This thesis investigates how the foundational value of connection underlies all forms of heroism within the Homeric epics. It argues that the traditional values of honour and shame that inform heroic choices require the framework of connection to operate upon. Homer takes the foundational value of connection, and the secondary values of honour and shame and presents many forms of both complicated and uncomplicated heroism across two distinct mediums. The Iliad presents the reader with a variety of Iliadic heroes who operate within the medium of the battlefield, including Ajax as the uncomplicated form of Iliadic heroism and Achilles and Hektor as complicated forms of this heroism. The Odyssey showcases the evolution of Homeric heroism from the medium of the battlefield to the medium of the nostos, with Odysseus’ evolution across the poem paralleling the evolution of Homeric heroism. The foundational value of connection is what allows the values of honour/shame to have significance in Homeric society, and therefore by engaging with connection and then the honor/shame matrix, a hero was able to gain time which upon his death was converted into kleos by his connections. Odysseus serves as the focal point for multiple types of heroism as his characterization in the Iliad, while he operates within the parameters of the Iliadic hero, is proleptic of his evolution into the Odyssean hero in the Odyssey. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis investigates how the foundational value of connection underlies all forms of heroism within the Homeric epics. It argues that the traditional values of honour and shame that inform heroic choices require the framework of connection to operate upon. Homer takes the foundational value of connection, and the secondary values of honour and shame and presents many forms of both complicated and uncomplicated heroism across two distinct mediums. I lay out the many varying forms of heroism through an examination of the various characters that embody them. There is a specific focus on the character of Odysseus as he operates within Iliadic heroism in the Iliad as well as he redefines heroism through his journey in the Odyssey, creating the form of Odyssean heroism.

This thesis is a study of the influence of cosmology on Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica, an epic hexameter poem written in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. I examine ancient Greek ideas of cosmogony and cosmology, which range from the earliest extant Greek texts (Homer and Hesiod) to contemporaries of Apollonius (Aratus). My argument is that cosmology is deeply embedded in the text, and that Apollonius creates a nexus of cosmic intertexts which provides a scientific and intellectual backdrop against which the events of the narrative take place. The narrative’s events all occur within a cosmos, which is alluded to throughout the epic; the reader sees snap-shots of the development of this cosmos alongside the development of the Argo’s journey, which creates an analogous progression between the two. Particularly salient for this thesis is the connection to Empedoclean ideas of love and strife as cosmic forces, as these comprise two of the major themes of the narrative. Accordingly, a key point of contact between narrative and cosmology lies in these forces, as the narrator consciously recalls them and the cosmos they control in the process of weaving his narrative. The three passages I examine all focus on this cosmic system, as the cosmic backdrop evolves and changes alongside the narrative itself. The cosmic analogy, therefore, is not static but changes in line with the narrative. This study will form the only extended analysis of cosmology in the Argonautica. The influence of cosmological material on the text (within the wider issue of philosophical influence) has attracted marginal attention, scholars often noting some of the more overt connections without a great deal of analysis. Works that acknowledge the presence of cosmological material at sporadic points include: Fränkel (1968); Hunter (1989 and 1993), Clauss (1993 and 2000); Levin (1970 and 1971). More detailed studies of aspects of cosmological material in the Argonautica include: Bogue (1979); Nelis (1992); Kyriakou (1994); Pendergraft (1995); Murray (2014); Santamaría Álvarez (2014). These studies all confirm the importance of cosmological ideas on the text, but focus on a particular manifestation of these ideas. This thesis will build on these ideas in an attempt to create a cohesive study of cosmology throughout the narrative and consider how this material affects our reading of the narrative itself and its poetic agenda, along with how this use feeds into Apollonius’ poetic values and contemporary poetic trends in general. The thesis is divided into three main chapters, in which I examine three key passages of the Argonautica to make my argument. In Chapter One I examine Orpheus’ song (1.496-511), in which the cultic bard Orpheus calms a fight between two Argonauts by singing a cosmogony. The song establishes cosmic forces that run analogous to the forces at work in the narrative and demonstrates how the growing influence of love in the cosmos parallels the increased reliance on love for the success of the Argonauts’ mission. In Chapter Two I examine Jason’s cloak (1.721-767), a passage that comprises the only extended ecphrasis in the Argonautica. The images woven into his cloak continue the cosmic theme begun in the song of Orpheus, since they demonstrate the world in a later stage of development, as human and divine events unfold and time progresses towards the Argonauts’ contemporary world. In Chapter Three I examine Eros’ sphere (3.129-141), an intricate toy offered to him by Aphrodite in exchange for his shooting Medea with an arrow to make her fall in love with Jason. The ball’s shape and its details both suggest that what Eros holds in his hand is some sort of divine three-dimensional model of the universe. I have chosen these three passages because a cosmological mode of reading is particularly strong in them; they bring to the forefront the cosmological undertone which underlies the wider narrative. My conclusion is that the three passages are all connected throughout the narrative by their cosmic material, material which underscores the Argonauts’ narrative and facilitates them anchoring their time to the grand timeframe of the cosmos. Both cosmic and narrative events run concurrently, as the evolution of the cosmos from its origins to the Argonauts’ present day runs alongside the evolution of the narrative. This duality shows how the Argonautic poet employs cosmology and in doing so creates a continuous parallel narrative that runs throughout the text. Since he uses three connected parallel narratives (song, garment, and toy), the reflective capacity of the passages is not merely a one-off, but consecutive, as all three comprise different moments in the same cosmic scheme. The boundaries between parallel narrative and main narrative are thus broken down in the passages as the narrator establishes the idea that cosmology does not only run parallel to the events of the narrative, but prefigures them and enriches the reader’s understanding of the narrative world. In sum, the cosmic readings of the passages demonstrate that what the narrator is drawing the reader towards is a cosmic subtext that is unfixed and undergoes change.

