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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Chapter 2. One-on-one Conversations (Odysseus and Penelope) The story of Penelope and Odysseus and their drawn-out reunion over the course of the last third of the Odyssey is one of the most extensively studied portions of the Homeric epics. [1] The gradual rapprochement between Penelope and Odysseus, stretching over several books of the Odyssey, contains two major movements or sections, one in… Read more
Chapter 1. One-on-One Conversations (Odyssey) Chapters 1-3 focus on one-on-one conversations. In the most basic form of one-on-one conversation, two speakers alternate without either events in the story or comments from the narrator intervening between one speech and the next. All the conversations that appear in these chapters depart from that model. I will be focusing on conversations that depart from this pattern in that they contain… 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.] “And what is the use of a book,”… Read more
