The Death of Patroklos: a Study in Typology 9783445022172, 3445022178

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BElTRAGE ZUR KLASSISCHEN PHILOLOGIE Herausgegeben von Ernst Heitsch, Reinhold Merkelbach und Clemens Zintzen Heft 133

The Death of Patroklos A Study in Typology

Steven Lowenstam

Verlag Anton Hain

Steven Lowenstam The Death of Patroklos

BEITRAGE ZUR KLASSISCHEN PHILOLOGIE Herausgegeben von Ernst Heitsch, Reinhold Merkelbach

und Clemens Zintzen

Heft 133

The Death of Patroklos A Study in Typology

Steven Lowenstam

1981 Verlag Anton Hain · Konigstein/Ts.

CIP-Kurztitelaufnahmeder Deutschen Bibliothek

Lowcnstam,Steven: The death of Patroklos : a study in typology / Steven Lowenstam.- Konigstein/Ts.: Hain, 1981. (Beitrligezur klassischenPhilologie; H. 133) ISBN 3-445-02217-8 NE:GT

© 1981Verlag Anton Hain MeisenhcimGmbH,

Konigstein/T s. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Ohne ausdriicklicheGenehmigungdes Verlagsist es auch nicht gestattet, das Buch oder Teile daraus auf photomechanischemWege (Photokopie, Mikrokopic)zu vervielfaltigen. Reproduktion, Druck und Bindung:Hain-Druck GmbH, Meisenheim/Glan Printed in West Germany ISBN 3-445-02217-8

CONTENTS Acknowledgments

vii

Editions

viii

Abbreviations

ix

Introduction I.

The

1 Gesture

of

Asios

38

2.

Ares

43

3.

Achilles

4.

Odysseus

45 47

5.

Eurykleia

51

6.

Metaneira

56

The

Patroklos:

Conclusions

60

68

Hand

Blow with

the

2.1.

Actuality

and

2.2.

The Death

of

3.

Down-Turned

68

Hand

73

Threat

77

Asios

Mock Scenes

83

4.1.

Reversal

90

4.2.

Odyssey

5.

IV.

and

The Down-Turned 1.

III.

31

1.

7. Achilles II.

Thigh-Slapping

Scenes 19

96 100

Conslusions

Parallel

Events

in

Iliad

the

106

1.

The

Function

of

the

Scenes

2.

The

Function

of

the

Scene

Sacrificial

Aspects

of

the

Pertaining with

Thigh-Slapping

Ares

to in

Asios

Book

Sequence

15

106 119 126

1.1.

Therapon

126

1.2.

Meriones

131

1.3.

Ares

140

2.1.

Patroklos

2.2.

Patroklos'

3.

Sacrificial Sequence

in

Book

11

144

Funeral Elements

150 of

the

Thigh-Slapping 159

Contents 4.

Sacrificial Slapping

References Index Locorum

Interpretations Episodes

of the Thigh169 178 188

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writing and revising of this monograph has been constantly rewarded by the discussions with colleagues, friends, and fellow investigators which it has engendered. In this respect I think primarily of Cedric Whitman. Afternoons spent with him discussing Homer were magical picnics in Alkinoos' garden. His gift in interpreting the Homeric texts was always generously shared, as were his honesty, love of poetry, and criticism and encouragement. I am also especially grateful to Douglas Frame, Patricia Lowenstam, and Leonard Muellner for their advise. Others who helped by reading one or more versions were Frederick Combellack, John Finley, Michael Nagler, Gregory Nagy, C. Bennet Pascal, and Donald Taylor. Ilse Lieberman supported this enterprise in a variety of ways. Finally, I am grateful to Reinhold Merkelbach, who provided a useful critique in the preparation for publishing.

EDITIONS

Ilia cl

D.B.

Monro and T.W. Allen, I-II,

P.ymns Saholia

Hesiod

Aischyl

()!;

EuripidPs

Pherekr~tes

ed.

(Oxford

Opera,

Homeri Opera, 2nd ed. (Oxford 1917-9) T.W. Allen, Homeri Opera, V (Oxford 1912) Saholia Graeaa in Homeri Iliadem, H. Erbse, I-V (Berlin 1969-77) W. Dindor~, Saholia Graeaa in Homeri Odysseam, I-II (Oxford 1855) 1966) M.L. West, Theogony (Oxford M.L. West, Works and Days (Oxford 1978) R. Merkelbach and M.L. West, Fragmenta (Oxford 1967) Hesiodea D. Page, Aesahyli Septem quae supersunt Tragoediae (Oxford 1972) G. Murray, Euripidis Fabulae, I (1902), II (3rd ed., 1913), III (2nd ed., 1913) (Oxford) C. Austin, Nova Fragmenta Euripidea in Papyris reperta (Berlin 1968) Fragmenta, I T. Kock, Comiaorum Attiaorum (Leipzig 1880)

T.W.

Homeria Homeria

3rd

Homeri 1920) III-IV,

Allen,

ABBREVIATIONSOF PERIODICALS AJP Annales CP CQ

cw Gl GRBS HSCP IF JHS KZ MH

Mnem Philol RHA TAPA YCS

ESC

American Journal of Philology Annalee Economies Societes Civilisations Classical Philology Classical Quarterly Classical World Glotta Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies Harvard Studies in Classical Philology Indogermanische Forschungen Journal of Hellenic Studies Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung Museum Helveticum Mnemosyne Philologus Revue hittite et asianique Transactions of the American Philological Association Yale Classical Studies

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS ANET KBo KUB LSJ 9 RE

Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Keilschriftetexte aus Boghazkoi Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazkoi Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft J.B.

Names of classical authors abbreviated as in LSJ 9

and their

works are usually

INTRODUCTION

In the field of Homeric Studies where debates still rage over such varied questions as the literacy of Homer, the number of poets responsible for the Iliad and Odyssey~ the definition of the formula, the degree to which the poems are formulaic, and the extent to which the poet(s) was controlled by his language, a critic's preconceptions about any one of these questions, although not the subject of his work, may affect his argument on another. Although each scholar cannot be expected to explain his position on all of these questions before he addresses a specific issue, it is important to recognize those assumptions which have an inunediate bearing on his subject. In this introduction I intend to discuss briefly those views of Milman Parry and subsequent scholars which are directly relevant to my present work. My main concern will be directed to the phenomena of fonnulary restriction and association; but any work which deals with the Homeric tradition as reflected in the language must confront the question of the degree to which a poet could be original in his diction. Some of my examples will be the famous instances which are repeatedly cited, while others will be those more relevant to my subject. The role which Friedrich Wolf played in nineteenth century Homeric criticism has been usurped in the i'ast quarter century by Milman Parry, the cornerstone of whose work was the recognition of the extent to which metrical considerations had motivated and preserved certain groups of words called fo~mulae. 1 Instead of composing his lines word by word, the poet often 1The published his son Adam (Parry from Parry's French will be used.

works of Milman Parry were collected by 1971). Whenever it is necessary.to quote theses, the translations made by his son

Introduction

2

fitted together two or three of these ready-made formulae to complete a line. For instance, the following line is composed 2 of three formulae (A 572): µnTPl ~LA~ tnt

~pa ~tpwv,

gratifying

dear

his

mother,

AEuxwAtv~ ·Hp~ white-armed

Hera•

AEUKWAtv~•Hp~, is found twenty-four times, always The formula, at the end of the line. The opening collocation, µnTPl ~LA~, occurs six times, once in modified form; and finally tnt ~pa 3 Most ~tpwv is repeated three times, twice with modification. lines in the Iliad and Odyssey, of course, are not as formulaic 4 as this line; but there is a difference of opinion as to how formulaic the poems are, a debate which is based in part on different definitions of the formula. 5 The fact that the poet 2

Parry's definition of a Homeric formula is "a group of words which is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea" (1-930: 80 = 1971: 272). In this work I will be following J.B. Hainsworth (1964: 155; cf. Hainsworth 1968: 35-6), who defines a formula as a repeated group of words "which have between them a bond of mutual expectancy." For example, in modern English "innocent bystander" is formulaic. When we hear "bystander," we expect to hear that he is innocent, never guilty. 3Although there is a distinction between what is considered a repeated formula with some variation and a modified formula, the exact boundary is arbitrary. For convenience, I follow Hainsworth's criteria for differentiating them (1968: 36-9). 4 For a vivid demonstration of the variation in the density of formulae in the Homeric poems, see Hainsworth's analysis of two passages, one highly formulaic and the other much less so (1969: 110-2). For Parry's formulaic analysis of the first and the Odyssey, see Parry 1930: twenty-five lines of the Iliad Cf. Lord (1960: 142-4) on the first 117-22 = 1971: 301-4. fifteen lines of the Iliad. 5on the one hand, there are definitions which pertain to repeated word groups (e.g., seen. 2, above). For a more restricted definition, see Lesky 1968: 699-700. On the other hand, there are definitions based on repetition of structure. Lord, for instance, concludes that 90% of the first rifteen are "formulas or formulaic" (1960: 142). Cf. lines of the Iliad Notopoulos 1962: 360.

Introduction

3

did string together formulae may be indicated by the traditional name of the composer of our poems. For "Homer" may be a generic name for poet ("who fits together," derived from 6µ0and "ar- as in 6.papCoKCA>,much as the later rhapsode was a 6 "sewe;-of songs"). Parry's work on the formulae pertaining to names led him to three major conclusions. The first was that the complex system in which each hero has a series of name-epithet formulae with different metrical values must have been traditional, since no single poet could have produced such a system and also composed major poems such as the Iliad and Odyssey. Although archaic features of the language had pointed to the traditional nature of these poems, here was another vivid demonstration of the fact. Further, Parry was able to define the tradition with his second conclusion. He asserted that the most reasonable explanation of the formulaic system was that it was created to assist a poet who was composing his lines at the precise moment 8 that he was performing, i.e., an oral poet. Parry emphasized this oral nature of the poems increasingly as his work progressed.9 Finally, Parry's most controversial conclusion was that since certain words were chosen merely as metrical fillers, their meaning was insignificant both to poet and audience. As a result, when we read the poems we must "eschew entirely" the · 10 belief that each word was carefully selected as the best one. 6 see Chantraine x an d see now Nagy (1968) , s.v. uµnpo~; 1979: Chapter 17 and Appendix. 7 Parry 1930: 134-5 = Parry 1971: 314. 8Parry 1932: 77, 134-5, 138 = Parry 1971: 269, 314, 317. 9 see Hoekstra (1965: 10) and Hainsworth (1968: 2-19) for a discussion of this point. 10 Parry 1928a: 181, 166-7 = Parry 1971: 144, 133. Cf. "But in treating of the Parry 1930: 138 = Parry 1971: 317: oral nature of Homeric style we shall see that the question of a remnant of individuality in Homeric style disappears al-. tog et her . "

Introduction

4

Ruskin's interpretation of the passage in which the ~uo,tooc ata (taken by Ruskin to mean "the life-giving earth") covers Helen's brothers provided Parry with the famous instance of the type of sentimentality precluded by oral poetry: "Few students will read this epithet thinking of the meaning Ruskin contrived to give it--even in death, the earth is always our mother ... The truth of the matter is that it is next to impossible to attribute such a meaning to it. To discover it, Ruskin needed all his well-known fondness for the poignant in poetry, along with a false conception of the history of ideas which led him to attribute to a poet a way of thinking that must have been 1111 foreign to him. Just as in his major thesis Parry argued that the unity of the formula is preserved through a sacrifice in meaning (for instance, even if the epithet in a formula is inappropriate in a particular situation, it will be utilized if it meets the metrical requirements), in his these complementaiPe he demonstrated that the formula is even maintained at the expense of metrical regularity. · For instance, when the T 1 formula for "then he sat down" is joined to a T2 name formula, usually there 12 result lines such as~ 102:

much enduring

goodly

Odysseus

sat

down then.

