Achaeans

In Homer’s The Iliad not only is Achilles the main character, he is also the perfect depiction of what a self-sufficient man looks like. Sometimes we get the idea that we are able to accomplish and conquer anything without help. To add on, the point of human interaction is to create human empowerment. Human empowerment is the ability to come together as a unified whole. Thus when you are unified together as a group you can conquer, solve and learn from one another. Human interaction is also…

Book of the Dead - Egyptian religious collection: The Book of the Dead is an ancient book originated from Egypt that is filled with spells that help the souls enter their afterlife. The title translates to The Book of Coming Forth By Day and referred to as “the Ancient Egyptian Bible.” Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Book of the Dead." Encyclopedia of the Literature of Empire. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literature, Facts On File, Inc.…

Many great works have been lost to time. Some of the most well-known and respected authors of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome have not been fully preserved, and what could have been their greatest works are gone. Despite the difficulties many of these authors have faced in their conservation, the narratives they tell remain timeless, each reiteration shedding new light onto the subject. One of those timeless tales is that of Achilles, the main hero of the Iliad. The story of Achilles,…

Women in Greek literature tend to fall into two categories: sweet, gentle, passive beauties or dangerous, intelligent, powerful sorceresses. They are either the trophy or the villain -- at the very best, a female character may be a goddess, her powers being controlled by Zeus himself. Forget being the hero or ruler of a kingdom; a woman was to be either an obedient wife or a slightly-psychotic witch. With all these horrible labels women carried during this time, it’s ironic how Odysseus,…

Complementary Field Exam RACE AND ETHNICITY IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN: APPROACHES, INTERPRETATIONS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Race and ethnicity are both important aspects of identity in the modern world. Given their centrality in today’s identity politics, the study of race and ethnicity has naturally found its way into the pages of studies on the ancient Mediterranean. The Greeks and Romans are thought to have been the progenitors of ideas and philosophies which the modern “Western” world…