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Hellenic Studies Folio #5 from the Center for Hellenic Studies

December 21, 2020
Painting of Alexander the Great ordering to open the tomb of Achilles in order to pay homage to his legendary predecessor.
Painting of Alexander the Great ordering to open the tomb of Achilles in order to pay homage to his legendary predecessor.
"Alexander before Achilles' Tomb" (circa 1754) by Hubert Robert (1733–1808); Louvre Museum Collection; Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Connections to ancestors

  • How does the tomb of a hero serve as a focal point, both ritually and literarily, linking the past to the present and the present to the past?
  • In what way did heroes connect the ancient Greeks to their ancestors?
  • How does community give meaning to the ritualized practices found in ancient Greece? Can it be said that these practices are "religious"?

A discussion of Iliad 23 and Iliad 7

Reference to tombs of unknown heroes; video of approximately 6 minutes (start at 06:29 and watch through 12:35).

A discussion of myth and ritual as communal phenomena

Video of approximately 30 minutes.

"Extra credit" reading:

Read a comparative analysis of Pindar's Pythian 8 and poems by Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman; essay of approximately 2,000 words.