Brockliss, William. 2019. Homeric Imagery and the Natural Environment. Hellenic Studies Series 82. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_BrocklissW.Homeric_Imagery_and_the_Natural_Environment.2019.
5. Anchises’ Pastures, Laertes’ Orchards: Images of Civilization and Its Opposite
Arboreal and Floral Imagery of Flourishing Cities in Hesiodic Poetry
ἄκρη μέν τε φέρει βαλάνους, μέσση δὲ μελίσσας·
εἰροπόκοι δ’ ὄιες μαλλοῖς καταβεβρίθασιν·
235 τίκτουσιν δὲ γυναῖκες ἐοικότα τέκνα γονεῦσιν·
θάλλουσιν δ’ ἀγαθοῖσι διαμπερές· οὐδ’ ἐπὶ νηῶν
νίσονται, καρπὸν δὲ φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.
Bears acorns on high and bees in its middle;
The woolly sheep are weighed down by their fleeces;
235 Women bear children that are like their parents;
They flourish with good things continually; nor do they journey
On ships, but the grain-giving plow-land bears fruit.
This passage alludes to numerous kinds of human, animal, and vegetal flourishing, including that of trees: children are born, resembling their parents; [6] sheep are heavy with wool; the fields abound with fruit; oaks bear both acorns and bees.
ὥς τέ τευ ἢ βασιλῆος ἀμύμονος, ὅς τε θεουδὴς
110 ἀνδράσιν ἐν πολλοῖσιν καὶ ἰφθίμοισιν ἀνάσσων
εὐδικίας ἀνέχῃσι, φέρῃσι δὲ γαῖα μέλαινα
πυροὺς καὶ κριθάς, βρίθῃσι δὲ δένδρεα καρπῷ,
τίκτῃ δ’ ἔμπεδα μῆλα, θάλασσα δὲ παρέχῃ ἰχθῦς
ἐξ εὐηγεσίης, ἀρετῶσι δὲ λαοὶ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ.
As that of some excellent, god-fearing king,
110 Who among many men upholds justice,
Ruling mighty subjects, and the black earth bears
Wheat and barley, and the trees burgeon with fruit,
And the flocks constantly bear young; through his good leadership
The sea provides fish, and the people excel under him.
As with Works and Days 232–237, these lines associate just rulership with a flourishing realm. Due to the king’s good leadership (ἐξ εὐηγεσίης, 19.114) and to the justice he upholds (εὐδικίας ἀνέχῃσι, 109), not only do his people flourish—they are many, strong, and excellent (110, 114)—but the earth and its waters burgeon with life. The land bears cereal crops; trees are weighed down with fruit (111-112). Sheep moreover increase constantly, and the sea provides the king’s people with fish (113).
Wild Growths and Uncivilized Lands: The Hymns to Aphrodite and Pan, and Odyssey 5
εὐώδης θαλέθων καταμίσγεται ἄκριτα ποίῃ.
Flourishing hyacinth mingle indiscriminately with the grass.
Homeric Vegetal Imagery and Descriptions of Civilized Spaces
τετράγυος· περὶ δ’ ἕρκος ἐλήλαται ἀμφοτέρωθεν.
ἔνθα δὲ δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκασι τηλεθόωντα,
115 ὄγχναι καὶ ῥοιαὶ καὶ μηλέαι ἀγλαόκαρποι
συκέαι τε γλυκεραὶ καὶ ἐλαῖαι τηλεθόωσαι.
τάων οὔ ποτε καρπὸς ἀπόλλυται οὐδ’ ἀπολείπει
χείματος οὐδὲ θέρευς, ἐπετήσιος· ἀλλὰ μάλ’ αἰεί
Ζεφυρίη πνείουσα τὰ μὲν φύει, ἄλλα δὲ πέσσει.
120 ὄγχνη ἐπ’ ὄγχνῃ γηράσκει, μῆλον δ’ ἐπὶ μήλῳ,
αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ σταφυλῇ σταφυλή, σῦκον δ’ ἐπὶ σύκῳ.
Of four guai; a wall has been driven around it on both sides;
There tall, flourishing trees have grown,
115 Pears and pomegranates and apples with shining fruit,
Sweet figs and flourishing olives.
Of these the fruit never perishes nor fails,
Neither in winter nor summer—it is there throughout the year; but the West Wind
Always blows, growing some and ripening others.
120 Pear on pear matures, apple on apple,
And grape on grape, fig on fig.
