Chapter 17. On the Antagonism of God and Hero 17§1. Aside from the direct testimony of P.Oxy. 1800 and Aesop Vitae G+W 142 about a hero cult of Aesop, there is important indirect evidence for his actual function as cult hero. Again we turn to the parallelism between the deaths of Aesop and Pyrrhos. In the myth of Pyrrhos, the theme of his antagonism with Apollo is… Read more
Chapter 16. The Death of a Poet 16§1. In the story of Thersites, we have seen that the details told about him consistently reflect his function as poet of blame. [1] As it happens, even the story of his death reflects this function. From the epic tradition of the Aithiopis, we learn that Thersites was killed by Achilles himself; the reason given… Read more
Chapter 15. The Best of the Achaeans Confronts an Aeneid Tradition 15§1. Having finished with the diction surrounding the Thersites figure, we may now turn to another Iliadic passage, XX 246–256, which rivals the passage about Thersites in its wealth of information relating to the poetry of blame. For a proper understanding, however, we must begin with an Iliadic passage found earlier on in the action. … Read more
Chapter 14. Epos, the Language of Blame, and the Worst of the Achaeans 14§1. The resemblances in poetic form between the Archilochean Iambos and the Homeric Epos suggest that blame poetry may have evolved away from an old (and unattested) form corresponding to that of praise poetry (as still attested in Pindar and Bacchylides) into its newer form resembling comedy. The key here to formulating the evolution… Read more
Chapter 13. Iambos 13§1. With the mention of Lukámbēs, we may now turn to the íamboi of Archilochus. [1] Of course, we are dealing here not so much with a metrical category but rather with a genre of composition: [2] “iambic metre got its name from being particularly characteristic of íamboi, not vice versa.” [3]… Read more
Chapter 12. Poetry of Praise, Poetry of Blame 12§1. As we see from Georges Dumézil’s comparative study Servius et la Fortune, Indo-European society operated on the principle of counterbalancing praise and blame, primarily through the medium of poetry. [1] This state of affairs is most overtly preserved in the evidence of Indic and Old Irish, [2] but… Read more
Chapter 11. On Strife and the Human Condition 11§1. We have by now seen that Memnon’s realm, the land of the Aithiopes, has landmarks that are parallel to those of the Golden Age and the Isles of the Blessed. By virtue of this parallelism, the land of the Aithiopes in fact affords an ideal setting for the immortality in store for Memnon after he dies the hero’s… Read more
Chapter 10. Poetic Visions of Immortality for the Hero 10§1. Upon having their lifespan cut short by death, heroes receive as consolation the promise of immortality, but this state of immortality after death is located at the extremes of our universe, far removed from the realities of the here-and-now. We in this life have to keep reminding ourselves that the hero who died is still capable of… Read more
Chapter 9. Poetic Categories for the Hero 9§1. In the Iliad, Hektor’s aspiration to get the same tīmḗ that is accorded to Athena (and Apollo) not only formalizes the antagonism between hero and god; it also implies a slighting of the superior god’s tīmḗ by the inferior hero. On the level of Homeric discourse, the dimension of cult that is conveyed by the word tīmḗ is latent… Read more
Chapter 8. The Death of Hektor 8§1. By comparing the death of Achilles with the death of Pyrrhos, we have come to see more clearly the factor of ritual antagonism between god and hero. If, of course, we had only the Iliad as evidence, this factor would be much more difficult to discern in the case of Achilles, whose own antagonism with the god Apollo is so… Read more