But when the poet has Telemachos sit down, there irregularity because of the initial vowel in the 13 "Telemachos" ( n 48):

is a metrical T2 formula for

11 Parry 1928a: 160 = Parry 1971: 129. 12 This convenient terminology is taken from Severyns 1946: 49. A T1 collocation extends from the opening of the line to the trochaic caesura, while those which run from the trochaic caesura to the end of the line are termed T2. Similarly, P1 and fill a line with a penthemimeral caesura. Finally P 2 hemistichs lines with a hephthemimeral caesura can be split into h1 and h2 segments. 13 Parry 1928b: 18 = Parry 1971: 203.

Introduction

the dear

son of Odysseus

sat

5

down then.

Especially when formulae are declined or conjugated, there is opportunity for irregularity. A famous example is the unique case of µtpon&c dv8pwnoL (E 288), which is a declined form of 14 µ&,:,dltv dv~ltv (9x). In sum, Parry's position was that the poet relied on bis ready store of formulae to such a degree that he was willing to tolerate metrical and semantic irregularity. After Parry's death in 1935, be was practically ignored 15 for a quarter century. A. Hoekstra could write in 1964 that 16 In the Parry's work bad never been adequately criticized. last fifteen or twenty years, however, Parry's work has been central to the debates in Homeric studies; and despite challenges his position bas been maintained with modification by 17 those familiar with his work. Who would deny the Iiiad and Odyssey are derived from an oral tradition, if not examples of oral composition themselves? One of the most significant lines of development following Parry's death has been continued research on the formula's flexibility. Usually the formula possesses so many variations through expansion, separation, rearrangement, and alternation of form that in most cases it can suit the poet's needs. 18 If a tension is created by the conflict between formula and meter, however, the latter will yield first as in the case of µtpon£c dvaPnoL. But in most cases it is possible to generate a 14 For Parry's

analysis,

see Parry

1928b:

11 = Parry

1971:

197-8. 15 For the attention which these theses did receive, see Parry 1971: xlviii-xlix and Parry 1930: 74 = Parry 1971: 266-7. 16 Hoekstra 1965: 8. 17 For recent challenges·to Parry, see Parry 1971: xlix, f. 3; to which must now be added Austin 1975: 11-80. 18 see Hainsworth 1968.

6

Introduction

variation of a formula whose direct declension would result in a metrical irregularity. For instance, 8£P£AnY£PtTa ZEUC···" (1969b: 53). Indeed, repetition does occur, especially in the schema etymoZogicum; but are there examples of immediate repetition involving an ornamental epithet? Distance between the repeated forms is a factor, too. For instance, it does not bother the poet of the Odyssey to end one verse with V£q)EAnY£PfTa ZEUC and to close the succeeding line with VEq>t£OOL x6.Au~£, two h2 formulae (L 67-8; cf. µ 313-4). F. M. Combellack believes that instances such as the use of OT£ponny£ptTa inn 298 and µEydetJµoc in w 168 represent "the kind of innovation which must be sought out by anyone who hopes to show that Homer was a conscious innovator in this aspect of style [the manipulation of traditional formulary' language]" (Combellack 1976: 54). This is a surprising viewpoint from the critic who has often assailed the "obsession for discovering original inventions in Homer" (Combellack 1950: 340). For if OT£ponny£ptTa Z£uc, or even the whole line in which it occurs, is traditional, as Parry believed (1928&: 236 ~ Parry 1971: 187-8), there is no reason to believe that the poet of the IZiad was the first to utilize it in those contexts in It is impossible to which v£q>£AnYEPtTa was inappropriate. ascertain whether the poet created or merely conformed to the practice of shunning immediate repetitions involving generic epithets. Since there is no cause for believing it original and since artistic novelty appears to occur least on the level of diction (see note 64, below), it seems more likely that it was traditional.

Introduction

9

Parry himself was aware of the reason that .oxov means "wedded bedmate." Linguistically, too, this suggestion makes sense, for n6TvLa is the feminine of n6a1.c. Many of the cognates of n6TvLa denote wife as well as lady. 39 If n6TvLa µ~TTIP means "wedded mother," the adjective would not have the same signification which it possesses when it modifies goddesses and nymphs and is translated "reverend, august." This difference of meaning does not pose a problem, however, because synchronically the two uses could be derived from different usages of the word, 40 or diachronically they could reflect different stages in the development of the Greek word. In fact, there is almost a complete disparity between the use of n6TvLa µ~TTIP and the other collocations with n6TvLa (mainly n6Tva &ed and n6Tv1.a plus name). The latter group is restricted to seven goddesses and nymphs (Hera, 25x; Kirke, 4x; Kalypso, 3x; Artemis and Athena, 2x each; and Hebe and Enyo, 39 sankrit patn=i denotes both "queen" and "wife." Old Prussian ~aispattin, Lithuanian pati, and Lettie pati all mean "wife." Cf. yuv~ to English "queen." 40 see Pokorny 1959: 842, a.v. *poti-s. The root denotes "Hausherr, Herr," on the one hand, and "Gatte," on the other. The same distinction is preserved in the feminine ("Herrin" and "Gattin"), as the cognates indicate.

16

Introduction

once). Of the sixteen women denoted by n6TvLa µ~TnP (34x), on the other hand, only Thetis and probably Neaira (µ 134) are immortal. The children of these women except for those of Neaira are mortal, too. Further, from what we can tell, all the women denoted by n6TvLa µ~TnP are married. In contrast, Athena and Artemis are virgins, and all the other goddesses are 41 unmarried with the exception of Hera and possibly Hebe. Whereas it would not be a matter of concern whether a goddess was married (again with the exception of Hera, who is the only immortal with whom xouploLOC is employed: O 40), this would be an important consideration among mortals, especially in regard to their children. All this evidence suggests that n6TvLa µ~TnP denotes "wedded mother" and that the formula in reference to Iros' mother need not be inept. If nothing else, Iros can claim to be legitimate. In sum, these examples suggest that Parry overstated his case when he suggested that the poet and audience were indifferent to the particular meaning of a fixed, traditional epithet. Rather, they expected the generic epithet genuinely to reflect a regular quality in the genus even if it was absent in the particular case involved. 42 Parry himself suggested that all fixed epithets must have been originally particularized; and William Whallon (1961) has pointed out how appropriate most of the heroes' fixed epithets are. For instance, Odysseus is renowned for his shrewdness while he admits his limitations in running (& 230-1); hence, no:>i.uµnTLC("of many wiles") is a most suitable epithet for him. But n66ac wxoc 'AxL:>i.:>i.euc ("fleet-footed Achilles") hates deceit as he hates the gates of Hades and his greatest deed in the epic tradition is achieved with the aid of his swift feet. We cannot imagine these metrically equivalent epithets interchanged so that Achilles 41 our only confirmation that Hebe was Herakles' wife is thought to derived from >i. 602-4, lines which are not generally be genuine. See Stanford 1959: I 403. · 42 cf. A. A. Parry 1973: 3, 166.

Introduction

17

would be "of the many wiles" while Odysseus would be distinguished as "fleet-footed" (even though he does win the 43 foot race in the funeral games). Hence, the fixed epithets even for individuals must be appropriate in general terms if not in each particular case. This rule has been cited above to explain the mo~ification of the formula for a man's back in the case of a woman. It does not elucidate, however, the modification in the case of Thersites. Albe~t not exemplary, Thersites still counts as a man. Is this an example of the poet refusing to apply a generic epithet because the particular case does not fit? what is involved here is the concept of formutary Clearly restriction. The formula ~ETa0TfPQOLVXEpoC, 2x), while its P1 form could easily be exchanged with the metrically equivalent XEpol xaLanpnvtoo•: xeCpEoo· duepoTfPQC (which in M 382 is followed by a word with initial vowel). Hence, xepc,l xaTanpnvtoo· is not employed merely for its metrical utility. The formula is limited to the context of touching or striking thighs with the hands ..

Introduction

20

It

is strange that this formula is restricted to this specific context; but even stranger is the fact that XELPL xaTanpnvEC, the singular of the above formula, has an entirely as will be indidifferent set of restrictions. This formula, cated below, possesses three constraints: the hand must belong 1) to a god 2) who is acting destructively 3) from a surreptitious position. An example occurs when Apollo strikes Patroklos (n 791-2): en~ o•

6nL&EV,

RA~fEV

ot

UETci(ppEVOV EupfE

XELPL KaTanpnvEC, OTP£~£6Cvn&EV 6t ot 6aa£. he [Apollo] stood and wide shoulders whirled.

