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Bryn Mawr Reviews | 1 Apr 2009 17:48

BMCR 2009.04.02, Carl Joachim Classen, Vorbilder - Werte - Normen


Carl Joachim Classen, Vorbilder - Werte - Normen in den homerischen
Epen. Beitraege zur Altertumskunde 260.  Berlin/New York:  Walter de
Gruyter, 2008.  Pp. x, 287.  ISBN 9783110202595.  $137.00.

Reviewed by Wolfgang Polleichtner, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum
(wolfgang.polleichtner <at> rub.de)
Word count:  2016 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-04-02.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090402.html
-------------------------------

This succinctly argued and highly readable book by Carl Joachim Classen
is a wonderful treasure chest for everybody interested in the question
what kind of values, rules, and ideals existed in Homeric society.
Classen builds his study on the basis of a very focused textual
analysis of the Iliad and Odyssey. The author thereby presents us with
a rich warehouse of observations that can and undoubtedly will serve as
starting point for many studies to come. Some of Classen's findings
may, of course, not be new.[[1]] The synopsis that he delivers,
however, is worthwhile reading.

Although the table of contents simply lists individual chapters, the
argument of the book is divided into four parts. After a preface and an
introduction, the first  part consists of seven chapters which are
devoted to a description of the Homeric design of important characters:
Achilles, Agamemnon, the two Ajaxes, Diomedes, Hector, Nestor, and
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Bryn Mawr Reviews | 1 Apr 2009 17:50

BMCR 2009.04.03, John Claughton, Herodotus and the Persian Wars


John Claughton, Herodotus and the Persian Wars. Greece and Rome: Texts
and Contexts.  Cambridge/New York:  Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008.  Pp.
vii, 152.  ISBN 9780521689434.  $25.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Abram C. Ring, Franklin and Marshall College
(abram.ring <at> fandm.edu)
Word count:  2297 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-04-03.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090403.html
-------------------------------

Table of Contents
(http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0834/2008273759-t.html)

I. Introduction and abstract

Claughton's Herodotus and the Persian Wars provides a lively new
translation of selections from the Histories, most of which come from
the major battle narratives.  The notes are often helpful in giving
cross-references within Herodotus (and sometimes to other authors) and
in explaining common Greek customs and beliefs.  The numerous color
illustrations and maps are valuable and laudable additions.  However,
the lack of variety in the selections, the omission of an introduction,
the restricted bibliography, and the failure to address much modern
scholarship will limit the usefulness of this text.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 1 Apr 2009 17:06
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BMCR 2009.03.01: Books Received (March, 2009)

BMCR Books Received (March, 2009)

---------------------------------
Titles marked by an asterisk are available for review. Qualified volunteers should indicate their
interest by a message to classrev <at> brynmawr.edu, with their last name and requested author in the subject
line. (PLEASE DO *NOT* REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.) They should state their qualifications (both in the sense
of degrees held and in the sense of experience in the field concerned) and explain any previous
relationship with the author. Volunteers are expected to have received their PhD. Those still writing
their thesis should contact their supervisors to ascertain that a review is appropriate at this time and
that the supervisor will vet and stand surety for the review.

An updated version of this list may be found at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/booksavailable.html.
---------------------------------

*Aldrete, Gregory S. Daily life in the Roman city: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia (paperback edition; first
published 2004). Norman: University Of Oklahoma Press, 2009. xv, 278 p. $19.95 (pb). ISBN 9780806140278.

*Anagnostopoulos, Georgios (ed.). A companion to Aristotle. Blackwell companions to philosophy.
Chichester; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. xviii, 648 p. $200.00. ISBN 9781405122238.

* Aubry , Gwenaëlle and Frédérique Ildefonse (edd.). Le moi et l'intériorité. Textes et traditions,
17. Paris: Vrin, 2008. 384 p. € 26.00 (pb). ISBN 9782711621668.

*Balla, Chloe (ed.). Philosophia kai retorike sten klasike Athena. Athena: Panepistemiakes ekdoseis
Kretes: Ekdoseis philosophikes scholes panepistemiou Kretes, 2008. 241 p. (pb). ISBN 9789605242701.

*Barker, Elton T. E. Entering the agon: dissent and authority in Homer, historiography and tragedy.
Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiii, 433 p. $140.00. ISBN 9780199542710.

*Benakis, Linos G. Michael Psellos. Kommentar zur Physik des Aristoteles. editio princeps (Einleitung,
(Continue reading)

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Bryn Mawr Reviews | 2 Apr 2009 22:35

BMCR 2009.04.04, Robert B. Koehl, Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta


Robert B. Koehl, Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta.  Philadephia:  INSTAP
Academic Press, 2006.  Pp. xxxiii, 423; pls. 61, ills. 17, tbs. 26,
figs. 47.  ISBN 1-931534-16-0.  $120.00.

