George Gazis

discussed in G.’s opening chapter on Cheiron, although expectations concerning this process emerge in the various works. A strictly normative development is not really of interest in either these two Homeric epics or tragedy. These works do invite us to view a problematic process that rarely comes to fulfilment. The book’s arguments are strongest when it deeply engages in the complexities of what induces this failure of ethical growth that reflects unstated norms, perhaps worth examining in more detail on their own. Would a tragic audience bring the experience of the Achillean model to its viewing of these plays as they evolved? Problematising further the concept of ‘education’ from the start would in my view enrich an otherwise thoughtful discussion.

Homer, aoidê indicates the action of a performing bard’ (p. 65). The volume contains, in isolation, some interesting ideas. Parts of the introduction, such as that on the tradition of animal-fable, are useful despite their brevity. The translation is solid, with only a few errors, although it captures little of the poem’s mock-epic register (an epic hero who describes his father as μιχθεὶς ἐν φιλότητι with his mother is not saying that he ‘had sex’ with her). Future scholars on the BM will need to take some of the commentary’s interpretations into account. But it is almost impossible to imagine this book being used in the way its authors wanted it to be used, and that is a terrible shame. The BM is a short, clever poem; its Greek is not particularly thorny, and its subject matter is entertaining. It seems to have been popular as a school text during the Byzantine period, and a good intermediate-level edition with concise and helpful notes would be a tremendous asset to modern students as well. This book could have been that edition. But the haste with which it seems to have been written and published, combined with the incomprehensible and uncharted chaos of its text, has resulted in a work which will only reinforce the popular impression of the BM as an obscure and haunted ruin best left to the textual critics.

The focus of this chapter is on the break in Odysseus’ narrative halfway through Odyssey 11, which is otherwise known as the ‘Intermezzo’. The discussion offers an overview of the problems relating to the ‘Intermezzo’ and offers a new interpretation of the necessity of the narrative break according to which the poet uses this interruption to validate the accuracy and truthfulness of his protagonist’s narrative through the praise of his internal audience. Through the praise that the hero receives from both Arete and Alcinous and especially through the latter’s explicit reference to the truthfulness of his story, the alternative traditions that Odysseus presented in his ‘Catalogue of Heroines’ are authenticated and integrated within the wider epic tradition.

This book examines Homer’s use of Hades as a poetic resource. By portraying Hades as a realm where vision is not possible, Homer creates a unique poetic environment where social constraints and divine prohibitions are not applicable. The resulting narrative emulates that of the Muses but is markedly distinct from it, as in Hades experimentation with and alteration of epic forms and values can be pursued, giving rise to a ‘poetics of Hades’. In the Iliad, Homer shows how this alternative poetics works through the visit of Patroclus’ shade in Achilles’ dream. The recollection offered by the shade reveals an approach to its past in which regret, self-pity, and a lingering memory of intimate and emotional moments displace an objective tone and a traditional exposition of heroic values. The potential of Hades for providing alternative means of commemorating the past is more fully explored in the ‘Nekyia’ of Odyssey 11; there, Odysseus’ extraordinary ability to see (idein) the dead in Had...

By common consent, Odyssey 11 is one of the most fascinating books of the Homeric epics, yet it has puzzled scholars since antiquity. It has long been noted for instance that it is not perfectly clear why Odysseus has to visit Hades; and that we cannot be sure about what he actually does there. Does he stand next to the pit throughout his visit, as he claims he does, 1 or does he venture deep into the Underworld as his viewing of Minos, Orion, Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus and Heracles suggests? 2 Other issues too have seemed problematic: for example, we are told by Teiresias at lines 146-9 that the dead are powerless shades in need of blood in order to recover their wits, but in some instances Odysseus describes them as fully functioning: thus, Orion pursues his hunting habit even after death (572-75), while Minos settles the disputes of the dead (568-71). Does it matter that we find these seemingly incompatible views of the afterlife in one single episode of the Odyssey? Many scholar...

This chapter offers an analysis of the beginning of Odysseus’ Underworld journey in Odyssey 11. It follows closely the action as it develops in Odyssey 11 and it introduces the reader to the actual poetics of Hades through the discussion of the first encounters the hero has in Hades with his former companion Elpenor, the seer Teiresias, and his mother Antikleia. The chapter further offers an interpretation of the prophecy of Teiresias, which has often been seen as problematic by readers and scholars alike. This chapter shows that, on the contrary, it can be understood if it is seen through the lens of the poetics of Hades.

In this chapter, the dream scene of Iliad 23 is discussed and analysed. Following the argument about Hades’ invisibility in the Iliad, this chapter argues that Homer finds a way of bringing his audience in contact with the realm of the dead and, most importantly, with what happens to heroes after their career on the battlefield has ended. Homer allows the ghost of Patroclus to enter the scene of the Iliad by creating a hybrid dream/Underworld scene in which the necessary space for a manifestation of the dead can be found. Furthermore, once the dead Patroclus speaks, he introduces us to a narrative of self-pity and regret which will be developed fully in Odyssey 11 into the poetics of Hades.

