Lampas - Volume 51, Issue 1, 2018

Summary This article offers a reading of the Odyssey that places emphasis on the wrath of Poseidon as a factor in the structure of the poem’s plot. Even though the god does not play a role as character in the second half of the poem, his wrath against Odysseus is apparent in the presence of the Suitors in Odysseus’ house and in the problems resulting from their death. The inland journey that Odysseus has to undertake after t Read More

Summary This contribution draws attention to the rhetorical aspects of Homeric poetry. Recent scholarship has shown that speeches in the Iliad and Odyssey display various patterns, techniques and strategies of persuasion that were in later times taught by Greek and Roman rhetoricians. The first part of this essay explores the complex relationship between Homeric poetry and classical rhetoric. The second part examines the r Read More

Summary This article*Dit artikel is geschreven als onderdeel van een project gefinancierd door het National Science Center, Polen (UMO-2013/10/E/HS2/00170). Ik dank Niels Koopman voor zijn commentaar. explores the role of the gods in the Iliad as analysed by Eustathius of Thessaloniki in his Commentary on the Iliad. Eustathius aims to identify the principles and techniques that underlie Homer’s successful c Read More

Summary This article offers an introduction to Cicero’s philosophical writings in general and his Tusculan Disputations in particular. Two passages from this treatise are part of the set texts for the Dutch final school exam Latin in 2018 (1.96-104 and 5.57-62). After introducing Cicero philosophus, it offers a synopsis of the Tusculan Disputations and a selective discussion of the aforementioned passages, with some sugg Read More

Summary Students in Dutch secondary schools are expected to translate Latin texts literally. They have to put a lot of effort into this task and, because of the difficulty of the task, many students hardly ever think about the question whether the content of the text is significant for their own situation in life. In this article, I present a ‘Whole Task’-assignment that promotes motivation by allowing choices and autonomous decisi Read More