1. Mênis and Cosmic Status in the Hierarchy of Peers A good place to begin reconstructing the meaning of mênis is not the beginning of the epic, which may be all too familiar for the perspective I wish to attain, but an extended passage from the middle of it. At the beginning of book 15 Zeus awakes from his seduction by Hera and finds the Trojans being… Read more
2. Mênis and the Social Order An irrevocable cosmic sanction that prohibits some from taking their superiors for equals and others from taking their equals for inferiors—this abstracted definition implies a rigid hierarchical structure and a predictable punitive response to violations of it that belie the richness and flexibility of Greek epic. There are indeed examples of such rigidity. For instance, there is no uncertainty whatever about… Read more
3. The Narrative Sequence of the Hesiodic Theogony The purpose of this chapter is to articulate the relationship between the Hesiodic Theogony and mênis, the starting point of the Homeric Iliad. The existence of a global relationship between these poetic traditions has already been postulated by Laura Slatkin, who has described its essential content. [1] Formal criteria also give us reasons to… Read more
4. The Mênis of Achilles and the First Book of the Iliad It is possible to foresee a sequel to the Theogony from within my metonymic analysis of its myth. [1] The stage has been set for another myth whose central theme is the mênis of Zeus. Neither the word mênis nor the proper use of the term are conceivable until the… Read more
Checklist of Greek (G) and Indic (I) Metrical Terminology GI acephaly: truncation of the verse-initial syllable G Adonic: – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏓ G Aeolic base: the ⏓ ⏓ in Glyconic and Pherecratic verses (q.v.) G Aeolic meters: Glyconics, Pherecratics (q.v.), and their derivatives G antistrophe: a second stanza metrically matching a first stanza (= strophe) I Anuṣṭubh:… Read more
Symbols pher = Pherecratic gl = Glyconic pherd/pher2d/pher3d = Pherecratic with single/double/triple dactylic expansion gld/gl2d = Glyconic with single/double dactylic expansion glc/gl2c = Glyconic with single/double choriambic expansion ch = choriamb ia = iamb ^ = before a symbol, designates acephaly (e.g. ^pher = acephalic pher) after a symbol, designates catalexis (e.g. ia^ = catalectic iamb) * =… Read more
Abbreviations of Editions D = E. Diehl, Anthologia lyrica Graeca (2nd ed. Leipzig 1933-1942; fascicles 1-3, 3rd ed. 1954-1964) LP = E. Lobel and D. Page, Poetarum Lesbiorum fragmenta (Oxford 1955) MW = R. Merkelbach and M. L. West, Fragmenta Hesiodea (Oxford 1967) N = A. Nauck, Tragicorum Graecorum fragmenta (2nd ed. 1889 reprinted… Read more
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] Just as the Greek language is cognate with the Sanskrit… Read more
1. The Common Heritage of Greek and Indic Meter: A Survey With the ultimate aim of comparing the metrical contexts of Greek κλέοc ἄφθιτον and Indic śráva(s) ákṣitam, we must start by reviewing the conventions of Greek and Indic meter which have been recognized as cognate by Meillet and his followers. [1] My approach will be to consider first those of the… Read more
2. Internal Expansion More needs to be said about the choriambic dimeter. This octosyllable is the most primitive form of regular dimeter inherited by Greek. In its pattern ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓, we see the preservation of a clear metrical delineation between opening and closing, with an unfixed rhythm in the former and a fixed rhythm in… Read more
