The War That Killed Achilles (44 page)

Once taken as conclusive evidence of the strict orality of the Homeric poems
themselves
(as opposed to their undisputed but still-enigmatic debt to traditional oral poetry), Parry's thesis has come to receive more critical scrutiny; in particular, the expertise of nonclassicists with wide experience in living oral traditions has weighed in on the central arguments. Among the questions raised are the extent to which conclusions about Homeric diction are relevant to oral poetic traditions of our own era, the suitability of semiliterate
guslars
performing in urban cafés as a model for a Dark Age poet such as Homer, and the vast and conspicuous gulf between Serbo-Croatian narratives and the monumental epic poems of Homer. Also of greater interest today is the significance of the
Iliad
as an end-of-tradition composition. Such questions are fruitfully addressed, in particular, in the essays of the collection edited by Stoltz and Shannon, below.

The following list of works, many contradicting one another, will stimulate further thought, rather than provide definitive answers to the important, if irresolv able, “Homeric question”:

 

 

Robert Fowler, “The Homeric Question,” in Robert Fowler, ed.,
The Cambridge Companion to Homer
(Cambridge, 2004), 220-32.

Richard Janko, “The Origins and Evolution of the Epic Diction” and “The Text and Transmission of the
Iliad,
” in
The “Iliad”: A Commentary, Volume IV: Books 13-16
(Cambridge, 1992), 8-19 and 20-38, respectively.

Minna Skafte Jensen,
The Homeric Question and the Oral-Formulaic Theory
(Copenhagen, 1980).

G. S. Kirk,
The Songs of Homer
(Cambridge, 1962).

Albert B. Lord,
The Singer of Tales
(Cambridge, MA, 1981).

Gregory Nagy,
Homeric Questions
(Austin, TX, 1996).

Barry B. Powell, “Homer and Writing,” in Ian Morris and Barry Powell, eds.,
A New Companion to Homer
(Leiden, 1997), 3-32.

—,
Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet
(Cambridge, 1994).

Benjamin A. Stoltz and Richard S. Shannon, eds.,
Oral Literature and the Formula
(Ann Arbor, 1976); see especially Ruth Finnegan, “What Is Oral Literature Anyway? Comments in the Light of Some African and Other Comparative Material,” 127ff.

As indicated by the chapter Notes, there are many prisms through which to view the
Iliad.
The six-volume Cambridge Commentary, as noted above, has valuable essays on specific themes central to Homeric studies. The works cited below represent particularly insightful, and often moving, treatments of what could be called the epic's defining issues:

 

Jasper Griffin,
Homer on Life and Death
(Oxford, 1983).

Katherine Callen King,
Achilles: Paradigms of the War Hero from Homer to the Middle Ages
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1987).

Gregory Nagy,
The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry
(Baltimore, 1979).

James M. Redfield,
Nature and Culture in the “Iliad”: The Tragedy of Hector
(Chicago, 1975).

Seth L. Schein,
The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's “Iliad”
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1984).

Jonathan Shay,
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
(New York, 1995).

Laura M. Slatkin,
The Power of Thetis: Allusion and Interpretation in the “Iliad”
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1991).

Simone Weil, “The
Iliad,
or the Poem of Force,” translated by Mary McCarthy, in Christopher Benfey, ed.,
War and the “Iliad”
(New York, 2005), 1-37.

INDEX

Abel and Cain

Achaeans

Achilles' control of Achaeans' fate

Agamemnon's testing of

Ahhiyawa as

assemblies of

Aulis launch of

camp of

Catalogue of Ships and

Chryses' reception by

fortifications of

Helen's identification of ,

Hera as champion of

morale bolstering of

names used for

Poseidon's inspiring of

postwar fates of

raids of

size of force of

use of term

war won by

Zeus' turning of battle against

see also
Mycenae, Mycenaeans, Mycenaean world;
specific Achaeans

Achilles , xiv-xvii,

Agamemnon's offer of gifts to

Agamemnon's quarrels with , xvi,

Aineias' genealogy related to

Aineias rescued from

Amazon queen and,

Andromache's family and

anger of,

Apollo chased by

Apollo compared with,

aristeía
of

arming of

armor of,
see
armor of Achilles

Athene's appearance to

authority of

beauty of

birthright of

Briseis taken from,

childhood of

death of

diminishment as hero

Embassy to,
see
Embassy to Achilles

emergence as hero

Enkidu compared with,

epithets for

family origins of

flame around head of,

as folk hero

funeral games and

ghost of

grief of,

in Hades,

hair cut by

healing arts and

Hektor and,
see subheadings under Hektor

Helen and,

historic-mythic thematic convergence and

homosexual speculations about,

honor of ,

horses of

Iris as messenger to

late-stage entry to epic of

leadership of

as loner and outsider

lyre playing of

meaning of name of,

military service challenged by

mortality of

Myrmidons led by,

Odysseus' quarrel with

Patroklos as scapegoat for

Patroklos' ghost and

Patroklos' relationship with

Patroklos' use of armor of

Priam's meeting with

return to war of

ritual goblet of

similes used by

Skamandros River battle of ,

son of;
see also
Neoptolemos

spear of,

Thersites hated by

Thersites killed by,

Thetis called upon by

Thetis' hiding of

Thetis' tempering of

tragedy of

tumulus of(map)

use of name

war trauma and

withdrawal from war of ,

Achilles' heel (ankle),

Acts of Andrew

Admetos,

Adrestos

Aegean Sea(map)

aegis,

Aeneid
(Virgil)

