Papers by Elizabeth Minchin
Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 14, 2001
Homer and the Resources of Memory
Homer calls upon his Muse, or the sisterhood of Muses, a number of times within the Iliad and onc... more Homer calls upon his Muse, or the sisterhood of Muses, a number of times within the Iliad and once only-at the outset-in the Odyssey. In the invocations Which introduce each epic he asks the Muse to inspire his song; and in those which occur in the course of the Iliad he appeals for inspiration for a single segment or episode-the singing of the great Catalogue of Ships, or the song which describes a turn in battle. There has been considerable discussion over the years about the kind of assistance which the poet/narrator is seeking and, indeed, about the kind of relationship, between poet and Muse, which an oral singer such as Homer might have envisaged. These aspects of the invocations have been carefully studied and profitably discussed elsewhere.
Classical Review, Feb 20, 2020
those qualities may tell us about both dedicators and viewers. The other papers in this section –... more those qualities may tell us about both dedicators and viewers. The other papers in this section – I. Mylonopoulos on dedicatory inscriptions on Greek sacred architecture, A. Graham on duplicate inscriptions at Aphrodisias, F. Opdenhoff on layers of writing and announcements on Pompeian walls, and S.V. Leatherbury on tabula ansata in late antiquity – all also largely succeed at showing the value of placing inscriptions into their physical context and taking into account the visual and social messages of their surroundings, though once again explicit engagement with materiality as a concept in these chapters would have served to drive the message home even more effectively. As I discussed at the start, our standard approaches to epigraphy have long failed to exploit fully the potential of inscriptions as objects. The aims of this volume, then, are heartening, even if the execution could sometimes be more consistent. Most encouragingly, its most memorable papers succeed in pointing in the direction of a brave new world of what could be: a world in which we might finally do justice to the extraordinary nature of these chameleon-like things.
The Homer Encyclopedia, Dec 15, 2012
Mnemosyne, 2010
I begin with a survey of relevant literature on sarcastic talk as it occurs in the anglophone wor... more I begin with a survey of relevant literature on sarcastic talk as it occurs in the anglophone world today. Having developed a 'view' of sarcasm in this contemporary world, I turn to expression of sarcasm in Homer. My examination of the spoken exchanges in the second half of the Odyssey reveals many features in common with sarcastic talk in the contemporary world and I demonstrate that the poet has used sarcastic talk to shape character, to establish mood, and, above all, to give structure to the scenes which bring together Odysseus and the suitors in the palace on Ithaka.
Classical Press of Wales eBooks, 2005
Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 22, 2007
The format that generates the refusal of an invitation is stored in memory as implicit knowledge.... more The format that generates the refusal of an invitation is stored in memory as implicit knowledge. The format cues a set of three moves that, taken together, enables the speaker to decline an invitation in a courteous manner. Although we may not immediately recognize the standardized nature of the refusals we offer, because the language we use varies from context to context, the format to which Homer refers in the performance of his epics is the same as that to which we refer in casual talk today.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 22, 2007
This chapter begins a study of the question forms in Homer. It represents an attempt to identify ... more This chapter begins a study of the question forms in Homer. It represents an attempt to identify some of the habits that a poet within an oral tradition had to develop, and some of the techniques on which he came to rely, in order to generate works on a monumental scale. The chapter offers an account of the observable regularities in question forms in Homer's Odyssey: exemplary adjacency pairs, careful use of explanatory material, a predictable range of options for the presentation of question-strings, whether double or multiple questions, and the answers they attract. Stylized rhythmical and structural patterns based on everyday talk have been developed by the tradition to facilitate and sustain poetic composition in an oral context.
Routledge eBooks, Aug 11, 2020
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Nov 1, 2010
LITERATURE rather reductive way of engaging with the texts' vigour and realism. Nonetheless, I wo... more LITERATURE rather reductive way of engaging with the texts' vigour and realism. Nonetheless, I would recommend several chapters (especially 1−3) to both students and colleagues.
Classical quarterly, Nov 9, 2011
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2014
LITERATURE and always so bitter that it is tempting to compare them with those that, according to... more LITERATURE and always so bitter that it is tempting to compare them with those that, according to Swift, rage between the Big and Little Enders as to the correct way to eat boiled eggs' ('Introduction', in A. Burguière, C. Klapisch-Zuber, M. Segalen and F. Zonabend (eds), A History of the Family I, Cambridge 1996, 1). Chapter 1 presents the basic dynamics, the quarrel and introduces us to daughter figures, mothers, sons and son figures; chapter 2 suggests that 'focusing on parents' use of children to meet their own needs, family psychology illuminates father-daughter and mother-son liaisons' (24); chapter 3 looks at the histories of some of the main figures in detail; chapter 4 presents an argument for the Iliad as a cathartic device, whose embedded denials are its function; chapter 5 deals with fathers and sons; chapter 6 with mothers and sons; chapter 7 with the tension between a child's actions and a parent's plans; chapter 8 looks at 'the shift of responsibility and anger' which is also a part of the cathartic effect of the poem. The final chapter gives the wide ambition of the book yet wider embrace as it attempts to read Achilles and Socrates and the relation of sacrifice and values side by side. This is a provocative and interesting book, on a few occasions presented in slightly quirky idiom, generally well-produced, but also containing some insufficiently detailed arguments that may be hard to accept in their present form.
