Academic literature on the topic 'Athéna Ilias'

This chapter discusses the way in which Hades is presented in the Iliad. Although the Underworld remains remote and unreachable for the most part, its presence is always felt on the battlefield through the deaths of heroes. Hades also features in the poem in other ways, as, for example, in Iliad, 5 where the cap of Hades is used to provide absolute invisibility for Athena. The overall argument of the chapter is that Homer presents Hades in the Iliad as the realm of absolute invisibility which cannot be reached or transcended even by the gods. In doing so he sets a challenge for his poetic sigh

This chapter considers the human factors which promote regional integration by examining the regional identity of Hellenistic Ilion from three distinct perspectives. Firstly, I consider the narrative of the city’s history embedded in Strabo’s account of the Troad. This has been highly influential on modern scholarship, but needs to be treated with considerable scepticism given Strabo’s intellectual priorities in the Geography. Secondly, I look at the phenomenon of cities producing coinages with the posthumous types of Alexander and Lysimachos in the first half of the second century BC. This indicates that the Troad was not, as Strabo wanted to believe, a natural unity, but rather divided between a northern half orientated towards the Bosporos (to which Ilion belonged) and a southern half orientated towards the coast of western Asia Minor. Finally, I examine the koinon of Athena Ilias, a religious confederation which organized the annual Panathenaia festival for Athena Ilias at Ilion from the late fourth century BC down to the second century AD. The creation of this institution not only greatly benefited Ilion, but also served to stitch together the northern and southern halves of the Troad into a more coherent whole.

The focus of this chapter is the Theomachy of Iliad 21. In this connection, two relatively neglected texts are examined: One is from an Oxyrhynchus papyrus containing a commentary on Iliad 21 (the Homeric problem discussed is: Why did Poseidon and Athena encourage Achilles, but not help him, in his battle with the river Scamander?). The other is from a lengthy scholium (the Homeric problem discussed is: Why, in Iliad 5, does Zeus chastise Ares, as being always fond of war, whereas in Iliad 21, Zeus watches with pleasure as the gods take sides in the war and fight each other?). These are important fragments in their own right, but also in connection with the question of whether Aristotle ever engaged in allegorical interpretation.

In the Odyssey the educational theme (whose prominence was already recognized in antiquity) takes a distinctive turn, probably because Odysseus’ son Telemachus has grown up without a father’s guidance and advice. The chapter begins by considering the childhood and youth of Odysseus, which share elements with the normative heroic education adumbrated in the Iliad. It then turns to Telemachus who, raised by his mother, Penelope, in his father’s absence, is adept at offering xenia (guest-friendship) but otherwise uncertain of his heroic identity. Assuming the disguise of the first Mentor in Western literature, the goddess Athena undertakes to remedy Telemachus’ educational deficits by sending him on a tour of the Peloponnese. When Telemachus returns home and reunites with his father, the two must quickly forge a productive relationship and learn to function as a pair.

Cos, home of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, is the third largest island of the Dodecanese (Twelve Islands). In antiquity its population was 120,000, eight times that of today. Its fame derived from the renowned Asclepeion of Cos, a healing center and religious shrine devoted to Asclepius, the god of healing. Tourists still come to marvel at this spectacular architectural structure, and international medical conferences are conducted on the island in memory of Hippocrates. Cos (also spelled Kos) lies only 3 miles off the coast of Turkey, near the Bodrum peninsula. Connections are available to the Turkish mainland by ferry, and a fascinating circuit of biblical sites can be made from Athens through the Greek islands to Cos and then up the western coast of Turkey for a departure from Istanbul. Access to Cos by air is available from Athens (three flights daily), or by ferry from Piraeus, Rhodes, or Thessaloniki through Samos. Hydrofoils are available from Rhodes and Samos for faster trips. (Always check ferry and hydrofoil schedules closely; frequent and erratic changes occur, particularly with hydrofoils in the event of high winds.) Cos was settled by the Mycenaeans in 1425 B.C.E., and Homer described it as heavily populated (Iliad 14:225). Pliny referred to it as a major shipping port (Natural History 15:18). Among its exports were wine, purple dye, and elegant, diaphanous fabrics of silk (raw silk; pure silk from the Orient did not reach the west until the 3rd century C.E.). Aristotle wrote that silk fabric was invented on the island of Cos: “A class of women unwind and reel off the cocoons of these creatures [caterpillars] and afterward weave a fabric with the thread thus unwound; a Koan woman by the name of Pamphila, daughter of Plateus, being credited with the first invention of the fabric” (The History of Animals 5.19). Cos reached the pinnacle of its prosperity and power in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.E., but by the end of the 6th century B.C.E. it had come under the control of Persia.