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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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. 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… 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… Read more
Abbreviations < comes > becomesAgs. Anglo-SaxonArm. Armenian Av. Avestan Engl. English Fr. French Germ. German Got. Gothic Gr. Greek Hitt. Hittite Hom. Homeric Greek Icel. Icelandic I.E. Indo-European Il. Iliad I.Ir. Indo-Iranian Ir. Iranian… Read more
Preface This book, as its title indicates, is the outcome of research which had as its object a considerable portion of the Indo-European vocabulary. But the nature of the expressions studied, the method applied, and the analysis carried out, need elucidation. Among the languages of the world those belonging to… Read more
