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Epithets In Homer
A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of epithets, as in "rosy-fingered" Dawn or "swift-footed" Achilles. Epithets are used because of the constraints of the dactylic hexameter (i.e., it is convenient to have a stockpile of metrically fitting phrases to add to a name) and because of the oral transmission of the poems; they are mnemonic aids to the singer and the audience alike. Formulae in epic poetry from various Indo-European traditions may be traced to a common tradition. For example, the phrase for "everlasting glory" or "undying fame" can be found in the Homeric Greek as / and Vedic Sanskrit as / . These two phrases were, in terms of historical linguistics, equivalent in phonology, accentuation, and quantity (syllable length). In other words, they descend from a fragment of poetic diction (reconstructable as Proto-Indo-European ) which was handed down in parallel over many centuries, in continually diverging forms, by generations of singers whose ultimate ancest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his authorship, Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. The ''Iliad'' centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The ''Odyssey'' chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The epics depict man's struggle, the ''Odyssey'' especially so, as Odysseus perseveres through the punishment of the gods. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language that shows a mixture of features of the Ionic Greek, Ionic and Aeolic Greek, Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divided into 24 books. It follows the heroic king of Ithaca, Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year long Trojan War. His journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to contend with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. The ''Odyssey'' was first written down in Homeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC; by the mid-6th century BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphrodite
Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Aphrodite's major symbols include seashells, Myrtle (common), myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Ancient Canaanite religion, Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian religion, Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Kythira, Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of Prostitution in ancient Greece, prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of sacred prostitution in Greco-Rom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "man's battle", i.e. "courage" or "manly virtue", from the Greek stem ("man"), the compound interfix and ("battle"). Following the Trojan War, after Achilles had killed Hector and Troy had been captured and sacked by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of a plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave.Euripides, ''Trojan Women'' By Neoptolemus, she was the mother of Molossus, and according to Pausanias,Pausanias, 1.11.1 of Pielus and Pergamus. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. Pausanias also implies that Helenus' son, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcinous
In Greek mythology, Alcinous (also Alcinoüs; ; ''Alkínoos'' ) was a son of Nausithous and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bore him Nausicaa, Halius, Clytoneus and Laodamas. In some accounts, Alcinous' father was Phaeax, son of Poseidon and Corcyra, and brother of Locrus. Conon3/ref> Mythology Argonautica In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, Alcinous is represented as living with his wife Arete on Drépané island. The Argonauts, on their return from Colchis, came to his island, and were hospitably received. When the Colchians, in their pursuit of the Argonauts, likewise arrived in Drépané, and demanded that Jason's lover Medea should be delivered up to them, Alcinous declared that if she was still a virgin she should be restored to them, but if she was already the wife of Jason, he would protect her and her husband against the Colchians. The Colchians were obliged, by the contrivance of Aret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telamonian Aias
Ajax () or Aias (; , ''Aíantos''; archaic ) is a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer. He plays an important role in the Trojan War, and is portrayed as a towering figure and a warrior of great courage in Homer's ''Iliad'' and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War, being second only to Achilles among Greek heroes of the war. He is also referred to as "Telamonian Ajax" (, in Etruscan language, Etruscan recorded as ''Aivas Tlamunus''), "Greater Ajax", or "Ajax the Great", which distinguishes him from Ajax, son of Oileus, also known as Ajax the Lesser. Family Ajax is the son of Telamon. Telamon was the son of Aeacus and grandson of Zeus, and his first wife Periboea. By Telamon, he is also the elder Sibling, half-brother of Teucer. Through his uncle Peleus (Telamon's brother), he is the cousin of Achilles. The etymology of his given name is, ultimately, uncertain. The name derives from Archai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa (daughter of Agamemnon), Iphianassa, Electra, Laodice (Greek myth), Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his Returns from Troy, return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus. Etymology Different etymologies have been proposed for the name ''Agamemnon'' (). According to one view, the name means 'very steadfast', 'unbowed' or 'resolute'. This is based on the interpretation of the name as a compound word comprising the elements 'very much' and 'to stay, wait; stand fast'. According to anothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma
Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally represents a voiced velar fricative , except before either of the two front vowels (/e/, /i/), where it represents a Voiced palatal fricative#Palatal, voiced palatal fricative ; while /g/ in foreign words is instead commonly transcribed as γκ). In the International Phonetic Alphabet and other modern Latin-alphabet based phonetic transcription#Alphabetic, phonetic notations, it represents the voiced velar fricative. History The Greek letter Gamma Γ is a grapheme derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter (''gīml'') which was rotated from the right-to-left script of Canaanite to accommodate the Greek language's writing system of left-to-right. The Canaanite grapheme represented the /g/ phoneme in the Canaanite language, and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of Ilus (son of Tros), Ilus, founder of Troy), making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's List of children of Priam, children (such as Hector and Paris (mythology), Paris). He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad''. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir.The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur [1916] Prologue II at Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Accessed 11/14/17 Etymology Aeneas is the Romanization of Greek, Romanization of the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scheria
Scheria or Scherie (; or ), also known as Phaeacia () or Faiakia, was a region in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey before returning home to Ithaca. It is amongst one of the earliest descriptions of a utopia. From Ogygia to Scheria (Odysseus) Before leaving Ogygia, Odysseus builds a raft and sails eastwards, instructed by Calypso to navigate using the stars as a celestial reference point. On the eighteenth day appear the shadowy mountains of the land of the Phaeacians, that looked like a ''shield'' in the misty deep. Poseidon spots his raft and seeking vengeance for his son Polyphemus who was blinded by Odysseus, produces a storm that torments Odysseus. After three days of struggle with the waves, he is finally washed up on Scheria. Odysseus meets Nausicaa Meanwhile, the goddess Athena sneaks into the palace, disguised as a sea-captain's daughter, and instructs pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was added to the List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey, UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998. Troy was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt during its 4000 years of occupation. As a result, the site is divided into nine Stratigraphy (archaeology), archaeological layers, each corresponding to a city built on the ruins of the previous. Archaeologists refer to these layers using Roman numerals, Troy I being the earliest and Troy IX being the latest. Troy was first settled around 3600 BC and grew into a small fortified city around 3000 BC (Troy I). Among the early layers, Troy II is notable for its wealth and imposing architecture. During the Late Bronze Age, Troy was called Wilusa and was a vassal of the Hittite Empire. The final layer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achaeans (Homer)
The Achaeans or Akhaians (; , "the Achaeans" or "of Achaea") is one of the names in Homer which is used to refer to the Greeks collectively. The term "Achaean" is believed to be related to the Hittite term Ahhiyawa and the Egyptian term Ekwesh which appear in texts from the Late Bronze Age and are believed to refer to the Mycenaean civilization or some part of it. In the historical period, the term fell into disuse as a general term for Greek people, and was generally reserved for inhabitants of the region of Achaea, a region in the north-central part of the Peloponnese. The city-states of this region later formed a confederation known as the Achaean League, which was influential during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Etymology According to Margalit Finkelberg the name Ἀχαιοί ( earlier Ἀχαιϝοί) is possibly derived, via an intermediate form *Ἀχαϝyοί, from a hypothetical older Greek form reflected in the Hittite form ''Aḫḫiyawā''; the latter is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