T•

~UW

behind and struck his [Patroklos'] with a down-turned band, and his

pack eyes

It is unnecessary to run through the same argument for the singular in as much detail as was presented for the plural. The mention of two contexts in which the formula would appear who appropriate should suffice: Menelaus pushes away a Trojan, bas grabbed his knees (Z 62; cf. E 836, O 695) and Athena strikes Aphrodite(~ 424; cf. P 296). For a passage with similar diction, there is P 296. Finally, it is not as easy to· find an equivalent formula for XELPL xaTanpnvEt as it was for the plural formula; but 6£fLTEP~ XELpC (separated in~ 410; cf. 8 137, a 121) could be substituted for XELPt xaTanpnveC 48 inn 792 (above). Although I have not yet demonstrated that these formulae do possess the restraints which I have posited, even a cursory look at the nine passages involved will reveal the validity of these 49 When I turn to my main subject, we will restrictions. examine these passages in detail. At this point, however, I wish to stress the fact that one cannot dismiss these 48

For other examples of formulae restricted by context see Page 1959: 225-56. 49 0 114, 398; v 199; T 467 (for location of scar, see T 449-50); n 792; v 164; H. Ap. 333; Cf. M 162; ll 125. or meter,

Introduction

21

restrictions by asserting that the poets did not have any other opportunities in context or diction to employ the formulae or that these formulae were only utilized because there was not a metrical alternative. Formulae possess restraints; and in this case the singular and plural formulae have specific restrictions which do not appear to be related. One of the aims of this work is to indicate that the two formulae are correlate not only in form but also in context. Most formulae should be viewed with respect to their restraints. For example, X&LPL naxeC~ in regard to men is restricted to warriors and heroes of any quality but among women to the war goddess Athena and the heroine of the Odyssey. In other words, it is unmarked among men, but marked among women. to married women. And n6TvLa ~~TnP is restricted Since words are limited by their meanings and in poetry by their meter, all critics recognize the existence of restrictions; but debate rages over their extent and nature. Parry, for instance, focused on metrical restraints and believed most noun-adjective formulae, for instance, to be restricted by the meaning of the noun and by the metrical value of the whole collocation. In response, a series of scholars, of whom Norman Austin is the most recent, has stressed the meaning of words rather than their metrical utility. These positions, of course are not altogether mutually exclusive. If the poet had a large enough store of traditional formulae at his disposal, he could have met the requirements of both meaning and meter by a judicious use of these formulae supplemented by the improvisation of other collocations. Formulae are limited not only by meaning and meter, however. The reason behind many, perhaps most formulary restraints is unknown. Why for instance should the formula for "palms of the hands" be restricted to contexts involving thighs? It seems reasonable to assume that some formulae, which were originally employed in a variety of contexts, ultimately became so welded in the poets' minds with one particular context ~bat

22

Introduction

50 An analogy is the formulae were no longer used otherwise. presented by those words like dµoAy6c,which in an earlier period must have been utilized in several expressions but by the time of our poems had become so restricted in use to one formula, (tv) vuxTbc dµoAy~ (5x plus 2x in the Homeric Hymns), that the meaning of the adjective is now unknown to us. 51 In addition to the concept of restriction, the operation of association is integral to an understanding of Homeric verse. Fortunately, in contrast to the obscurity of many formulaic restrictions, the derivation of Homeric associations is frequently explicable. For often when certain words and formulae were utilized or certain actions were depicted, they prompted the articulation of other words or deeds which shared a common origin in etymology, myth, or ritual. The schema has especially facilitated linguistic research. etymoZogicwn Emile Benveniste, for instance, was able to demonstrate that the roots of oel&.> ("I fear") and the number "two" were identical, not homonymic, by adducing the following Homeric collocation (I 229-31): µtya nflµa ••• etoop6ca>vT£C/ 6el6Lµ£v• tv 6oLij 6t aa.watµev 11dnoAto8a.L/ vflac ("when we look upon the great disaster, we are afraid: for it is in doubt [doiei, 'in two'] whether we will save or lose the ships"). 52 Benveniste could demonstrate from this passage that fear is felt to be derived from doubt, which in turn is the process of being drawn in two opposing directions. Recent studies in the Homeric tradition have also been facilitated by the fact that etymological associations between words are often reflected in the Homeric 53 diction. Often associations are maintained on an active level to 50 Cf. A.A. Parry 1973: 165. 51 see Chantraine (1968), s.v. &µthyw. 52 senveniste 1966: 294-5. 53 A recent demonstration is set forth in Frame 1978, which is based on the etymological connection between voOc, v6a-toc, and daµevoc.

23

Introduction

a degree which is surprising, as we can see in the case of (6.)cnEpon~, "lightning." In the only case in which this word is not utilized in a figure, Zeus is depicted as carrying the lightning (A 184). This association between Zeus and 6.aTEpon~ is always functional when something of a mortal is compared to lightning. This passage, for instance, pertains to Hektor (A 65-6; cf. K 153, N 242-5): Ttlic 6 • dpa XaAX4,

Mµcp· l:JCTE CTTEPOTtti ttaTpbc; t.LbC a.(yL6XOLO he wholly shone with bronze bearing father Zeus.

like

the lightning

of aegis-

In those instances in which the comparison pertains to something of a god, however, Zeus is never mentioned (8 386, h. Ce~. 280). Therefore, when we turn to the metaphorical uses of ai:Epon~. we would least of all expect to find the connection with Zeus to be active, especially since Parry has persuasively argued that Homeric metaphors are so fixed and traditional that they have lost their active force and merely replace a more 54 cormnonplace word or phrase. In actuality, however, in each of the five passages in which cn£pon~ is employed metaphorically, the association with Zeus is expressed. Here is one of the examples (E 267-9 = p 436-8; cf. A 78-83, T 357-63, 6 72-4): TtA~TO6t Ttliv ttE6Cov ttEC~v TE xa.t CttttCl.lV XClAXOO TE CTTEPOTt~c-tv 6t ZEUC TEPTtLxfpa.uvo, ~6Ca.v t~otc tTd,poLaL xa.xtiv a..~µa"t'1.ye:v6µe:vov ("It is only indicative of grief, as 7 of someone annoyed"). Eustathius, too, adjusts his interpretation of the gesture to the context. He notes that Asios' performance of the gesture is typical of a distressed disposition (aacuvoµtvou ~&ouc) and attributes it to amazement 8 (ooc tnt 8a~µa"t'1.). When Ares slaps his thighs upon learning of his son's death, Eustathius remarks a ne:p C61.6. ta"t"1. Tta.V"t'bC une:pe:>e.nACX.ytv-toc tnt >..unnP4\6.>e.ouaµa"t'1.("These things are appropriate to every ~an who is overwhelmed by grievous news"). 9 Modern interpretations have followed the same lines. Liddell and Scott gloss µnp& TtAnEdµ£voc in the broadest terms: 1110 Most commentators "a sign of vehement agitation. have provided more specific definitions with the focus primarily on grief. Hentz and Ameis suggest that the gesture is "eine 11 Ausserung des tiefsten Schmerzes." Kammer, studying all Homeric instances of the gesture, concludes that it expresses 12 grief over adversity. When the gesture was properly employed, "Wahrnehmung der Not und Schmerziiusserung sind in unmittelbarste Beziehung gesetzt, wie der laute Donner dem zUndenden 1113 Blitze folgt. Apparently on the basis of O 113 alone, Severyns also believes the gesture expresses grief, but he compares it to gestures primarily of mourning: Hekabe opening her robe and baring a breast, Priam rolling in dung, and Odysseus covering his head to hide his tears. 14

~

7

Eb ad Eust. 9 Eust. lOLSJ 9 , 8

M 162.

ad M 162 and M 164. ad O 111. s.v. µnp6c. This gloss appears to be derived from Passow 1841-57 ( s. v. µnp6c) : "Zeichen heft iger Gemiitsbewegung," which is repeated almost verbatim in Seiler .1889 (s.v. µnp6c). The gloss in Passow 1841-57 is absent from Passow 1831 (but see n . 11 , be low) . 11 Ameis and Hentz 1872: 12 ad v 198. Cf. Passow 1831, s.v. n>..~aaw: "als Ausdruck der Trauer." 12 Kammer 1887: 27-9; cf. 75, 250. 13Ibid., 28. 14 severyns 1948: 117. The Homeric passages alluded to are ~ 80, c 60-5, and a 84-5.

34

Gesture

of Thigh-Slapping

Several critics have suggested that the gesture indicates 15 oth·er emotions: "Uberraschung und Aufregung" (Autenrieth), "annoyance" (Leaf), 16 "la col~re et le d~sespoir" (Mazon), 17 "prae gaudio, luctu, indignatione" (Bothe). 18 · Onians is the only critic who has not defined the gesture 19 as an emotional reflex. He believes that the knees and thigh-bones were treated as the second site of the "life20 (IJlux~). The head is the other substance" and "life-soul" site. In distress one could strike either site to alert the life-soul. The motivation, then, is to stir one's "life-soul." An analysis of the thigh-slapping scenes will indicate that none of these interpretations is really adequate for three reasons. First, although most critics believe that the gesture represents a form of response, the situation which evokes it has never been defined except in the vaguest terms. Part of the problem is methodological. It is unsatisfactory to draw the conclusion that the gesture expresses grief or surprise when the only evidence is the fact that a specific character in a particular scene is grieved or surprised. An extensive analysis of all the occasions in.which the gesture is performed must be undertaken to determine whether its motivation is general or specific and whether the contexts are analogous. Further, previous interpretations have not considered the possibility that the characters who perform the gesture may be similar in some way. And finally, the verbal associations which 15 Autenri€th The viewpoint expressed 1881, s.v. unp6c. in this gloss was common in the first half of the nineteenth century. Cf. Damm 1824, s. v. unp6i;;: "prae admira t ione exterCf. also rente," a translation of Eustathius (n. 8, above). Passow 1841-57 (quoted above, n. 10). 16 Leaf 1900-2: II 113 (ado 113). In Bayfield's edition of Leaf the gesture is said to be one of "helpless grief" (Leaf and Bayfield 1908: II 356 ad O 113). 17 Mazon 1937: 151, f. 1. 18 aothe 1833: II 140 ad M 162. 19 onians 1951: 183-5. 20 Ibid., 174 ff.

