Research Bulletin

The Tomb Below the Ostrusha Mound and the Painted Prosopa within the…

Consuelo Manetta | 23 December 2013
Art/Archaeology Research Symposium Papers

Art in Transition: Damophon of Messene in the Ionian Coast of Greece

Citation with persistent identifier: Melfi, Milena. “Art in Transition: Damophon of Messene in the Ionian Coast of Greece.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:MelfiM.Art_in_Transition_Damophon_of_Messene.2013 §1  A monumental Doric colum, inscribed with seven decrees in honour of the sculptor Damophon of Messene was found in the Asklepieion of Messene in relatively recent years. It  bears a set of long and not yet fully published epigraphic texts, consisting of seven decrees by… Read more

Art/Archaeology Research Symposium Papers

The City of Late Hellenistic Delos and the Integration of Economic Activities in the Domestic Sphere

Citation with persistent identifier: Zarmakoupi, Mantha. “The City of Late Hellenistic Delos and the Integration of Economic Activities in the Domestic Sphere.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ZarmakoupiM.The_City_of_Late_Hellenistic_Delos.2013 §1 Delos, home of the sanctuary of Apollo since the archaic period, underwent a period of rapid economic development after 167 BCE, when the Romans put the island under Athenian dominion and turned it into a commercial base connecting the… Read more

Art/Archaeology History Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

ΠΑΡΑΛΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΑ: "Coastalness" and "Inlandness" in the Ancient Greek World

Citation with persistent identifier: Bultrighini, Ilaria. “Παραλία καì Μεσόγεια: ‘Coastalness’ and ‘Inlandness’ in the Ancient Greek World.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BultrighiniI.Paralia_kai_Mesogeia_Coastalness_and_Inlandness.2013 Παραλία καì Μεσόγεια: Coastalness and Inlandness in the Ancient Greek World[1] §1  In the past few years scholarship has dealt more systematically with connectivity and interaction in the ancient Mediterranean and in the Greek world, especially in terms of exchange and networks within the framework of… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Matters of Trust: Associations and Social Capital in Roman Egypt

Citation with persistent identifier: Venticinque, Philip F. “Matters of Trust: Associations and Social Capital in Roman Egypt.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013).http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:VenticinqueP.Matters_of_Trust_Associations_and_Social_Capital.2013 §1  Concerns regarding the untrustworthy nature of merchants and craftsmen commonly expressed by classical authors, who instead championed agriculture for its security and as a pursuit conducive to developing proper decorum, have helped frame our understanding of ancient economic history. Cicero’s often quoted opinions on craftsmen,… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Ages of Athletes: Generational Decline in Philostratus’ Gymnasticus and Archaic Greek Poetry

Citation with persistent identifier: Stocking, Charles. “Ages of Athletes: Generational Decline in Philostratus’ Gymnasticus and Archaic Greek Poetry.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:StockingC.Generational_Decline_in_Philostratus_Gymnasticus.2013 §1  The Gymnasticus, written in the third century CE by the Athenian sophist Philostratus, is one of our latest, most important, but also most underappreciated texts on ancient athletic training.[1] Earlier scholars had largely dismissed the text as incoherent and encyclopedic.[2] More recently, however,… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Public Slavery, Politics and Expertise in Classical Athens

Citation with persistent identifier: Ismard, Paulin. “Public Slavery, Politics and Expertise in Classical Athens.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:IsmardP.Public_Slavery_Politics_and_Expertise_in_Classical_Athens.2013 §1  Public slavery was an institution common to most of the Greek cities of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. From the Homeric dêmiourgos to the scribes of sixth-century Crete, the Archaic period abounds with examples of skilled technicians who, as such, were partially or fully excluded from the… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

