Conclusion: Endgame “Simonides said that Hesiod is a gardener while Homer is a garland-weaver—the first planted the legends of the heroes and gods and then the second braided them together in the garland of the Iliad and the Odyssey.” Simonides [1] One of the issues shadowing this book throughout—and one with which we have sparred… Read more
6. Beyond Thebes “And what about you, Nikêratos—what kind of knowledge do you take pride in?” And he said: “My father, because he wished for me to be a good man, compelled me to memorize all of Homer. And now I can recite the whole Iliad and Odyssey.” Xenophon Symposium III 5 [1] Lykourgos, a Greek from the Peloponnese, is famous for having traveled to… Read more
5. Theban Palimpsests [1] Strife that gives birth to strife prosmnatai (‘wins over’) reason.Ἔρις ἔριν τίκτουσα προσμνᾶται λόγον. Suda s.v. Eris; Mantissa Proverbiorum 1.60 This proverb on strife, preserved in both the Suda and the Mantissa Proverbiorum, is unusually cryptic for a maxim. The verb προσμνᾶται is not attested anywhere else but clearly relies on a metaphor of wooing; [2]… Read more
4. Doubling Down On Strife [1] In the first three chapters of this book, we have avoided attempts to reconstruct lost Theban epics in favor of identifying where Theban material occurs in Homer and exploring the ways in which Homer re-presents that material by putting it at the service of his narratives. In Chapter 1 we examined Homer’s most explicit engagement with Thebes, via a… Read more
3. Homer’s Oedipus Complex: Form [1] In the last chapter we saw how Herakles, while rarely mentioned explicitly in the Iliad, nevertheless casts a long shadow over the events of the epic. Haunting Achilles’ every move, Herakles stands as the hero from a bygone age. His singular actions had not only brought Zeus’ order to the world of men, but also had brought about Troy’s… Read more
2. The Labors of Herakles: Time [1] In the last chapter we saw Tydeus, one of the original Seven against Thebes, being held up as a model for his son, Diomedes, to emulate. At key points in Diomedes’ maturation in the epic the name of his father is invoked, first before he proves himself in battle and later when he shows himself a man of… Read more
1. Troy, The Next Generation: Politics [1] Homer’s engagement with Thebes comes to the fore as the two opposing forces prepare to do battle for the first time in the Iliad on the plain in front of Troy’s citadel. Agamemnon’s review of his troops (Iliad 4.223–421) continues both the examination of his leadership and the introduction to some of the main Achaean figures. While some… Read more
Introduction. Why Thebes? You tell the events of Thebes,he tells of the Phrygians’ battle-shouts;but I tell of my conquests.No horse has destroyed me,nor foot soldier, nor ships,but another new armystrikes me from its eyes. Anacreontea, fr. 26 [1] When we first started working on this book, just over a decade… Read more
Note on Text and Translations Passages from the Homeric poems are quoted from T.W. Allen’s editio maior of the Iliad (1931) and P. Von der Mühll’s Teubner Odyssey (1962) respectively. Those from Hesiod are from M. L. West’s Theogony (1966), F. Solmsen’s Works and Days (1970), and R. Merkelbach’s and M. L. West’s Fragmenta Hesiodea (1967). Quotations from the Theban fragments come from the editions of M. Davies (1988) and… Read more
