Thought for food: On Niobe's eternal brooding
By Ian Hollenbaugh, Washington University in St. Louis
Achilles’ recounting of the Niobe myth in Iliad 24 (599–620) contains a number of oft noted oddities, particularly in lines 614–17. These were athetized in antiquity, as they seem to interrupt the ring structure of the passage. Various ad hoc explanations have been put forth to explain this apparent intrusion (cf. Leaf, Richardson), but I argue that the key to understanding it lies in another oddity—this time a grammatical one—in line 602: καὶ γάρ τ᾽ ἠΰκομος Νιόβη ἐμνήσατο σίτου, typically rendered ‘For even fair-haired Niobe thought of food’.
Two Eyesights, One Vision: The Reception of “Owl-Eyed Athena” and “Cow-Eyed Queenly Hera” in the Iliad
By Griffin Budde, Boston University
This paper surveys two of Athena’s line-end epithet phrases, Pallas and glaukwpis Athene (86% and 80% line-end usage), and the related phrase, bowpis potnia Here (100% line-end). It demonstrates the greater predictability of glaukwpis and bowpis relative to Pallas, and shows how animal-eyed epithets associate Athena and Hera according to their common aim of Troy’s destruction.
Couple's Therapy: A Reconsideration of Helen's (In)fidelity in Odyssey 4
By Mason Barto, Duke University
My paper examines repetition in Odyssey 4 as evidence for a retroactive reading of Helen’s fidelity. As Froma Zeitlin (1995) notes, only obliquely in Book 4 does the epic approach the conundrum of Helen’s adultery. In the banquet speeches, the conflict between Helen’s self-characterization as an ally (4.240-64) and Menelaos’ characterization of her as a traitor (4.266-89) presents readers with an interpretive deadlock. Scholars resolve the gap by reading liability of character (West in Heubeck 1988) and falsehood (Alden 2017) into Helen’s speech.
Helen and Trauma Narrative in the Iliad
By Caroline Murphy-Racette, University of Michigan
This paper uses research in trauma studies to offer a new analysis of Helen in the Iliad. Psychological studies in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), continuous traumatic stress (CTS), and trauma following a sexual assault point to social isolation, suicidal tendencies, and self-blame as elements of trauma. Studies on sexual assault differentiate between two types of self-blame: characterological (blaming deficits within oneself) and behavioral (blaming one’s own actions). This research encourages a new understanding of the Iliad’s Helen.