Digital Initiative for Classics: Epic Speeches (DICES) is an open-access database of information about speech representation in Greek and Roman epic poetry. Berenice Verhelst, Simone Finkmann, and I created DICES in 2019 with the aim of expanding and transforming classical narratological studies through the use of digital methods and linked open data.

Several years and two workshops later, the database has nearly 5000 speeches, over 1000 characters, and covers 53 texts spanning a millennium of Greek and Roman epic, from Homer to Nonnus of Panopolis.

My current research includes development of a Python-based client library for the DICES database. You can check it out on GitHub, or take a look at some of our example Jupyter Notebooks. An edited volume of new experimental work using DICES to broaden the scope of epic speech research is expected in 2025.