. — In Book 11 of the Odyssey , Odysseus visits Hades in order to consult the soul of Teiresias about his return to Ithaca. While in the Underworld, Odysseus meets several shades and either converses with them or listens to their stories. In this paper I argue that the stories narrated in the Underworld adhere specifically to the poetics of Hades. This poetics is informed by a unique performance context and a unique approach to epic narrative. At a basic level, the laws that govern the life of the living cease to have relevance in Hades. Thus, the shades can discuss issues that would have been problematic in life. This has implications at the level of language and style : even Odysseus’ name, a taboo throughout the Odyssey , is repeatedly used in a fully developed formula (διογeνὲς Λαeρτιάδη, πολυμήχαν᾽ Ὀδυσσeῦ) : there is no need to conceal it in the Underworld. Resume. — Au livre 11 de l’ Odyssee , Ulysse visite l’Hades afin de consulter l’âme de Tiresias au sujet de son retour a ...

This paper hosts three case-studies that are meant to be representative of paradigm-shifting trends in Homeric Studies and to cater to specialists and non-specialists alike. Boosted by new archaeological findings and by an increased awareness of Homer’s Near-Eastern entanglements, the “historicity” of the poems has regained centre stage. Against this backdrop, Andrea Debiasi develops a persuasive interpretation of Homer’s name, whose meaning points to the performative-agonistic dimension of Homeric poetry in the context of the clashes that characterized Euboia in the archaic age. By contrast, George Gazis focuses on the one aspect of the Homeric world that cannot possibly be mapped onto space and history, namely Hades. The underworld is unfathomable even for the gods, which accounts for its potential as a trigger of poetic invention. No less than Debiasi’s, this approach resonates with recent scholarship: a return to “history” is often complemented by an opposite, but fully compatib...

This chapter focuses on the second and final part of Odyssey 11, in which Odysseus meets his ex-companions from Troy. The effect of the ‘Intermezzo’ and the success of Odysseus’ supplication are visible: the hero is now equipped with the confidence that he faces an audience that is firmly under his influence. The chapter deals with every meeting in turn—Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax—and demonstrates that the ‘poetics of Hades’, namely the individualized, subjective, and emotional take on the past already observed in the book, applies also, or perhaps more markedly, to the great heroic personas of the epic past. The chapter concludes with an epilogue.

This article identifies the influence of the Homeric ‘Poetics of Hades’ in Greek Lyric and argues for an aetiological relationship between the persistent presentation of the lyric poet’s subjective voice and the freedom of speech introduced in Homer’s Underworld. The article demonstrates this relationship through an examination of Bacchylides’ Ode 5 and argues that the lyric poet consciously innovates upon Homer’s underworld narratives by allowing his Meleager to occupy the stage and takes the audience through his agonising last minutes by describing what dying feels like in his own voice. In doing so, Bacchylides presents his audeience with a Meleager who glosses over his heroic actions and moments of glory in favour for a more emotional and subjective view of his past, filled with regret and self-pity. In this respect the hero is no different from the ghost of Achilles who dismisses honour after death for the simple privilege of seeing the light of the sun, or Agamemnon who is con...

"Homer and the Poetics of Hades" offers a new and unique approach to the "Iliad" and, more particularly, the "Odyssey" through an exploration of the role and function of the Underworld as a poetic resource permitting an alternative perspective on the epic past. By portraying Hades as a realm where vision is not possible, Homer creates a unique poetic environment in which social constraints and divine prohibitions do not apply, resulting in a narrative which emulates that of the Muses but which at the same time is markedly distinct from it. In Hades experimentation with, and alteration of, important epic forms and values can be pursued with greater freedom, giving rise to a different kind of poetics: the 'poetics of Hades'.

In the "Iliad", Homer offers us a glimpse of how this alternative poetics works through the visit of Patroclus' shade in Achilles' dream. The recollection offered by the shade reveals an approach to its past in which regret, self-pity, and a lingering memory of intimate and emotional moments displace an objective tone and traditional exposition of heroic values. However, the potential of Hades for providing alternative means of commemorating the past is more fully explored in the 'Nekyia' of "Odyssey" 11: there, Odysseus' extraordinary ability to see the dead in Hades allows him to meet and interview the shades of heroines and heroes of the epic past, while the absolute confinement of Hades allows the shades to recount their stories from their own personal points of view. The poetic implications are significant, since by visiting Hades and listening to the stories of the shades Odysseus, and Homer with him, gain access to a tradition in which epic values associated with gender roles and even divine law are suspended in favour of a more immediate and personally inflected approach to the epic past. As readers, this alternative poetics offers us more than just a revised framework within which to navigate the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey", inviting as it does a more nuanced understanding of the Greeks' anxieties around mortality and posthumous fame.