Gesture

of Thigh-Slapping

35

accompany the gesture have never been taken into account. These associations are especially useful in interpreting the context. Some of the associations in the passage in which Patroklos slaps his thighs can be isolated by comparing that scene to the one in Book 23 in which Patroklos returns to Achilles in a dream and explicitly foretells Achilles' death. In this passage Patroklos chides Achilles for delaying bis funeral (W 74-5): aAA• aOT~C aAcUn1,1.aLav• tupunuAtC •At6oc xaC uoL 6bc T~v xetp·, 6AOuea&a y6oLo. But come closer short time, let mourning.

to me. Even if we embrace us gladden each other with

Achilles, however, cannot his bands (W 101-2):

grasp

Patroklos'

for only painful

shade;

a

and he claps

~X£TO T£TPLYUta• Taq)OOV 6'. av6pouaev 'AXLAA£UC xepc,C Te auunAaTaynaev, fnoc a· 6AOT£POC d>..AOC· ~ T tq>dµnv T£(oaa8o.L "iltEav6pov xax6TnToc· v2v 6t µoL tv xe(peaaLv dyn ElLV tTCOOLOV,066• ff3«A6V l.LLV." 0

Looking at the wide sky, the son of Atreus groaned: "Father Zeus, no other god is more destructive than you. I thought I would punish Alexander for his evil; but now my sword has broken in my hands, and my spear has darted from my hand in vain, nor did I strike him." IlnAef6nc 6° ~lJ,C.l>f£vt6&v etc oupavov eupuv• "Z£0 ndT£P, weoO Tlc U£ 3EWV tA££LVOV untoTn tx noTauoCo aai.i:laaL· fnELTa 6t xa( TL naaoLuL. d>..AOC5• oO Tlc µoL T6aov aCTLOC 06pavLwvwv, (An µ~TnP, ~ µ£ ~£U6£00LV f3£AY£V• ~ u· fq>aTO TP@.}V~no T£CxEt 3wpnKTQWV AaL~poCc 6At£a8o.L ·An6AAWVOCf3£At£aOLV. ~ u· 6Q>EA. ·ExTwp KT£CvaL, Oc tvad6£ y• fTpaq>' dpLOTOt· T~ x· dya&oc µtv fn&q,v•, dya&ov 6t K£V tf£VQPLf£• Looking at the wide sky, the son of Peleus groaned: "Father Zeus, to think that no god has undertaken to save me from the river! But I will fare badly. No other god is as responsible as my mother who has deceived me with lies: who said I would perish by the swift arrows of Apollo under the wall of the armored Trojans. If only Hektor, who is the bravest there, had slain me! Then a brave man would have killed and he would have murdered a brave man .... " The thematic connection between these speeches Asios is obvious, and there are also similarities

and that of in diction

r 364, ~ 272, M 162; Z£0 nd.T£P, r 365, ~ 273, tup6uevoc

o·

fnoc n06a

Gesture

42 with

down-turned

M 162 is succeeded

Asios,

hands,

of Thigh-Slapping and lamenting,

he made a speech.

by

son of Hyrtakos,

and atastesas

he made a speech.

Nagy has studied the formula ntvaoc dAaa.ov and its derivatives 26 such as tUaa.too. He has concluded that they convey a meaning of negative fame: What you experienced may indeed be unforgettable (dAaaTa), so that singers will always sing of it, but it is not XAtoc dQ)<OVfrom your standpoint or from the standpoint of your family and friends. Thus if some hero vanquishes you in battle, then your defeat means XAfoc daLTovfor him and ntv&oc dAaa.ov for you, your family, and your friends. You become an unforgettable subject matter for lamentation.27 This is the undesirable renown which is ascribed to Asios in M 110-28. In the passages quoted above, Menelaus deplores the fact that he is not allowed to attain XAtoc dcl)<OV,whereas Achilles complains that he is deprived of both XAtoc dcl)<OV and ntv&oc dAaa.ov. In his speech Asios indicates his recognition of the fact ~hat with his death he can only acquire ntv&oc dAaa.ov. 28 There is another element in Asios' speech which will recur in scenes of thigh-slapping. In M 171, Asios says the Lapiths will not retreat from the gates (nuAdwv). This is the fifth reference to gates in the passage about Asios (M 120, 127, 131, 145). These references may not appear to be surprising since the battle is, of course, taking place around the Achaian Wall. On the other hand, Asios' attack may have been situated at the gates by the poet (and his tradition) precisely because 26 Nagy 1974: 256-61. 27 Ibid., 261. 28 cf. Heyne (1821: 552 ad M 162): querelae, qui cum prudentiorum consiliis expectatione se excidere vidit."

"Stolidi hominis non obtemperaret,

mox

Asios

43

of the connotations of gates. 29 The collocation of references to gates and the theme of impending death suggests that the gates through which Asios will enter to meet his death provide an emotional coloring reminiscent of the gates of Hades. We see, then, that in the passage about Asios in Book 12, there is a collocation of references to gates and instances of &epcilt(l)v, µotpa, and a word with the root ~nes-. There are also conjoined an instance of thigh-slapping and an explicit context of innninent death. 2. Ares The only instance of a god slapping his thighs in the Homeric poems occurs in Book 15 of the Itiad. After his deception by Hera, Zeus demands that the gods cease meddling in the mortals' battle or else face his punishment. Hera delivers Zeus' message to the other gods but cannot prevent herself from provoking some resistance. She begins her speech as follows (0 104):

Nepioi,

those

of us senseless

enough to contend

At the end of her speech to the gods she mentions Askalaphos, Ares' son, has been killed in battle. sponse follows (O 113-9):

with

Zeus.

the fact that Ares' re-

~, fq>a..·' au.ap

·Apn, ~£POO n£nA~Y£TOµnpoo xepot xa.anpnvtoo·, 6Ao~up6µevoc 5• fnoc n06a• "µft vOv µ01. veµe~oe.·, ·0A6µn1.a 6ctlµa.· fxov.ec, .eloaoaa.1. (1)6vovu?o, (6v.· tnt v"ac •Axa1.~v, eC ntp µo1. xat µotpa ~1.bc nAnytv.1. xepauv~ xetoaa.1. oµoO vex6eoo1. µe&· atµa.1. xat xovlQ01.v."

Thus she spoke, but Ares struck his thatePo thighs with down-turned hands, and lamenting, he made a speech: "Gods with Olympian homes, do not be angry with me that 29 on the connection between Pylos, gates, and death, see Wilamowitz 1916: 207-8, Wilamowitz 1931: 337-8, Nilsson 1932: 87-9, Nilsson 1952: 138-9, Muhlestein 1965: 169, and Frame 1978: 92-3.

Gesture

44

of Thigh-Slapping

going to the ships of the Achaians I will avenge my son's slaughter even if it is my moira to be struck by Zeus' lightning and to lie with the dead amid blood and dust. 11 30 From the contextual evidence it is not clear whether Ares slaps his thighs in mourning for his son 31 or in acknowledgement of his readiness to suffer what amounts to a divine death. 32 The use of 6Ao~up6µ€voc does not clarify Ares' motivation because this word is employed both in contexts of mourning for another and of grief for one's own impending death. 33 It may be significant, however, that in none of the many scenes of mourning in the IZiad and Odyssey is mourning accompanied by the line between gesture. But there is no need to draw a precise the motifs of mourning and impending disaster. What is signficant for this investigation is that Ares, like Asios in Book 12, slaps his thighs in a context of imminent destruction. Some of the associations isolated in the Asios passage reappear in the Ares scene. First, Ares intends to go down to to be struck by Zeus. the ships even if it is his fate (µotpa) Further, Hera characterizes those gods who resist Zeus as v~nLOL. When immediately afterwards Ares attempts to oppose Zeus, he earns this description. Athena, however, pursues Ares and convinces him to give up his plan. She begins as follows (0 128-9):

lJ,0.LV6µ€V€, ~pfvac ~At, 6Lfc,>&opac• ~ vu LOL «OL~ v6oc 6' an6M>A€ K«l a(~. oooL· aKoufµEv toLl, "Madman crazed in mind, you are utterly doomed. Your ears are now useless for hearing, and your noos and sense of shame have perished."

30 For the use of V\.Vl.€P ~" , in this 1979.

31 severyns 32

passage,

see Lowenstam

supports this view. The punishment which Ares would suffer is described more fully in e 10-7 which is discussed below, pp. 73-5. 33 A participial form of 6Ao~up&o8a.L is found in a mourning context at• 522. Participial forms are also employed to express grief for one's own death: K 266 and 324; cf. A 154, 472, and 616. (1948:

117)

Ares

45

The initial vocatives intensify Hera's characterization of resisting gods as v~nLoL. Finally the use of v6oc in o 129 (above) is an instance of a word derived from ~nee- employed in a privative construc34 tion. As will be discussed more fully below, Frame bas studied the connection between the possession of v6oc and the success of one's v6o,oc and has concluded that the employment of v6oc and v6o,oc in the Homeric poems reflects an inherited Indo-European concept in which the two words were intimately 35 associated. Deprivation of v6oc entailed the loss of v6o,oc: the basis of the association is identity of the root. 36 Hence, in O 129, Athena's statement that Ares has lost his v6oc would indicate that like Asios he has lost his v6o.oc. In the Asios passage we also noted the collocation of 8e:pa.Ttc.1>v and noAaL. It will be argued in the next chapter that Ares is the divine paradigm of the mortal who slaps his thighs. As such, two epithets connected with him would be implicit in the scenes in which Ares appears as a character (rather than as the personification of war). The first describes Ares himself: ,:e:Lxe:oLnAf\Ta, "approacher of walls"; while the second characterizes warriors, 8e:panov,e:c •Apnoc. 3. Achilles In Book 16 of the Iliad Achilles allows Patroklos to drive the Trojans from the ships. While Patroklos is arming, Hector sets fire to the first ship. Achilles slaps his thighs (II

124-8)

:

~c .~v µtv npoµvnv nOp dµcpe:ne:v· au,ap

·AXLAAe:uc µn~ nAnEaµe:voc na,poxAfla npoote:Lne:v· "6poe:o, 6Loye:vtc na,p6xAe:e:c, ~nnoxtAe:uae:• Ae:oaow 6~ napa vnuol nupbc 6ntoLo tw~v· µ~ 6~ vflac fAWOLxal OUKtTL 8LTOV (d(l)8LTOV 55 TLµ~v. 261) had Metaneira not interrupted Demeter. But as a result of Metaneira's delusion, Demophoon is doomed to mortality. Hence, the theme of impending death applies to Demophoon not in the sense that a mortal will soon die but that a child potentially immortal must endure mortality. This variation of the theme accords with Kraut's analysis of vnnLoc: he asserts that the proleptic use of vnnLoC is employed in the case of 1) the occurrence of an unexpected evil, or 2) the non56 occurrence of an expected good. This sense of impending death becomes evident when one compares the line presaging Asios' death (M 113): vnnLOC, ooo· Nepios!

c1p·

Not having

fµ£AA£ xaxac unb eluded

the

evil

K"pa' cU~fac fates

was he about

to ...

54 compare the collocation xwxuatv •• c1p• fn£L,a, which is found in E 37, to Ql,LWftv .• dp• fn£LTa (which precedes w nenAnY£TO µnpw in o 397 and v 198). The instance of xwxuaev in E 37 is probably motivated by the poet's desire to avoid repetition of Ql,LWfev(E 35). 55 on the relation of xAtoc dCl>8L,ov to thigh-slapping, see above, Section 1. 56 Kraut 1863: 24.

