O nowym greckim przekładzie Schulza

Author(s): Sotirios Karageorgos / Language(s): Polish Issue: 15/2020

In October 2019 a full Greek translation of the complete fiction of Bruno Schulz was finally published under the title Άπαντα τα πεζά (Collected Fiction). The translator is Alexandra Ioannidou, professor of Slavic studies at the Macedon University in Thessaloniki. Her version of The Cinnamon Shops is radically different from the previous fragmentary versions of Spiros Tsaknias and Dimitris Houliarakis. One may responsibly claim that Professor Ioannidou did an exceptionally good job. Schulz’s stories are now fully available in Greek, and the Greek text effectively conveys the author’s intentions and the aura of this fiction; its stylistic and linguistic quality.

Magia i religia w świecie starożytnych Greków (zarys problematyki)

Author(s): Joanna Rybowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

In the works of anthropologists, ethnologists and sociologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, we may notice their efforts to distinguish magic, on the one hand, from religion, and on the other, from science. One of the criteria, which set the boundaries between these field was the way, in which a community understood god/divinity. This, among others, enabled the identification of the three ‘ideal stages’ in the development of human culture: magical, religious and metaphysical-philosophical. This article is an attempt to analyse to what extent modern definitions of religion and magic can be applied in regard of ancient Greek culture. The surviving literary sources and other artefacts, which provide us with information on this culture, suggest that these stages, distinguished by modern researchers, never seemed to exist in ‘pure form’ in ancient Greek culture, but rather they intermingled and, at times barely noticeably, switched from one stage to another. Religion, magic and science not only functioned side-by-side, but they permeated and complemented each other.

Magie și medicină populară egipteană antică într-un papirus bilingv în demotică și greacă: ”The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden”

Author(s): Constantin Ittu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 34/2020

The aim of this contribution is to put the reader in connection with an Ancient Egyptian papyrus from the Roman era – from the third century A. D., to be more precise –, a papyrus which is dealing with magic and medicine. The papyrus is especially interesting for the language in which it is written, being probably the latest Egyptian manuscript written in the demotic script, at the time when the Greek alphabet had been adopted by the local Christians. ”The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden” should be regarded as being the document which perhaps contributed more than any other to the deciphrement of demotic, partly through its numerous Greek glosses.

IL CANTO DEI VIOLENTI

Author(s): Sandra Carapezza / Language(s): Italian Issue: 10/2020

The essay offers a reading of Inferno 12, in which Dante’s poetic tools are highlighted, aiming to build a landscape both realistic and full of moral significance. The relationship between Dante and Virgil is set as a pedagogical relationship but also as a comparison between the Christian poet and classical culture. It is a Canto that is marked by the guardians. Among the sinners there are great personalities of ancient and contemporary history, but Dante does name just some violent characters of the past and the present. The Centaurs are more important than the damned in the Canto. By placing the violent in a marginal position, Dante manifests his contempt for those sinners. Tyrants, killers and highwaymen are guilty of the evil that infests medieval cities. Inferno 12 can also be interpreted as a denunciation of the violence of the present.

STAND-UP TRAGEDY: SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE PANDEMIC FROM ISOLATION IN SARAJEVO

Author(s): Almir Bašović / Language(s): English Issue: 91-92/2020

Over the past few months, we have seen and heard our fill in the media of various “tragedies” associated with the coronavirus pandemic that has beset us. Given its propensity for doling out tragedy by the spadeful, there is a bitter irony in the corona or crown pandemic having received that name for the viral particles whose spikes suggest a crown. The very word pandemic suggests, etymologically, that this is an event of relevance to all the peoples of the planet, just as the events in tragedy take place in royal families but always have a relevance to the broadest social communities and are connected with cosmic principles.

Образ Перикла в древнеаттической комедии

Author(s): Olga Anatiolievna Rykantsova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 3/2020

The paper discusses Aristophanes’ plays and the surviving fragments of other Old Attic comedy authors as one of the most important sources on Pericles’ biography. The main themes of comic invectives at Pericles were analyzed. Besides the caricature of Pericles’ appearance, the comedies contain serious attacks against the politician: Pericles’ omnipotence and the tyrannical nature of his power are demonstrated; the politician is accused of unleashing the Peloponnesian War and its incorrect conduct. Such problems as the distortion degree of Pericles’ comic character, its perception by the Athenian public, and the influence of comedy on the historical tradition concerning Pericles’ politics remain debatable and do not lose their relevance. The paper is another attempt to correlate Pericles’ image in comedy with what we know about him from other sources. Despite the subjectivity of the comic genre, comedy allows us to imagine more vividly Pericles’ character reflected in the writings of historians, in “The History” by Thucydides in particular. Perhaps, the attacks on Pericles in comedies were not taken seriously by the public while the strategist’s authority was unshakable, but at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War the comic accusations could intensify enmity to the disgraced politician. The word of fiction, especially when aptly said, has a great influence on historical tradition, an example of which is Pericles’ biography written five centuries after his death by Plutarch, who actively used the fragments of Old Attic comedy in his works.

