Chapter One
The World of Homer
CHAPTER CONTENTS
1.1 A Funeral Scene on a Dipylon Vase 28 1.2 The Homeric Household (Oikos) 29 1.3 Women and the Homeric Household WEB1 1.4 Slaves and the Homeric Household WEB1 1.5 The Measure of Happiness 30 1.6 A Household in Trouble 30 1.7 Households and Community 31 1.8 Homeric Leaders 32 1.9 Kings, Council, and Assembly 33 1.10 A Trial Scene WEB2 1.11 Homeric Values: Honor and Excellence 37 1.12 Reciprocity and Guest-Friendship (Xenia) 38 1.13 A Bust of Homer WEB3
This chapter briefly surveys the so-called Homeric Question, including the relations between the Homeric epics and material evidence. Its major focus, however, is on the society and institutions depicted in the epics, which are assumed here to be largely historic. On that assumption, Homer is a valuable source for two main reasons. Firstly, the poet describes institutions and practices that were likely to have existed no later than the early Archaic period. Secondly, his heroes often served as models for generations of ancient Greeks, especially members of the elite. The Homeric value system, then, was relevant to many Greeks far beyond his age. In general, the Odyssey is more informative on Homeric society, and the Iliad on political institutions and war. The following sections discuss the Homeric family and household, their relationship to the community, political institutions and leadership, values, and social networks.
Scholarly interest in the Homeric epics goes back to ancient times. It has often focused on the so-called Homeric Question, which may be more aptly termed the Homeric Controversy. Readers have failed to agree on the identity of Homer; the time and the manner by which the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed or edited; the origins of the epics and their unique language; and the historicity of the poems.
Briefly, already in ancient times readers doubted whether Homer was a historical figure or if he wrote both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Many modern scholars would answer both questions in the positive. They assume that he wrote, or orally composed, first the Iliad, and then the Odyssey, based on oral traditions. Indeed, the epics reveal their oral origins in their language, which used a special rhythmic form, the hexameter, and many repetitive descriptive words or phrases (epithets) that were well suited to recitations.
Students of history are particularly interested in how historical the events and the society described in the epics are and to what period they should be dated. The Iliad in particular describes a long war between a large Greek expedition and a well-fortified Troy. The nineteenth-century excavator Heinrich Schliemann identified the site of Troy in the mound of Hissarlik in Asia Minor near the Dardanelles. Yet the site has revealed the existence of nine cities as well as sub-settlements dating from the Bronze Age to Roman times. Identifying which of these is the Troy of the Trojan War has been a bone of scholarly contention since Schliemann. The Greeks could not have mounted a large expedition following the destructions and consequent decline of many Bronze Age sites around 1200. This means that only Troy VIh, ca. 1300, or Troy VIi (formerly known as VIIa), ca. 1210–1180, would be good candidates. Yet both were relatively small settlements that appear to have suffered no human destruction, although recent excavators of the site interpret some findings as signs of a much larger site and even of human destruction for Troy VIi.
Many scholars agree that the Homeric epics may retain ancient memories, but that they also project on mythical times realities that better fit the poet's own era, perhaps between the second half of the eighth century and the first half of the seventh. This does not mean that the world depicted by the poet is consistent or securely fixed in this period. The epics mix elements from different times and locales in a way that has caused some readers to regard attempts to historicize the Homeric world as futile.
The following example illustrates the complexity of attempts to compare the Homeric evidence with archaeological findings.
1.1 A Funeral Scene on a Dipylon Vase
Figure 1.1 shows a grave marker in the form of a very large crater or mixing bowl from the Dipylon cemetery in Athens. It was made ca. 750 by a potter known as the "Dipylon Master." It depicts a dead man surrounded by more than forty male and female mourners, who are making the same gesture of (probably) tearing their hair. Chariots are driving by, and a ship is depicted under the handle. The painter is possibly describing the dead man's military exploits. Homer describes a chariot parade around the corpse of Patrocles, Achilles' friend (Iliad 23.12–16). It could be that Homer's description is based on a practice current in his own day, or that he inspired the painter. No less likely, however, is that both poet and artist, in their different ways, mix fiction and reality.
