Myths on Maps

The People tab under Nereids (NERE2) does not work. It should be showing the 50 daughters of Nereus. Seems to be an isolated incident.

So, you click on a place and get a little Google map. But! the map is all blue. The place is *probably* a region that hasn't been given a centre yet. Here's how to fix it on, say, Macedonia.
Macedonia's entry in PLAC1.xml looks like this:
-----------------------------------------------
<place xml:id="MACE1">
<placeName>Macedonia</placeName>
<geogFeat type="Polygon" role="region">
<geo>40.166281,22.18689 40.782621,21.821594 40.948788,21.654053 41.257162,21.599121 41.428313,22.206116 41.352072,22.793884 41.109365,23.369293 40.73269,23.648071 40.584757,23.571167 40.618122,22.939453 40.636883,22.890015 40.586842,22.854309 40.559461,22.81208 40.565459,22.745132 40.50649,22.726593 40.526848,22.666855 40.471241,22.657585 40.476203,22.601624 40.415587,22.60437 40.381598,22.62291 40.366427,22.657928 40.244419,22.59819 40.149751,22.551842 40.019201,22.598877 40.049694,22.524033 40.094882,22.460175 40.088579,22.209549 40.166281,22.18689</geo>
</geogFeat>
</location>
</place>
-----------------------------------------------

The Google map is generated by using a single set of vertices, and Macedonia doesn't have a single set. So, until a more elegant method is created, we'll add a new location element to provide a 'centre' for the region by adding this:
-----------------------------------------------
<location type="centre"><geogFeat type="Point" role="centre"><geo>40.727,22.624</geo></geogFeat></location>
-----------------------------------------------

I got the centre by using <a href="http://hcmc.uvic.ca/people/greg/maps/vertexer/">the Vertexer</a>. I pasted the content of the polygon's geo tag (above) in to the box on the left of the Vertexer page and clicked the '+' button to add it to the map. Once it is on the map, click the zoom button (middle section of the Vertexer page) to zoom and centre the map. Once centred, the box to the right of the page will provide a 'Map centre' that you can copy and paste in to the new location (as above).

If you need to add a character to PERS1.xml you'll need to create an XML ID for them that uses four upper-case characters plus a number (e.g. GREG12). The ID you *want* to use may already be taken, but you can discover this by going to this page: http://figue.hcmc.uvic.ca:8080/exist/apps/myths/modules/detail.xqm?id=
and adding the ID to the end. The resulting page will either produce info on that ID or return a 404 not found. If you get the 404 you can use the ID.

If you want to make an AJAX call to get, say, some JSON from eXist you'll need to allow it (because of the CORS thing).
You can add a stanza to Jetty's web.xml file ($exist-home-dir/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml) like this:

    <filter>
        <filter-name>cross-origin</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.eclipse.jetty.servlets.CrossOriginFilter</filter-class>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>cross-origin</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>

which will allow all external requests. Probably not what you want in production, but you can fiddle the url-pattern to suit.

(Working draft of revised event guidelines provided by Lauren.)

1. Not every single thing that happens is an 'event.'

2. Do not include each conversational turn in an extend conversation into separate events.

1. Not event 1 "Odysseus greets Agamemnon," event 2 "Agamemnon greets Odysseus."

3. Do not include extraneous detail in event descriptions.

1. event_14011: "Hera goes to the room built for her by Hephaestus and makes herself look as lovely as possible."

1. why the detail about Hephaestus building the room? If this is important, it should be its own, separate event. If it's not important, don't include it at all.

4. Do not shoehorn events separated from each other in time or space together because they are narratively related.

1. event_14011 above.

1. Hera going into the room, and Hephaestus building the room, are separate events. They are not the same event just because they are mentioned closely together in the text.

5. Put event descriptions into clear, neutral modern English. Do not copy or imitate the archaic phrasing of the translations

1. Some examples of archaic words and phrases best avoided:

1. bid

2. quarrel

6. Avoid unnecessary adjectives and descriptions.

1. event_14012 "Hera lies to Aphrodite and asks if she will help her to procure some potent love charms to settle a quarrel between Rhea and Cronus, when she really intends to use them upon Zeus."