Gesture

58

with

the line

Now it To these especially reference

predicting

of Thigh-Slapping Demophoon's

is not possible

to elude

death

death

262):

(H. Cer.

and the

fates.

lines may be compared still another passage which significant to this enquiry, the last proleptic to Patroklos' death {Il 684-7):

is

nd,poxAoc o· tnnoLoL xal AO,oµtoov,L KEAEooac TP µotpa, &e:otc tm.e: (KEA· •AXLAA.£0, ,e:lxe:L Ono TPV e:6n~e:vtoov anoAto8a.L. And your own fate, godlike Achilles, is under the wall of the wealthy Trojans.

to be killed

Patroklos then recalls how he first became Achilles' &e:panoov (as mentioned earlier, this detail corresponds to the part of Patroklos' speech to Eurypylos in which it is implicit that Patroklos intends to serve as Achilles' &e:pcinoovfor what would be the last time). Patroklos recalls that be was forced to flee he had killed a companion (11' 87-90): his home as a child after nat6a Ka,tK.avov 'Al.l,(j)LMu.av,oc, v~nLoc, ouK t&tA.OOv,«1.1,(j)· oo.payd.AoLOL xoA.OO&e:lc· tvaa. ue: 6e:Edue:voc tv ~\.IOOLV tnn6.a IlnAe:uc t.~t •· tv6uKtooc Kat obv &e:panov.• 6v6unve:v•

Nepioa, I killed the child of Amphidamas thoughtlessly, Then Peleus having become angered over a game of dice. the horseman received me in your house and raised me with care and named me your the~apon. Line 88 is striking in that Patroklos' anger parallels Achilles' 63 unvLc, When Patroklos calls himself v~nLoc, he means 64 · "young"; but earlier he was characterized as V~TtLOC, "deluded," three times in Book 16. Further, since Patroklos is older than Achilles (A 786), Achilles was also v~TtLOCwhen he acquired his

6Ao~upouaL and the foilowing ydp clause would explain why Patroklos laments. The asyndeton resulting from the colon before 6Ao~upoµaL is compatible with the jolty flow of this part of Patroklos' speech: there are four instances of asyndeton in the first three lines of his speech. 62 t 95-8, T 408-9, X 356-60. For instances pertaining to Achilles, seen. 2, above. 63 Similarly Phoinix' account of his own anger as a youth and the following story which he relates about Meleagros' anger serve as parallels to Achilles' U~VLC (I 447-80, 524-99). 64 cf. Kraut (1863: 24) who glosses the word in 11' 88 as "bedachtlos." It could also be construed as "empassioned" which is more akin to "deluded."

Achilles

and Patroklos

63

8£Pv.The P2 collocation xal obv 8£pcinovT· 6v6unv£v, a transformation of the T2 formula ~lAov o· 6v6unv&v tTaCpov, is especially sinister since the T2 formula is otheFWise employed only when one speaks to a dead man. 65 It is in this context that Achilles claps his hands (W 102):

He clapped a lamenting

together speech.

with

his

hands

and spoke

Whitman provides the following explanation: "He [Achilles} tries to catch it [Patroklos' shade] but it vanishes and his 1166 hands meet each other with a clap. Whitman's gloss explains the gesture; but the similarity between this line and tlWEtv T. dp' fn<a xal & n&nA~Y&Toun~ xepol xaTanpnvtoo·, 6A~up6uevoc o· fnoc nOoa• Then he groaned and slapped his thighs hands and lamenting, he made a speech, strongly function the other terms of Achilles 65

with

(O 397-8)

down-turned

indicates that the gesture in W 102 serves the same in this particular scene as that of thigh-slapping in 67 scenes. This conclusion appears justified both in context, since just prior to his gesture in Book 23 is informed of his imminent death, and from the

Hippokoon wakes to find Rhesos dead and addresses him Achilles tells the dead Patroklos that he has accomp(W 178); Achilles asks the dead lished all his promises Patroklos to forego anger over the return of Rector's body (O In each of these instances, the formula is preceded by 591). ~uwEiv T. 4p· tn&LlO., which is otherwise only attested before xat & n&nA~Y&Tounpoo (O 397, v 198). On the relationship between P2 hemistichs (half lines running from the penthemimeral caesura to line end) and T2 hemistichs (half lines running from the trochaic caesura to line end), see Severyns 1946: 49-61. 66 whitman 1958: 214. 67 The gesture of slapping one's hands together as a result of a futile attempt to embrace a psyahe does not occur elsewhere in the Homeric poems. The poet of the Odyssey had an opportunity to employ this gesture, however, in his description Odysseus trying to embrace his mother's shade (A 204-8). (K 522);

64

Gesture

of Thigh-Slapping

viewpoint of diction: the collocation of n~Aac ·Atoo.o(71) and £0punuAtc (74), µotpa (80), v~nLoc (88), 8£panov~• (90), and vlooµaL (76), connects Achilles' dream scene with those of 68 thigh-slapping. Achilles will die soon. The contextual and stylistic evidence indicates that Achilles' clapping of his hands as he attempts to grasp Patroklos' shade connotes the gesture of thigh-slapping and conveys the same meaning of impending death. But why does Achilles not merely slap his thighs in Book 23 as earlier in Book 16? This is an interesting question, especially when one notices that a Homeric character never slaps his thighs more than once. It is also interesting that Achilles and Odysseus in their particular ep~cs slap their thighs once and in addition are involved in a transfonnation or variation of this gesture: Eurykleia grasps Odysseus' thigh with down-turned hands, and Achilles claps his hands. In approaching this question it is important to take the meaning of the gesture into account. The fact that a character slaps his thighs only once suggests that it was a powerful omen. Since the gesture presaged imminent death, the omen would soon be realized (except under certain circumstances to be defined in Chapter 2); and presumably the opportunity for repeating the gesture would be eliminated. It is significant that when Achilles does slap his thighs in Book 16, he is at the point of sending out Patroklos to battl~ and Hektor has set fire to the first ship. Achilles' gesture is motivated by his fear that the ships' destruction will result in his death. Nevertheless, he attempts to avert the danger by entrusting his troops to Patroklos, but his companion is only partially successful. After Patroklos' death, Achilles demands vengeance, but the accomplishment of this revenge for Patroklos' death is conditional upon Achilles' 68 Hoekstra (1965: 66) has already thematic correspondence between Achilles' scene which depicts Ares' thigh-slapping.

remarked upon the dream scene and the

Achilles

and Patroklos

65

sacrifice of his own life. Hence, when Patroklos returns to Achilles in a dream and informs him of his impending death, 69 the concatenation of events has come full circle. For the two companions are in large part responsible for each other's deaths. Achilles had taken full responsibility for Patroklos' death (E 97-100); and in Book 23 Patroklos, who ~as to avert the danger of death and whose own death has motivated that of Achilles, notifies Achilles that he must die. The function of Achilles' second.gesture, then, is to reactivate his earlier gesture. Since Achilles' death had been predicted to him by several characters, from the viewpoint of context his second gesture could have been perfonned in response to any one of these prophecies. But it is Patroklos who serves as the link between Achilles' two gestures. Patroklos himself had slapped his thighs in Book 15. The correspondence between the scenes in Book 15 and 23 and the preceding evidence on the other instances of this gesture indicate that Patroklos must be confronting his death in Book 15. The contextual evidence supports this conclusion. For Patroklos sets out to return to battle either with or without Achilles; and we know that he will meet his death there, as the poet had earlier hinted (A 604). Further, there is a close relation between the circumstances under which Patroklos and Achilles slap their thighs. Each of them recognizes a danger which can destroy him: the storming of the wall in the one case, and the burning of the ship in the other. Each feels compelled to act in a way which will ultimately lead to his death. What compels Patroklos to slap his thighs? Characteristically the poet does not delineate the mental steps leading

69 The interpretation presented here does not preclude the possibility that the dream expresses Achilles' feelings and thoughts and does not represent those of Patroklos. For the dream as an expression of Achilles' emotions, see Wilamowitz 1916: 109-11.

66

Gesture

of Thigh-Slapping

70 Nestor had up to Patroklos' decision to re-enter the battle. attempted to persuade Patroklos to return to battle, but the 71 latter had not replied. When Patroklos meets Eurypylos and stays with him, he does not mention his plans. Patroklos does not make explicit his intention to follow Nestor's advice until 72 he slaps his thighs and speaks to Eurypylos. From this last scene it is not clear whether Patroklos' thigh-slapping is motivated by a belief that all the Achaians including Achilles and himself are about to lose their return home and be killed. An intimation of his own impending death might motivate Patroklos' gesture; or he may have determined to sacrifice his life to protect the Achaians. Evidence for this last possibility will be provided in the following chapters. By means of the gesture itself, however, the poet has only revealeQ to us the fact that Patroklos has made a decision which will result 73 in his death.

7 °For an analysis of this characteristic, see Schadewaldt 1951: 234-67, especially 245. 71 After Nestor's 8uµ6c is said to have speech Patroklos' been stirred (A 804). Whereas 8uµbv tvt o.~8EOOLV OpLvE is usually attested when a person voluntarily follows the advice of a previous speaker, the formula is not restricted to this 8uµoc with situation. For instance, Aphrodite stirs up Helen's anger, and Helen does not wish to obey Aphrodite but does finally carry out her instructions (r 395). Conversely, the Achaians are eager to follow Agamemnon's advice but ultimately do not (B 142). 72 As suggested in Chapter l, the name of Patroklos' friend conveys associations of death. For EupunuAtC is a particularized epithet of Hades (for the associations of death involved in the personal name Eurypylos, see Turnpel 1907; for further bibliography, seen. 21, above). The fact that Patroklos slaps his thighs and then speaks to Eurypylos suggests that the associations of Eurypylos' name are active in this scene. It is as if Patroklos were speaking to Hades himself. 73 with the exception of the instance of 8Epdnoov and the association of gates involved in Eurypylos' name, the other associations of thigh-slapping are absent from the passage in however, to which the scene in Book 15 Book 15. The Pat~okteia, is a prelude, supplies all the missing associations (see Table).

Achilles

and Patroklos

67

Table of CbITespomences in Diction for Scenes of Thigh-Slapping

Asia;

vf1m.~

TIDAa.t.

M 113,127

M 120,127,

WC't'OC (or

\llOrd

fran root "'nes-)

M 111

µot'~

M 115,119

M 116

(O 129)

0 117

(Il 252, cf.

n 853

131,145,171

Ares

0 104 (0 12.8) ~

Patrokl.os

410

n 46,686

( TE t.XWt. TtMl-m ( 8q:mov-re:{;

E 31, E 455) (8 15)

-~.

