Em 🏺

So, to anyone who wants to read the Homeric epics, please do not be dissuaded by the ‘inaccessibility’ of them — be curious, learn, understand. You will learn some very important lessons about our own time.

In my reading of the Homeric texts, the Iliad and the Odyssey ultimately share a story of shared humanity and the experience of suffering. I would argue that, In a world where empathy feels like it’s left the chat, it’s no wonder that so many see these texts as inaccessible.

Some far off moral code that one would need a PhD to understand — they are ultimately still applicable to our modern day, as our some of the experiences shared between humans.

Consider the central event depicted in Homer’s Iliad, the wrath of Achilles. By emphasising a very real human emotion, Homer foregrounds his text in the human experience — I’m sure we can all relate to feeling an anger so deep that we want to make others suffer. The ethics of the Iliad are not ++

Experience of reading these texts more of a challenge, I would argue that this is almost definitely something worth persevering through as the core themes of the epics are still incredibly resonate with our modern society and the human experience more generally.

As I read it, ‘inaccessible’ carries with it connotations not just of difficulty, but as showing that these texts are completely out of reach to anyone who doesn’t see themselves as worthy of understanding the texts. This is just not true. Whilst the language of the Homeric texts can make the ++

Recently I have been seeing a lot of posts on TikTok saying that the Homeric texts are ‘inaccessible’ to many readers. As a Classics student, I think that dubbing these texts as such further cements the unfair reputation of Classics as being an elitist subject. Let’s talk about it.

It is almost 1am and I just got excited about Latin having a diminutive. My life is officially sad

ψυχή, ἡ: soul, life
ψυχοανακάλυπτος: soul-baring, revealing
ψυχοκλέπτης: soul-thief
ψυχοκτόνος:soul-killing
ψυχοπλανής: soul-wandering
ψυχοπότης: soul drinker (drinking of life, i.e. blood)

ψῦχος, τό: cold
ψυχρία: cold
ψυχοκρασία: growing cold
ψυχολογία: frigid talking
ψυχρόσαρκος: with cold flesh

Like the cheeky gorgoneion peeking out from under her armpit

In terms of other things that I enjoy, I love to knit, embroider, and cook. I also have ADHD and sight loss, and my visual impairment forms a huge part of my future research interest.

Hi! My name’s Em. I’m an undergraduate studying Classics and I really want to connect with my fellow nerds. I aspire one day to be in academia, and my interests are all things Greek literature (but I love Homer and Euripides especially). Follow to see my journey!

Gladiator gravestone from Caria: "He was the strongest of all opponents. He may have been lacking in height, but there were none in the arenas comparable in strength to the utterly mighty [name].

I always feel a pang when the name is lost, but we stan a short king.