Hands to Oars: Aeschylus’ Cosmo-Phthoric Spin on Empedocles’ Whirlpool

Paper presented for interdisciplinary scholarly conferenceOtherFirst author draf

Theogony 215-16: Cronos’ Golden Hesperides, or Sheep for Apples?

The study proposes an alternative correction of the apparent transposition of lines 213 & 214 in The Theogony to replace Hermann’s proposed correction upheld in M. L. West’s standard edition. The alternative ordering of the lines herein proposed provides for the recovery of a homology between The Theogony and The Works and Days that aligns the Hesperides with the Gold generation. Along with this realignment of the two works there arises a novel perspective on the question as to whether the mēla associated with the Hesperides, long supposed to be apples, are rather sheep as is the case in the homologous passage in The Works. The prospect of taking sheep for apples here opens a series of issues with ontological and mythical implications leading finally to prospects for exploration of further homologies between Hesiod’s and Homer’s poems, most pointedly in connection with Odysseus’ katabasis.First author draf

Helm to helm, shield to shield: Menestheus' idiosyncratic tactic in Homer's Iliad

The study presents a novel approach to the longstanding debate regarding the presence of hoplite or proto-hoplite tactics in The Iliad arguing that the tactic is indeed in evidence as an expression of the fully egalitarian sensibilities of a late Iliad by a Homer who deftly provides for his Athenian provenance and anti-aristocratic sensibilities to be disclosed through a more incisive reading. The key to resolving the question depends upon a more sustained scrutiny of the heretofore underappreciated role of the Athenian contingent led by Menestheus whose like in the tactical arrangement of horse and shield-bearing men, the hoplite tactic, “had never been seen before on earth.” The complexities of the narrative construction, launched in the catalogue in book two and then winding through the middle books with a focused consideration of those forces led by Telamonian Ajax in hoplite formation, finally resolve in the hoplite formation of the Myrmidons led by Patroclus in Achilles’ absence as an egalitarian leader of the laos from the laos.First author draf

Iliad ad Nihilum: Psychê, Conscience, Wonder

First author draf

Medea 1079: (My) Thumos is Greater

In lieu of the presumption that in line 1079 of the Medea is a genitive of comparison and that, therefore, the line must be read in the sense of A (thumos) is greater than B (bouleumata), the author proposes to begin again by reading the genitive as simply modifying thumos: “the thumos of my plans is greater.” But greater than what? Greater than the thumos of Jason’s plans. Medea’s novel bouleumata, that is, her plans to kill the children, will supplant Jason’s established bouleumata to marry Creusa. This approach, however, leads us back to a new rereading of the presumed comparative grammar of the line: A is greater than B; however, A is no longer Medea’s thumos, but rather the hypostasis of an ironically malevolent, tragi-heroic thumos that transcends the human agency of the scheming from which it arises. It is the song of this dæmonic thumos, which provides for a peculiarly tragic kleos superior to anything a male warrior could accomplish by simply dying courageously in battle, that will be sung by Euripides’ novel Muse of women.Accepted manuscrip

Euphorbus' plaint and plaits: the unsung valor of a foot soldier in Homer's Iliad

The essay addresses Euphorbus’ role in the death and stripping of Patroclus. Is Homer “nodding” when Achilles’ armor is found together with Patroclus’ corpse for which Euphorbus returns to secure his genuine kleos? No. Homer suppresses one piece of information: Euphorbus seized Achilles’ armor and dons it. He seeks Patroclus’ corpse as evidence he did not take Achilles’ armor opportunistically. Hector comes by the armor opportunistically, taking it without slaying Patroclus―nor Achilles―and is thus but the “holder” of Achilles’ armor as Menelaus, puts it, echoed by Glaucus, heckling Hector as he “who holds the kleos of a coward.”Accepted manuscrip

Zum Gedenken an Gerhard Fezer (1938-2014). Reden der Akademischen Gedenkfeier der Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft am 30. Oktober 2015

This publication documents the speeches held at the Academic Commemorative Ceremony of Gerhard Fezer (1938-2014) at the University of Hamburg on October 30th, 2015. Supplemented by greetings of the Dean of the Faculty of Law, the five speeches, each with a different accent, convey an impressive picture of the colleagues and academic teachers who died at the age of 75 on August 15th, 2014. Gerhard Fezer had taken up a professorship for criminal law and criminal procedural law in Hamburg in 1978 and emerged as a professor in 2004 (but continued teaching); he was a member of the University of Hamburg for almost thirty years

Light Meson Spectroscopy

We survey the current status of light meson spectroscopy. We begin with a general introduction to meson spectroscopy and and its importance in understanding the physical states of Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD). Phemenological models of hadron spectroscopy are described with particular emphasis on the constituent quark model and the qualitative features it predicts for the meson spectrum. We next discuss expectations for hadrons lying outside the quark model, such as hadron states with excited gluonic degrees of freedom. These states include so-called hybrids glueballs}, as well as multiquark states. The established meson states are compared to the quark model predictions and we find that most meson states are well described by the quark model. However, a number of states in the light-quark sector do not fit in well, suggesting the existence of hadronic states with additional degrees of freedom. We end with a brief description of future directions in meson spectroscopy.Comment: 111 pages with 28 imbedded figures, in LaTeX2e with no special macros. Submitted to Reviews of Modern Physics, Nov.12, 199