https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141640 2026-04-15T05:29:39Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141741 Title: A lemmatic commentary of Aeschylus, Agamemnon L.281-316 Authors: Gatt, Jurgen R. Abstract: Clytemnestra's 'beacon-speech' is a 31-verse long speech which 'catalogues' the geographical sites of a series of beacons, lit in sequence upon the capture of Troy, starting at Mt. Ida and ending on the roof of Atreus' palace in Argos. It represents the first substantial monologue delivered by Clytemnestra in Aeschylus' play. The speech is foreshadowed by the opening of the Agamemnon in which the appearance of the last beacon-fire signals Troy's capitulation. The guard, who appears first on stage, is also the last of a long series of watchmen. His speech shares some of its diction and imagery with Clytemnestra's beacon-speech, as shall be discussed below. The chorus' first intimation of Clytemnestra's news is the burning of sacrifices at the city's altars and their first reaction to it is incomprehension and sheer incredulity. Indeed, prior to Clytemnestra's speech, the appearance of a light shining across the Aegean from Troy and signalling the fall of a distant city does beggar belief. [excerpt] 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141699 Title: On the Latin introduction to Caxaro's Cantilena Authors: Bonnici, Victor Abstract: On the 22nd of September 1966, Fr Michael Fsadni and Dr Godfrey Wettinger discovered a cantilena of twenty lines in Medieval Maltese, divided into three stanzas of six, four and ten verses respectively, the whole of which was preceded by five lines of Latin by way of an introduction. The importance of such a discovery of written Maltese - and that in the literary genre of lyric - cannot be underestimated both for the study of the developing language itself and for the status of an emerging nation. The nation's laurels and gratitude bestowed upon these two researchers were truly merited considering that they were the first who identified the cantilena for what it really was, and for publishing an in-depth study of it in the context of its historic background, having first thoroughly researched it in strict accordance to academic disciples. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141651 Title: "Hopeful that Aeschylus will not turn in his grave!" Authors: Serracino, Carmel Abstract: The run-up to the B. I. Players' production of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, in March 1950 at the British Institute in Valletta, Malta, was characterized by some vigourous advertisement on the Times of Malta. On 9 March, the paper published a promotional article by Michael Kissaun, revealing inter alia that correspondence relative to the representation had taken place between the co-producer and director of the production, Major Alec Cathcart Bruce, and the translator of the version that was being staged, Professor Gilbert Murray. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141650 Title: Sound, word and meaning - Sanskrit and the Classics Authors: Zammit, Maria Abstract: The great family of Indo-European languages which are understood to have been spoken in the land of India, and of which Vedic Sanskrit is the Indian branch, existed as far back as the middle of the second millennium B.C. The Vedic language prevailed across a millennium and stretched over a vast area, the lndo-Gangetic plain. Only from the third century B.C. were the various Inda-Aryan speeches documented for us by inscription of the emperor Asoka. When the great grammarian Panini standardized the Sanskrit language at around this time, Sanskrit became the language of a vast outpouring of artistic, scientific, poetic and philosophical expression. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z