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.

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.

Often praised for its sophistication in the narrator- and character-text, the Odyssey is regarded as the ultimate epic of a warrior’s much-troubled nostos. As a corollary of both its theme and the polytropia of the main hero, the poem explores extensively the motifs of secrecy and disguise. Apart from the lying tales of Odysseus, one important, albeit less obvious, example of the tendency to secrecy and disguise is the exchanges between the gods, which constitute a distinct group of speeches that have significant implications for the action of the poem. The aim of this dissertation is to study the divine dialogues of the Odyssey from the angle of communication and persuasion. Employing findings from narratology, discourse analysis, and oral poetics, and through close readings of the Homeric text, I argue that the overwhelming majority of these related passages have certain characteristics, whose common denominator is obliqueness. Apart from Helius’ appeal to Zeus (Chapter 2), distinctive in its own narratorial rendition, the rest of the dialogues, namely Hermes’ message-delivery to Calypso (Prologue), the two divine assemblies (Chapter 1), plus the exchanges of Zeus with Poseidon (Chapter 2) and Athena (Epilogue) conform to set patterns of communication. Within this framework, interlocutors strongly tend towards concealment and partiality. They make extensive use of conversational implicatures, shed light only on certain sides of the story while suppressing others, and present feigned or even exaggerated arguments in order to persuade their addressee. Direct confrontation is in principle avoided, and even when it does occur, it takes a rather oblique form. In this communicative scheme, the procedure of decision-making is not clear-cut, and the concept of persuasion is fluid and hidden behind the indirect and subtle dialogic process.