The Oresteia and Waterloo

Citation with persistent identifier: Witucki, Barbara. “The Oresteia and Waterloo.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:WituckiB.The_Oresteia_and_Waterloo.2013 Two virtually contemporaneous mid-nineteenth century novels, William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847) and Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (1862) have numerous similarities.[1]  One of the most striking of these is an extended description of the Battle of Waterloo.  Both authors use the Battle of Waterloo to invoke the memory of another much older… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Gender, Genre, and Truth in Pindar: Three Case Studies

Citation with persistent identifier: Park, Arum. “Gender, Genre, and Truth in Pindar: Three Case Studies.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ParkA.Gender_Genre_and_Truth_in_Pindar.2013 Introduction §1  Pindar’s epinician odes take care to identify and emphasize the relationship between poet and patron, a relationship that is based on reciprocity, truthfulness, and trust, and is marked by key terms and concepts such as xenia, philia, charis, and alêtheia.[1] These terms are what the poet uses… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Compassion in the Making: Lexicographic Explorations in Judeo-Hellenistic Literature

Citation with persistent identifier: Mirguet, Françoise. “Compassion in the Making: Lexicographic Explorations in Judeo-Hellenistic Literature.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:MirguetF.Compassion_in_the_Making_Lexicographic_Explorations.2013 §1  Nothing may seem more spontaneous and universally human than crying at the suffering of a friend, feeling compassion for a stranger’s grief, or feeling in one’s own body the pain experienced by one’s child. Languages reveal, however, traces of historical developments and cultural changes. The Greek… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Thucydides 1.89-118: A Multi-layer Treebank

Citation with persistent identifier: Mambrini, Francesco. “Thucydides 1.89-118: A Multi-layer Treebank.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:MambriniF.Thucydides_1.89-118_Multi-layer_Treebank.2013 Introduction §1  Digital annotated corpora are nowadays an indispensable resource for linguistic studies. Since the creation of the first “treebanks” (as the collections that embed a word-by-word morphological and syntactical analysis are called), these resources have been fruitfully employed in a broad spectrum of contexts. The applications range from corpus-based studies on… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Knowing Characters and Knowing Authors: “Poetic Knowledge” in Ancient Greece and Early China

Citation with persistent identifier: Zhang, Wei. “Knowing Characters and Knowing Authors: ‘Poetic Knowledge’ in Ancient Greece and Early China.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ZhangW.Knowing_Characters_and_Knowing_Authors.2013 §1  Does poetry impart a special knowledge to its audience, a form of knowledge with its own intrinsic values and not to be measured by any external criteria? Is there any part of reality to which access can be gained only in poetry?… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Matters of Trust: Associations and Social Capital in Roman Egypt

Concerns regarding the untrustworthy nature of merchants and craftsmen commonly expressed by classical authors, who instead championed agriculture for its security and as a pursuit conducive to developing proper decorum, have helped frame our understanding of the ancient economy. Cicero’s often quoted opinions on craftsmen, merchants, and acceptable economic activity outlined in the first book of his De Officiis have proven particularly influential. Moses Finley considered the elite ideology espoused… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–The Oresteia and Waterloo

Victor Hugo says that Les Misérables is “a hydra at the beginning; an angel at the end.”  Taking the theme of transformation from something deadly and devious into something kindly and benevolent, this paper investigates how two contemporaneous nineteenth-century authors of similar background, though they do not know each other, draw on the conventions of Greek tragedy in their novels.  W.M. Thackeray in Vanity Fair and Victor Hugo in Les… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Dionysos, Divine Space and Dopamine: A Cognitive Approach to the Greek Theatre

The Sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus on the south east slope of the Acropolis in Athens and the theatron that was erected above it, was the major and performance venue for fifth century Athenian drama and it is quite possible that almost every play from that period was created specifically for this space. I suggest that we can learn a great deal more about the original reception of the plays in… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Domination and Legitimacy in Early Hellenistic Basileia: The Rise of Self-Proclaimed Kings

