Copyright © 2007 The University of IowaDepartment of Classics. All rights reserved.
John Marincola, “Odysseus and the Historians”
Abstract: Studies of Homer’s influence on ancient historiography have concentrated naturally on the Iliad, a martial epic emphasising war, battle, bravery, and glory. This article, working through the figure of Odysseus, looks more closely at the influence of the Odyssey on ancient historians. It is argued that despite the problematic nature of Odysseus’ character, he was seen by historians largely in a positive light; and his curiosity, patience, cleverness, and narrative skill played fundamental roles in the subject matter and methodology of ancient historiography.
Abstract: The history of Delphi’s small omphalos began with its discovery in the adyton of the Apollo Temple in 1913 and temporarily ended with its disappearance, at some point after 1951, following its denouncement as a fake. Questions had arisen earlier concerning the manner in which this artifact had been found, but most archaeologists and classicists who saw and wrote about it in the early half of the 20th century believed it to be genuine.
The omphalos was shaped using ancient tools, and its dimensions are similar to those of most omphaloi shown on bas-reliefs, coins, and ceramic wares from the Classical and Hellenistic periods. It differs, however, from other omphaloi by the presence of a narrow squarish hole, carved through it from top to bottom, and widening downwards. Holland (1933) believed that this axial tube served to funnel the “pneuma” to the Pythia during mantic sessions. Holland’s hypothesis is greatly strengthened by the recent discovery that hydrocarbon gases (including narcotic ethylene) did surface with spring waters in the adyton.
Abstract: The meaning of suvmbolon (221) is “point of connection,” as Lloyd-Jones and Wilson have argued: “I would not be tracking it over a great distance unless I had some connection.” Hence in the following sentence Oedipus emphasizes his connection to the Thebans. But as transmitted, the immediately preceding sentence denies any connection between Oedipus and the matter at hand. Sense suggests that the second xevno~ is corrupt and the meaning of the uncorrupted passage was “I will speak these words as one who, though a stranger to the report, is yet involved in the deed.” The lost word is unrecoverable, but xunew;n is a reasonable guess.
Abstract: This paper argues that the importance of the Procne scene in Aristophanes’ Birds extends well beyond any association of the nightingale with the official auletes of the production. Maintaining, contrary to some recent studies, that Procne is costumed with a beaked bird mask that is removed by Euelpides, the paper demonstrates that the removal of that mask is the final expression of an emergent mastery obtained by the human protagonists over the birds’ beaks, which are a focal point of costume interaction in the first half of the play.
Abstract: This paper will evaluate the degree to which, during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander III (an era which produced most of our evidence about Macedonian drinking), court symposia actually differed from those of southern Greece. It will argue that Macedonian drinking practices were distinctive in some significant respects and reflect upon the relationship between these drinking habits and the nature of Macedonian monarchy and elite culture. It will suggest that the “unmixed” quality of Macedonian elite culture was more than a mere construct of Demosthenes and other Greek authors.
Abstract: Since Pieter Kool’s dissertation on police in Greco-Roman Egypt, scholars have subscribed to the view that police administration was uniform across the kingdom and that police chiefs (archiphylakitai) in villages were connected to nome-level chiefs by a lengthy chain of command. This paper argues that neither was the case: that administrative structures varied from nome to nome, and that the hierarchy of archiphylakitai was flat. Chiefs answered to civil, financial, and other police officials, not to higher archiphylakitai. The “hierarchy” of police chiefs, unlike similar hierarchies in other spheres of government, was easily accessible, surprisingly flexible, and efficient.
Abstract: In Petronius’ Satyrica 16-26, Quartilla approaches Giton, Ascyltus, and Encolpius to cure her Tertian Fever (17.7). More than this occurs, however. The trio are to be punished for an inexpiabile scelus (17.6) and Encolpius is apparently singled out for earlier offenses against the god. The odd things occuring at this vigil can be explained as retribution for these earlier crimes. In the Priapea and Horace (Sermones 1.8) Priapus’ style often is to punish offenders by turning upon them the same crime or a humorous inversion of it. Accordingly, the punishments at the Priapi genio pervigilium suggest what Encolpius’ earlier crimes against the god were.
Abstract: The teaching of history in the United States has been revolutionized in the past few decades by the emergence of world history as a teaching field. This paper analyzes the challenges and opportunities facing ancient historians as a result of this development. These are threefold: first, ancient historians increasingly will have to teach material for which their graduate training has not prepared them; second, non-ancient historians will define the content of ancient history; and third, defining ancient history primarily as a period of world history will create interesting new research opportunities, particularly with regard to the study of cross-cultural interactions.
Abstract: The Selected Greek Geographers project, recently launched, will publish a selection of ancient Greek geographical authors in English translations with short historical commentaries. The paper sets out the rationale for a new presentation of these geographical texts, and compares it with other on-going projects such as the Budé Géographes grecs and Fragmente der griechischen Historiker V. A paragraph of the author’s draft translation of Pseudo-Skylax is compared with previous versions, and a sample of commentary in SGG style offered for consideration. Finally, a longer extract from the translation (§§1–10) is analysed.