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SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Suetonius, Caligula (34): “He also thought about destroying the poems of Homer, asking why what had been granted to Plato might not be granted to him, namely, banishing him from society. But he was also not far from removing the writings and busts of Vergil and Livy from all libraries, railing against the one for having…
Supernatural Heat, Some Words – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
τὸ θάλπος: “warmth” θάλπω: “to soften with heat” ἡ θέρμη: “warmth, heat” ἡ θερμότης: “choking heat” τὸ καῦμα: “heat” καυματηρός: “burning” καυματόομαι: “to be nearly dying because of heat” Hesiod, Theogony 700 “A supernatural heat overtook the Void...” καῦμα δὲ θεσπέσιον κάτεχεν Χάος... Alciphron, Letters 2.9 “When it was midday, I picked out pine tree…
Resisting Tyranny – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Herodotus, Histories 7.102.1-7 “After he heard these things, Dêmarêtos was saying the following: “King, since you order me to tell the truth completely and to say things that someone might not be caught in a lie by you later, poverty has always been Greece’s companion, but virtue is acquired, nurtured by wisdom and strong custom.…
The Allegory of the Ship of State – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Heraclitus the Commentator, in defending the application of allegorical readings to Homer, argues that allegory is of considerable antiquity—used clearly by Archilochus when he compares the troubles of a war (fr. 54) and Alcaeus, who “compares the troubles of a tyranny to the turmoil of a stormy sea.” (τὰς γὰρ τυραννικὰς ταραχὰς ἐξ ἴσου χειμερίῳ…
Write This Down: You are the City. You Are the people – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Aeschylus, Suppliants 179-180 “I suggest you safeguard my words by writing them on tablet in your minds” αἰνῶ φυλάξαι τἄμ᾿ ἔπη δελτουμένας Aeschylus, Suppliants, 200-204 “Don’t be too aggressive or broken in speech:These people are really ready to be angry.Remember to be accommodating: you are a foreign refugee in need.To speak boldly is not a…
Murdered Immigrant Children and a Plague: A Different Medea Story – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Child murder, worries about immigrants, and paranoia about drugs. Why are the ancients so weird? Scholia B on Euripides, Medea 264 Parmeniskos writes as follows: “The story is that because the Korinthian women did not want to be ruled by a foreign woman and poison-user, they conspired against her and killed her children, seven male…
Alcestis: A Deceptively Happy Tragedy – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
When you hear the words “ancient Greek tragedy,” what comes to mind? Suicide, maybe. Some parricide every once in a while. If you’re feeling particularly despairing, maybe even all three: suicide, parricide, and gouging out one’s eyes. Skim through the pages of The Bacchae, Medea, Hippolytus, and others, and you will find that Greek tragedies…
Suffering Alone: Reading the “The Women of Trachis” Online – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Five years ago today, we were reading Sophocles' Women of Trachis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZlF8N5BABc&feature=emb_logo Sophocles, Trachiniae 1-3 “People have an ancient famous proverb: That you should not judge any mortal lives-- You can’t see anyone as good or bad before they die." Λόγος μὲν ἔστ᾿ ἀρχαῖος ἀνθρώπων φανεὶς ὡς οὐκ ἂν αἰῶν᾿ ἐκμάθοις βροτῶν, πρὶν ἂν θάνῃ…
Reading Greek Tragedies Online: Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Five Years Ago, Reading Greek Tragedy Online presented Iphigenia at Aulis Iphigenia at Aulis, 494 “What does your daughter have to do with Helen?” …τί δ’ ῾Ελένης παρθένωι τῆι σῆι μέτα; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDN5uHI3CE&feature=emb_logo Over the past few weeks we have presented readings of Euripides’ Helen and Sophocles’ Philoktetes, Euripides' Herakles, and Bacchae (in partnership with the Center for Hellenic Studies and the Kosmos…
Madness and Ecstasy: Reading the Bacchae – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Five years ago Reading Greek Tragedy Online presented Euripides' Bacchae Reading Euripides' Bacchae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARCUdhedr14&feature=emb_logo Over the past few weeks we have presented readings of Euripides’ Helen and Sophocles’ Philoktetes, Euripides' Herakles (in partnership with the Center for Hellenic Studies and the Kosmos Society and Out of Chaos Theatre). Our basic approach is to have actors in isolation read parts with each other online, interspersed…
The Short Dream and the Sudden Darkness – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 14.620c “Chamaeleon claims in his book On Stesichorus that it wasn’t only Homer’s poetry that was accompanied by music but also Archilochus’ and Hesiod’s too. He adds the work of Mimnermus and Phocylides to this as well.” Χαμαιλέων δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ Στησιχόρου (fr. 28 Wehrli) καὶ μελῳδηθῆναί φησιν οὐ μόνον τὰ Ὁμήρου…
Feeding the Stomach Feeds the Mind – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Seneca, Moral Epistle 94.5-6 "In the same way, when some affair occludes the mind and impedes it from seeing the order of duties, it does no good in advising, "live this way with your father and this way with your spouse." Examples like this are useless while error darkens the mind. When the mind is cleared, it…
