Who Could Speak If Every Word Had Meaning?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Gann
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Golden Apples ◽  
Acts Of God

This chapter attempts to provide an overview of Atalanta (Acts of God) (1982–87), which comprises three operas. Each opera focuses on one “apple,” or character, in Ashley's reinterpretation of the ancient Greek myth. In Ashley's idiosyncratic cosmology, the three golden apples thrown in front of Atalanta are transformed into three characters: the great jazz pianist Bud Powell; Ashley's uncle Willard Reynolds, described by Ashley as a shaman or storyteller; and the surrealist painter (and Mimi Johnson's late uncle) Max Ernst. Max, Willard, and Bud represent three aspects of opera: image, narrative, and music. In addition, the chapter briefly profiles two singers Ashley had met during the making of Atalanta and who would later become permanent members of his ensemble: Thomas Buckner and Jacqueline Humbert.

scholarly journals Translation of “Sir Orfeo” into Spanish

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-83
Author(s):  
Jose Antonio Alonso Navarro
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Sir Orfeo ◽  
Spiritual Quest ◽  
English Poem ◽  
Love Story ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
The Way

Here we present a translation into Spanish of the medieval English poem titled “Sir Orfeo”, which was composed in the late 13th or early 14th centuries within the WestminsterMiddlesex area. Our main spur has been to disseminate it amongst the modern Spanish-speaking readers due to its literary beauty and its story, a story which is not certainly innovative; however, it is innovative as to the way its author has succeeded in adapting the classical or Ancient Greek myth to the medieval English mindset of the readers or listeners of the time so as to arouse their interest, entertain them and teach them with a didactic purpose. The poem comprises all the elements inherent to a prototypical lay (or lai): a knight-king, a love story, a physical and spiritual quest, the otherworld (or fairyland), and moral and spiritual values which should be taken into account by the audience. We have attempted to make the translation of “Sir Orfeo” into Spanish as faithful as possible regarding the original English poem in order to maintain its literary essence, freshness and character. “Sir Orfeo” was a very popular poem in its time, and there is no doubt that it will become popular again in the 21st century in the light of different perceptions and approaches.

Confronting the Ancient Greek Golden Age in Jules Dassin’s Phaedra (1962)

2018 ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
Emma Scioli
Keyword(s):  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
The World

In the second of three chapters examining Athens’ golden-age legacy, Scioli traces how Jules Dassin repeatedly draws attention to the origins of his 1962 melodrama Phaedra in Greek myth and tragedy through visual imagery, as a complement to his 1960 comedy Never on Sunday. Phaedra’s use of ancient Athenian art, and its suggestive modernization of elements from the ancient Athenian tragedyHippolytusand Racine’s 1677 adaptation Phèdre, force a confrontation with a particular modern formulation of the ancient Greek past. Dassin draws upon the golden age to characterize the world of ancient Greece that irrupts into the early 1960s setting of the film both visually and thematically. Rather than fostering nostalgia for a golden age that might prompt a desire for its return, Phaedra presents it as an intrusive presence from which its characters feel alienated, only to demonstrate that they are inextricably bound, in their modern dress, to repeat what the tragic past has prescribed for them. Such self-conscious appropriation of Athens’ literary-dramatic and artistic-material remains informs the tragic belatedness of Phaedra and reflects upon the American expatriate director’s sense of foreignness in the homeland of his lover and artistic muse, Greek actress and activist Melina Mercouri.

Dangerous Gifts: Ideologies of Marriage and Exchange in Ancient Greece

2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Durable Goods ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
Greek Thought ◽  
Gendered Division Of Labor ◽  
Economic Contribution ◽  
Mythic Thinking

A familiar theme in Greek myth is that of the deadly gift that passes between a man and a woman. Analysis of exchanges between men and women reveals the gendered nature of exchange in ancient Greek mythic thinking. Using the anthropological categories of male and female wealth (with examples drawn from many cultures), it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the protocols of exchange as they relate to men and especially to women. These protocols, which are based in part on the distinction between metals and other durable goods as "male" and textiles as "female," are closely related to the gendered division of labor. Anxiety about women as exchangers derives in part from their status as objects exchanged in marriage (as exemplified by Helen in the Iliad), and partly from a misogynist and pessimistic strand of Greek thought (embodied by Hesiod's Pandora) that discounts any female economic contribution to the oikos. Indeed, the majority of destructive exchanges take place within the context of marital crisis. While some texts, beginning with the Odyssey, show the positive side of women's economic role, tragedy tends to follow the Hesiodic distrust of women as exchange partners. Passages from the Agamemnon and the Trachiniai are analyzed to show how in situations of perverted reciprocity brought about by marital discord, even women's traditional gifts of textiles may become deadly.

Music

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Burch Brown
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Response ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The West ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Comparative Religions ◽  
Insight Into

Music has often been regarded as the most directly emotional of the arts and the art most intimately involved with religious and spiritual life. In the endeavor to understand music's relation to emotion and religion, a variety of approaches and disciplines are relevant. There are, for example, scientific and psychological studies that can yield insight into the character of musical and emotional response, and of music's access to the affective life. Thus, multiple disciplines are pertinent, from musicology (including ethnomusicology) and history to philosophy, psychology, and various branches of religious studies, particularly theology and comparative religions. This essay deals with historical perspectives, major theories, and current issues regarding music, emotion, and religion. It begins by considering classic and exceptionally enduring images and ideas of music, including the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus. It then considers musical ethics and metaphysics in the West from antiquity through the Renaissance. The essay also examines remaining issues and unresolved tensions about music, emotion, and religion.

“Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” understanding artificial intelligence

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Operating Systems ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alan Turing ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Looking Glass

Purpose As technology becomes more sophisticated, there is an increasing demand for flexible operating systems that can automatically respond to emerging challenges. The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) is, therefore, increasingly integral to many of the most exciting technological developments occurring today. Design/methodology/approach This is a literature review. Findings Broadly defined, AI is the aspect of computing that enables the machine to take in information about its environment and make choices that help it succeed. This paper will explore some of the key concepts behind AI and demonstrate how they apply to emerging technology. Research limitations/implications To get a sense of the importance of AI, we need look no further than Google. Although many companies are working on AI, Google is of particular interest to libraries because its mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” shares many similarities with libraries. Originality/value AI has been contemplated for as long as humans have considered the nature of their own intelligence and pondered how artificial beings might be able to accomplish similar tasks. The idea of AI can be seen as far back as the ancient Greek myth of Galatea. Philosophers and scientists from René Descarte to Alan Turing have posed questions that are still relevant to modern AI.

The Use of Ulster Speech by Michael Longley and Tom Paulin

Text Matters ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 241-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Kruczkowska
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Open Discussion ◽  
Michael Longley ◽  
Vital Element ◽  
Insight Into

The article examines the application and exploration of Ulster dialects in the work of two poets of Northern Irish Protestant background, Tom Paulin and Michael Longley. It depicts Paulin's attitude to the past and the present of their community of origin, the former positive and the latter negative, which is responsible for the ambiguities in his use of and his comments on the local speech. Both poets employ the vernacular to refer to their immediate context, i.e. the conflict in Ulster, and in this respect linguistic difference comes to be associated with violence. Yet another vital element of their exploration of the dialect is its link to their origins, home and the intimacy it evokes, which offers a contrary perspective on the issue of languages and makes their approach equivocal. This context in Paulin's poetry is further enriched with allusions to or open discussion of the United Irishmen ideal and the international Protestant experience, and with his reworking of ancient Greek myth and tragedy, while in Longley's poetry it is set in the framework of "translations" from Homer which, strangely enough, transport the reader to contemporary Ireland. While Longley in his comments (interviews and autobiographical writings) relates the dialect to his personal experience, Paulin (in his essays and in interviews) seems to situate it in a vaster network of social and political concepts that he has developed in connection with language, which in Ireland has never seemed a neutral phenomenon detached from historical and political implications. Longley's use of local speech is seldom discussed by critics; Paulin's, on the contrary, has stirred diverse reactions and controversies. The article investigates some of these critical views chiefly concerned with the alleged artificiality of his use of local words and with his politicizing the dialects. Performing the analysis of his poems and essays, the article argues for Paulin's "consistency in inconsistency," i.e. the fact that his application of dialectal words reflects his love-hate attitude to his community of origin, and that in the clash of two realities, of the conflict and of home, his stance and literary practice is not far from Longley's, which has been regarded as quite neutral as one can infer from the lack of critical controversy about it. The voices of the two poets and their use of local speech provide a crucial insight into the Northern Irish reality with all its intricacy and paradox.

scholarly journals Themis and Dike – Justice in Greek Myth and Tradition

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-39
Author(s):  
Isidora Fürst
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Myth ◽  
Natural Laws ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
Moral Power ◽  
Legislative Reforms ◽  
And Behavior

The understanding of law in Ancient Greece was based on the religious interpretations of human nature and natural laws. Two Greek goddesses were representatives of justice and fairness. In the ancient sources Themis is presented as a goddess and prophetess, one of the Titans and the daughter of Gea and Uranus. She is a symbol of divine order, justice, natural law and good customs. Dike, the daughter of Themis, is the goddess of justice and truth, the protector of rights and courts of justice, the arbiter, the symbol of honor, the goddess of revenge and punishment. In early Greek culture and poetry, the terms themis and dike represented justice in the meaning of cosmic order, natural law, and legality. The paper analyses the Hellenic notions of justice, fairness and legality embodied in the phenomena of themis and dike. Nomos (law) is just only if it is in harmony with themis, and law is valid only if it is just. The paper presents the doctrines of Hellenic writers, poets and playwrights on justice and law, with special reference to the influence of mythology on Hellenic law. Publius Ovidius Naso’s work „Metamorphosis”, which speaks about Themis’ role in the creation of the world and the salvation of the human race is one of the greatest sources about this goddess. In Homer’s „Iliad” and „Odyssey”, epics that sing of the heroic spirit, justice is shown in the motives, intentions and behavior of the participants in the event, mostly heroes. The poet Hesiod, famous for the poems „Theogony” and „Works and Days”, moves away from the heroic virtues of people and portrays the gods as bearers of moral power and guardians of justice. In the light of legislative reforms, Solon’s dike represents the progress and well-being of society through economic reforms, which is why justice and injustice refer only to legal and illegal acquisition of wealth and its effect on the community. Aeschylus’ „Oresteia” shows the principle of justice based on talion, according to which the punishment has to be identical with the committed crime. One of the greatest Ancient Greek playwrights, Sophocles, based his play „Antigone” on the conflict between the laws of men and the laws of gods. According to Herodotus, the greatest Ancient Greek historian, the actions of the gods govern human destinies and historical events. The idea of justice in Ancient Greece was all throughout its transformation based of the universial concept of natural balance.

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