Aristotelian Piety Reconsidered

Joachim Aufderheide | 17 April 2017

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Logical Categories and the Parts of Speech System as Structuring Devices in Pollux’ Onomasticon*

Citation with persistent identifier: Chronopoulos, Stylianos. “Logical Categories and the Parts of Speech System as Structuring Devices in Pollux’ Onomasticon.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 1 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:ChronopoulosS.Logical_Categories_and_Parts_of_Speech_as_Structuring_Devices.2016 Pollux’ Onomasticon as onomasiological dictionary 1§1 Pollux’ Onomasticon is a Greek dictionary in 10 books (ca. 120.000 words) from the second century CE. It is written as fluid text, although it mainly contains lists of words. Its author, Julius Pollux, was a professional orator… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

The Cyclic Views of the Human Condition in Thucydides’ Archaeology and Sima Qian’s Preface to Historical Records

Citation with persistent identifier: BAI, Chun Xiao. “The Cyclic Views of the Human Condition in Thucydides’ Archaeology and Sima Qian’s Preface to Historical Records.” CHS Research Bulletin 5, no. 1 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BaiX.The_Cyclic_Views_of_the_Human_Condition.2016 1§1 The commencement of historiography may be a coincidence. In ancient societies, there were many methods for people to preserve their memories: oral poetry, religious stories, funerary texts, instruction literature, king lists, chronicles of kingdoms, and so on. According to… Read more

Research Symposium Papers

Spring 2017 Symposium

Join us on Friday, April 28 for the biannual Center for Hellenic Studies Research Symposium! The symposium features 11 presentations by current CHS fellows. To learn more about the presenters and their research, visit the CHS website. Live Webcast The symposium will be available to watch online as a live webcast at http://media.video.harvard.edu/core/live/harvard-chs-live.html. No special software is required. Viewers interested in watching the stream should click on the link above and the stream will… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Herodotean Democracies

What can Herodotus say to today’s democracies? This essay begins from a puzzle about the very language of democracy in Herodotus’s Histories, namely the narrator’s notorious re-description of what the Persian Otanes called isonomia as a demokratia. Most interpreters wave off this difference as insignificant, but I show how it highlights the variety of democracies within the Histories. Different democracies also practice different principles of equality: isonomia, isegoria, and isokratia.… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Constructing Periander in Plutarch’s Symposium of the Seven Sages

In Plutarch’s Symposium of the Seven Sages, a seer called Diocles recounts what transpired at a symposium hosted by Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, and attended by several individuals, including the Seven Sages. It is the scholarly consensus that, while Periander was sometimes considered one of the Sages, he is not part of this elite group in Plutarch’s dialogue. This claim is, of course, correct, but, as I hope to… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Logical Categories and Parts of Speech as Structuring Devices in Pollux’ Onomasticon

Pollux’ Onomasticon is a Greek dictionary of the 2nd century CE. It is the first extant representative of the genre of the onomasiological dictionary in Greek. It attempts to organize the vocabulary of the Greek language into object domains and wordfields, and thus must resolve questions concerning the overall logical structure of the concepts (macrostructure) as well as the organization of the words cited under each concept (microstructure). In my… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Improving the Public Image through Athletics. Young Victors in Hellenistic Thebes

The political history of Hellenistic Thebes was far from a success story. Razed to the ground by Alexander in 335 BC, the city never regained its former political significance. Nevertheless, there is a particular kind of Theban success in this period which is worth investigating: the agonistic achievements of Theban athletes. A deeper analysis of their victories results in an agonistic profile of Hellenistic Thebes which includes the disciplines and… Read more

Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Aristotelian Piety Reconsidered

Aristotle apparently does not discuss piety in the Nicomachean Ethics, certainly not overtly. Against an ingenious proposal by Sarah Broadie, I argue that the passage she identifies as a covert discussion of piety does not give a special role to piety. By placing the passage in question in its context, I provide a reading of the context that can explain why Aristotle needs to discuss the connection between external resources and happiness. The… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | The Cyclic Views of the Human Condition in Thucydides’ “Archaeology” and Sima Qian’s “Preface to Historical Records”

