Panhellenism and local tradition in early Greek epos
<p>Early Greek epos encompasses a wide range of characters who are each given a local origin: for example, Akhilleus of Phthia, Helen of Sparta, Nestor of Pylos. The surviving poems of the epic tradition, however, do not focus on single locations, but strikingly combine characters and places f...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English Greek, Ancient (to 1453) |
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2023
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| Summary: | <p>Early Greek epos encompasses a wide range of characters who are each given a local origin: for example, Akhilleus of Phthia, Helen of Sparta, Nestor of Pylos. The surviving poems of the epic tradition, however, do not focus on single locations, but strikingly combine characters and places from all across the Greek-speaking world and beyond, a feature often referred to as 'Panhellenism'.</p>
<p>This thesis critically examines 'local' and 'Panhellenic' aspects of early epos through a variety of different methodologies. The first chapter sets out previous scholarship on the question and my working assumptions about the poetic tradition. I give a brief survey of the corpus as a whole in comparison to archaic lyric. The first part of the thesis then consists of a series of general studies, treating evidence from patterns of material culture during the period in which the tradition developed; iconography; the dialectal basis of the poetic language; and the importance of the catalogue to epic composition. The second part of the thesis provides a number of case studies of particular characters or places, examining the interaction between epic and local tradition. These case studies are: Akhilleus and Odysseus; the city of Thebes; Helen of Sparta; and the family of Oineus.</p>
<p>In general, I argue against the idea - prominent in previous scholarship - that early epos results from an 8th century fusion of distinct local poetic traditions that formed independently in the Early Iron Age (EIA). Instead, I propose an alternative model in which the inclusion of different places and characters is an inherent aspect of the epic tradition. Incorporation of local material is likely to have occurred at many different points in the development of hexameter poetry, stretching back into the EIA. This long and gradual process results in the rich, complex tapestry of stories and people that characterises archaic Greek epos.</p> |
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