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Supplemental Thoughts #2 - Childlike Achilles

I stumbled across this piece on children and narcissists in Psychology Today, and I couldn't help but think of the passage in the Iliad (1.354-427) where Achilles recounts the preceding 350 lines to his mother, Thetis (who, as a goodess, would likely know everything in advance). W. Thomas McCary wrote a book on this ( Childlike Achilles, Ontegony and Phylogeny in the Iliad ) in 1982, and it opened many people's eyes to this aspect of Achilles' behavior. Achilles is guity in this passage of almost all of the 13 characteristics cited by the psychologist: blaming others, saying he had no choice, taking credit, withdrawing from others, etc.). Of course the Greeks might have viewed this not as childish behavior, but as godlike behavior: after all, the Olympian gods do love themselves, rarely admit to doing any wrong, and are easily bullied by Zeus, while at the same time bullying those who have less power.We sahll have to decide whether Achilles in able to break out of this chi...
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List of Readings and Links

Prof. Anthony Gini 7/13/22 - 8/18/22 In this course, we will examine some of the most basic and foundational texts of Classical Antiquity, beginning with Homer and ending with the early Roman Empire. I have taught this course, or a version of it, for decades, and each summer I choose a different perspective to apply to the readings. For this summer, I have chosen the idea of narcissism. We will examine how narcissism reveals itself in the earliest literature, and track its development throughout the tradition.  Readings for Summer 2022:   Homer Iliad (5 Meetings) https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Ilhome.php   Read Books 1, 6, 7, 16, 18, 22, 24  Homer Odyssey (4 Meetings) https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Odhome.php  Read Books 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 23, 24  Herodotus Histories (1 Meeting) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Herodotus_The_Persian_Wars_(Godley)  Read Book 1, sections 1-34; Book 3, sections 1-38  Thucydides Pe...
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Supplemental Thoughts #1: Echo and Narcissus

In framing the theme for this summer’s readings as an inquiry into narcissism as it develops in ancient texts, from Homer to Vergil, I found myself focusing on the character of Narcissus without fully appreciating the context in which Ovid places him (Metamorphosis Bk 3.402ff). What I failed to take into account is the importance of the myth of Echo, with which the story of Narcissus is coupled. Echo is politically silenced by Juno: by virtue of her distracting Juno from discovering the infidelities of Zeus, she is made more of a “lackey” than she was in her original form ( “Echo still had a body then and was not merely a voice. But though she was garrulous, she had no other trick of speech than she has now: she can repeat the last words out of many. Juno made her like that, because often when she might have caught the nymphs lying beneath her Jupiter, on the mountain slopes, Echo knowingly held her in long conversations, while the nymphs fled. When Juno realized this she said ‘I shall...
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