistic values of the Hellenes.
The Center’s activities and initiatives in 2018, both upcoming and already underway, continue to build on the dynamic presence of Harvard University in Greece. We are looking forward to sharing information about this year’s events and programs through the CHS in Greece website and social media, so stay tuned.
Art at the CHS
On September 16, 2017, the CHS hosted a closing celebration for an exhibit of paintings and drawings by Anne Davey. Entitled From the Depths of the Salt Sea, the exhibit imagined encounters with the Nereids, the daughters of Nereus, who were divine inhabitants of the sea. There was a panel discussion, musical and dance performances, and a reception.
Currently, the CHS is showcasing a series of paintings and drawings by artist Glynnis Fawkes that represents nearly 20 years of work relating to the landscapes of the Eastern Mediterranean. The exhibit, entitled Landscapes of Myth and Memory draws inspiration from both the archaeology and mythology of Greece and Cyprus.
First Thousand Years of Greek Project at the CHS
This summer, the CHS hosted 3 interns who worked for 8 weeks on the on the Free First Thousand Years of Greek project, a self-standing subset of the Open Greek and Latin Project. The goal of the project is to make freely available the corpus of the first thousand years of Ancient Greek as attested in manuscripts. To read about their experiences, view the posts written by Pria, Linda, and Brittany. The application for next summer’s program is now online.
On behalf of the entire CHS team we wish you a Happy New Year full of happiness and prosperity!