Citation with persistent identifier: Modanez de Sant Anna, Henrique. “Domination and Legitimacy in Early Hellenistic Basileia: The Rise of Self-Proclaimed Kings.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ModanezdeSantAnnaH.Domination_and_Legitimacy_in_Early_Hellenistic_Basileia.2013 Introduction §1  In principle, one might be reluctant to apply Weberian theory to understanding the ancient world since that would mean putting more emphasis on modern ideal categories than on ancient evidence. Such a “sociological approach” would also be problematic due to… Read more

Art/Archaeology Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–The Tomb Below the Ostrusha Mound and the Painted Prosopa Within the Central Boxes of the Ceiling: Proposal for a New Reading

The presentation reviews some figurative paintings inside boxes that adorned the ceiling of the thalamos within the so-called tomb-Mound Ostrusha, found in ancient territories corresponding to present-day Bulgaria. It constitutes unquestionably one of most interesting witnesses of understanding Thracian artistic, social and funeral contexts during the early Hellenistic period. My proposal for a new reading of the Ostrusha painted prosopa completely revises the previous interpretations. It introduces innovative perspectives of… Read more

Art/Archaeology Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Art in transition: Damophon of Messene in the Ionian coast of Greece

This paper consists of a preliminary reassessment of the activity and chronology of the Messenian sculptor Damophon, on the basis of three specific episodes of his career. A new inscription from the Asklepieion of Butrint and two honorary decrees issued for the sculptor by the cities of Leukas and Kranioi (Kephallenia) confirm that he was active in the Ionian coast of Greece in the 2nd century BC. Historical and archaeological… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Compassion in the Making: Lexicographic Explorations in Judeo-Hellenistic Literature

Even compassion has a history. The Greek word συμπάθεια, originally a scientific term referring to an affinity between bodies, did not take on an emotional meaning before the second century BCE. Around the same time, in Jewish texts, terms constructed on the noun σπλάγχνα, the “inner parts” or “entrails,” were invested with a new meaning, similar to what we now call “compassion.” This paper constitutes the lexicographic side of a… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Domination and Legitimacy in Early Hellenistic Basileia: The Rise of Self-Proclaimed Kings

When I first started this research I was thinking about identifying different ideal types of Hellenistic kings based on the way they exercised power. It soon became clear that they should all be treated as “charismatic leaders” in a Weberian sense, as suggested by Gehrke in his Der siegreiche König (1982). Moreover, Gehrke’s idea of the existence in Hellenistic kingship of a charisma inheritable through the establishment of a dynastic… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Gender, Genre, and Truth in Pindar: Three Case Studies

This paper explores three deceptive and seductive female figures in Pindar’s myths: the Hera-cloud in Pythian 2, Koronis in Pythian 3, and Hippolyta in Nemean 5. The Hera-cloud is created by Zeus to deceive Ixion and to mark the end of the guest-friendship between Ixion and Zeus; thus, she represents the deception excluded from a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. Likewise, Koronis engages in a sexual relationship with… Read more

History Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Paralia and Mesogeia: 'Coastalness' and 'Inlandness' in the Ancient Greek World

Scholarship has in the past few years dealt more systematically with connectivity and interaction in the ancient Mediterranean and in the Greek world, especially in terms of exchange and networks within the framework of maritime connectivity. Through the study of the occurrence and employ of the terms paralia and mesogeia, as well as of other words expressing the ideas of ‘coastal’ and ‘inland’ in textual sources, this paper explores ancient… Read more

Language/Literature Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Abstract–Knowing Characters and Knowing Authors: “Poetic Knowledge” in Ancient Greece and Early China

This essay submits the earliest articulation of explicit poetics in ancient Greece and ancient China to a comparative study, with special focus on the formulation of the notion of “poetic knowledge” in each tradition. Placed in their respective cultural process, explicit poetics can be seen as the outcome of philosophical confrontation with poetry and its potentially intractable experience in rational attempts to subsume it under a philosophical mode of knowing.… Read more

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