Showing papers in "Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies in 1966"

Greek Tragedy and Sacrificial Ritual

Abstract: The word tragodia reflects the sacrifice of a prize goat, as many ancient authors thought, and thymele reflects the link between tragedy and sacrifice, a link discernible in the themes as well as the origins of tragedy.

Manuel Chrysoloras and the Early Italian Renaissance

Abstract: Several of the major figures in the Renaissance reckoned Chrysoloras’ teaching in Florence (1397-1400) as the decisive step in the rebirth of learning; but he was there probably also as a diplomat, to encourage western support for the defense of the east.

The Function of Digressions in the Iliad

Abstract: The digressions are not random results of oral parataxis, but in their paradigmatic function show a consistency in theme and development that is part of the overall ordering of the poem.

Analysis and Provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean Amber, I

Abstract: Spectroscopic analysis of amber artifacts excavated in Greece, chiefly of the Bronze Age, can clarify the geographical origins of the material (chiefly Balkan) and add to our understanding of trade routes.

The Top of the Lapis Primus

Abstract: Examination of this fragment of the tribute lists allows a clearer account of the smooth band at the top and several improved reading in the uppermost lines.

The Power of the Word in Sophocles’ Philoctetes

Abstract: The play's central theme is a failure in communication, λόγος, as Philoctetes, Odysseus, and Neoptolemus are unable to express themselves so as to come to terms with one another.

Galen and the Greek Poets

Abstract: The citations of poets in De Placitis are (with several interesting exceptions) critical of their truth and value, as is consistent with the period’s moral suspicion of poetry.

Text and Context in Transcribing Papyri

Abstract: The chief factors in transcribing are the handwriting and the meaning it intended, hence a tension and interplay between reading and reconstructing, and dotted letters signal a range of uncertainty as to both factors.

The Ligatures of Early Printed Greek

Abstract: Aldus’ decision (1490) to base his Greek font on the contemporary and more cursive hands rather than old manuscripts carried the day and set the pattern for early modern printing of Greek; the resulting ligatures are catalogued.

A Reconstruction of Sophocles’ Polyxena

Abstract: The drama centered on the breaking down of Agamemnon’s resistance to the sacrifice of Polyxena; the play probably is earlier than Antigone , perhaps ca. 450 B.C .

Alcman’s Partheneion I Reconsidered

Abstract: That the performers of the song were divided into half-choruses is supported by the analogy of the contests voiced in pastoral poetry, which show common ground with partheneia.

Second Thoughts in Greek Tragedy

Abstract: Changes of mind in Aeschylus and Sophocles are confined to secondary characters or issues, or reflect compulsion or weakness; Euripides broke this mold, rejecting the old ideal of heroic physis .

Church Building and ‘Caesaropapism,’ A.D. 312-565

Abstract: Church construction promoted the faith, glorified the imperial power, and satisfied each emperor’s self-image as God’s representative on earth, and in effect fostered imperial control over the church

The Anonymous Encomium of Philip the Arab

Abstract: Philip is shown to be the subject of Eis Basilea , here translated in full, especially by the reference to ending the war against Sapor I.

Notes on the Text of Pindar

Abstract: (1) The transcription of Pindar from uncials to cursive cannot be shown to have taken place more than once; (2) word-division at verse end is supported by the mss. as well as meter and should not be emended away; (3) errors of more than one syllable are rare in the mss., and this controls the scope of emendation.

Menander’s Sikyonios

Abstract: The papyri recently edited and references in the authors, aided by analogy from other comedies of Menander, make possible a reconstruction of the action and characters and an assessment of the play

The Text of the Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno

Abstract: I N 1877 there appeared in several local periodicals of Smyrna the text of a Greek inscription found in Adramyttium which proved to be part of a letter sent by some high Roman magistrate. It contained the report of a decision made by a Roman official, almost certainly the praetor urbanus, in the matter of a dispute over land between the publicani and the city of Pergamum.1 Although the details of the decision itself were missing, the inscription did contain a list of members of the consilium which the Roman official had consulted before reaching his decision. The consilium was surprisingly large, 33 names recorded before the stone broke off. The whole document was variously dated by scholars after the Lex Sempronia of 123 or 122 B.C. One of its most important features was the fact that the names of the Romans forming the consilium were given quite fully: praenomen, nomen, filiation and tribe. An invaluable aid to prosopographical research in the Republican period. Then in 1934 F. Miltner and Selahattin Bey published another copy of the same inscription, this one found in the agora of Smyrna.2 It was considerably larger than the one from Adramyttium, but was still incomplete at the beginning and end. Unfortunately the editio princeps

Alexander’s Seventh Phalanx Battalion

Abstract: The new phalanx was formed probably after the arrival at Susa of Macedonian recruits in 331: its presence can be deduced from the numbers involved in the actions of spring 330.

Numbers in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships

Abstract: A number of considerations show that the stated numbers of ships need not be any later or less reliable than the place names of their origins.

C. Asinius Gallus and his Governorship of Asia

Abstract: Inscriptions from Ephesus, when combined with Augustus’ letter to Cnidus (showing Asinius in Rome in 6 B.C.), establish that Asinius was governor in 5/4 B.C.

Herodotus 4.153 and SEG IX 3

Abstract: In the Cyrene foundation inscription the number of colonists should be restored as 100, and this suggests how to emend Hdt. 4.153, a levy of one son per household.