1. "potent" is extraneous.

2. event_14009 "Poseidon looses a fearsome battle cry and raises the morale of the Achaeans."

1. cut "fearsome."

7. Record events, not narrative explanations.

1. see event_14012 above. In general, say what happens, but do not include complicated plot-based explanations of why it's happening. The event above should be restated with something like "Hera gets a love potion from Aphrodite." You do not need to be utterly complete and include every detail from the text. Event descriptions point people to the texts if they want more detail; they do not replace the text.

8. Use standard, academic-writing type English grammar.

1. event_15020 "Poseidon warns Iris that if Zeus spares Troy, himself, Hera, Athena, Hermes and Hephaestus will be very angry."

1. "himself" is not standard here. "He" is usual, but if you want to emphasize that this is Poseidon (and not Zeus) you could write "he himself."

9. With the exception of the weirdness of the CoS, events happen only in one place. This is especially true when the happen in sequence rather than simultaneously.

1. event_15004: "Zeus rescues Hercules from Cos and brings him back to Argos." The place for this event is recorded as CoS, but this seems to also include Argos. The rescue should be separated from the return home.

10. Give preference to an action rather than the speech act which instigates or describes it.

1. event_3119: "Agamemnon commands the Achaeans to purify themselves an offer sacrifice to Apollo."

1. We are not here told whether or not the Achaeans actually did, only that Agamemnon commanded it. This would perhaps be okay if the text were silent on the issue of whether the command was carried out, but it is not.

11. Be careful of using the definite article without a clear antecedent (and event descriptions should generally be so short that there shouldn't be one).

1. e.g. event_14000: "Nestor goes to investigate the sounds of fighting by the ships."

1. Read in isolation "the ships" doesn't make any sense. "the Greek ships" is better.

2. If you need to choose, the description should be of an action taking place, rather than an action about to take place or having just taken place.

1. e.g. event_14000: "Nestor goes to investigate the sounds of fighting by the ships". "Nestor investigates" would be better.

2. Of course, if the antecedents of an event are important, they may be included as their own event. They should not, however, be included instead of the main event.

3. In general, verbs that describe a state of being or a state of mind should not be the focus of an event or an event description.

1. e.g. event_14005: "Agamemnon believes that Zeus has turned on the Achaeans and orders the ships drawn down into the water while the battle rages so that some may have a chance of escape."

We are running into an issue in Pausanias wherein he frequently references historical personages without sufficient specificity. For example, in 1.55:

"These are the Athenian eponymoi who belong to the ancients. And of later date than these they have tribes named after the following, Attalus the Mysian and Ptolemy the Egyptian."

There are several dynastic leaders by these names, and the scholarly note in our translation states there is no way of knowing which Egyptian king Pausanias is actually referring to. My best guess for now, based on the wording, is that he is referring to the founding patriarchs of their respective dynasties, but this kind of ambiguous name-dropping is a recurring problem and usually occurs without much, if any, context.

This problem is adjacent to the secondary issue of Pausanias contradicting his own information. As an example, this occurs in sections 1.5.3 - 1.5.4, wherein Pausanias goes to some lengths to delineate two different but related figures named Pandion, only to conflate them in the following paragraph by attributing the children of the grandfather to the grandson.

It is possible that this is an issue of content expertise, and that there is scholarly insight available that we simply haven't encountered yet. A potential way of approaching the issues in the interim would be to create new character entries that serve as generalized catchalls: i.e. "Pandion is the name of several legendary kings of Athens; to which one Pausanias refers is uncertain."

A further challenge is the markup and role of groups. Pausanias makes frequent reference to various groups, some of which we already have entries for: e.g. Greeks, Egyptians, Athenians. However, given that those entries were written for use with The Iliad and this text is coming to us from an entirely different time and context, they aren't especially analogous. The question then becomes, do we create new entries for these groups tailored to their different context in Pausanias? If so, how do we want to approach it in terms of reflecting their inherent value shifts, such as changing concepts of national identity?