(O 399)

0 401

8x)

'I' 76)

833,8

Achilles

(Y 264, 'I' 88) 'I' 71, 74

00-ysseus

V '}37

V

274

'I' 90

V

265

(Il 82) V

206

'P 80

II. 1. The Blow with

THE DOWN-TURNED HAND

a Down-Turned

Hand

Patroklos' death occurs at the Skaian gates. After he has slaughtered a number of heroes, of whom Pylartes is the last, he rushes the walls of high-gated Troy (~~lnuAov) three times and is thrust away .by Apollo each time. 1 In Patroklos' fourth attempt, Apollo again pushes him away but adds a warning. The battle continues to rage, and finally Patroklos assaults the Trojans three times. On his fourth attempt he meets his death (Il 787-92): fva• dpa TOL, IlaTPOXA€, cT£ OT~Anv ~ 6tv6p£OV U~LntTnAOV ~.ptua.c to.a6Ta o.~&oc utoov o0Ta.o£ 6oupl ••• With Idomeneus Poseidon overpowered him, bewitching his gleaming eyes, and immobilized his stately limbs. For he could not flee backward nor escape; but (Idomeneus) stabbed him in his midriff with a spear as he was standing motionless like a stele or tall tree.

&tAfac 6aoe preserves the Indo-European meaning The collocation of the ancestral forms of theZ.gein, "to bewitch with an evil 1124 eye. The only parallel to the death of Alkathoos is that of 25 Patroklos,whom Apollo stuns (Il 791-2): OT~ 5• 0nL8£v, nA~f£V ot U£Td~p£VOV£6pt£ T. wuoo X£LPL xaTanpnv£t, OTP£~£6lvn&£v 6t ot 000£. He stood behind and struck his back and wide shoulders with a down-turned hand; and Patroklos' eyes whirled. The disorientation of Patroklos' eyes in Book 16 is reminiscent of the bewitching of Alkathoos' eyes in Book 13. There is another passage which is related to these two passages. A short while after Alkathoos' death, Adamas attempts to kill Antilochos with his spear (N 560-5):

0AA 06 A~a· 'AMua.vTa TLTUOX6U£VO~ xaa· 6ULAOV, 'AoLdonv, 6 ot o~Ta utoov odxoc 6ftt xaAx~ tyyu&ev opun&elc· au£v~voooev ot ot alxu~v xuavoxar.a noaeL&iwv, eL6ToLo uey~pac. xat TO utv a6To0 uerv· ~, .e oxwAoC nuplxauoTOC, tv oaX£L 'AVTLA6XOLO,TO 6° ~ULOUX£LT. tnt yalnc 0

As Antilochos aimed with his spear in the crowd, he did not escape the notice of Adamas, Asios' son; and Adamas roused near and struck the middle of his

1972:

24 Frisk 769-70. 25 Fenik

1960-72: 1968:

217.

I 659,

s.v.;

Householder

and Nagy

Death

of Asios

83

shield with a sharp bronze. But dark-haired Poseidon enervated his spear and begrudged it life. And the spear remained right there in Antilochos' shield like a charred stake; and half of it lay upon the ground. The spear in this passage is bewitched, so to speak: it stands paralyzed like a burnt stake, as Alkathoos is immobilized like a stele or tree. When Adamas recognizes his failure, he attempts to escape just as Patroklos will in Book 16 (N 566 without 6' =-n 817; there are seven instances of this 1 ine). Meriones kills Adamas, however, before he can escape. The death of Adamas ends the part of Book 13 which deals with Asios and his followers. Although Asios' death scene proper does not appear to follow the typology of the second stage of the thigh-slapping sequence, 26 associations of the typological sequence connected with thigh-slapping are diffused throughout that part of Book 13 which completes the Asios story. A god does not appear surreptitiously to strike Asios with a down-turned hand, but Idomeneus who is compared to Zeus' lightning does kill him. After the death of the horseman Asios, his unnamed therapon is killed after he loses his senses (nA~Yn cpptvac). Finally the scene portrays examples of surreptitious bewitchings by gods. 3.

Mock Scenes

After Ares slaps his thighs when he intends to disobey Zeus, Athena dissuades him from carrying out his plan (O 113-42). Is it possible for Ares to disavow the meaning of his gesture without consequences? There is evidence to the contrary. When a character who is not about to die slaps his thighs, the second part of the sequence of events connected with thigh-slapping is worked out in two different forms: 1) "mock scenes," the subject of this section, and 2) reversal scenes, the subject of the 26 For an interpretation Sect ion 1.

of this

fact,

see Chapter

3,

The Down-Turned

84

Hand

next

section. Mock scenes may be defined as those scenes which suggest unrealized possibilities by means of transformations of connnonly attested formulae. The clearest example of such a scene occurs Although Book 21 has moved progressively in the Theomaahia. toward a battle of the gods, 27 Ares initiates the actual battle between the gods(~ 391). Following a speech in which he vents his anger against Athena, Ares throws his spear at her aegis ( ~ 400-1): ~

e(noov o0Lnoe KaL· a(yC6a. &uooa.v6eooav oµep6a.Atnv, ~v o06~ 6Lbc 6d.µvnoL xepauv6c

So speaking aegis,which overpower.

he stabbed at her frightful tasseled not even the thunderbolt of Zeus could

When it is said that even Zeus' thunderbolt could not prevail over her aegis, one of the themes from the episode about Ares in Book 15 is resumed; Ares, who was aware of his vulnerability before Zeus' thunderbolt, is now confronting a foe who is described in this particular passage as being capable of re28 sisting Zeus' thunderbolt. Ares casts his spear in vain, but· Athena picks up a boulder and strikes him on the neck. Ares falls and Athena boasts over him(~ 406-10):

27 Book 21 begins with the battle between mortals (Achilles combats the Trojans and especially Lykaon, ~ 1-135). Then Achilles fights Asteropaios, grandson of the river god Axios. When Achilles has slain Asteropaios, he asserts that he is the great-grandson of Zeus. Hence the battle has been between men of divine ancestry(~ 136-200). Then Achilles, who is at this point said to be 6a.CµovL tooc (~ 227), fights the divine Skamandros and requires the aid of Hephaistos, who prevails over the river god(~ 201-382). At this point the Theomaahia breaks out. 28 The statement that Athena's aegis is able to resist Zeus' thunderbolt is significant in this passage, for elsewhere she is as vulnerable to Zeus as are the other gods (e.g.,8 447-56). Athena's stature is raised in Book 21, as is indicated by the description of her aegis' power. At this very point she takes on Zeus' role by destroying Ares.

Mock Scenes

85

T~ acU.e aoOpov ·Apna xaT· auxtva, AOoe 6t yuta. tnT~ 6' tntoxe ntAe3pa neooov, tx6vLoe 6t xaCTac, Te6xed T. all..A· f,L utv uCv ~nUL d6nv tAv. 6 Paul Kretschmer (1940: 270, f. 1) saw the development as follows: Hausbewohner, Hausgenosse, Hausgehilfe, Diener. 7 wackernagel 1895: 41. For another proposal of a sacral and aepd.nvn, see Bolte 1934: 2352. context for &epd.TU&>v 8 van Brock 1959. She believes that all the forms derived from the base •tarip- betray a Luvian origin. Cf. Kiimmel 1967: 5

36, 134. 9

chantraine 1968: 431. Frisk's objection to van Brock's etymology is apparently based on purely semantic cri•III 104, s.v. &epd.TU&>v). teria (Frisk 1960-72:

128

Sacrificial du verbe toutes debarrasser.10

les

souillures

Aspects dont on veut

se

Although the ritual substitute is most pleasing to the gods when he has an intimate connection with the person for whom he sacrificed, there is an Anatolian hierarchy of sacrificial victims ranging from ceramic vessels to puppets, animals, prisoners, other living persons, and finally the gamut of relatives. The level of the hierarchy from which a particular victim is obtained is apparently determined by dreams and 11 oracles. A significant aspect of Anatolian ritual substitution is that there is a sham attempt to deceive the god into believing that the substitute is the king or queen or other polluted member of the royal family. The following translation of a passage from K.UB XXIV 5 + IX 13 Vs. 19-24 provides an example of this attempt: They anoint the prisoner with the fine oil of kingship, and [he speaks] as follows: "This man (is) the king. To him [have I given] a royal name. Him have I clad [in the vestments] of kingship. Him have I crowned with the diadem. Remember ye this: That evil omen [signifies] short years (and) short days. Pursue ye this substitute [taPpalli]t"l2 The speaker in this passage may well be the king himself. 13 There is no question, however, that the king makes the following speech which appears lower on the same tablet (Vs. 32-5): "Sun-god of Heaven, my Lord! That omen which the Moongod gave--if he found fault with me, accept yet, Sungod of Heaven and (all) ye gods, these substitutes [taPpallius] that I have given and let me go free! 1114 10 van Brock 1959: 119. 11 van Brock 1959: 122; Kiimmel 1967: 131. The range of victims may indicate the evolution of the rite (van Brock 1959: 144, n. 32; cf. Kilmmel 1967: 150; Householder and Nagy 1972: 775). 12 , ANET 355 (translated by A. Goetze). I have supplied the Hittite transliteration. 13 Kummel .. t he 1967: 28. Goetze (ANET 3 5 5, f. 4 ) believes speaker to be the officiating priest. 14 ANET 355. I have supplied the Hittite transliteration.

Therapon

129

As is indicated by the first passage above, not only is the substitute said to be the king or queen, but he is sometimes dressed with the clothes and crown of the polluted royalty 15 member. In at least one case the substitute sits on the 16 king's throne. There is some question of whether the ritual substitute denoted by tarpassa-, tarpalli-, and tarpanalliis always living or whether an inanimate object could also be meant. and related terms denote Kiinmel, who argues that tarpallieither living or inanimate ritual substitutes, bases his contention on two points. First, one finds expressions such as ,builyandus ta:ropalliul, "living substitutes," which suggests that there could be an inanimate tarpalli-; and secondly, there ta:ropais a tablet in which images made from dough are called [llesJ!1 The first objection is not serious since the adjective 18 What is could just as well be descriptive as distinctive. important in regard to the second point is that in the tablets either a 1.iving victim is denoted by ta:ropalli- or, when an is only inanimate object is employed, the word tarpalliattested in the ceremonial speech of the royalty member or priest. In other words, identifying a dough image as a tarpalli15 For other instances of dressing a living substitute or a puppet in royal clothes, see KBo XV 2 Vs. 7-11, KBo XV 15 Rs., KBo XV 7, and KBo 1 I 7-12, on which see Kiimmel 1967: 29-30, 3642, 56-7, 75-6, 112-3, 118, and 136-8. 16 KBo XV 9 I 31, on which see Kunmel 1967: 58-9, 83, 134. One wonders whether the account in Herodotos about Artabanos-he wore the king's night clothes and slept in the king's bed in order to receive the king's dream--is not related to ritual substitution (VII 14-18.2). For other tales of this sort in Herodotos, see VII 114.2 and I 8.1-12.2. 17 Kiimmel 1967: 19-22. 18 There is a parallel unuwant-, "decowith the adjective rated." Kiimmel argues that the adjective is not distinctive (there are not necessarily unornamented victims) but that it is employed to make the substitute sound more attractive to the buisu- could be added to whet the god's appegods. Similarly tite (1967: 120). Van Brock anticipates Kiimmel's objection with a less satisfactory reply (1959: 123-4).

