Homer (2)

On the meaning of δατέομαι, Martin West definitively states, “In Homer this verb is only used of people sharing out among themselves” (West 1997: 312). West is largely in agreement with the definitions of δατέομαι provided by Chantraine and Snell (Chantraine 1968; Snell 1999). This definition has proved influential for our understanding of the essential ritual act of feasting in Homeric poetry. For instance, in the opening of the Odyssey Athena, the first aspect of the scene that attracts Athena’s attention is such a ‘sharing’ of meat (Od.

This paper argues that Apollo’s comparison of Achilles to a lion in search of a feast at Iliad 24.39-45 constitutes a compressed fable narrative, which functions as an embedded ethical program within the epic. Reproaching the hero’s abuse of Hector’s corpse, the god describes an unusual scenario: a lion advances against flocks of sheep intending a distinctly human form of repast in the form of a “feast” (δαίς).

The present paper seeks to thread together in a precise way two well-studied phenomena from the Odyssey: the weaving metaphor and ring structure. Specifically, I claim that a narrative-level ring structure that links Circe and Penelope is used to effectively end Penelope's otherwise never-ending weaving trick. 

Odysseus’s Two Bodies: Recognition as Construction in Odyssey 19

At the end of the Odyssey, Zeus proposes to erase the memory of Odysseus’ rivals (ἔκλησιν θέωμεν, 24.485) in order to end the cycle of retribution and establish peace. Often noted for its abruptness, Zeus’ intervention has been viewed more recently as an organic part of the narrative whole (Loney 2019, 224-225 and Marks 2008, 62-65), despite persistent attacks on its authenticity from antiquity to the present day (cf. West 1989).