Questions
1. What is the Homeric Question?
2. Can the Homeric epics be used as historical documents?
The historian M.I. Finley provides a definition of the Homeric household that conveys its critical importance:
The authoritarian household, the oikos, was the center around which life was organized, from which flowed not only the satisfaction of material needs, including security, but ethical norms and values, duties, obligations and responsibilities, and relations with the gods. The oikos was not merely the family, it was all the people of the household together with its lands and goods. (Finley 1978, 57–58)
When wandering Odysseus reached the blessed land of the Phaeacians, he came upon an idealized palatial home and household that belonged to their king, Alcinous. The great house is a center of political, social, and economic activity, bedecked with gold, silver, and bronze.
For women and slaves in the Homeric household, see WEB 1.3–4.
Questions
1. Describe the economic and social activities that take place in Alcinous' household.
2. What does Homer's description of the household suggest about the status of its head?
1.5 The Measure of Happiness
A man's happiness was often measured by the well-being of his family and household. Thus Menelaus, king of Sparta, describes the good fortune of Nestor, the old ruler of Pylos.
1.6 A Household in Trouble
While Alcinous' and Nestor's households were prosperous and secure, Odysseus' house in Ithaca was in turmoil. In his absence, local nobles pressured his wife, Penelope, to marry one of them. They also invaded Odysseus' house and squandered its resources.
In the following exchange between Odysseus' young son, Telemachus, and the most evil of the suitors, Antinous, Telemachus articulates the notion that the male head of the oikos should have sole control over its assets. The prince tries to assert his authority, but also alludes to the unstable nature of dynastic power. In spite of Telemachus' protests, the suitors continued to behave insolently until Odysseus exacted revenge on them.
1.7 Households and Community
Telemachus' words show how a man's responsibility and loyalty centered on his family and household. Attitudes toward the community derived largely from these sentiments. When the Trojan hero Hector exhorts the troops to fight the enemy, this is what he proclaims.
Questions
1. Contrast the description of Nestor's household (1.5) with that of Odysseus (1.6). What might account for the difference?
2. What distinctions does Telemachus make between domestic and public authority (1.6)?
3. How does Hector link household to country (1.7)?
1.8 Homeric Leaders
Any investigation of Homeric leadership and political institutions and their relation to history is bound to run into difficulties. In addition to the epics' mixture of reality and fiction, the poems describe unusual circumstances, such as men at war in the Iliad and a leaderless household and community in the Odyssey, but seldom examine the operation of political institutions under more ordinary circumstances. Moreover, the epics might have artificially combined political realities from different times and locales. Nevertheless, they show that at the head of the hierarchy of power stood the king (basileus). His power was based on his large household, companions (hetairoi), and followers (and their followers), whom he had attracted. The king's ability to exert power, however, varied. A king like Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek expedition to Troy, inherited a scepter that came from Zeus, thus indicating divine confirmation of his rule. But the competitive principle of "ever to be the best and excel among others" (Iliad 6.208) affected leadership as well. It created an expectation of kings to legitimize their power, preferred status, greater honor, and large economic assets through their personal performance. Thus, when Sarpedon, the king of the Lycians and a Trojan ally, encourages his companion Glaucus to fight the Greeks, he highlights displays of strength and courage as justifications of their leadership position.
1.9 Kings, Council, and Assembly
A leader's authority was largely based on his wealth, his excellence in fighting, and on attracting fellowship through feasting and gift-giving. He thus resembled a type of ruler that anthropologists, and following them historians, have labeled the "big chief" (or "big man"). A king, however, was also exposed to challenges and criticism from others who saw themselves as his equals or even superior in merit and resources. Indeed, the title "king" appears to denote a level of authority rather than an office, because in Homer there are kings who are more "kingly" than others. Telemachus' concession to others of the right to be king (1.6) shows the weakness of an inherited claim to the throne. Conversely, an inherited claim combined with a measure of divine favor legitimized Agamemnon's leadership to some degree. It could be that the epics retained memories of leadership by "divine right," as well as a different conception, later or coeval, based on personal performance.
Homer also described councils consisting of other "kings" or "elders" (gerontês), who were convened by the leading king to advise him and discuss mutual concerns. Ideally, all participants were supposed to agree on a common course.
