Tag: Homer

Greek Reporter Hypocritically Bites One of the Many Hands That Feeds It

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

So as is my wont, yesterday, prior to setting off for my nightly appointment with Morpheus, I sort assorted email items to post at rogueclassicism and/or my explorator newsletter.  One of those items was a piece at the BBC by Oxford Classicist Armand D’Angour, whom we have mentioned several times at rogueclassicism. Dr D’Angour penned a nice little piece commenting on the veracity of assorted Greek legends: How many Greek legends were really true? It is a well-written piece, with nothing which a Classicist would take umbrage at. Imagine my surprise, however, when I woke up to an item from the Greek Reporter, which oddly seems to have seen Dr Armand’s piece as an attack on Greek Culture: BBC Attempts to Rewrite Ancient Greek History!

As longtime readers of rogueclassicism know, I have often criticized Greek Reporter for ‘losing things in translation’ or not reporting things as clearly as a news source should. In this case, however, Greek Reporter has not only ‘missed the boat’ … they didn’t even make it to the pier, washed away in a wave of false inferences and insinuations. Even worse, Greek Reporter doesn’t even provide the name of the author of the piece. Sadly, however, it is clear that Dr D’Angour is now being excoriated online (at Twitter) by the trolls who suck at the teat of Greek Reporter. E.g.:

So let’s begin with Dr D’Angour’s opening paragraph:

The culture and legends of ancient Greece have a remarkably long legacy in the modern language of education, politics, philosophy, art and science. Classical references from thousands of years ago continue to appear. But what was the origin of some of these ideas?

… and this is how Greek Reporter appears to have interpreted it and/or decided to spin it:

BBC published a not so flattering article regarding ancient Greek legends. The article’s author, Armand d’Angour, associate professor of classics at the University of Oxford, raises a series of questions and attempts to clarify if all of the ancient Greek legends are actually true or if they are myths, a figment of Greeks’ colorful imagination. The article seems as an unsuccessful attempt to devalue the significance of Greek culture and the contribution of ancient Greeks to modern civilization.

Wow … from dealing with ‘legends’, you get that? Moving on, Dr D’Angour deals first with the question of the veracity of the Trojan Horse:

The story of the Trojan Horse is first mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, an epic song committed to writing around 750BC, describing the aftermath of a war at Troy that purportedly took place around 500 years earlier.

After besieging Troy (modern-day Hisarlik in Turkey) for 10 years without success, the Greek army encamped outside the city walls made as if to sail home, leaving behind them a giant wooden horse as an offering to the goddess Athena.

The Trojans triumphantly dragged the horse within Troy, and when night fell the Greek warriors concealed inside it climbed out and destroyed the city. Archaeological evidence shows that Troy was indeed burned down; but the wooden horse is an imaginative fable, perhaps inspired by the way ancient siege-engines were clothed with damp horse-hides to stop them being set alight by fire-arrows.

… personally, I had never heard of the “damp horse-hide” interpretation, but it is interesting and not really offensive as far as I can tell.  Greek Reporter, however has this:

According to the writer, even though archaeologists have proven that Troy was indeed burnt down, there is no significant evidence regarding the existence of the wooden horse that Greeks used to hide and pass the city gates. It was probably an “imaginative fable, perhaps inspired by the way ancient siege-engines were clothed with damp horse-hides to stop them being set alight by fire arrows.”

It is perhaps ironic that one has to use a Latin phrase to describe the Greek Reporter‘s  fallacy here, but obviously it’s a non sequitur to infer that because there’s evidence of Troy being burned at some point, that the Trojan Horse part must be literally true.  But it gets worse. The next question to be dealt with is whether Homer actually existed. Dr D’Angour presents an answer which will  be familiar to anyone who has taken a first year Classical Civilization course (and plenty who haven’t):

Not only is the Trojan Horse a colourful fiction, the existence of Homer himself has sometimes been doubted. It’s generally supposed that the great epics which go under Homer’s name, the Iliad and Odyssey, were composed orally, without the aid of writing, some time in the 8th Century BC, the fruit of a tradition of oral minstrels stretching back for centuries.

While the ancients had no doubt that Homer was a real bard who composed the monumental epics, nothing certain is known about him. All we do know is that, even if the poems were composed without writing and orally transmitted, at some stage they were written down in Greek, because that is how they have survived.

Greek Reporter‘s response:

The article claims that Homer may in fact have never existed. His greatest works, Iliad and Odyssey were both composed orally under his name, but even though ancient Greeks were certain that he was the one who recited them, there is no actual way of knowing if that was the case.