Mnemosyne, May 3, 2019
It is well recognized amongst psychologists that individuals exhibit not one but multiple intelli... more It is well recognized amongst psychologists that individuals exhibit not one but multiple intelligences (Gardner 1993). Perhaps the most conspicuous of these, especially in interpersonal contexts, is emotional intelligence: that ability to understand and predict one’s own emotions, and those of others, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and behaviour (Mayer, Salovey and Caruso 2008). Although the Odyssean Odysseus is known for his ability to think his way out of difficult situations, his problem-solving ability is not his only distinguishing cognitive attribute. This paper begins with a brief discussion of emotional intelligence and its scope. I then observe how the poet, through his narrative, reveals this ability in Odysseus: his emotional intelligence serves the hero well in some social situations but (as happens to us all) fails him in others. I shall argue, with reference to a number of examples, that the poet has an implicit understanding of emotional intelligence; that he uses his hero’s uneven performance with respect to this ability as a motivating factor in his development of the plot; and that this attribute of Odysseus, along with his craftiness, is what makes this character—and ultimately this story—so engaging.
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Papers by Elizabeth Minchin
Topics covered in this wide-ranging collection include: cognitive linguistics applied to Homeric and early Greek texts, Roman cultural semantics, linguistic embodiment in Latin literature, group identities in Greek lyric, cognitive dissonance in historiography, kinesthetic empathy in Sappho, artificial intelligence in Hesiod and Greek drama, the enactivism of Roman statues and memory and art in the Roman Empire.
This ground-breaking work is the first to organize the field, allowing both scholars and students access to the methodologies, bibliographies and techniques of the cognitive sciences and how they have been applied to classics.
mercoledì 13 novembre 2019
15:30-16:00 Saluti istituzionali
I seduta – presiede e coordina: Manuela Giordano (Università di Siena)
16:00-16:15 Andrea Ercolani (CNR), Laura Lulli (Università degli Studi dell'Aquila), "Introduzione ai lavori: l'esito di un percorso"
16:15-17:00 Elizabeth Minchin (The Australian National University), "Mind-based research meets the Homeric epics: what then?"
17:00-17:30 coffee break
17:30-18:15 Douglas Cairns (School of History, Classics & Archaeology, The University of Edinburgh), "Thymos in Homer: philological, oral-poetic, and cognitive approaches"
18:15-19:00 Anna Bonifazi (Universität zu Köln): "Transitional aspects of oral epic: Homer and beyond"
19:00-19:30 Discussione
giovedì 14 novembre 2019
II seduta – presiede e coordina: Riccardo Palmisciano (Università degli Studi di Napoli L'Orientale)
10:00-10:45 E. J. Bakker (Yale University): " Intraformulaic Homer"
10:45-11:30 Albio Cesare Cassio (Sapienza Università di Roma), "Beyond the fable convenue: 'hidden' and 'overt' modifications through time of the epic language"
11:30-12:00 coffee break
12:00-12:45 Chiara Bozzone (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), "Technologies of Orality: Formularity, Meter, and Kunstsprache in Homer"
12:45-13:00 Discussione
III seduta – presiede e coordina: Livio Sbardella (Università degli Studi dell'Aquila)
15:30-16:15 Giampiero Scafoglio (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis), "Cyclic themes and episodes in the Odyssey"
16:15-17:00 Jonathan Burgess (Department of Classics, University of Toronto), "Allusion and reception in the prophecy of Tiresias, Odyssey book 11"
17:00-17:30 coffee break
17:30-18:15 Richard Hunter (Cambridge University, Trinity College): "What kind of wisdom? Ideas of early didactic poetry in antiquity"
18:15-19:00 Silvia Quadrelli (Università degli Studi dell'Aquila): "Tracce di oralità in Erodoto: l' 'eredità' omerica nelle Storie"
19:00-19:30 Discussione
venerdì 15 novembre 2019
IV seduta – presiede e coordina: Andrea Ercolani (CNR)
10:00-10:45 Ettore Cingano (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia): "The re-use of epic diction in other genres and contexts: the Getty Hexameters and magical and incantatory texts"
10:45-11:30 Sonja Zeman (Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Institut für Deutsche Philologie): "The conceptualization of ‘shared knowledge’ and the levels of narrative truth in Middle High German and Homeric epics"
11:30-12:00 coffee break
12:00-12:45 Laura Lulli (Università degli Studi dell'Aquila): "Some Reflections on Orality and Epic Poetry in Ancient Literary Criticism"
12:45-13:30 Tavola rotonda "Epos e oralità: considerazioni conclusive e questioni aperte": coordina Franco Montanari (Università degli Studi di Genova)