Reviewed by Judith Weingarten, Belforte (Siena), Italy
(judith <at> judithweingarten.com)
Word count:  1814 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-04-04.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090404.html
-------------------------------

Every student familiar with the material culture of the Aegean Bronze
Age would readily acknowledge that rhyta are among the most appealing,
yet enigmatic classes of artifacts. While by no means the most common
vessels, they are surely one of the most conspicuous.  No
other...vessel was made in so wide a range of forms and media, nor with
such a consistently high degree of artistry.(1)

This statement from the Introduction to Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta
(hereafter ABAR) is so obviously true that one simply assumes that
whole of the subject has often been scrutinized and written about.  So
it is startling to realize that ABAR is the first comprehensive study
of this polymorphic vessel since G. Karo's 1911 article "Minoische
Rhyta" established the basic typology and functional analyses.  Since
1911, of course, the number of rhyta and the range of their
archaeological contexts have increased dramatically, so it is not
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Bryn Mawr Reviews | 2 Apr 2009 22:37

BMCR 2009.04.05, J. L. Marr, The 'Old Oligarch': The Constitution


J. L. Marr, P. J.  Rhodes (trans.), The 'Old Oligarch': The
Constitution of the Athenians Attributed to Xenophon. Aris & Phillips
Classical Texts.  Oxford:  Aris & Phillips, 2008.  Pp. 178.  ISBN
9780856687815.  $36.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Delfim F. Lea^o, University of Coimbra, Portugal
(leo <at> fl.uc.pt)
Word count:  1752 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-04-05.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090405.html
-------------------------------

As stated in the "Preface" (ix), this edition of the 'Old Oligarch' was
begun by J. L. Marr, who discussed previous drafts with P. J. Rhodes,
and finally asked the latter to join him in finishing the book. The
final version of the volume was produced by Rhodes, although both
authors share joint responsibility for the book as whole (including
Greek text, English translation and the various interpretations
expressed along the work). The result is a very complete approach to
this small treatise, too often neglected by literary critics and
ancient historians, thus providing an analysis capable of attracting
the attention of specialists, students and general public as well. This
kind of balance is not easy to maintain, but Marr and Rhodes
(henceforth M&R) have managed to achieve it, by combining an incisive
introduction with an easily readable translation (without betraying the
recognized immaturity of the anonymous author) and an illuminating
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Apr 2009 17:55
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BMCR 2009.04.06: Editorial Note

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.04.06
-------------------------------

Editorial Note.

Editors Richard Hamilton, James J. O'Donnell, Camilla MacKay

Gentle readers,

Bryn Mawr Classical Review is moving -- to Bryn Mawr. Since our inception in late 1990, we have been hosted on
the server of the Center for Computer Analysis of Texts at the University of Pennsylvania. There are many
reasons for that persistence. One of us was then at Penn, the CCAT founded by Bob Kraft was already a leader
in humanities computing, and since then inertia, respect for readers' habits, and the very kind
generosity of Penn humanities computing have all made it simple to stay as we were. The time has come now to
move homes, with the journal coming to reside fully within the College whose extraordinary tradition in
Classics gave it birth.

The senior editors are grateful to our colleagues at Penn, most notably in recent years Warren Petrofsky
and Jay Treat, but going back many years to others, including Bob Kraft and the late Jack Abercrombie and
the inimitable Ira Winston, and others whom we are sorry not to be able to catalog comprehensively here.

Links to the old addresses will "resolve" (as they say) to the new site, but of course there will be some
hiccups in finding familiar material. This is an opportune moment to say that there are other sites from
time to time that seem to take it upon themselves to archive BMCR postings. Go now, then, to have a look at
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu to see the new site and make sure you can recognize the real thing. Many readers
will also want to bookmark our blog site, where new reviews are posted and comments
encouraged/welcomed/posted. The URL there is http://www.bmcreview.org.

With best wishes,
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Apr 2009 21:25
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BMCR 2009.04.08: Boeri on Reyes Bertolin on Boeri

Response: Boeri on Reyes Bertoli/n Cebria/n on Marcelo D. Boeri,
Apariencia y Realidad en el Pensamiento Griego. Investigaciones sobre
Aspectos Epistemolo/gicos, Eticos y de Teori/a de la Accio/n en Algunas
Teori/as de la Antigueedad.   Response to BMCR 2009.03.19

Response by Marcelo D. Boeri, Universidad de los Andes
(mboeri <at> uandes.cl)
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this response, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-04-08.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090408.html
-------------------------------

In her review of my book Apariencia y Realidad en el Pensamiento
Griego. Investigaciones sobre Aspectos Epistemolo/gicos, Eticos y de
Teori/a de la Accio/n en Algunas Teori/as de la Antigueedad (hereafter
AR), Reyes Bertoli/n Cebria/n (RBC) presents a number of objections and
criticisms that appear to me unfounded and clearly subjective.