Again, we are to infer that Greeks should be raising their ire at this. And yet, we probably should note that Greek Reporter pretty much said the same thing about Homer just a few months ago (10 of the Most Significant Writers of Ancient Greece:

[…]
He is mainly known for Iliad and Odyssey, the most famous epic poems. The Iliad is the oldest work of western literature. In ancient Greece, people considered themselves uneducated if they had not read both the Iliad and the Odyssey. What is odd is that there is no knowledge of Homer’s life to such an extent that historians dispute his existence.

Skipping something on the alphabet (which Greek Reporter also skipped), we proceed to the question of the Pythagorean theorem … Dr D’Angour:

It is doubtful whether Pythagoras (c. 570-495BC) was really a mathematician as we understand the word. Schoolchildren still learn his so-called theorem about the square on the hypotenuse (a2+b2 =c2). But the Babylonians knew this equation centuries earlier, and there is no evidence that Pythagoras either discovered or proved it.
Pythagoras

In fact, although genuine mathematical investigations were undertaken by later Pythagoreans, the evidence suggests that Pythagoras was a mystic who believed that numbers underlie everything. He worked out, for instance, that perfect musical intervals could be expressed by simple ratios.

… and Greek Reporter:

Even though schoolchildren around the world are taught the Pythagorean theorem during math class, d’Angour believes that the Babylonians had been using the theorem for centuries before Pythagoras even mentioned it.

The logic — if it can be called that — in that one is mind-boggling, and once again, we should point out that a couple of months ago, in a piece entitled Pythagoras: A Mysterious Personality, Religion and the Infamous Theorem, we read:

His mysterious personality was noticeable during his teaching; no notes and questions were allowed, that is why a great part of his works are lost. There is no additional information even on the renowned Pythagorean Theorem.

It is also not known if Pythagoras invented this theorem on his own or with the help of his students. The simple phrase saying that “the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides” was proven right before the Babylonians.

Skipping a few more (as does Greek Reporter) Dr D’Angour deals with the question of whether Alexander really was ‘great’. His brief assessment:

According to ancient sources, however, he was physically unprepossessing. Short and stocky, he was a hard drinker with a ruddy complexion, a rasping voice, and an impulsive temper which on one occasion led him to kill his companion Cleitus in a violent rage.
Alexander the Great

As his years progressed he became paranoid and megalomaniacal. However, in 10 short years from the age of 20 he forged a vast empire stretching from Egypt to India. Never defeated in battle, he made use of innovative siege engines every bit as as effective as the fabled Trojan Horse, and founded 20 cities that bore his name, including Alexandria in Egypt.

His military success was little short of miraculous, and in the eyes of an ancient world devoted to warfare and conquest it was only right to accord him the title of “Great”.

Greek Reporter ends their piece with:

Alexander may have been given the title “Great” but according to the article his character was far from that. In fact, the Oxford professor claims that he was a heavy drinker, a megalomaniac, paranoid, short man with a “rasping voice and impulsive temper” which even led him to kill one of his closest associates, Cleitus.

To which we can only say: So what?

Seriously, Greek Reporter? There is NOTHING in Dr D’Angour’s piece which should cause Greeks to take umbrage. Indeed, they should be grateful to Dr D’Angour and every Classicist who goes out of his or her regular academic duties to pen things in the popular press which are essentially promoting the study of the culture you claim is being disparaged. Until such time as you realize that we’re all on the same side, you’ll be continued to be dismissed as a feeder of trolls rather than a responsible promoter of a proud Greek heritage.

Upcoming Iliad Marathon Reading at Northwestern

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From the Daily Northwestern:

Late at night on the Lakefill, Northwestern students will experience a different kind of Greek life as they conduct a marathon reading of “The Iliad” from May 23 to 24.

Participants will read Homer’s famous epic about the end of the Trojan War beginning at 10 p.m. on May 23 and continuing until dawn the next day.

The Department of Classics, which is hosting the event, received funding in the fall from the Alumnae of Northwestern University, a volunteer organization, to bring to NU a production of “Socrates Now,” an interpretation of Plato’s “Apology of Socrates,” featuring Emmy-winning actor Yannis Simonides.

Francesca Tataranni, a professor of classics, said the idea for “The Iliad” reading was inspired by a group called The Readers of Homer, which performs marathon readings of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” all over the world.

Weinberg senior Maria Kovalchuk, co-president of the NU chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, a classics honor society, said those organizing the event wanted to mimic the epic poem’s original presentation.

“Greek epic poetry was sung by a bard often over the course of a few nights, and people would come to these recitals to be entertained,” Kovalchuk said. “Here at Northwestern, we’re trying to recreate this ancient Greek experience. I think it’s going to be a humanizing and educational event for Northwestern.”

