This thesis argues that the defining characteristic of intra-familial relationships in both the Iliad and the Odyssey is inequality. Homeric relationship pairs that are presented positively are strongly marked by an uneven distribution of power and authority, and when family members do not subscribe to this ideology, the result is a dysfunctional relationship that is condemned by the poet and used as a negative paradigm for his characters. Moreover, the inequality favoured by the epics proceeds according to strict role-based rules with little scope for innovation according to personality, meaning that determination of authority is simple in the majority of cases. Wives are expected to submit themselves to their husbands, sons to their fathers, and less powerful brothers to their more dominant siblings. This rigid hierarchy does create the potential for problems in some general categories of relationship, and relations between mothers and sons in particular are strained in both epics, both because of the shifting power dynamic between them caused by the son’s increasing maturity and independence from his mother and her world, and because of Homeric epic’s persistent conjunction of motherhood with death. This category of familial relationships is portrayed in the epics as doomed to failure, but others are able to be depicted positively through adhering to the inequality that is portrayed in the epics as both natural and laudable. / I will also argue that this systemic pattern of inequality can be understood as equivalent to the Homeric concept of homophrosyne (“like-mindedness”), a term which, despite its appearance of equality, in fact refers to a persistent inequality. Accordingly, for a Homeric relationship to be portrayed as successful, one partner must submit to the other, adapting themselves to the other’s outlook and aims, and subordinating their own ideals and desires. Through this, they are able to become “like-minded” with their partners, achieving something like the homophrosyne recommended for husbands and wives in the Odyssey.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/269927 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | O'Maley, James |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Restricted Access: Abstract and Citation Only Available |
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