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Chapter 3. One-on-one Conversations (Iliad)

Chapter 3. One-on-one Conversations (Iliad) The Odyssey, as we have seen, uses conversation to dramatize the conflict between honesty and concealment that underlies Odysseus’ various reunions on Ithaca and indeed, much of the social interaction in the poem as a whole. The Iliad, too, uses one-on-one conversations to depict significant themes and types of social interactions. However, both the areas toward which conversation in the Iliad directs… Read more

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Part II. Single Speeches and Group Conversations. Chapter 4. Single Speeches and Variations on the Battlefield

Chapter 4. Single Speeches and Variations on the Battlefield The first three chapters focused on the extended one-on-one conversations in the Odyssey and the Iliad. We have seen that the Odyssey makes much more extensive use of one-on-one conversation than the Iliad does, and indeed, the Iliad presents its view of human relations partly by the comparative lack of one-on-one conversation. Conversely, the Iliad depicts its characters… Read more

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Chapter 5. Group Contexts I—Assemblies

Chapter 5. Group Contexts I—Assemblies Let us begin this discussion of assembly patterns with a basic question. What is an assembly? How can we recognize a given scene as an assembly rather than as simply a group of people talking, or a council, or an embassy? The ἀγορή, generally translated as “assembly,” is a gathering of people engaged in “civic debate,” [1]… Read more

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Chapter 6. Group Contexts II—Athletic Games, Laments

Chapter 6. Group Contexts II—Athletic Games, Laments This chapter differs somewhat from the previous chapters in its organization and goals. Chapters 1-5 discussed various forms of lengthening and elaboration that occur in connection with repeating conversational types (one-on-one conversations, single speeches, and formal assemblies). The conversational types that were studied in these chapters all occur sufficiently often that it is clear what the repeated, “normal” pattern is… Read more

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Conclusions

Conclusions Each chapter of this book has examined the aesthetic and poetic effects of a different type of conversation. In the first two chapters, we saw that one-on-one conversations in the Odyssey consistently highlight the conflict that the main characters in the poem feel between revealing themselves and/or believing what other characters say about their own identities, and maintaining a cautious skepticism or concealment in order to… Read more

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Appendix I. Breakdown of Direct Speeches in the Iliad and the Odyssey

Appendix I Breakdown of direct speeches in the Iliad and the Odyssey by turn type and by type of speech introductory formula The following two tables categorize and total i) the speeches and ii) the speech introductions in the Iliad and the Odyssey book by book. The category names at the left side of the chart—reply position, initial position, single speech, and successive speech—indicate the type… Read more

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Appendix II. All Participles that Appear in Reply Formulas

Appendix II All participles that appear in reply formulas of the type τὸν/τὴν [participle] προσέφη [nominative name/epithet] The verses that contain participles other than ἀπαμειβόμενος with the main verb προσέφη are given below in order of frequency of the participle. Initial half-verses that appear three times or more τὸν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑδόρα ἰδὼν προσέφη [nominative name/epithet, subject]20x (13x Iliad, 7x Odyssey)Then… Read more

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Appendix III. Full-verse Context-specific Introductory Formulas

Appendix III Full-verse context-specific introductory formulas All context-specific speech introductory formulas that occur at least three times in the Homeric epics (presented in order of frequency, with most frequent first) are given below. [1] Implied subjects whose names would be given in a different verse if the formula appeared in a longer passage of Greek are given in parentheses in… Read more

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Appendix IV. Full-verse Speech Concluding Formulas

Appendix IV Full-verse speech concluding formulas All speech concluding formulas that occur at least three times in the Homeric epics (presented in order of frequency, with most frequent first) are given below. The main verb (other than or in addition to “so s/he spoke” is highlighted. Formulas Appearing Ten Times or More ὣς οἳ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον 23x (8x Iliad,… Read more

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Bibliography

Bibliography I. Editions of Homer, lexica, and other reference works Chantraine, P. 1990, 1984. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue Greque 1-2, 3-4. Paris. Cunliffe, R. J. 1988. A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect. 2nd ed. Norman. Dunbar, H. 1962. A Complete Concordance to the Odyssey of Homer. Rev. B. Marzullo. Hildesheim. Erbse, H.,… Read more