This dissertation examines the relationship between sympotic and rhapsodic discourses and the Homeric epics and specifically considers how an understanding of sympotic discourse can affect an external audience’s perception of events within the narrative. Heroic feasting is examined and defined as an activity which signifies different attitudes and aesthetics than the symposium. Yet a case is made for the possibility that Greek people are practicing symposia at a time when rhapsodes – the creative composers-in-performance of the epics – would have been freely incorporating material from the contemporary world into their performances. This is a period of time extending over much of the 7th century, and perhaps even into some time before and after. I analyze both the symposium and rhapsodic performances as discourses, using literary, archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence to define markers – certain signs, gestures, attitudes, accoutrement, and behavior specific to each – of each discourse. By treating the symposium and rhapsodic performances as discourses with their own markers, I establish a methodology with which to examine certain passages of the epics and the implicit meanings conveyed in them. Odysseus is thus shown to be manipulating sympotic discourse in the Phaeacian episodes of the Odyssey in order to win a favorable return home – at least as the contemporary external audience familiar with sympotic conventions of speaking and behaving would have understood it. Achilles too is treated, with specific reference to his behavior in the embassy scene of the Iliad. The sympotic discourse conveyed by the actions and attitudes of Achilles and Patroclus can be shown to communicate additional layers of meaning to the external audience and perhaps reference extra-Iliadic motifs concerning Achilles’ behavior at symposia. A proper understanding of rhapsodic and sympotic discourses within the epics not only contributes to a more nuanced understanding of character behavior within the epics and audiences’ perception of such behavior, but also challenges our understanding of the role of archaic social institutions such as the symposium within the epics.

This dissertation examines the relationship between sympotic and rhapsodic discourses and the Homeric epics and specifically considers how an understanding of sympotic discourse can affect an external audience’s perception of events within the narrative. Heroic feasting is examined and defined as an activity which signifies different attitudes and aesthetics than the symposium. Yet a case is made for the possibility that Greek people are practicing symposia at a time when rhapsodes – the creative composers-in-performance of the epics – would have been freely incorporating material from the contemporary world into their performances. This is a period of time extending over much of the 7th century, and perhaps even into some time before and after. I analyze both the symposium and rhapsodic performances as discourses, using literary, archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence to define markers – certain signs, gestures, attitudes, accoutrement, and behavior specific to each – of each discourse. By treating the symposium and rhapsodic performances as discourses with their own markers, I establish a methodology with which to examine certain passages of the epics and the implicit meanings conveyed in them. Odysseus is thus shown to be manipulating sympotic discourse in the Phaeacian episodes of the Odyssey in order to win a favorable return home – at least as the contemporary external audience familiar with sympotic conventions of speaking and behaving would have understood it. Achilles too is treated, with specific reference to his behavior in the embassy scene of the Iliad. The sympotic discourse conveyed by the actions and attitudes of Achilles and Patroclus can be shown to communicate additional layers of meaning to the external audience and perhaps reference extra-Iliadic motifs concerning Achilles’ behavior at symposia. A proper understanding of rhapsodic and sympotic discourses within the epics not only contributes to a more nuanced understanding of character behavior within the epics and audiences’ perception of such behavior, but also challenges our understanding of the role of archaic social institutions such as the symposium within the epics.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1990. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [283]-293).

This thesis explores the theme of the motivation of soldiers in Greek lyric poetry while holding it up against the backdrop of epic. The motivation of soldiers expressed in lyric poetry depicts a complex system that demanded cohesion across various spheres in life. This system was designed to create and maintain social, communal, and political cohesion as well as cohesion in the ranks. The lyric poems reveal a mutually beneficial relationship between citizen and polis whereby the citizens were willing to fight and potentially die on behalf of the state, and in return they received prominence and rewards within the community. It is no coincidence that these themes were so common in a genre that was popular at the same time as the polis and citizen army were both developing.