Aeolians,

evolution of epic and,

use of term

Aeolis

Aeschines,

Aeschylus,

Aethiopis
(epic),

Antilochos in
.

first, lost, transitional lines of

Memnon's armor in

Odysseus-Aias quarrel in

Aetolia

Africa, “leopard men” of,

Agamemnon, king of Mycenae ,

Achaeans tested by

Achilles' instinct to kill

Achilles offered gifts by

Achilles' quarrels with , xvi,

arming of

assemblies called by

authority of

Briseis confiscated by ,

Chryseis as war prize of

Chryses threatened by

as commander in chief

delusional dream sent to

Diomedes' taking issue with

emergency council of the princes convened by

epithets of

failed campaign to region by ,

first appearance of

at funeral games

ghost of

Hektor's corpse and

Helen's identification of

homecoming of

paired brothers motif and,

plunder of

ransom rejected by

sacrifice by

scepter of

shield of,

Thersites' attack on

as unfit to command,

wounding of

Agenor

Ahhiyawa

Aiakos,

Aias, Telamonian ,

in Embassy to Achilles

Hektor wounded by

Odysseus' quarrel with

Patroklos' corpse and

ships defended by

suicide of

Aias (son of Oïleus) ,

Aidoneus

Aigina,

Aineias

Achilles' return encounter with

divine rescue of,

origins and destiny of,

Aithe

Akkadian epic,

Aktor,

Alaksandu of Wilusa,

Alcaeus,

Alcmeonis,

Alexander the Great, xiv,

Alexandros:

use of name,

see also
Paris

Ali, Ayaan Hirsi,

Ali, Muhammad

Alkimos

Altes

Amphiaraus

Amphidamas,

Anat,

Anatolia (now Turkey)(map)

Bronze Age alliances in,

Etruscan origins in

fugitive exiles in,

Luwians in

Mycenaean interference in,

Mycenaeans on coast of

Anchises,

Andromache, xiii,

Hektor's death and

military directives given by

on Neoptolemos

postwar fate of,

Angel of Mons

“Another Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries” (MacDiarmid) ,

Antenor

Antilochos,

at funeral games

Antimachos,

ants

Aphrodite,

Aineias rescued by,

divine deceptions and ,

Helen's confrontation with

Helen's recognition of

Judgment of Paris and

origins of,

Paris desired by

Paris whisked away by,

wounding of

Apollo,

Achilles' death and ,

Achilles hated by,

aegis of

Agenor and

Chryses as priest of

civilized virtues of

as guardian of Troy ,

Hektor aided by

Niobe's children and

offerings to

origins of,

Patroklos' death and

plague sent by

Sarpedon's death and

Thetis' marriage and,

Apollodorus,

Arcadia,

archaeology,

in Lesbos,

of Mycenaean world,

at Troy,

Archaic Age,

Archilochus,

Arctinus of Miletus

Ares,

origins of

shunning of

wounding of

argeiphóntēs
(slayer of Argos)

Argives, use of term

Argolid,

Argos(map),

Aristarchus

of Achilles

of Agamemnon

of Diomedes

of Patroklos

Aristotle

arming scenes

armor

cremation and,

of Hektor

magic

of Patroklos,

stripping of,

armor of Achilles

Hektor's taking of

Hephaistos' making of ,

Odysseus-Aias quarrel over

Patroklos' use of ,

army, testing of,

by Agamemnon

Artemis

Asklepios,

Assyrian siege machines,

Astyanax,

as better than his father

death of,

Hektor's death and

postwar fate of,

Astynoös

Athene

Achilles fed by

aegis of

Aphrodite mocked by

birth of,

Diomedes aided by

epithets of,

intervention in war by

Judgment of Paris and

prototype of

Trojan women's offering to

in wounding of Ares

Athens,

athletic contests,
see
funeral games

Atreides

audience of Homer ,

Achilles' shield and

allusions recognized by

battlefield carnage and

Catalogue of Ships and,

death and

depiction of divinity and

description of,

disparagement of Paris and

Eumelos known to

expectations of

Iliad
's memory lapses and

king unworthy of command and

modern

near-death misses and,

opening lines and

Zeus-Hera pact and

Aulis

authority

of Agamemnon

of Nestor

scepter of the assembly and

of Zeus

Automedon

Axylos

Ba'al

Babylonian creation epic,

Balios

bathing,

battle joy,

beauty, goddesses' dispute about

beauty contest,
see
Judgment of Paris

Bellerophontes,

berserk state

Bible