Introduction. Homeric Responses Four Questions Question 1: About synchronic and diachronic perspectives The terms “synchronic” and “diachronic” stem from a distinction established by a pioneer in the field of linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure. [1] For Saussure, synchrony and diachrony designate respectively a current state of a language and a phase in its evolution. [2] I… Read more
Chapter 1. Homeric Responses [1] In Odyssey 8.72-83, the first song of Demodokos, we see a link between the oracular clairvoyance of Apollo and the poetic composition of Homer. Such a link, where the god’s prophecy is equated with the plot of the poet’s narrative, is relevant to the word “responses” in my title, which is meant to capture the meaning of… Read more
Chapter 2. Homeric Responses [1] Homeric Rhapsodes and the Concept of Diachronic Skewing Throughout this book, I maintain that the traditions of rhapsodic performance are essential for understanding the evolution of Homeric composition. Such an understanding, however, is impeded by various assumptions about rhapsodes as performers of Homer. Here I challenge some of those assumptions by reexamining the very concept of… Read more
Chapter 3. Homeric Responses [1] Irreversible Mistakes and Homeric Clairvoyance In “oral poetry,” mistakes can and do happen in the process of composition-in-performance. Such mistakes, including major mistakes in narration, are documented in the fieldwork of Milman Parry and Albert Lord on South Slavic oral poetic traditions. [2] For a striking example, we may turn to… Read more
Chapter 4. The Authority of the King Abstract The Greek kraínō is used of the divinity who sanctions (by a nod, kraínō being a derivative of kára ‘head’) and, by imitation of the divine authority, also of the king who gives executive sanction to a project or a proposal but without carrying it out himself. Kraínō thus appears as the specific expression for the act of authority—divine in origin and… Read more
Chapter 5. Honour and Honours Abstract In Greek géras—the connection of which with gérōn ‘old man’ is no more than a popular etymology—is the honorific supplementary share occasionally granted to a king by his subjects which is a mark of his rank. If the timḗ, like the géras, enters into the apanage of the king, if it likewise entails honorific material prestations, it is distinguished in being a permanent dignity… Read more
Chapter 6. Magic Power Abstract Kûdos, a term almost exclusively confined to the epic, which has been regarded by ancient and modern scholars as a synonym of kléos ‘glory’, ‘renown’, has in fact a quite specific sense: it designates a magic power that is irresistible and is the apanage of the gods, who occasionally grant it to a hero of their choice and thus ensure his triumph. Kûdos arésthai, used… Read more
Chapter 7. Krátos Abstract Krátos does not mean “physical force” (iskhús, sthénos) or “spiritual force” (alkḗ) but “superiority,” whether in battle or in the assembly. This sense, which is constant for krátos, is confirmed by some of the uses of the derivative kraterós which means “without equal,” especially in combat. But in other uses kraterós comes close in sense to krataiós ‘hard, cruel’, kratús ‘hard’. The etymology gives the reason… Read more
Chapter 8. Royalty and Nobility Abstract The king in Germanic (Engl. king, Germ. König, etc.) is the one who is born, that is “well born,” “noble” (from the root *gen– ‘be born’). But the noble has another name, which is extremely instructive, e.g. Germ. edel, originally *atalo-, derived from *atta ‘foster-father’: this designation for the nobleman implies that the great Indo-European families practiced fosterage. In fact, the use in Homeric… Read more
Chapter 9. The King and His People Abstract The two Homeric words for “the people,” dē̂mos and laós, are distinguished in sense and in origin. Dē̂mos designated both a division of land and the people who inhabit it; it is a term of Dorian origin. Laós is the community of men, a warrior group which is defined by its relationship to the chief, the “shepherd” ( poimḗn), or the “leader”… Read more
