Coping With the Gods

Versnel, H. S.

doi:10.1163/ej.9789004204904.i-594

Cited by 335 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This is most regrettable given that it has been argued to great effect that 'the self-declaration by things themselves about their very Being' can be signified through metered rhythms all on their own. 53 Still other readers will feel that space should have been devoted to way the inspired aoidos was like and yet unlike the inspired oracles who did not or could not 'sing' and therefore required the assistance of various hermeneutic middlemen (ἑρμηνέων ἑρμηνῆς) to give a legible expression to the intelligence they incubated whilst in a theoleptic fit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Art of ‘Scoring’ Cosmopoiesis in Archaic Melic Verse: How the Singing-Poets of the Hellas of Yore Musically Mapped Their Lebenswelt

Bennett¹

2017

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Semiotics

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Among the Hellenes in archaic 'Song culture', it was axiomatic that when the 'inspired' aoidos declaimed 'sacred song' (θέσπις ἀοιδή), the voice of the divine itself sounded forth. But what credited such a claim? What property of 'melic verse' encoded the voice of the Gods? Pursuant to what semiotic rationale? To answer these questions, this chapter looks at (1) what counted as the 'divine' for the early Hellenes, (2) how the 'inspired' aoidos was able to 'source' it, (3) how he made it afford intelligence about cosmopoiesis and, finally, (4) how he gave this intelligence an expression that was legible to his listeners. The case is made that information about cosmopoiesis was encoded in the melodies and metre that accompanied the ordinary words used in melic verse. The semiotic rationale behind this claim was a mimetic correlation between (i) the 'arithmology' used to compose melodies and rhythms and (ii) the 'arithmology' used to quantify the blends of cosmic energies that powered the song's subject matter into its 'complexion'. Hence, listening to 'sacred song' amounted to hearing two narratives about the object of the song: one in the 'ordinary' words of mortals recounting what it means 'sub species hominis', the other in melody relating its 'sacral', cosmopoietic significance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Art of ‘Scoring’ Cosmopoiesis in Archaic Melic Verse: How the Singing-Poets of the Hellas of Yore Musically Mapped Their Lebenswelt

Bennett¹

2017

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Semiotics

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“…11 For example Burkert (1998); Jacquemin (1998); Jost (1998); Jourdain-Annequin (1998); Versnel (2011) 133-56; Eckert (2012); Lang (2012); Rubel (2012); Schmitt Pantel (2012).…”

Section: Personal Religion: a Productive Category For The Study Of Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal religion: a productive category for the study of ancient Greek religion?

Kindt

2015

J. Hell. Stud.

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Abstract:This article investigates the scope and meaning of ancient Greek personal religion as an additional dimension - besides official (polis) religion - in which the ancient Greek religious experience articulates itself. I show how ‘personal religion’ is a rather broad and amorphous scholarly category for a number of religious beliefs and practices that, in reflecting individual engagement with the supernatural, do not fit into our conception of polis religion. At the same time, I argue that personal religion should not be seen simply as that which is not official Greek religion. Nor is personal religion simply ‘private’ religion, oikos religion or the religion of those who had no voice in the sphere of politics (metics, women). Rather, ‘personal religion’ combines aspects of public and private. It is a productive category of scholarly research insofar as it helps us to appreciate the whole spectrum of ways individuals in the ancient Greek city received and (if necessary) altered culturally given religious beliefs and practices. Indeed, the examples discussed in this paper reveal a very Greek conversation about the question of what should count as a religious sign and who was to determine its meaning.

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“…136 Dionysus, as Versnel observed, 'is the victorious god, whose weapon is not the lance or the sword, but trance and μανία' (original emphasis). 137 The god's eastern conquests had lain through the advancement of his choruses and his teletai, and it is the capacity of the choric god to subdue enemies through the advancement of cult that Horace had celebrated in Odes 2.19, idem | pacis eras mediusque belli ('but in the same way, you were a mediator of peace and midmost in war', 27-8). Here, to be sure, is a powerful divine model for Augustus' achievement in reducing warlike tribes to peaceful behaviour by his presence alone, as celebrated at the end of Odes 4.14; and while we do not meet those powers in their external application in our poem, we do observe their positive domestic impact on omnis civitas.…”

Section: The Ode-book and The Time Of Writingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A DITHYRAMB FOR AUGUSTUS: HORACE,ODES4.2

Hardie¹

2015

The Class. Q.

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Odes4.2 ostensibly looks forward to two public events lying at some indeterminate point in the future, Augustus' return from campaign in Gaul, and a triumph over the Sygambri. The celebrations anticipated for these occasions frame the second half of the ode; but they do not supply its dramatic setting or timing, and the latter is evidently associated with the period following Augustus' departure for Gaul in summer 16b.c., or at any rate with a time when the Sygambri were felt still to present an armed threat. The dramatic date need not however be identical with the time of writing, and it should not be assumed thatOdes4.2 was composed in 16. Indeed, as will be seen (below, Section 6), it is most likely to be the retrospective product of a later period, around the time of Augustus' eventual return in July 13. On this view, the poem does not look forward to future events, but back to the time of Augustus' departure.

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Coping With the Gods

Cited by 335 publications

References 20 publications

The Art of ‘Scoring’ Cosmopoiesis in Archaic Melic Verse: How the Singing-Poets of the Hellas of Yore Musically Mapped Their Lebenswelt

The Art of ‘Scoring’ Cosmopoiesis in Archaic Melic Verse: How the Singing-Poets of the Hellas of Yore Musically Mapped Their Lebenswelt

Personal religion: a productive category for the study of ancient Greek religion?

A DITHYRAMB FOR AUGUSTUS: HORACE,ODES4.2

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