The Poe-Meric Hymn to Apollo

Hymn to Apollo 331-342
By Tim Hampshire

In this passage, Lines 331-342 of the Hymn to Apollo, Hera makes an appeal to the Gaia and Ouranos, along with the Titans, to be granted the ability to bear a child on her own. The child ends up being Typhon.

In the Bryn Mawr commentary, there is a note for χειρὶ καταπρηνεῖ indicating that such a gesture often describes appeals to chthonic beings. When I read it that way, her prayer to the primordial gods of the earth feels dark and ghoulish in a way that I am not used to thinking of her…

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“Ther nys a bettre knight”: Hector as a Medieval Knightly Ideal

“Ther nys a bettre knight”: Hector as a Medieval Knightly Ideal
By William H. Weiss

Introduction
In his famous work recounting the Hundred Years’ War, Chronicles, Jean Froissart writes of two interesting episodes that any reader could easily overlook. The first appears in Book III where he details the Battle of Otterburn. He mentions how, during the bloodshed, Earl James Douglas “saw that his men were falling back” so in response he charges into the fray…

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The Limits of Ancestral Wealth and Power in Ancient Greece

The Limits of Ancestral Wealth and Power in Ancient Greece
By Shiri Gross

Though historians have often argued that hereditary power and wealth played a critical role in defining an individual’s prospects in Ancient Greek society, there is ample evidence against this conclusion. The prevalence of old archaic noble families is  disputed, and hereditary transfer of political power, where proven to exist, appears short-lived, limited, and insecure…

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