Living in Iron, Dressed in Bronze: Metal Formulas and the Chronology of Ages (original) (raw)
2018
Names of important metals such as gold, silver, iron, and bronze occur many times in the Homeric Epics. We intend to look at them within the framework of oral poetry, with the purpose to determine if they form a more or less coherent set of “formulas”, in the sense defined by Milman Parry and the Oral Poetry Theory2, and to test a possible link with the stages of the evolution of humankind. Though several specialists criticized some excess in Parry’s and Lord’s definitions of the formula, we deem the theory still valuable in its great lines and feel no need to discuss it for the present study3. The frequent use of bronze in epical formulas for arms, while the actual heroes fight their battles with iron equipment, and the emphasis of gold in the descriptions of wealth may reflect a deep-seated linguistic memory within the archaic mindset of the Ages of Mankind. With Homer’s language as our best witness, metal formulas testify to the importance of the tradition of the Ages of Mankind ...
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Living in Iron, Dressed in Bronze: Metal Formulas and the Chronology of the Ages
Brolly. Journal of Social Sciences, 2018
Names of important metals such as gold, silver, iron, and bronze occur many times in the Homeric Epics. We intend to look at them within the framework of oral poetry, with the purpose to determine if they form a more or less coherent set of “formulas”, in the sense defined by Milman Parry and the Oral Poetry Theory2, and to test a possible link with the stages in the evolution of humankind. Though several specialists criticized some excess in Parry’s and Lord’s definitions of the formula, we deem the theory still valuable in its great lines, and feel no need to discuss it for the present study3. The frequent use of bronze in epical formulas for arms, while the actual heroes fight their battles with iron equipment, and the emphasis of gold in descriptions of wealth may reflect a deep-seated linguistic memory within the archaic mind-set of the Ages of Mankind. With Homer’s language as our best witness, metal formulas testify to the importance of the tradition of the Ages of Mankind in understanding the thought patterns and value- systems, as well as some linguistic usages of the Homeric Epics.
Chasing Bronze Age rainbows. Studies on hoards and related phenomena in prehistoric Europe in honour of Wojciech Blajer, 2019
In the midst of Godelier, Facebook and bloody forays. Several comments on metal and its availability in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. This paper consists of several impressions on the subject of the availability of metal among communities of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The discussion therefore leads the reader on a journey between Oceania, the British Isles, the Bóbr River basin, Pomerania, northern Wielkopolska and the Apennine Peninsula – with the hope that the arguments advanced shall constitute an impetus towards considerations on the availability of metal in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, as well as being a voice in the general research discussion focused around this very issue. A number of questions can therefore be posed, such as: Who had the right to possess metal tools? Were differences in the frequency of metal objects, especially those out of copper and its alloys in various regions of the continent, a testimony to a community’s access to a network of exchange? Or were perhaps the intensive contacts initiated because of the desire and possibility to make use of metal? Was bronze in fact so rare that some communities did not have the means to acquire it, or were lower amounts in this context associated with cultural norms, or in fact ones that limited its exploitation?
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