Bell, Robert E. Place-names in Classical Mythology: Greece. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1989. Google Book Search. Web. 28 April 2015.

Blackie, John Stuart. Homer and The Iliad. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1866. Internet Archive. Web. 28 April 2015.

Buck, Carl Darling. Greek Dialects. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1928. Print. (On loan from Dr. Bowman.)

Cramer, J.A. A Geographical and Historical Description of Ancient Greece; With a Map, and a Plan of Athens. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1828. Internet Archive. Web. 29 April 2015.

Dodwell, Edward. A Classical and Topographical Tour Through Greece, Vol. II. London: Rodwell and Martin, 1819. Internet Archive. Web. 28 April 2015.

"Enispe." Perseus Encyclopedia. Ed. Gregory R. Crane. Tufts University, n.d. Web. 28 April 2015.

Hazlitt, William. The Classical Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Ancient Geography, Sacred and Profane. London: Whittaker and Co., 1851. Google Book Search. Web. 28 April 2015.

Higgins, Michael Dennis. A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean. New York: Cornell University Press, 1996. Academia.edu. Web. 29 April 2015.

Johnston, Ian. Glossary and Index for the Iliad. Vancouver Island University, 1 October 2001. Web. 28 April 2015.

Laurin, Joseph R. Lexicon and Atlas of the Modern World Coinciding with the Ancient Greek World. Bloomington: Author House, 2013. Google Book Search. Web. 29 April 2015.

Leake, William Martin. Numismata Hellenica: A Catalogue of Greek Coins; With Notes, a Map, and Index. London: Murray, 1856. Internet Archive. Web. 29 April 2015.

MacBean, Alexander. A Dictionary of Ancient Geography: Explaining the Local Appellations in Sacred, Grecian, and Roman History; Exhibiting the Extent of Kingdoms, and Situations of Cities, &C. and Illustrating the Allusions and Epithets in the Greek and Roman Poets. London: G. Robinson, 1773. Print.

Mapping the Catalogue of Ships. Scholars' Lab at the University of Virginia Library, n.d. Web. 29 April 2015. http://ships.lib.virginia.edu/

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Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print. (On loan from Dr. Burke.)

"Pityeia." Perseus Encyclopedia. Ed. Gregory R. Crane. Tufts University, n.d. Web. 29 April 2015.

"Pyrasus." Perseus Encyclopedia. Ed. Gregory R. Crane. Tufts University, n.d. Web. 29 April 2015.

Schliemann, Heinrich. Ilios: The City and Country of the Trojans: The Results of Researches and Discoveries on the Site of Troy and Throughout the Troad in the Years 1871-72-73-78-79: Including an Autobiography of the Author. London: J. Murray, 1880. Print.

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Don't worry about the O in "Opportunely," it's just a mistake and can be fixed, if you like.

I don't think there is any need to make Pergamos Tower it's own place -- it's just the citadel in Troy

The black eagle Zeus sends down isn't a character, I don't think. I think we decided that only talking animals counted as characters? This is just a bird omen.

I hope that helps, and sorry for the appallingly long wait!

In reply to your question below about the active voice and the passive voice, and whether this makes a difference when considering whether something's an event: short answer: no.

Slightly longer answer, I don't think that we can rely on voice being translated literally and consistently enough to depend on it too much. Also, it really doesn't matter. If you can restate something in the passive in the active and you think it should be an event, than the voice doesn't matter. If you don't think it should be an event, than that should be true whether it's active or passive.

A general principle to sum up: consideration of whether something is an event should happen at several removes from any particular bit of text.

Did that help?

In terms of deciding what constitutes an event, the question has been raised whether or not it is relevant if the narrative voice is passive or active. An example of the former can be found in Iliad 16.168:

"Fifty ships had noble Achilles brought to Troy, and in each there was a crew of fifty oarsmen. Over these he set five leaders whom he could trust, while he was himself commander over them all."

The issue in cases like this is whether Achilles is actively appointing his leaders, thus making it an event, or if it is simply Homer providing exposition. So far, all events involving some sort of explicit action, regardless of their relative passivity, have been recorded; however, an official guideline might be useful.