Reading Euripides’ “Herakles” Online – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Five years ago, we live-streamed Euripides' Herakles with Reading Greek Tragedy Online https://twitter.com/AncGreekHero/status/1247963569422991362?s=20 Euripides, Herakles 1256-1257 “I will convince you of this: my life’s not worth living now or even before.” …ἀναπτύξω δέ σοι ἀβίωτον ἡμῖν νῦν τε καὶ πάροιθεν ὄν. Over the past few weeks we have presented readings of Euripides' Helen and Sophocles' Philoktetes (in…
Don’t Worry about the Markets! Seneca Says: More Money, New Problems – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Seneca, Moral Epistle 17. 11-12 "I could end my letter at this place, except that I have put you in a bad place. It is impossible to hail Parthian nobility without a gift and it is not allowed for me to say goodbye to you without thanks. What then? I'll take something from Epicurus: "getting rich…
We all Really Only Own What We Know – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
can't put tariffs on the truth Phaedrus, Fabulae 4.23 "A person of learning always has wealth on their own. Simonides, who wrote exceptional lyric poems, Thanks to this, lived more easily with poverty He began to go around Asia’s noble cities Singing the praise of victors for a set price. Once he had done this…
Apropos of Nothing, Achilles Calls the Commander-in-Chief a Dog[-face] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Homer, Iliad 1.158–168 [Achilles addressing Agamemnon] “But, you great shamepot, we follow you so that you feel joy, As we collect honor for Menelaos and you, dog-face, From the Trojans—you don’t shudder at this, you don’t care.” ἀλλὰ σοὶ ὦ μέγ' ἀναιδὲς ἅμ' ἑσπόμεθ' ὄφρα σὺ χαίρῃς, τιμὴν ἀρνύμενοι Μενελάῳ σοί τε κυνῶπα πρὸς Τρώων· τῶν…
Cato’s Radical Tax Plan – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
From Plutarch's Life of Marcus Cato 18 “He also levied a tax of three on every thousand so that people, distressed by these charges, would note that families of equal wealth whose lives were modest and simple paid less to the public treasury and so repent from their behavior. Both those who paid the taxes because of…
A Solid Gold Colossus: Why Tyrants Spend Other Peoples’ Money – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Suda, Κυψελιδῶν ἀνάθημα At Olympia. Plato claims in the Phaedrus that a metal Colossos was set up next to the dedication of the Kypselids at Olympia. But they claim that this from Kypselos himself and not the Kypselids. Agaklutos speaks about this in his On Olympia. “An ancient temple of Hera, dedicated by the Skillians.…
The Strong and the Weak: Reading Some Thucydides For No Particular Reason – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
“These well-known speeches have so many unclear and odd phrases that they barely make sense….” Ipsae illae contiones ita multas habent obscuras abditasque sententias vix ut intellegantur-- Cicero, Orator 9.31 “One could easily count the number of people who are able to understand all of Thucydides, and even these people need to rely on a…
Reading (and Performing) Tragedy Online: Episode 2, Philoktetes – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
5 years ago we debuted the 2nd episode of Reading Greek Tragedy Online https://youtu.be/UtvR3TAuvbI A reading and discussion of Sophocles' Philoctetes. Tim Delap, Evelyn Miller, Paul O'Mahony, and Jack Whitam perform select scenes, with Joel Christensen (Brandeis) and Norman Sandridge (Howard) moderating the discussion. Reading Greek Tragedy Online is presented by the Center for Hellenic…
Only Bad Dudes Want Statues in the First Place – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Restore removed statues to return truth and sanity to American history? Plutarch, Precepts of Statecraft 820b (Full text on the Scaife viewer) “Cato, since Rome was then already getting full of statues, would not allow one of himself. He said, “I would rather have people ask why there isn’t a statue of me rather than why…
Back to RGTO: Reading Tragedy Together When Sheltering Alone – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Five years ago, a group of us got together and started reading Greek tragedies with actors and scholars and whoever else appeared. Over the next 3 years years, we aired 65 episodes, covering every tragedy, fragments, some comedies, original work, excerpts from epic, and eventually the Batrakhomuomakhia. We did a podcast about it and an interview…
A Secret Messaging Alternative to Signal – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Aeneas Tacticus, Fragments LI: on the Sending of Messages" “People who plan to work with traitors need to know how to send messages. Send them like this. Have a man be sent openly carrying some note about other matters. Have a different letter be secretly placed under the sole of the sandals of the person…
Another Plague: Profiteering – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
For more on how leaders make plagues worse, look around, or go here. Philo, On the Virtues 92 “They were so messed up in the mind and so obsessed with making money, they treated every kind of profit as if they were dying” εἰσὶ δ᾿ οἳ οὕτως ῥυπῶσι τὰς διανοίας προστετηκότες ἀργυρισμῷ καὶ δυσθανατῶντες περὶ…
Just Think Your Way Out of Sickness! – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
For more on plagues and leadership, see this post. Aelian, Varia Historia 13.27 “Remember that Socrates’ body was thought to be orderly and in control of wisdom for this reason too. When the Athenians were suffering a pandemic and some were dying and others were near death, Socrates was the only one who was not…
