Alex Purves

This project focuses on the physical composition of immortal bodies in early Greek epic (Homer, Hesiod, and the Homeric Hymns). It examines how the gods inhabit their bodies, how they regenerate them, and how the different parts of their anatomy work. Although there has been substantial research on the topic of the gods in Greek epic, the specific set of problems attached to their physical bodies has not been significantly addressed. I challenge previous readings of the divine body by throwing into doubt the question of whether a god, even as an embodied being who is ageless, deathless, and lives without care, can ever fully escape the burdens of corporeality.