Bandits and/or pirates – the meaning of the words ὁ λῃστής and ὁ πειρατής in ancient Greek novel

Author(s): Małgorzata Cieśluk / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The present article deals with the problem of the meaning range of the words ὁ πειρατής and ὁ λῃστής in ancient Greek novels. The aim was to verify Philip de Souza’s claim that ancient authors used these terms interchangeably as synonyms. The analyses confirmed de Souza’s assumption only with regard to Chariton’s Callirhoe, the oldest of the surviving novels dating back to the first half of the 1st century AD. In later novels, especially in the works of Xenophon of Ephesus and Heliodorus, the noun ὁ πειρατής is used as a hyponym of the noun ὁ λῃστής. This means that in the investigated texts, the referents (designata) of the word ὁ πειρατής have features specific only to the meaning range of this term which partially differentiate its denotation from that of the general term ὁ λῃστής. This is an important clue for interpreting written sources related to ancient piracy. The study was conducted from a semantic perspective using the methods of comparative philological analysis.

Кондак о свадби у Кани

Author(s): / Language(s): Greek, Ancient (to 1453),Serbian Issue: 1/2019

"Избави ме од нечистоте дела мојих..."

Author(s): Vesna O. Marković / Language(s): Greek, Ancient (to 1453),Serbian Issue: 1/2019

Romanos the Melodist, the greatest poet of Eastern Church, inspired by metric forms of Syrian spiritual literature created the most perfect Byzantine poetic genre – a Kontakion. This is a highly complex literary form which belongs to tonal and syllabic versification, with a distinctive metric scheme. A Kontakion is characterized by vivid description of biblical events, with plenty of extremely dramatized situations and well-developed monologues and dialogues. The parts which depict human character, passions and suffering are particularly impressive. However, the implications and messages of a Kontakion are not dark, but optimistic, owing to the fact that they are oriented towards human salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance and hope for forgiveness. Romanos the Melodist’s hymns possess deep inner duality and apart from inspiring and motivating, they clarify, interpret and teach. As a knowledgeable and skillful interpreter of Holy Scripture, he gives an excellent exegesis through his heroes’ lines. The translated and analyzed Kontakion in this writing is one of the most successful and poetic Roman’s Kontakia. It is a masterpiece in respect of perfect metric units with a refrain and regular rhyme.

Потврде термина ὄργια у грчким изворима обредног садржаја

Author(s): Jelena Femić Kasapis / Language(s): Greek, Ancient (to 1453),Serbian Issue: 3/2015

Pre-Christian Greek world in its historic-religious domain records two categories of cults. There were established official and secret cults for worshipping the ancient deities. In this paper the studying field is secret, mystery cult denoted by the term ὄργια. In sixteen indicative paragraphs taken from the relevant texts of Greek authors, the last two belonging to Christian writers, the usage of the term is analyzed from the philological and historical-semasiological point of view. The term denotes par excellence the cult, addressed to concrete deity, although it can denote concrete sacrifice, sacred objects, utensils, as well as feasts and celebrations. This paper will show that the term ὄργια, although exceptionally, could denote the Christian cult too, as paragraphs of Christian authors point out. So, only when the term is used in non-cult context, it gets the negative connotation (orgies).

The Assessment of Knowledge, or Whether We Possess Knowledge or Twofold Ignorance about Our Place in the Universe

Author(s): Pavlo Sodomora,Svitlana Yahelo / Language(s): English Issue: 27/2021

The article aims to investigate the notion and foundation of the concept of knowledge to assess our place in the Universe via understanding of ourselves. The components of knowledge are discussed, aiming at clarifying what exactly the knowledge consists of. Several dialogues of Plato pose certain questions on the nature of knowledge, and here particularly Meno and Alcibiases-1 are taken into consideration, as well as Proclus’ Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades-1. It is impossible, according to Plato, to learn anything at all if we lack knowledge about ourselves, as it is shown in “Alcibiades-1.” Despite being relatively short, the dialogue is considered by some ancient scholars to be the introduction to the whole philosophy of Plato, according to Proclus’ Commentary on the dialogue. As a result, it has been inferred that there is no proof that gives us the right to assert that we possess any reliable knowledge in general, following the example on the authenticity of the dialogue in particular. This is why a parallel question, the authenticity of Alcibiades-1, is being discussed here on the basis of Proclus’ work in order to define the concept of “lost knowledge” and to consider the possibility of how certain knowledge can become lost. Excerpts from the first Ukrainian translation of the aforementioned Plato’s dialogues (yet to be published) and from Proclus’ Commentary are given to provide proof for given statements. Pavlo Sodomora provides translation from ancient Greek into Ukrainian.

O ГЕРИОНИДИ

Author(s): M. Davies,P.J. Finglass / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 529/2021

ΣΤΕΣΙΧΟΡΟΥ ΓΗΡΙΟΝΙΣ, Stesichorus The Poems, уредили, написали предговор, коментаре и превели M. Davies и P. J. Finglass, Cambrigde Univ. Press, 2014.

