Peter Kotiuga (Boston University)
This paper explores how prayers in Homer’s Iliad are rhythmically distinct from other speech-acts. To date scholars have established how an epic poet can differentiate individual speakers and groups by modulating the vocabulary and world-view expressed (Parry 1956; Reeve 1973; Friedrich and Redfield 1978; Scully 1984; Griffin 1986; Scodel 1989; Martin 1989; Mackie 1996; Beck 2009, 2012, 2017); others have explored the phrasing and colometry of epic Greek in light of differing genres and speech-acts (Bakker 1997; Edwards 2002; Blankenborg 2017). Despite our statistics on word-division, clause-shape, and scansion for the Homeric hexameter (O’Neill 1942, West 1982, Gentili & Lomiento 2003, etc.), no-one has studied whether these aspects of the verse modulate together within a speech and so distinguish Homeric speech-acts. Defining rhythm as the sum of word-placement, clause-shape, and scansion, I will illustrate how the instances in which mortals entreat gods, some of which are embedded within broader speeches, differ rhythmically from other speech-acts in Homer’s Iliad.
In terms of rhythm, the twenty-three prayers of Homer’s Iliad share a sense of repetition and regularity. Theano’s prayer to Athena at Book 6.305-10 is the most formal and paradigmatic Iliadic prayer as it is the only one to occur at a temple. As I will show, her prayer divides evenly into two groups of three verses, each of which begins with a clause and contains one other clause that begins at the fifth foot of the second verse (vv. 306, 309). Likewise, the word-divisions are extremely regular, with the greatest deviations being in the closing verses (vv. 307, 310). Lastly, the scansion is nearly identical across the two groups, and the greatest variation occurs again in the closing verses. Chryses’ two prayers in Book 1 (vv. 37-42, 451-456) exhibit the same regularity of flow. The repetition of word-divisions, clause-shape, and scansion distinguish these prayers from other speeches, especially the more rhetorical speeches that contain different and more erratic clause-shapes and word-division positions.
This regularity of flow is likewise evident in prayers made by heroes on the battlefield. Menelaus’ prayer to Zeus during his duel with Paris (Book 3.351-4), for example, flows much more evenly than his reproachful expression of frustration once his sword breaks (3.365-8). Likewise, the rhythm of Agamemnon rousing the troops at Book 8.228-44 contrasts with his request to Zeus for safety that concludes that same exhortation (vv. 242-4). In both situations, the prayerful utterance flows more evenly: in Menelaus’ prayer, unlike his reproach, the clauses occur in similar positions and his thoughts divide evenly into couplets. As for Agamemnon, his well-spoken exhortation closes in repeated rhythms: three clause-initial and spondee-initial verses with a greater consistency of word-divisions than the rest of the speech. The degree of regularity exhibited within a couple sentences of prayer not only contrasts with how these characters speak otherwise, but it also matches the regularity of flow seen in the prayers of Theano and Chryses. I argue that the Homeric poet modulates the verse-rhythm to suit the speech-act, in this case, a prayer.