Weinberg senior Brian Earl, also a co-president of Eta Sigma Phi, said he and other members worked on editing “The Iliad” down to fit in the allotted time.

“The whole thing takes about 24 hours to read if you do it uncut, so we’re going to do about a third of it,” Earl said.

Earl said he hasn’t studied the Iliad, but is familiar with the story as a criticism of war.

“It’s just about actually a very short period in the Trojan War — it takes place over a couple of weeks in the whole ten-year war,” he said. “’The Iliad’ has been called the greatest peace story of all time because it shows war how it really is — very bloody, grim, somber, heart-wrenching, terrible.”

Tataranni said as of now, she has received more than 60 requests to read passages from the text.  Readings will be 50 to 100 lines long, and some readers will be responsible for multiple readings, Earl said. Students can sign up to read by sending an email expressing interest to Tataranni by April 30.

“We have people from the School of Communication, people from Weinberg, people from Medill,” Tataranni said. “The 60 people who contacted me are really from everywhere on campus.”

The group also organized an opening event which will be held in Harris Hall from 6-7:30 p.m. and will be dedicated to translations of “The Iliad,” Tataranni said. During this event, faculty members and students will read parts of the text in multiple languages, including Italian, German and Russian.

However, Tataranni said she is still deciding whether readers can use any language in the main Lakefill reading, because they will not be able to project translations to help people follow along.

Earl said he thought a variety of languages would enhance the experience.

“Because the Iliad is such a universal poem, it’s been translated I think into just about every language,” he said. “It allows people to read in the language that is most comfortable to them or that they feel most at home speaking. We want this experience to be both deeply personal and bringing the community together … and our community is not one language-speaking.”

Katie Hartsock, a fifth-year graduate student in comparative literary studies and assistant director of the reading, said community members don’t have to have knowledge of “The Iliad” to participate.

“Whatever experience you have with ‘The Iliad,’ please come, whether you’ve just heard of it and never read it or if you’ve spent a lot of time reading it,” she said. “Bring blankets and hang out for the night and listen to this poem unfold.”

Hartsock said the outdoor, nighttime locale would add atmosphere to the reading. She added that she hopes the reading will conclude just as the dawn breaks.

“Just as Achilles is wandering the beach at dawn, we’ll be reading those lines,” she said. “I think it’s going to be so awesome when Achilles is walking up and down the beach, and the sun is rising over Lake Michigan.”

via: Classics department to host ‘Iliad’ marathon (The Daily Northwestern)

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Homerathon at UT-Arlington

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From the Shorthorn:

Students get the opportunity to recite one of the greatest poems in history at Homerathon, senior in history Erin Lynch said.

The goal of the reading of Homer’s The Odyssey is to celebrate not only the text but where it comes from and what it does, she said.

“It allows us to celebrate the work of Homer along with reinforcing what it would have been like living in an oral culture like this,” Lynch said.

Reciting the poem is something that would have been done years ago, so it’s great to see something like this actually starting up again, she said.

Students were able to sign up to read 59 available parts.

Spanish studies sophomore Daniel Aidan Wright participated for the first time this year.

“I heard about it last year and really wanted to do it. So whenever I saw they were having it again this year, then I signed up for multiple parts,” Wright said.

Students who participated thought it was a cool thing to do and thought it was important to see the way Western literature was, Wright said.

“This is definitely something that I would do again because it’s so interesting,” Wright said.

Audience members also enjoyed the reading, and English graduate student Rod Sachs said he thought it was interesting.

“I think it is a fantastic thing to do and a great way to get classic narrative into the open air,” Sachs said. “I would actually try reading next year.”

It was a great experience seeing students and professors working together on a casual level reciting such a great work, Sachs said.

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Classics Confidential | Michael Squire on the Imagines and Tabulae Iliacae

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I think I missed these … a two-parter; here’s the blurb for the first part:

This week’s interview features Dr Michael Squire of King’s College London, talking about his current research project on the Imagines. This text, which was written by the third-century AD Greek author Philostratus the Elder, contains accounts of 65 paintings displayed in an (imaginary?) gallery on the Bay of Naples. Mike introduces us to some of the paintings described by Philostratus, including a representation of the Cyclops Polyphemus and an image of the Trojan river Scamander. He touches on questions of authenticity and fiction, ecphrasis and imagination, and explains how the images in Philostratus’ gallery relate to one another, as well as referring out to other ancient literary texts including Homer and Sappho.