ὥς τέ τευ ἢ βασιλῆος ἀμύμονος, ὅς τε θεουδὴς
110 ἀνδράσιν ἐν πολλοῖσιν καὶ ἰφθίμοισιν ἀνάσσων
εὐδικίας ἀνέχῃσι, φέρῃσι δὲ γαῖα μέλαινα
πυροὺς καὶ κριθάς, βρίθῃσι δὲ δένδρεα καρπῷ,
τίκτῃ δ’ ἔμπεδα μῆλα, θάλασσα δὲ παρέχῃ ἰχθῦς
ἐξ εὐηγεσίης, ἀρετῶσι δὲ λαοὶ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ.
As that of some excellent, god-fearing king,
110 Who among many men upholds justice,
Ruling mighty subjects, and the black earth bears
Wheat and barley, and the trees burgeon with fruit,
And the flocks constantly bear young; through his good leadership
The sea provides fish, and the people excel under him.
The allusions to animal and vegetal flourishing in these lines would have helped audiences to imagine the human well-being that results from the beneficial rule of a just king. The king’s citizens will abound in excellences like plants at the peak of health. The Homeric poets thus referenced more concrete concepts associated with the natural environment—the flourishing of animals and plants—to aid their audiences’ understanding of a more abstract kind of well-being.
ὄρχατον, ἀλλ’ εὖ τοι κομιδὴ ἔχει, οὐδέ τι πάμπαν,
οὐ φυτόν, οὐ συκέη, οὐκ ἄμπελος, οὐ μὲν ἐλαίη,
οὐκ ὄγχνη, οὐ πρασιή τοι ἄνευ κομιδῆς κατὰ κῆπον…”
In ignorance, but your care for it is good, and not anything,
No tree, no fig, no vine, no olive,
No pear-tree, no garden-bed goes without care throughout the plantation …”
αὐτόν σ’ οὐκ ἀγαθὴ κομιδὴ ἔχει, ἀλλ’ ἅμα γῆρας
250 λυγρὸν ἔχεις αὐχμεῖς τε κακῶς καὶ ἀεικέα ἕσσαι.
οὐ μὲν ἀεργίης γε ἄναξ ἕνεκ’ οὔ σε κομίζει,
οὐδέ τί τοι δούλειον ἐπιπρέπει εἰσοράασθαι
εἶδος καὶ μέγεθος· βασιλῆι γὰρ ἀνδρὶ ἔοικας.
τοιούτῳ δὲ ἔοικας, ἐπεὶ λούσαιτο φάγοι τε,
255 εὑδέμεναι μαλακῶς· ἡ γὰρ δίκη ἐστὶ γερόντων … ”
No good care attends your own person, but you possess a grievous
250 Old age; and at the same time you are dirty and dressed in an unseemly fashion.
Not for the sake of your idleness does your lord not care for you,
And your appearance and size are impressive to look at,
Not at all those of a slave; you seem like a king.
You seem like the sort of man who should sleep softly,
255 Once he has washed and eaten; such is the right of old men … ”
Properly, then, Laertes’ care for the trees (κομιδή, 245, 247) should be matched by the care of his lord for Laertes’ own person (κομιδή, 249; κομίζει, 251). And in the context of this meeting of Odysseus and Laertes—that is, of the king of Ithaca and of his aging father—these references to a lord and to proper care in old age take on a particular relevance: Laertes’ care for the orchards should have been matched by Odysseus’ care of his father. Odysseus is the ἄναξ, “lord,” whose duty it was to care for Laertes. He owes this care for two reasons: Laertes has grown old (255) and he is a man of the royal family (253). In his absence, Odysseus has been unable to fulfill his duties; accordingly, Laertes has suffered neglect. [64] The problem caused by Odysseus’ absence is solved soon afterwards, when Odysseus reveals his identity to Laertes and the royal line of Ithaca is thereby restored. Presumably, Odysseus will now be able to ensure his father does not suffer neglect: Laertes’ labor will now be matched by Odysseus’ own care of Laertes.
εἴπω, ἅ μοί ποτ’ ἔδωκας, ἐγὼ δ’ ᾔτεόν σε ἕκαστα
παιδνὸς ἐών, κατὰ κῆπον ἐπισπόμενος· διὰ δ’ αὐτῶν
ἱκνεύμεσθα, σὺ δ’ ὠνόμοσας καὶ ἔειπες ἕκαστα.
340 ὄγχνας μοι δῶκας τρισκαίδεκα καὶ δέκα μηλέας,
συκέας τεσσαράκοντ’·
Orchard, which you once gave to me; still a child, I was asking you
For each type, following you through the plantation; we were walking
Through them, and you named and told me each kind.
340 You gave me thirteen pear-trees and ten apple-trees,
Forty fig-trees.
Footnotes