O objetivo desta tese é estudar os poemas homéricos do ponto de vista da história, a partir de um enfoque que consiga agregar uma análise de elementos internos e externos dos poemas. O ponto de articulação, o que direciona os temas a serem discutidos nesta tese, está relacionado a uma pergunta central: qual o papel da circulação da informação oral por longas distâncias e através do tempo nos poemas homéricos, seja do ponto de vista de sua própria composição e reprodução, seja do ponto de vista da representação dessas temáticas nas narrativas? Primeiramente, são analisadas as características da tradição poética da qual os poemas fazem parte. Em virtude da circulação em longas distâncias (espaciais e temporais) de formas orais de informação ser parte determinante para o que é mostrado aqui como o mecanismo de composição, apresentação, transmissão e recepção dos poemas da tradição hexamétrica, são propostas reflexões destas mesmas questões nas tramas dos poemas. O tipo de circulação da informação aqui enfocado abarca toda forma de transmissão que dependa da oralidade para ocorrer. Além disso, os processos que percorrem longas distâncias ou, ainda, têm alcance temporal mais extenso, são enfatizados. Nesse sentido, além dos mecanismos de funcionamento da composição e transmissão da poesia homérica e dos contextos históricos aos quais diriam respeito, as formas descritas nos poemas de circulação da informação são analisadas: os aedos e a própria circulação da poesia épica; os relatos, de diversos tipos; o espaço, as formas e os agentes envolvidos nesses processos de circulação. Na conclusão, a questão de se os poemas têm algo a dizer acerca da própria tradição de composição e transmissão de que fazem parte é debatida, articulando o que foi analisado tanto do ponto de vista interno, quanto do ponto de vista externo aos poemas. / The objective of this thesis is to study the Homeric poems from a historical point of view. The approach used intends to articulate an analysis of internal and external aspects of the poems. The juncture point, what propels the themes discussed in this thesis, is related to a central question: what is the role of the circulation of information through long distances and through time in the Homeric poems? This question is approached taking into account, first, the composition and transmission of this kind of poetry, and, second, the representation of those themes in the narratives themselves. The initial part of this study centers on the analysis of the poetic tradition the poems are part of. Because long ranged and long termed oral forms of circulation of information are a determinant part of what is shown here as the mechanics of composition, presentation, transmission and reception of the poems in this hexametric tradition, questions regarding those same issues are proposed in the study of their plot elements. The type of circulation of information here researched englobes all form of transmission that depends on orality to take place. Long distance and long-term processes are emphasized. In this sense, besides the composition and transmission mechanics of the Homeric poems and the historical contexts to which they are related, the poetic forms of circulation of information described in the Iliad and in the Odyssey are analyzed: the singers and the circulation of epic poetry; the many types of reports; the space, the forms and the agents involved in processes of circulation of information. In the conclusion, there is a debate of whether the Homeric poems have something to say regarding their own tradition of composition and transmission. Here, the themes analyzed relating both to internal and external elements of the poems are properly articulated.

O tema da razia de gado (boēlasía) é uma constante nos textos conservados da tradição épica grega arcaica, nos quais figura na forma de narrativas breves ou de referências alusivas. Apesar disso, pouco se escreveu acerca desse tema, e os poucos estudos realizados se concentraram apenas na consideração da recorrência boēlasía como um reflexo da importância do gado na economia da honra típica dos poemas homéricos ou na sua explicação como um derivado de estruturas míticas herdadas do protoindo-europeu. É justamente essa lacuna que esta tese se propõe a atacar, por meio da recolha e cotejo de parte das narrativas e referências homéricas a essa atividade e do seu exame a partir dos referenciais teóricos e metodológicos oriundos da crítica oralista do épos arcaico, particularmente os métodos de análise temática que partem da recepção dos poemas. / The cattle-raid (boēlasía) theme is a constant in the preserved texts of the tradition of Greek archaic epic, wherein it appears either in the form of brief narratives or of allusive references. Nonetheless, little has been written about this theme, and the few studies there are have focused only in the consideration of the recurrence of the boēlasía as a reflex of the importance of cattle in the honour economy typical of the homeric poems or in its explanation as a derivation of mythical structures inherited from the proto-indoeuropeans. This dissertation aims precisely at such blind spot, recovering and comparing part of the homerical references to this activity and examinig them via theoretical and methodological insights originated in the oralist critical tradition of the archaic épos, particularly those theme-based analytical methods that take into consideration the reception of the poems.

Consoante aos estudos recentes sobre a lírica grega arcaica, hoje podemos aduzir a ocasião de performance como um elemento central para a definição de um gênero poético. A partir dessa concepção mais ampla de gênero, este trabalho visa à tradução e estudo dos fragmentos elegíacos de Tirteu, tendo em vista o caráter estritamente político de suas elegias narrativas e marciais e seus vínculos temáticos com a tradição épica, de modo que possamos ensejar uma reflexão outra sobre a função e estatuto dessa poesia em suas determinadas ocasiões de performance. / According to modern studies on archaic greek lyric, occasion of performance was a main feature to the definition of a poetic genre. Thus, this work seeks to translate and analyze the elegiac fragments of Tyrtaeus, considering the strictly political aspect of his martial and narrative elegies and its thematic resemblances with epic tradition, in order to raise a different comprehension on the function and meaning of this poetry, given its occasions.