The text on Nestor’s Cup (750-700 BCE) is not Greek as many claim but is actually Alphabetic Akkadian. Its three-line text is a debate about the cause of a drought. The first line blames the life network goddess Ayu and her eagle vultures while the second line blames emotion magic with its owls (like the Athenian owl). Alphabetic Akkadian was t…[Read more]

The chapter discusses recently developed computational techniques providing concrete help in addressing various tasks in historical language comparison, focusing specifically on those tasks which are typically subsumed under the framework of the comparative method. These include the proof of relationship, cognate and correspondence detection,…[Read more]

Prompted by Michel Foucault’s observation that “salvation is first of all essentially subsistence,” this essay explores Gregory of Nyssa’s discussion of Christian spiritual formation as a kind of salvific and transformative feeding of infants. This article argues that the prominent role of nourishment—and specifically breast milk—in Gregory’s t…[Read more]

Cyprian’s Epistle 63 represents the earliest extant account of the proper meaning and administration of the eucharistic cup. Against a group of Christians who were taking only water, Cyprian argues that wine is necessary for the ritual to be effective. While there has been much discussion surrounding the biblical references marshaled by Cyprian t…[Read more]

Cyprian’s Epistle 63 represents the earliest extant account of the proper meaning and administration of the eucharistic cup. Against a group of Christians who were taking only water, Cyprian argues that wine is necessary for the ritual to be effective. While there has been much discussion surrounding the biblical references marshaled by Cyprian t…[Read more]

Humankind, for Gregory of Nyssa, was poisoned through a primordial act of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. As a result, the toxin of sin and death has been blended into the body and soul of each person, dispersing itself throughout the component parts of their nature. If eating and drinking initiated the spiritual and physical…[Read more]

Humankind, for Gregory of Nyssa, was poisoned through a primordial act of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. As a result, the toxin of sin and death has been blended into the body and soul of each person, dispersing itself throughout the component parts of their nature. If eating and drinking initiated the spiritual and physical…[Read more]

Review of Douglas Boin’s Coming Out Christian in the Roman World

Review of Douglas Boin’s Coming Out Christian in the Roman World

A review of the 2015 novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, by Alexandra Kleeman

Review of Seducing Augustine, by Virginia Burrus, Karmen MacKendrick, and Mark Jordan (2010)

Review of Seducing Augustine, by Virginia Burrus, Karmen MacKendrick, and Mark Jordan (2010)

Encyclopedia Entry

Heroes and Demons entered the northern Mediterranean culture between 600 and 500 BCE when the culture was transforming from the magical Ancient Pagan Paradigm to a lordified Paradigm which forced deity personification making them lords in a royal pantheon instead of powers. This caused an explosion in the number of deities and other divine realm…[Read more]

The past inability to translate Etruscan texts has meant that the interpretation of Etrucan art has been mostly speculation. This interpretation has been made even more difficult because this was the time when new demon imagery (Cyclops, Skadi) not seen in the past was being introduced as Etruscan religious culture was changing from the magical…[Read more]

This paper re-examines the question of the presence of distinct sociolects in Classical Athenian tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides). While the general idea is that all characters in tragedy spoke a similar language, without much distinction between sociolects that could have marked their socio-political status, some recent research has…[Read more]

This paper re-examines the question of the presence of distinct sociolects in Classical Athenian tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides). While the general idea is that all characters in tragedy spoke a similar language, without much distinction between sociolects that could have marked their socio-political status, some recent research has…[Read more]

This paper re-examines the question of the presence of distinct sociolects in Classical Athenian tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides). While the general idea is that all characters in tragedy spoke a similar language, without much distinction between sociolects that could have marked their socio-political status, some recent research has…[Read more]

In this article, I examine how the apocryphal Acts of John depicts wealthy Christian
converts as part of the “Christianization” of Ephesus. I note how the Acts of John
uses its portrayal of leading citizens not only to critique, but to preserve and
adapt prevailing expectations surrounding Greco-Roman cultic patronage. My
analysis com…[Read more]

In this article, I examine how the apocryphal Acts of John depicts wealthy Christian
converts as part of the “Christianization” of Ephesus. I note how the Acts of John
uses its portrayal of leading citizens not only to critique, but to preserve and
adapt prevailing expectations surrounding Greco-Roman cultic patronage. My
analysis com…[Read more]