Putovanje antikom

Author(s): Andrea Antunović / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 30/2020

The review of: Mato Nedić: Antičke priče, Centar za kulturu, Orašje, 2020.

Die weltweit erste lateinische Übersetzung der Schrift von Pseudo-Aristoteles Peri\ tw=n a)retw=n kai\ kakiw=n aus den Beständen der Kopernikus-Bücherei in Toruń (Thorn), angefertigt von Simon Grynaeus, Professor an der Universität Basel

Author(s): Tomasz Dreikopel / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2021

The study concerns the world's first Latin translation of the essay On Virtues and Vices, preserved under the name of Aristotle, which was made in 1539 by Simon Grynaeus, then a professor at the University of Basel. In addition to the information about the author of the translation and linguistic comments, the study mentioned above also includes a spelling, punctuation, and editorial revision of Grynaeus's translation prepared based on the edition that appeared in print in 1593 in Frankfurt and is in the collections of the Nicolaus Copernicus Public Provincial Library in Toruń.

Severin the Walker and his Dark Path: Declinations of the Act of Walking in Paul Leppin’s Severins Gang in die Finsternis

Author(s): Maria Diletta Giordano / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

his paper investigates the themes of walking and wandering in Paul Leppin’s novel Severins Gang in die Finsternis by analysing their occurrence and aesthetic connotation. The act of walking and the exploration of urban landscape are strongly present in the novel, which is set in Prague and is characterised by several depictions of the milieu; therefore, the text has been analysed from this angle in numerous previous studies, mainly mentioning the elements of flanerie appearing in the narration. The present study discusses the problematic aspects in defining the protagonist of the novel as flaneur, suggesting alternative interpretations that can describe the aesthetic experience of Severin’s walking more exhaustively. The analysis mainly follows Francesco Careri’s research on the aesthetics of walking, which are summarized in his work Walkscapes. Walking as Aesthetic Practice. Following the same methodological approach, the paper also analyses occurrences of the act of walking other than Severin’s walkabouts, focusing especially on the presence of processions throughout the text.

Some loose ends in the analysis of the forms ἔθηκε(ν) and θῆκε(ν) in the Iliad: the exceptions, the compounds, the link with Mycenaean and the origin of the augment

Author(s): Filip De Decker / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

In the final part of the investigation into the use of the (un)augmented 3rd singular forms ἔθηκε(ν) and θῆκε(ν) in the Iliad, I focus on some loose ends, such as the enjambments, the compound forms, the formulaic nature of the epic language, the subordinate and negative sentences, and on some thornier issues such as the exceptions to the rules and the Mycenaean te ke and do ke and what this can tell us about the original meaning and origin of the augment.

Prolog antycznej komedii w oczach Profesora Sylwestra Dworackiego (1937–2020)

Author(s): Elżbieta Wesołowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 34/2020

The article is an attempt to remember the recently deceased, eminent researcher, Prof. Dr. Sylwester Dworacki, based on his article on prologues in Menander’s ancient Greek comedy.

Motyw winy Heleny w tradycji epickiej i w dyskursie

Author(s): Karol Zieliński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2021

The paper takes up the issue of Helen’s guilt for the outbreak of the Trojan war present in the Iliad and in the oral epic tradition. It puts forward a thesis that in order to blame others or to free themselves from blame epic heroes employ the typical in oral culture technique of conducting disputes. Like other characters in the Iliad, Helen, is also under constant social pressure which seeks to find her guilty and, in effect, to activate a mechanism of making a scapegoat of her. To defend herself, she risks self-accusations in order to make it impossible for other people to bring a charge against her. Helen cares about her good opinion in the Trojan society and particularly in the circle of women.

Anty-Aleksander? Wizerunek Demetriusza Poliorketesa w "Żywocie Demetriusza" Plutarcha z Cheronei

Author(s): Tomasz Zieliński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2021

The assumption that imitation of Alexander the Great played a key role in the image of Demetrius Poliorcetes has been broadly accepted by many researchers. The main source on this subject is Plutarch’s Life of Demetrius where the author directly compares these two Macedonian kings and depicts Demetrius as a failed imitator of Alexnader. However, the juxtaposition of numerous other parts in that biography with fragments of Life of Alexander demonstrates that Plutarch purpose was creating the image of Demetrius as a sort of anti-Alexander.

SOCRATES’ “SWAN SONG” IN PLATO’S PHAEDO. SOCRATES' “SECRET DOCTRINE” ABOUT DEATH AND ETERNITY

Author(s): Kazimierz Pawłowski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

In the Phaedo Plato describes Socrates’ final moments, just before his death. The statements he then makes can be treated as his philosophical creed. Socrates compares his own words to a swan song sung by the creature right before its approaching death and reminds his listeners of the swans’ prophetic gift. It can be said that in his final hour Socrates, just like Apollo’s swan, sings a song about the immortality of the human soul. Socrates refers to the Orphic “secret doctrine” (although he does not mention their name directly), revealing his thoughts on his own fate after death.