130

Sacrificial

Aspects

(living substitute) is part of the same class of deception to which belongs the addressing of a prisoner of war as the king. This point also applies to those rituals in which the victim plays the role of a type of scapegoat rather than that of a ritual substitute: the victim is only called a tarpaZZior 19 related term in the speech of the officiating king or priest. A fewcarments about the actual Anatolian rite will suffice for what follows. In the extant descriptions of the ceremony, all of which can be dated to 1350-1250 B.c., 20 the king sometimes makes the gesture of raising his hand. 21 The actual meaning of the gesture is unknown. During the sacrifice the victim is killed and then his body is burned. 22 Finally it should be added that along with the living substitutes a tribute consisting of valuable metals, oil, and honey is offered 23 to the divinity concerned. Van Brock believes that the original meaning of &e:pcinV had been lost by the time of the Homeric poems. When ritual substitution ceased to be practiced to any extent in Greece, 24 evolved from "ritual substitute" to the meaning of &e:pciTUl)v "vassal" and even later to "servant." Van Brock believes, however, that a vestige of earlier Greek knowledge of ritual substitution and the original meaning of &e:paTUl)V is visible in the circumstances of Patroklos' death in the Iliad. Patroklos, the 19 An example is provided by KUB XXIV 5 + IX 13. Even though the victim is released, he is treated in the actual ceremony as a substitute (Vs. 10-11, 16-17, 23-4, 34-5; Rs. 6-7, 16-7). Frazer 1920: 214-20) points out that mock human sacrifices are often substituted for what were originally genuine sacrifices. Cf. van Brock 1959: 144, n. 32 and Kiimmel 1967: 150 and f. 1. 2 °Kiimrnel 1967: 188. 21 Bibliography and discussion on the gesture are found in Kilmmel 1967: 14-5. 22 KUB VII 10 II. 23 KUB XXIV 12· II. 24 see van Brock (1959: 124-5) for discussion of ritual substitution in Greece. Cf. Kilmmel 1967: 192-8.

Therapon

131

&EpciTtC.i>v par excellence, is killed in Achilles' armor after attempting to deceive the Trojans into believing that he is Achilles. But Achilles, previously static, reappears at Patroklos' death with a brilliant display of heroism. Hence, van Brock suggests that Patroklos served as a ritual substitute but that by the time of in the earlier tradition of the Iliad, our Iliad the myth bad been lost with only scattered traces left behind. Van Brock's proposed etymology of &epciTtC.i>V and especially the relation of this word to Patroklos, raises the question of whether ritual substitution is connected with the thigh-slapping sequence, since one of its associations involves this very word. As a first step in this inquiry, it will be useful to make a survey of the Homeric characters who are most often identified as &epcinov~Et or are associated with them. But since van Brock's etymology is only hypothetical, it will be necessary after that to test her interpretation of Patroklos' death. What we require is more evidence on the levels of context and diction to demonstrate the motif of human sacrifice in the Homeric poems and any relation it may have to the typological with thigh-slapping. sequence of events connected 1.2.

Meriones

The character most often identified as &EpciTtCl)vin the Homeric poems is Patroklos. It is not surprising that such an important person in the poem should be characterized in this way ten times. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that Meriones, a much less prominent figure, should be termed a &epaTtCl)vseven times; for no other Homeric character is designated as a &Epcitwv more than twice. The frequency of the term &Epcinoovin relation to Meriones may be significant since the natural segmentation of his name is Mnp-L6vnc with the base possibly the same as in unp6c. 25 If the base of Meriones' name 25 The suffix

-ion-

followed

by -a(s)

also

occurs

in the

Sacrificial

132

Aspects

denotes "thigh," van Brock's thesis would be corroborated as a consequence of the sacrificial associations of thigh-bones. It might also suggest that the sequence of actions initiated by the gesture of thigh-slapping may be connected with ritual substitution. Even if the name is not connected with thighs, as is more likely from the linguistic viewpoint, however, the ancients had made the connection between MnPL6vnc and µnp6c; 26 and their folk etymology of Meriones' name may have helped to motivate a link between Meriones and the role of a &epd:rwv during a period when Meriones had not yet acquired the position of a &Epa1tca>v (see below). Meriones is associated with Patroklos in only two scenes, each of which is related to Patroklos' death. In the first, Meriones encounters Aineias in battle and in preparation for single combat informs Aineias that he would acquire great fame Patroklos becomes irritated at by killing him (Il 608-25). Meriones' battle of words and reproaches him. Patroklos' censure of Meriones possibly indicates that Patroklos will demonstrate through his actions how a true &epci1tca>vshould behave. For, after his speech Patroklos leads the attack and Meriones follows (n 632): ~c Elnwv b utv ~px·, So speaking followed.

b o· au·

the one led,

laneTo

and the other,

la6&eoc v. The analysis of the relationship between Meriones, Ares, and aepdnov,ec has suggested potential interpretations for aspects of the thigh-slapping sequence. These interpretations, however, are dependent upon the hypothetical etymology of one word. As mentioned earlier, one would like to see more substantial evidence on the levels of context and diction for the motifs of human sacrifice and ritual substitution in the Homeric poems. The analysis of the scenes in which Patroklos plays a major role appears the most promising ground since he is such a prominent figure in the IZiad and is most often identified as a aepdTtC&>v.At the end of Book 11, Patroklos performs his first act of assistance to the Achaians by tending Eurypylos. In Book 16 he is the major force in driving the Trojans back to their walls, where his death occurs. In Book 23 Patroklos appears to Achilles in a dream and requests his immediate funeral, which promptly follows. Van Brock bas pointed out sacrificial evidence in Book 16. The scenes in Books 11 and 23 will be examined in the following section in an attempt to isolate further evidence for sacrificial motifs.

49 netienne 1973: 15. Cf. van Brock (1961: le poete est deja presente conune un etre inspire, personel et direct avec la divinite." 50netienne 1973: 9-50.

117): " en contact

144 2.1

Sacrificial Patroklos

Aspects

in Book 11

returns from In the eleventh Book of the Iliad Patroklos Nestor's tent and encounters the wounded Eurypylos. The location of the meeting is significant: it occurs in the agora where reciprocity among men and between gods and men is determined and practiced (A 807-10): ?Ee at~v ndTPOKAOC, tva a~· dyop~ TE &tµLc TE ~nv, TG 6~ xaC O 52 may appear to remain latent (A 816-8):

& 6&LAOC, ~avaii>v ~Y~TOP&C~ot µt6ovT&C, ~ c1p· tµtAA&T& T~A& ~CACI)\/ xat na.TpC6oc aCnc do&Lv tv TpoCQ T«xtac x6vac apytTL on~. Miserable men, leaders and lords of the Danaans, you are thus going to slake the fleet dogs with your shining fat in Troy, far from your friends and fatherland. When Eurypylos asks Patroklos to extract the arrow from his thigh and Patroklos grants his wish, however, the sacrificial begins to make it difficult to deny a sacrificial diction motif (A 829-30; A 843-5): µnpoO 5• fxTaµ• 6taT6v,

vet•

06aTL

dn· auToO o· a!µa

x&AaLvbv

AL~•••

Cut out the arrow from my thigh blood with warm water •..

and wash away the black

aepd:rwv 6t to&v Ontx&u& eoeCac. fvaa µLv txTavuaac tx µnpoO Tdµv& µaxaCpQ 6Eu etAoc ••• saw him, he spread out oxskins. When his thePapon Patroklos stretched him out and cut the sharp dart his thigh.

Then from

The initial collocation of A 829 is a transformation of µnpouc T• tftTaµov, the opening formula of the fixed line which is restricted to sacrificial scenes (A 460 = B 423 = µ 360): µnpo6c T. tEtTaµov They cut out the

xaTd T& xvCa~ txdAulJ,av thighs

and covered

them with

fat.

Similarly, tx µnpoO Tdµv& in A 844 is a transformation of tx unpCa Tdµvov, which also occurs in a sacrificial context 52 Nagler (1967: 297) states, " ... the phrase in question [apytTL 6n~l is deeply and intimately connected with the poetic idea of sacrifice .... " In his view, however, the sacrificial connotation of the formula remains latent in this instance in Book 11 (ibid.~ n. 50).

Sacrificial

146 (Y456):

Aspects

53

They immediately thigh-bones.

divided

it

and at once cut out the

Since these transformations of sacrificial collocations are employed in a medical context, one might suppose that the surgical meaning of .d1,1.vELVwould have been understood to the · 54 exclusion of the sacrificial meaning. The mere collocation of "thigh" and "cut" in familiar positions of the hexameter would have probably conjured up the image of a sacrifice, but would disregard important eviin any case this supposition dence. For, the most telling detail of the operation on Eurypylos' thigh is the instrument Patroklos employs to make the incision. Patroklos cuts out the arrow with a 1,10.xaCpQ (A 844). This word is translated as "knife," "dagger," or "short sword" and has often been erroneously assumed to be an 55 offensive weapon in the Homeric poems. In contrast to the ECp,o, 6.pv~v tx KE~twv ,aµv& ,plxa.c• ~

The son of Atreus, drawing with his hands his maohaiPa, which always hung by the long sheath of his sword, cut off hairs from the lambs' heads. He uses both hands to draw his µaxa.Lpa, possibly because the very wide-bladed sacrificial knife is referred to in this passage. A distinction is made here between the El~c.which is employed in battle,and the µaxa.Lpa,which he uses to initiate the sacrifice by cutting hairs from the lambs (tx ... ,d.uv&). Twenty lines later, Agamemnon cuts the lambs' throats (~n6 ... ,dµs). In Book 11, then, the distinctly sacrificial 1,10.xa.lp~ µtA.O.v, 6.pyt,L 6nu4\, and µnpoo· 6' fx,a.µ· follows awµol, a.h.LCL and tx µnpoO ,aµv&. The scene at the end o:f Book 11 is presented on one level in sacrificial terms. In lines 816-8 Patroklos tells Eurypylos that the Achaians are to be sacrificed to dogs, a perverse situation since lower forms of life are sacrificed to higher forms. Eurypylos presents a dark picture of the 4chaian. fortunes but asks Patroklos to save him. Patroklos persists by asking in A 838: 56 r 271, I: 597, T 252, H. Ap. 535. 'Al though the original function of the µaxa.Lpa may have been offensive (which is perhaps reflected in the fact that Agamemnon always carried one: such a memory, The r 272 = T 253), Homer does not retain Homeric associations of the µaxa.Lpa are exclusively sacral (on Homeric association and. restriction, see above, pp. 17-29). This knife does not play any role in the multitude of battle scenes in the Homeric poems, a surprising fact if it were considered an offensive weapon. There is no doubt, however, that at a later date (not much before the fifth century) the word was also employed to denote a weapon.