First, she claims that, although I have done a good job explaining the
doctrines of Plato and Aristotle in great detail, I have presented
those authors and their doctrines in a manner that would not
necessarily appeal to the students in classics. Honestly, I do not
understand the nature of this objection, as I never intended my book
for the students of classics (i.e. people dedicated to Greek and Roman
literature, history, and so on), but for the classicists who are
involved in ancient philosophy; as RBC herself notes, my book is
intended mostly for philosophers in general or scholars interested in
ancient philosophy.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Apr 2009 21:35
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BMCR 2009.04.09: Rosen on Nicolosi, Ipponate, epodi di Strasburgo

Anika Nicolosi (trans.), Ipponate, epodi di Strasburgo -
Archiloco, epodi di Colonia (con un'appendice su P. Oxy. LXIX 4708).
Eikasmos, 14.  Bologna:  Pa\tron Editore, 2007.  Pp. 396; pl. 1.  ISBN
978-88-555-2914-3.  [euro  ]30.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Ralph M. Rosen, University of Pennsylvania
(rrosen <at> sas.upenn.edu)
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-04-09.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090409.html
-------------------------------

Anika Nicolosi's has published an impressively erudite, elegantly
produced edition, with text and exhaustive commentary, of several
fragmentary poems by Archilochus and Hipponax. Three famous fragments
(amounting to barely 125 lines of legible text in all) are subjected to
detailed scrutiny here -- the so-called Strasbourg Epode(s), a choice
piece of poetic invective variously attributed by scholars to
Archilochus or Hipponax (in recent editions printed as Hipponactean
dubia, frr. 115-117W and 194 Degani), the "Cologne Archilochus" (frr.
196 + 196aW), and the "New Archilochus," which refers to the fragment
of Archilochus recently published by Dirk Obbink in 2005 (P.Oxy. 4708).
The last item is arguably the most exciting, both because it is a
recent addition to the corpus of fragments and for what it adds to our
understanding of Archilochean poetics, but Nicolosi only treats this
fr. in an appendix, presumably because it came to light too close to
the publication of her own edition for her to offer a fuller study.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Apr 2009 21:23
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BMCR 2009.04.07, Gnoli on Tabbernee, Pepouza and Tymion

William Tabbernee, Peter Lampe, Pepouza and Tymion: The Discovery and
Archaeological Exploration of a Lost Ancient City and an Imperial
Estate.  Berlin/New York:  Walter de Gruyter, 2008.  Pp. xx, 338.  ISBN
9783110194555.  $138.00.

Reviewed by Tommaso Gnoli, University of Bologna
(tommaso.gnoli <at> unibo.it)
Word count:  1305 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-04-07.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090407.html
-------------------------------

The origin of this book was the discovery of a bilingual inscription.
The marble slab on which the inscription is engraved was acquired by
the Usak Archaeological Museum in 2000, where it was viewed by William
Tabbernee, one of the most eminent scholars in early Christian studies,
and particularly in Montanism. The inscription was a petition addressed
by peasants from an imperial estate to the emperor Septimius Severus.
The text of this inscription will be added to the dossiers regarding
peasant complaints assembled by Tor Hauken ten years ago (Petition and
Response: an Epigraphic Study of Petition to Roman Emperors, 181-249,
Athens 1998). The extraordinary significance of this text does not
reside in the petition itself, but in one of the two toponyms cited in
it: the petition was sent from colonis Tymiorum et Simoensium (ll.
10-11).

Tymion, together with Pepouza, was the birthplace of Montanism. It is
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Apr 2009 21:36
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BMCR 2009.04.10: Liddel on Smith, The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Hellenistic and Roman

Philip J. Smith, The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Hellenistic and Roman
Megaris, Greece. BAR International Series; 1762.  Oxford:  John and
Erica Hedges Ltd., 2008.  Pp. xii, 276.  ISBN 9781407302126.  L53.00
(pb).

Reviewed by Peter Liddel, University of Manchester
(peter.liddel <at> manchester.ac.uk)
Word count:  1192 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-04-10.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/04/20090410.html
-------------------------------

P. J. Smith identifies three important gaps in the modern scholarship
on the ancient Megarid: (a) the absence of any serious study of
Megarian inscriptions since that of Dittenberger in IG VII of 1892; (b)
the very preliminary nature of published topographical surveys (the
1972 work of Sakellariou and Pharaklas is said to be 'not very thorough
because of circumstances in Greece at the time' (1)); (c) the tendency
of modern historical studies of Megara to concentrate on the period to
the end of the fourth century BC. This useful study of the topography,
archaeology and institutions of the Hellenistic and Roman Megarid goes
some way in addressing gap (b).

The publication, based on a McGill dissertation of 2000, is divided
into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a short survey of the geography and
geology of the Megarid. Chapter 2 is of a catalogue of 47 known
Megarian sites. Some of these (like Megara, Aegosthena and Pagai) are
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Gmane