You can read more about Mike’s work on Philostratus on the Leverhulme Trust website:
http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/news…

The blurb for part II:

Last week we posted the first half of an interview with Dr Michael Squire from King’s College London, about his work on Philostratus’ Imagines. Here in Part 2 he tells us about a fascinating group of objects called the Tabulae Iliacae – miniature marble tablets dating to between the end of the first century BC and the early first century AD, which represent scenes from the Homeric epic cycle and other mythological and historical subjects.
For related links and images of the objects Mike discusses in the video, please visit the interview page at http://classicsconfidential.co.uk/201…

Diagnostical Skepticism

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hot on the heels of the Odysseus in America post comes this item from Anesthesiology News:

Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, of Peleus’ son, murderous, man-killer, fated to die of massive hemorrhage secondary to an acute laceration of the calcaneal tendon, indicating the likely presence of an inherited coagulopathy such as hemophilia or von Willebrand disease. (Note: The patient’s parentage—half mortal, half immortal—could have predisposed him to yet-undescribed clotting disorders.)

Classicists who devote their lives to the analysis of ancient texts such as Homer’s Iliad tend to be skeptical of physician historians who examine these literary works for insight into ancient medical practices—and who, in the process, come up with post hoc diagnoses such as the mockery above. And they’re evidently right to be wary.

An anesthesiologist and a pair of classicists have identified numerous errors in the methods and conclusions drawn by several medical researchers about medicine during the time of The Iliad. The researchers, from Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Temple University, in Philadelphia, presented their findings at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (abstract 1320).

Lead author and anesthesiologist Raymond C. Roy, MD, PhD, said that five of the six articles published from 2000 to 2010 discussing medical care in The Iliad fell into common traps. Mistakes included incorrect assumptions that Homer was an eyewitness reporter of actual events and real injuries, that accurate comparisons could be made to modern-day medical care based on limited descriptions, that there was a one-to-one relationship between ancient Greek and modern English medical terms, that medical care was organized then as it is now, and that physicians provided care to wounded heroes during the Trojan War.

Dr. Roy said his interest in the subject was stimulated by his daughter and her husband, both classicists at Temple University in Philadelphia. “We have engaged in some very interesting discussions over the coffee and drinks regarding ancient Greek medicine and current perceptions of it,” he said. “It has been fun to have this project with my children and to be ‘forced’ to read The Iliad … and a monograph by Salazar. Our thesis was that physicians who ‘dabble’ in history, like myself, frequently fall into traps that lead classicists to be critical of our conclusions.”

The epic poem about gods, heroes and heroic wounding and death near the end of the war stems from an oral tradition. Estimates of when it was composed (1184-675 B.C.) and first recorded (800-675 B.C.) range widely, and there are multiple versions of the work.

All accounts of Homer’s life place him centuries after the Trojan War. However, physician researchers have written: “We are amazed by Homer’s meticulous account of the wounds inflicted to combatants” and “it may therefore be inferred that Homer was a witness of the war and that he even participated in it: he may have been one of the people appointed to nurse wounds of the injured warriors.”

Other comments revealed a lack of knowledge about the practice of medicine in the period. Those included a reference to the likelihood that anesthetic procedure was already present in ancient Greece as well as the statement: “Numerous findings indicate that Greek physicians were present on the battlefield.”

Dr. Roy and his team point out that there were no field hospitals, and surgical instruments were rarely found at archeological digs of Bronze Age battles. With regard to anesthetics, salves were applied after, not during, an arrowhead extraction. Disease was left untreated because it was believed to be inflicted by the gods, and healing temples appeared after Homer. Healers took orders from heroes and could only treat non-heroes—only heroes had the status to treat other heroes. In fact, the primary function of the healers was to fight.

Medical terms that appear in modern translations present added red herrings, Dr. Roy said, “Classics like The Iliad are constantly evolving as each translator chooses more modern words, terms and concepts based on knowledge acquired since the previous translations, and this evolution has the effect of attributing more understanding by the ancients than they actually had.” For example, sinews, tendons, nerves, arteries and veins have all been used in place of the ancient term neuron, he said.

The authors conclude that for reasons ranging from national pride to the projecting of modern beliefs and knowledge onto the past, physicians who otherwise are rigorous in their scientific and medical endeavors tend to be naively positive in their analysis of the quality and efficacy of ancient treatments as encountered in classics. Although medical training can aid in the analysis of ancient healing practices, Dr. Roy warned, “Physicians writing historical articles about medicine in ancient times need to collaborate with classicists, archeologists and full-time historians to avoid drawing conclusions that are at odds with facts.”

That final paragraph should become some sort of mantra … you can substitute the non-classics profession of your choice for “Physician” as you desire …