Obligatory Ides of March Post: Caesar Wanted to Go Out With A Bang, Not A Whimper – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Suetonius, Divus Julius Caesar 86-7 "Caesar left certain of his friends the impression that he did not want or desire to live longer because of his worsening health. This is why he ignored what the omens warned and what his friends revealed. Others believe that he dismissed the Spanish guards who accompanied him with swords…
The Problem with the Ides of March: Not Enough Cicero, Not Enough MURDER – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Cicero, Epistulae Familiares 10.28.1 (To Trebonius) "How I wish that you had invited me to that most sumptuous feast on the Ides of March! We would now have no little scraps if you had. But now you have with them such difficulty in preventing that divine benefit which you bestowed upon the Republic from exciting some complaint.…
Sappho’s Equal? Some Epigrams Assigned to the Poet Nossis – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Nossis is one of the best attested woman poets from the ancient world. Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of her. Greek Anthology, 6.353 “Melinna herself is here. Look how her pure face Seems to glance gently at me. How faithfully she looks like her mother in every way. Whenever children equal their parents…
A Woman’s Prudence? Letting her Body Serve the Needs of the State – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
The more things change... Phintys, fr. 1, On a Woman's Prudence by the Spartan Phintys, the daughter of Kallikrates the Pythagorean (=Stob. 4.23.61) “It is necessary that a woman be completely good and well-ordered. Someone could never be like this without virtue. For the virtue which is proper to each thing causes the object which welcomes it…
Gassy After Sex and Consuming Souls – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Two notes from Hippocrates' Epidemics 6.294 “There are those who get gassy when they have sex, like Damnagoras did. And others fart during sex.” Ἔστιν οἷσιν ὅταν ἀφροδισιάζωσι φυσᾶται ἡ γαστήρ, ὡς Δαμναγόρᾳ, οἷσι δ᾿ ἐν τούτῳ ψόφος. 6.317 “A person’s soul keeps growing until death. When the soul grows feverish because of a sickness, it…
Pickpockets of Words – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Quintilian, 8.3 (29-31) “Sallust is assailed by an epigram of no less repute: “Crispus, pickpocket of the words of Ancient Cato / and architect of Jugurtha’s history”. This is a pitifully minor concern—for it is easy for anyone and really poor because the composer will not fit words to facts but will introduce unrelated facts…
Anticipating the News – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Homer, Iliad 18.2-17 [for more on this passage, go here] “Swift-footed Antilokhos came as a messenger to Achilles. He found him in front of the straight-prowed ships, Considering through his heart what things could have happened. He was deeply troubled then and spoke to his own great heart: “Oh, my heart, why are the long-haired Achaeans…
Rich and Poor Among the Dead, Play a Song for Me – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
P. Oxy. xv. 1921, no. 1795, p. 113, lines 18-30 “While I live, I love to sing these songs and when I die Put a pipe above my head and a lyre near my feet. Play a song for me. Who could find a limit to wealth or cure for poverty? Or who among the…
Tyranny, Terror, and Mutilation – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
CW: Violence, torture, killing Homer, Odyssey 22.474-477 “They took Melanthios out through the hall and into the courtyard. They cut off his nose and ears with pitiless bronze. Then they cut off his balls and fed them raw to the dogs; And they cut off his hands and feet with an enraged heart.” ἐκ δὲ…
There’s Nothing (Ancient) Roman about a Nazi Salute – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Immediately following the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States, Elon Musk addressed crowds at the parade congregated in the Capital One Arena. After thanking the crowd for showing up to re-elect the 45th president, he overshadowed the whole day by twice making a gesture that many have interpreted as the Nazi…
It Is Their Fault They Suffer – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
the antiquity of malice Libanius, Oration 23.1-2 “We are all hearing the reports that everywhere is filled with corpses—the fields, the roads, the hills, crests, caves, peaks, groves, and trenches—and that some of the corpses are feasts for birds and beasts while the rivers carry others to the sea. I am sometimes surprised by this…
The Evidence from Madness: Aristotle on the Mind-Body Problem – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Aristotle, Physiognomics 808b “[in this case] the soul and the body would experience things together, but they would not have the same reactions as one another. But, now, it is entirely clear that one follows another. This is especially obvious from the following. For madness seems to be a matter of the mind; doctors, however,…
The Death of the Individual and the Life of the Whole – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Philo, The Worse Attack the Better 206 “When some musician or scholar has died, then their music or writing dies with them; but their basic contributions persist and, in some way, live as long as the universe does. Those who are scholars and musicians now or who will be in the future will continue to…
The One Who Needs Forgiveness – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Seneca, Agamemnon 260-267 “Aegisthus, why do you push me again into the deep And re-kindle my rage which was just cooling down? The victor has indulged himself a bit with a captive girl— It befits neither a wife nor a mistress to acknowledge it. The law for the throne is different from the one for…