The assembly was made up of adult males from both the elite and the masses. Leaders used this arena to garner public support, inform the people, and prevail upon rivals. Some scholars regard these functions as an indication of significant popular power, which Homer, who wrote for an elite audience, tried to minimize or even to denigrate. Those who put more credence in Homer note that, in the poems, members of the elite call the assembly, do most of the talking, and take no popular vote.
The following description shows the working of Homeric kingship, council, and assembly. It also describes an unusual and failed attempt by someone outside the leading elite, the Greek Thersites, to upset the political and social hierarchy of the camp. The poet is clearly hostile toward attempts to challenge those in power.
The episode commences with a dream, sent by Zeus, that urged Agamemnon to do battle with the Trojans.
Agamemnon repeats the dream's words.
The enthusiastic response to the idea of sailing home alarms the goddesses Hera and Athena. Athena urges Odysseus to put a stop to it.
See WEB 1.10 for a description of a trial scene in Homer.
Questions
1. What legitimized the power of the Homeric leaders according to sections 1.8 and 1.9?
2. What does the story of Agamemnon's dream and its consequences tell about the respective powers of the king, council, and assembly?
3. Were Thersites' complaints justified? How were they addressed? Why did his fellow warriors not support him?
1.11 Homeric Values: Honor and Excellence
To a large extent, what separated the good man (agathos) from the bad (kakos) in the Homeric world were his social status and personal performance. Hence the importance of the concept of aretê, which equated virtue with competitive excellence and being better than another man. It also identified defeat with shame. However, this individualistic, competitive ethos did not exclude adherence to cooperative values such as aid, magnanimity, and helping the community. Honor (timê) and shame (aidos) were often functions of keeping up with society's expectations and showing acute awareness of what others might think or say about one's conduct. A man of honor was anxious to increase or maintain it and defend it from challenges and insults. He also looked to gain fame or glory (kleos) that could immortalize him.
All these perceptions are recognizable in the response of the Trojan hero Hector to the pleading of his wife, Andromache. She asks him to have mercy on his family and defend Troy from behind the walls instead of on the battlefield. Hector's words evince sensitivity to public opinion as well as to his own self-image, and distinguish between the good and courageous man and the bad and cowardly one.
1.12 Reciprocity and Guest-Friendship (Xenia)
One of the governing principles of social and political interaction in Homer is reciprocity. It existed between a leader and the community when the people gave their chief material gifts, and he reciprocated in the form of common feasts, sacrifices, military and political service, and individual rewards. Reciprocity also guided the conduct of members of the elite who exchanged gifts, services, and favors with one another. The men involved in the exchange were not blind to its material value, but it was primarily designed to establish and regulate social and political relationships. Reciprocal gift-giving and hospitality were also the mark of xenia (Homeric Greek: xeinia), or guest-friendship, between prominent individuals from different places. Xenia was hereditary and, as shown in the following case, could even supersede one's allegiance to fellow combatants. Thus, the Greek Diomedes and the Trojan ally Glaucus decide to avoid fighting each other after discovering that they are guest-friends (xenoi) through their grandfathers. They affirm their relationship with a gift exchange, in which Glaucus' greater gift suggests perhaps his inferior status to Diomedes.
The scene commences with Diomedes, son of Tydeus, and Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, meeting in the space between the two armies. Diomedes acknowledges Glaucus' courage and military prowess and asks for his identity. Glaucus assures Diomedes that he is not a god in disguise and identifies himself through his lineage. He focuses especially on the tale of his grandfather, Bellerophon, who was forced to leave his native land near Argos and go to Lycia. There, after performing some heroic feats, the local king "recognized him [Bellerophon] as the noble son of a god, he kept him there, giving him his daughter in marriage and half his royal honors" (6.194–196). Bellerophon fathered three children, including Hippolochus.
For a link to a Roman copy of a bust of Homer, see WEB 1.13.
Review Questions
1. What constituted a desirable, i.e., "good," Homeric man?
2. Describe the structure and role of the Homeric household on the basis of the documents in 1.2 and 1.5, and WEB 1.3 and 1.4.
3. How was power distributed in the Greek camp and in Ithaca? Also consult the trial scene in WEB 1.10.
4. Identify Homeric ideals and explain how they were anchored in their social and economic environment.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexanderby Joseph Roisman J. C. Yardley Copyright © 2011 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Excerpted by permission of John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Wishlist
Share
Tweet
Feedback
