ἦ μάλα θαῦμα κύων ὅδε κεῖτ᾽ ἐνὶ κόπρῳ: The Anagnorisis of Odysseus and His Dog Argos (Hom. Od. 17, 290–327). In: Literatūra - Research Journal for Literary Scholarship 59.3 (2017). S. 7-18. (original) (raw)
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A SHAGGY -DOG STORY: THE LIFE, DEATH, AND AFTERLIVES OF ODYSSEUS' TRUSTY DOG ARGUS 1
O ne of the distinguishing features of the reception of Homer, in contrast with that of most other ancient authors, is that since antiquity almost every culture has considered his poems to be especially faithful to the truth and to be especially valuable precisely for that reason. Keats was not the first, or the only, reader who could claim that he felt the very same excitement at looking for the first time into Homer's poetry (even in translation) as he would have if he had been vouchsafed a glimpse not just into some book but instead into a hitherto unimagined but achingly real world beyond the narrow and conventional reality he had supposed was the only one. 2 So, too, when Goethe describes his own youthful enthusiasm for Homer, he celebrates his discovery of the ancient poet as the dawn of a new day, in which the bright sun suddenly revealed to him men and things for what they really were. 3 But if we look more broadly at the various ways in which Homer has been read and understood in European culture over the centuries, we can see, far more clearly than Keats or Goethe could have, that their own experience was not only personal and individual but also traditional and almost commonplace. Throughout history, Homer has been celebrated as the poet of reality, and what varied from period to period was not the notion that his poems told an important truth about reality but rather the kind of reality that interpreters sought to connect with the poems and the kinds of connections they sought to establish. The following pages detail the history of the reception of Homer as that of the changing understandings of a body of poetry to which an indisputable truth was always ascribed, however differently that truth was conceived. In the modern period, these variations are embodied in the works of Homer's editors and translators. For that reason, the Biblio-theca Homerica Langiana (BHL) provides a rich treasury of materials for research into the history of the understanding of his poetry. So vast and complex is this topic that I shall only be able to touch on it, illustrating it by the example of a single small but charming episode: the encounter between Odysseus and his dog Argus in book 17, lines 290–327 of the Od
Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 2024
The last few decades have seen a surge in research into the possible connections between early Greek poetry and the literature and mythologies of the Ancient Near East. This article re-examines Iliad 18.318–23, which many scholars have regarded as directly and deliberately alluding to a similar section of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgameš (SBV VIII 59–62). In both passages, Akhilleus and Gilgameš are said to mourn for Patroklos and Enkidu like a lioness mourning for her cubs. It will be argued that we should not regard these passages as evidence for a direct connection. By considering other strands of similar imagery in the Iliad, I will show that the presence of this simile in the Greek epic is not best explained as the result of external influence. This will be corroborated by an examination of occurrences of similar imagery in other Near Eastern texts from Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and the Hebrew Bible. Reflecting on the methodological difficulties of positing direct allusion between Greek and Near Eastern literary texts, this article will suggest instead that this simile of animal mourning is a stock feature of a broader shared Eastern Mediterranean poetic tradition with many surviving examples.
Mnemosyne, 2018
In this contribution I shall re-examine the interpretation and identification of the canis catenarius at Petron. Sat. 72. Is it one of the real dogs that show up during the dinner, i.e. the canes Laconici from the hunting scene (Sat. 40), the puppy Margarita, or the dog Scylax (Sat. 64.7–10)? Or is it nothing but Encolpius' own imagination that brings a part of Trimalchio's wall-painting (Sat. 29.1) to life? Resuming an earlier disagreement between Baldwin 1995 and Henry 1994; 1996 on the nature of the dog (real or imagined), I shall aim to draw a full picture by including some factors which have been widely neglected (e.g. Encolpius' mythomaniac tendency) and putting those already suggested into context. The aim of my paper is to read the given passage against the background of Vergil's sixth book of the Aeneid and Encolpius' tendency to style himself as a mythical hero.
Introduction to Homer's Odyssey
Introductory remarks for a course that employs Homer’s Odyssey as the jumping-off point for an examination of a tradition that extends through Euripides’ Hippolytus, Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, Vergil’s Aeneid, Xenophon of Ephesus’ Ephesian Tale, and Petronius’ Satyricon, and that leads to the development of the modern picaresque novel.
ANIMAL SIMILES AND GENDER IN THE ODYSSEY AND ORESTEIA By
2008
This thesis offers an overview of a selection of the animal similes within the Odyssey and the Agamemnon. I examine the ways in which the animal similes, reverse similes, and overall character portrayal are depicted within each work. I argue that these tools are used in order to reflect the genres of the two works and how neither completely adheres to the expectations of the gender roles, that is, what is expected of the male and female characters. The gender roles are more stable in the Odyssey as Penelope relies on her homophrosune with Odysseus, while the Agamemnon captures the chaos that occurs when the female does not remain within the female sphere.
Animal similes and gender in the" Odyssey" and" Oresteia
2008
This thesis offers an overview of a selection of the animal similes within the Odyssey and the Agamemnon. I examine the ways in which the animal similes, reverse similes, and overall character portrayal are depicted within each work. I argue that these tools are used in order to reflect the genres of the two works and how neither completely adheres to the expectations of the gender roles, that is, what is expected of the male and female characters. The gender roles are more stable in the Odyssey as Penelope relies on her homophrosune with Odysseus, while the Agamemnon captures the chaos that occurs when the female does not remain within the female sphere.
Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 1993
Paris X Nanterre Cours de Ruth Webb « Approaches to the Iliad » Oral Presentation of R.B. Rutherford's article "From the Iliad to the Odyssey" R.B. Rutherford, "From the Iliad to the Odyssey", in Oxford Readings in Homer's Iliad, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp.117-146. Cote Ulm : LG p 25 KB 8° Rutherford"s article studies the relation between "Homer" "s two epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It was first published in the #38 issue of the Bulletin of the Institute for Classical Studies in March 1991 and revised before reprinting in those Oxford Readings. His article is divided into six sections, to which an additional note was added in 2000. Section I : the problems of the relation between the Iliad and the Odyssey ; Rutherford"s main point: there is a relation and there are allusions to the Iliad in the Odyssey. Section II (p. 120) : first comparison : similarities between the Iliad and the Odyssey compared with other poems of the Epic Cycle ; the Odyssey as a sequel to the Iliad ; similarities in structure and detail; the problem of "allusions" in an oral tradition. Following sections : identifying allusions to the Iliad in the Odyssey. Section III (p. 127) : allusions, from general resemblances to possible parallels or echoes in the detail. Parallels between the beginnings, structures, and endings. The beginning of the Odyssey as echoing the end of the Iliad. Different theology. Section IV (p. 132) : the nature of the imitation and the differing character of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Achilles and Odysseus" choices of lives. Achilles" glorious death… and his bitterness as a king among the dead. Helping fathers. Section V (p. 135) : The Odyssey as a more self-conscious poem than the Iliad : poets and songs in the Odyssey. Section VI (p. 137) : The aftermath of the Trojan War in the Odyssey : memories of suffering and bitterness. The Odyssey-poet has a different attitude to war and heroism from the Iliad-poet. The question of possible parody : Odysseus as a lion among young girls : heroism with a smile. Almost an opposite kind of epic : the glory of homecoming and mortal life.