It seems to me that both Greek and Chinese historical thinking originally investigated the past and reconstructed cultural memories with rationality, and I hope to get a better understanding of the basic characteristics of Greek and Chinese historiographies. To that purpose, this paper attempts to discuss the cyclic views of the human condition underlying ancient Greek and early Chinese historiographies through a comparative study of Thucydides’ and Sima Qian’s texts. I… Read more

Research Symposium Papers

Fall 2016 Symposium

Join us on Saturday, December 3 for the biannual Center for Hellenic Studies Research Symposium! The symposium features presentions by six of the fall term fellows. To learn more about the presenters and their research, visit the CHS website. Attending the Symposium The symposium will take place in House A on the CHS campus. To reserve a seat, please register online. The symposium will also be available to watch online as a live… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Two Thousand Years of Scholarly Apps

Citation with persistent identifier: Smith, Neel. “Two Thousand Years of Scholarly Apps.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:SmithN.Two_Thousand_Years_of_Scholarly_Apps.2016 Introduction 1§1 What does it mean to edit a text? This is obviously a foundational question for any literary or historical discipline that depends on the study of historical documents, but it has taken on a new urgency for editors grappling with the implications of digital information technology. 1§2 The long history of… Read more

Art/Archaeology Mythology/Religion Research Symposium Papers

The New Order of Time and Cult in Synoecized Poleis

Citation with persistent identifier: Schipporeit, Sven. “The New Order of Time and Cult in Synoecized Poleis.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:SchipporeitS.The_New_Order_of_Time_and_Cult.2016 Synoecized City-states 1§1 In 408/7 BCE the old Rhodian city states of Ialysus, Camirus and Lindus united to form one polis and create a joint capital called Rhodes at the northern tip of the island (Figure 1). Diodorus and Strabo put this process under the common label metoikismos respectively… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

Democracy and Civic Participation in Greek Cities Under Roman Imperial Rule: Political Practice and Culture in the Post-Classical Period*

Citation with persistent identifier: Brélaz, Cédric. “Democracy and Civic Participation in Greek Cities Under Roman Imperial Rule:  Political Practice and Culture in the Post-Classical Period.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BrelazC.Democracy_and_Civic_Participation.2016 By the age of Dio Chrysostom and Plutarch the Greek popular Assemblies, the very nerve-centre of Classical Greek democracy, were already in full decay, although some of them still met and might even discuss important matters, as is evident… Read more

Language/Literature Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Anaxagoras, Socrates, and the History of “Philosophy”

Citation with persistent identifier: Moore, Christopher. “Anaxagoras, Socrates, and the history of “philosophy.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:MooreC.Anaxagoras_Socrates_and_the_History_of_Philosophy.2016 The tenuous grip of a name 1§1 In all of extant fifth-century Greek literature, authors use the terms philosophos, philosopheô, and philosophia half a dozen times.[1] Those uses serve as so many camerae obscurae onto Greek intellectual history. Squeezing through those lexical pinpricks are dense and brilliant tableaux of investigations, debates, and… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Love is in the Hands: Affective Relationships with Objects in Votive Dedications [1]

Citation with persistent identifier: Noel, Anne-Sophie. “Love is in the hands: Affective relationships with objects in votive dedications.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:NoelA.Affective_Relationships_with_Objects.2016 §1 In Cast Away[2], Robert Zemeckis staged an unforgettable actor pair, made of the world-renowned actor Tom Hanks and a certain Wilson, which happens not to be a man, but a volleyball. The film narrates how Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee, survives an airplane crash in the… Read more

