The Last Shall Be First: πανύστατος in Apollonios and Homer

This article considers the intertextual significance of Apollonios’s use on two occasions in the Argonautika of πανύστατος, a Homeric τρὶς λεγόμενον, found twice in the Iliad and once in the Odyssey. Homer applies it to Eumelos’s finishing position in the chariot race and the emergence of Polyphemos’s ram from the cave, Apollonios to Herakles’s endurance in the rowing contest and Aietes’s equally belated emergence from his palace. πανύστατος in itself simultaneously evokes belatedness and the sense of being the last remaining, in keeping with Apollonios’s epigonal poetics and his archaizing depiction of Herakles and Aietes. Intertextually, Herakles’s impromptu contest and Aietes’s role in the crypto-athletic ἄεθλος he sets Jason resonate with the Homeric funeral games and their exploration of the definition of excellence and how it is measured, through the figure of Eumelos who is both πανύστατος and ἄριστος. Polyphemos’s ram, whose superficially humble lastness conceals Odysseus’s victory, renders the relationship more complex still.

Intertextual Agōnes in Archaic Greek Epic: Penelope vs. the Catalogue of Women

Archaic Greek epic exhibits a pervasive eristic intertextuality, repeatedly positioning its heroes and itself against pre-existing traditions. In this article, I focus on a specific case study from the Odyssey: Homer’s agonistic relationship with the Catalogue of Women tradition. Hesiodic-style catalogue poetry has long been recognized as an important intertext for the Nekyia of Odyssey 11, but here I explore a more sustained dialogue across the whole poem. Through an ongoing agōn that sets Odysseus’s wife against catalogic women, Homer establishes the pre-eminence of his heroine and—by extension—the supremacy of his own poem.

Disobedience in the Courtroom: Iliad 18.497–508

This article aims to combine a literary and a detailed linguistic approach to the “trial scene” in the Shield of Achilles. Legal historians attempt to reconstruct a judicial system, encountering textual issues and incompatibilities. Ekphrasis is rarely mentioned, and writings on ekphrasis rarely treat the trial scene in detail when discussing the Shield. A close reading, underpinned by the theory of ekphrasis, is able to address these difficulties. This passage describes a series of alternative dispute solutions, rather than a coherent judicial process. This presentation argues that this makes the passage central to the poetics of the Shield, not an outlier.

The Augment in the Fragments of the Epic Cycle and Other Fragmentary Greek Epic

I discuss the use of the augment in fragmentary hexametric Greek texts outside of early epic Greek (Homer, Hesiod, and the Homeric Hymns) and the mock-epic works (such as the Batrakhomyomakhia). I quote them after West 2003 but also analyze fragments that are not found in West. I determine the metrically secure forms, discuss previous scholarship on the meaning of the augment in epic Greek, and then proceed to the actual analysis. For my investigation, I divide the fragments in three categories: first, those that can be analyzed; second, those that have fewer forms and that allow for an analysis but require more caution than those of the first category; and third, the ones that have no or not enough metrically secure forms but are still intellegible. The starting point for my investigation is that the augment had near-deictic/visual-evidential meaning and that it was used in focused and highlighted passages as well as to emphasize new information. This is confirmed by the fragments, but as was the case in the larger epic corpus, there are exceptions to the rules in the Cycle as well.

The Argo, Danaus, and Sesostris: On Allusions to Two First-Ship Traditions in Apollonius’s Argonautica

Against recent skepticism, this article proposes that Apollonius’s Argonautica alludes to the variant traditions that regarded either the Argo or the ship of Danaus as the first that ever sailed. Both variants predate Apollonius, and the poet nods to each at different points in his epic. Most novel is my argument that the rare word Δαναΐς (1.137) constitutes a subtle allusion to the tradition that Danaus’s ship, the “Danais” (Δαναΐς, scholium ad Argonautica 1.1–4e), was the world’s first ship. Neither tradition jibes with Apollonius’s mythological chronology, but Danaus’s voyage nevertheless provides a resonant Greco-Egyptian exemplar for the Argonautic expedition.

Is Telemachus a “Naturally Gifted Orator”? Odyssey 2.40–79 in Its Rhetorical Contexts

Telemachus’s first speech to the Ithacan assembly in Odyssey 2 includes apparent misguided criticism of the very audience he is trying to persuade. This article considers his speech from two perspectives. First, it surveys ancient and Byzantine reception of the speech, showing how initial doubts about Telemachus’s effectiveness shift to Eustathius’s confidence in the “naturally gifted orator.” Second, it argues for a novel interpretation of Telemachus’s criticism as an intelligent but ultimately ineffective incorporation of features of battlefield exhortation into a supplication.

Suicide in Homer and the Tale of the Heike

Comparison of suicides and suicidal wishes in Homer and the Tale of the Heike reveals significant similarities. In both worlds, shame, loyalty, and grief are the main causes of suicidal wishes. However, Heike characters are more prone to suicide, while Homeric characters never actually commit suicide. Heike suicides can be seen to derive from the desire to be with one’s community and loved ones, enhanced by the Buddhist belief in an afterlife. Homeric characters display much stronger attachment to life, based on the belief that there is no existence or fame after death worth dying for.

Metaphor in the Speech of Achilles (Iliad 9.308–429)

This article offers an analysis of the conceptual metaphors lodged within a continuous block of Homeric text, Achilles’s famous speech in Iliad 9. It argues for the productivity of applying Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) to Homer, while also contributing to the debate concerning the diachronic roots of modern conventional metaphors. Topics considered include (1) Achilles’s extension, confirmation, and modification of the metaphors used elsewhere in the epics, (2) the different layers of metaphorical usage found in Homer, and (3) the hero’s questioning of one prevalent Homeric metaphor in his rejection of Agamemnon’s gifts as a motivation to fight.

Near Eastern Echoes in Iliad 16.33–35

This article reexamines Patroclus’s famous comment on Achilles’s cruelty in which the sea and the rocks take up the role of the latter’s parents (Iliad 16.33–35). The verses reflect Near Eastern myths about the birth of menacing creatures from the sea and the rocks and are particularly associated with the Song of Hedammu and the Song of Ullikummi of the Hurro-Hittite tradition. Thematic, mythological, and dictional parallels among these texts are discussed in order to explore the existence of a common theme with specific connotations in the broader region of West Asia.