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- Volume 55, Issue 1, 2022
Lampas - Volume 55, Issue 1, 2022
Volume 55, Issue 1, 2022
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Violence, peace and verbal style in the Iliad
More LessAbstractThis paper contrasts two modes of representation, each of which applies to a wide range of phenomena (verbal, visual, and social): aggregation and antithesis. Homeric epic is (like Geometric vase-painting) for the most part aggregative, in narrative and in verbal style. By contrast, later texts (especially Herakleitos and tragedy) often contain the juxtaposition of two words expressing an opposition (‘antithetical dyads’). In Homer there are only four appositional antithetical dyads, which all occur in a peaceful interlude in the Iliad that is distinctive also by virtue of containing a number of elements (such as writing and temple statues) that occur nowhere else in Homer but will be central to the polis. The interlude also contains a single line (6.236) which (a) is by far the fullest account of a commercial transaction in Homer, and (b) contains two of the four Homeric appositional antithetical dyads. This illustrates the relation between verbal style and social process, specifically between the antithetical dyad and the unity of opposites inherent in commercial exchange. Finally, the relation between antithesis and the emergent polis is illustrated from the scenes depicted on the shield of Achilles: the antitheticality between and within these scenes expresses the necessity for the polis to unify internal oppositions.
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Homerus in de papyri
Authors: Mark de Kreij & Bas van de VenAbstractThe authors present a brief survey of Homeric papyri ranging from summaries to word lists and exam prep. Especially papyri from an educational context form a great way to, on the one hand, introduce students of Homer to papyri, and on the other, offer a fresh perspective on Homer and his reception in antiquity. The final part of the article offers a small example of a papyrological exercise for secondary school pupils.
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Troje is nooit veroverd!
More LessAbstractIn his serio-comic Trojan Oration (Or. 11), Dio of Prusa, one of the leading Greek orators of his time (1st century CE), argues that the Trojans, not the Greeks, have won the Trojan war. Homer has lied to us and these lies have been leading us to an unjust depiction of history for centuries. Dio shows how exactly this is possible: based on what Homer himself tells us (or does not tell us) Dio deconstructs the Iliad and through his revision attempts to convince his audience of Homer’s early case of ‘fake news’. Although the modern reader may initially consider this piece to be a mere joke, Dio’s text actually fits several traditions, including Homeric criticism, rationalizations of mythography, display of rhetorical command, literary play with (pseudo-)authoritative sources, and the urge of Roman Greeks to connect their Greek identity to the Homeric past. Moreover, Dio makes us consider the nature of the Iliad itself: what does Homer tell us? What does he leave out? And why?
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Bekende Romeinen
By Ruurd NautaAbstractWriting and publishing short texts about oneself, one’s friends, one’s activities and opinions is something everybody does who is active on social media. It was also done by Pliny in his Epistles and by Martial in his Epigrams. Of course, their media do not map exactly onto ours, nor do their norms, values and expectations, but precisely for that reason the comparison may be illuminating. In this article, I discuss how Pliny, in the medium of the letter, and Martial, in the medium of the epigram, constructed and presented their social selves. As the article is primarily meant for Dutch schoolteachers teaching Pliny and Martial for the Central School Exam of 2022, I use, as far as possible, passages that are on the reading list for that exam.1
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