History Research Symposium Papers

A Short Introduction to the Seleucid Era

Citation with persistent identifier: Kosmin, Paul J. “A Short Introduction to the Seleucid Era.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:KosminP.Introduction_to_the_Seleucid_Era.2016 1§1 This brief paper is intended to supply background information for my presentation at the Research Symposium on Saturday, 30th April. The oral presentation will discuss the invention of the Seleucid Era dating count and its employment in one significant sphere of social and political life in the Seleucid Levant ­­­—… Read more

History Mythology/Religion Research Symposium Papers

What’s in a Name? Linguistic Considerations in the Study of ‘Karian’ Religion

Citation with persistent identifier: Carless Unwin, Naomi. “What’s in a name? Linguistic considerations in the study of  ‘Karian’ religion.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:CarlessUnwinN.Linguistic_Considerations.2016 1§1 The history of Karia is entangled with that of the Greek-speaking world; the cultural and religious character of the region was shaped by sustained interaction with both east and west.[1] Ionian and Dorian settlements were established along the Anatolian seaboard from the tenth century BCE… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Spike Lee’s Didactic Lens of Aristophanes [1]

Citation with persistent identifier: Stark, Caroline. “Spike Lee’s Didactic Lens of Aristophanes.” CHS Research Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2016). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:StarkC.Spike_Lees_Didactic_Lens_of_Aristophanes.2016 This paper is a counterpart to the paper, “Lysistrata(s): Aristophanes to Spike Lee,” and a sample from a module of the forthcoming Io Project, an online resource for Classics in Africa and the African Diaspora. 1§1 Spike Lee’s film Chi-Raq (2015), co-written with Kevin Willmott, reimagines Aristophanes’ Lysistrata to address gang-related gun… Read more

Language/Literature Mythology/Religion Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Love Is in the Hands: Looking for Traces of Affective Relationship Between Human and Object in Votive Epigrams

This paper comprises two parts. The first section will give an insight into my global project on “feelings for objects in ancient Greece”, by bringing together two inanimate objects that arouse strong feelings of empathy and affection: the first one comes from a Hollywood movie (Wilson, the volleyball in Cast Away, by R. Zemeckis), the second one from a Greek tragedy (the bow of Philoctetes, in the play by Sophocles… Read more

Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | The Anaxagorean-Socratic Moment in the History of the Philosophos

The half-dozen fifth-century attestations to the word philosophos (and its cognates), from Eastern and Western Greece, do not promise the term’s longevity. But it did live on, crystallizing in Athens the discipline called philosophia around it. I argue for a late-fifth century conduit for the name’s preservation and success. Anaxagoras and his associates appear to have been called philosophoi by their Athenian contemporaries, probably for their intellectual and practical affinity… Read more

Language/Literature Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Lysistrata(s): Aristophanes to Spike Lee

Modern reworkings of ancient drama offer a valuable interpretative and didactic lens through which scholars can re-examine issues and themes of ancient plays. This paper analyzes some correspondences and divergences between Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Spike Lee’s film Chi-Raq (2015) to demonstrate that not only does Lee’s film make the ancient world relevant by re-envisioning Aristophanes’ play for modern audiences, but it also draws attention to issues inherent in the play… Read more

Philosophy/Science Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | Prodicus on the Rise of Civilization: Agriculture, Religion and Culture Heroes

Prodicus gained a reputation for formulating a novel theory concerning the origins of religious belief. He suggests that humans initially regarded as gods things that were useful for their survival such as fruits and rivers, and in a more advanced stage they deified culture heroes such as Demeter and Dionysus. I suggest that Prodicus’ theory can be connected with other doctrines attributed to him, especially the speech concerning “Heracles’ choice” and the keen interest… Read more

History Mythology/Religion Research Symposium Papers

Abstract | What’s in a Name? Linguistic Considerations in the study of ‘Karian’ religion

The study of religion in Karia, in south western Anatolia, is inextricably linked with the wider social dynamics of the region; the cultural and religious character of the region was shaped by sustained interaction with both east and west. My intention in this paper is to reconsider the framework in which discussions of religion in Karia are frequently embedded, and address the methodological issues that need to be considered when… Read more