148

Sacrificial

How will these Eurypylos?

events

turn

Aspects

out?

Ti rheksomen,

hero

In contrast to the initial collocation in this line, ti rheksomen is ambiguous. Not only can it mean "What shall we do?" but also "What shall we sacrifice?" At this point Patroklos performs a medical operation, but in terms of the diction the excision of Eurypylos' arrow is reminiscent of a sacrifice. The whole scene takes place before the Achaian altars. The patronymic Euaimonides, too, has a sacrificial coloring in the context of the great flow of blood pouring from Eurypylos' thigh (A ~12-3): a!µa ...

dnb a· !Axeoc dpyaAtoLo µfAav xeAd.puCE· the black

The quantity the essential •"Ca·

blood

gushed

from the harsh

of blood, as depicted element of sanguinary

wound.

in the following passage, sacrifice (Y 454-5): 57

is

dTc\p a(l)CifEVIlELOlOTp(lTOC, 6pxaµoc dv6~v. tnet tx µfAav a!µa ~6n, Alne a· 6aTfa 8uµ6c

But Peisistratos, when the black its bones.

leader of men, cut its throat, and blood streamed out, its life deserted

Eurypylos, in fact, is TfAELOC, perfect for sacrifice. One cannot avoid a sacrificial interpretation of the scene in which Eurypylos stands before the altars with blood gushing from his thigh. Patroklos hesitates before performing his operation on Eurypylos. As he states in A 839-41, Patroklos wants to return to Achilles so that he may assist the Achaians as soon as possible. Eurypylos had said that there was no dAxap, no escape from danger, for the Achaians (A 823). But Patroklos is the MEVOLTlou dAKLµoc ut6c, "Menoitios' son, averter of danger" (A 814, 837). It is clear that Patroklos sees himself

57 see Burkert

1972:

9-20 and passim.

Patroklos

in Book 11

149

as the one to provide the desired aid, and bis first act of assistance is presented on one level in terms of human sacrifice. These two themes are joined together for the first the need for help and the use of sacrifice. time in the Itiad: The final aid Patroklos can provide, however, and the ultimate ~tEoµ&V is the sacrifice of himself, answer to his question~, which occurs in Book 16. Walter Leaf thought it possible that the characterization· for this scene at the of Eurypylos in the Itiad was invented 58 end of Book 11. Although this type of criticism bas been 59 justly reproacbed, Leaf's conclusion that there exists a special relationship between Eurypylos and the scene at the end of Book 11 can be supported. The scene, in fact, is tremendously ironic. For, in antiquity there existed a hero cult centering around Eurypylos in Patrae. Eurypylos was honored not merely as a hero of the Trojan War, but there was a more immediate reason. When Eurypylos arrived in the Peloponnesus in his wandering after the war, in obedience to the Delphic Oracle he ended the Ionian rite of human sacrifice which was practiced 60 in Patrae. Hence, with an irony typical of the Itiad, 61 human Eurypylos, the hero who acquired his kteos by abolishing sacrifice in Patrae, is depicted on one level in Book 11 as 62 being sacrificed by Patroklos. Similarly, Patroklos, the 58 Leaf 1915: 133-4. 59 see Combellack 1950. 60 Paus. 7 .19. 61 For a similar case of irony, see the analysis of the Hellespont tomb in Nagy 1979: Chapter 2. Hektor challenges the "best of the Achaians" to a duel; and he boasts that after he kills this Achaian the victim will be buried on a promontory visible from the Hellespont (H 50-1, 75-91). Nagy asserts that the allusion is to Achilles, who is the best of the Achaians in the Itiad and who would be buried on the promontory jutting into the Hellespont (~ 82-4). The irony is that not only would Achilles not fight at this time but meet in battle, Achilles would that when the two ultimately kill Hektor. 62 The weight of recent scholarship indicates that the cult of heroes does go back to the Homeric period (Hack 1929,

150 priest 2.2

Sacrificial in Book 11, will Patroklos'

Aspects

be the sacrificial

victim

in Book 16. 63

Funeral

Patroklos' funeral is presented in a complex scene on several levels. As in Book 11, the first traces of the sacrificial motif in Book 23 are ambiguous. The reason for this ambiguity is that the funeral scene embodies three sacral levels which overlap at times: those of the funeral rites, of hero cult, and of sanguinary sacrifice. Consequently it is necessary to examine not only the sacrificial evidence but those features of the funeral which may belong to more than one sacral level. As the first event of the funeral, all the Achaians and last of all Achilles cut off locks of their hair (W 135-53). We know from later literature of hair offerings at a tomb, but these offerings are given primarily to cult heroes and heroes 64 thought to possess chthonic powers. It is possible that the Acbaians are attempting to assuage Patroklos' chthonic "anger";

Price 1973, Coldstream 1976}. Whether the cult of Eurypylos was familiar to the poet of the IZiad is of course unknown. 63 As mentioned above, the mention of Euaimon, Eurypylos' father, would be ironic in a scene with sacrificial connotations. And yet, although the poet probably thought Euaimon meant "goodblood," it is unlikely that this is the correct etymology (see above, n. 51). Koller (1967} bas recently proposed an etymology of Eua.(l,IC.i>v with evidence which is almost exclusively that the Homeric. He connects a!ua with tfvaL and suggests wound" and that "blood" primary meaning of a!µa is "an arrowshot is a secondary meaning. He proposes that the name Euaimon denotes "the good archer." If Koller is right, it would be ironic that the son of Goodarcher is incapacitated at the end of Book 11 as a result of an arrow wound. In fact, the irony involved in this scene might be inherited from a period in which the meaning of these words was clearly understood. The sacrificial irony could be employed to supplement the irony of Eurypylos' wound. 64 · · In a passage possibly inspired by Patroklos' funeral in Agamemnon with a lock of bis hair the IZiad, Orestes presents By the middle as a apen.~PLOV and nevari.~PLOV (A., Ch. 6-7}. of the play Orestes and Electra succeed in arousing Agamemnon's

Patroklos'

Funeral

151

or they may be already honoring Patroklos as a cult hero. 65 There are parallels in the Homeric poems for such an apparent 66 anachronism. Since the cutting of hair is also the first step of an animal sacrifice (see y 455-6), those who believe that these offerings of hair serve as a substitute for human sacrifice may not be far from the truth; as Leaf suggests, 1167 " ... the hair stands in place of the offerer. In the second part of the funeral, the Achaians place skinned sheep and cattle, honey, oil, horses, dogs, and twelve (W 106-76). slaughtered Trojans around the body of Patroklos 68 Rohde comments as follows: The offerings in sacrificial Rhode's

interpretation

of wine, rituals

oil, honey, at least, of later times. follows: 69

are normal

We may well ask, however, what else but a sacrifice, i.e., a repast offered in satisfaction of the needs of the person honored (in this case the psyche), can be intended by this stream of blood around the corpse .... The whole series of offerings on this occasion is precisely of the oldest sort of sacrificial ritual such as we often find in later Greek religion in the cultus of the infernal deities.

chthonic anger (Ch. 456-509); and hence, Orestes' lock of hair may be conceived of as an offering to a cult hero as well as a funerary offering. 65 cf. Price (1973: 143): "One should also start wondering whether such descriptions as the athla for Patroklos, the perideipna etc., do not reflect to some extent practices connected with the hero-cult, rather than ordinary burial practices which subsequently were adopted by the hero-cult. Most probably certain elements went both ways: from common burial practices to hero-cult, and from hero-cult to special important burials." 66 Seen. 61, above, for Hektor's allusion to Achilles' burial mound. 67 Leaf 1908: II 548 ad W 135. He continues, "It is likely that it . [the hair) thus took the place of an actual suicide such as we are familiar with in the Indian rite of Suttee." This view is first expressed in Wieseler 1854. Cf. Rohde 1925: 45, n. 14. For the cutting of hair in human sacrifice, see below, n. 95. 69 Ibid. 68 Rohde 1925: 13.

152

Sacrificial

Aspects

The sacrificial element, however, is not necessarily related to the cult of the dead. One may recall, for instance, that in the Luvian rite at least, the body of the ritual substitute is burned along with a "tribute" of valuable metals, oil, and honey. While the Achaians are placing these offerings upon the pyre, Achilles cuts out the fat from the slaughtered sheep and cattle and covers Patroklos' body with it (W 167-9). Some 70 suspect that this fat was intended to help the body burn. Comparative Indic and Hittite evidence supports this interpretation and suggests that the covering of fat around the dead body was possibly an element in Inda-European funerary practice.71 It seems likely that if an archaism dating back to such an early period should be preserved, it would occur in an elaborate sacral passage such as that of Patroklos' funeral. In W 192-216, a curious incident occurs. When Patroklos' pyre is ready for cremation, Achilles is unable to ignite the pyre. Achilles prays unsuccessfully to Boreas and Zephyros. Finally Iris hears his prayer and rouses the two winds, who blow upon the sea and allow the pyre to burn. What is the motivation for this incident? Kakridis believes that the scene 72 of the winds is borrowed from the tradition of Achilles' death. For Boreas and Zephyros were brothers of Memnon; and since Achilles had killed Memnon, the winds would have reason to deny fire to Achilles' own funeral pyre. The absence of the winds in Patroklos' funeral scene would then foreshadow Achilles' own death. There is much to this ingenious interpretation, but the lack of internal motivation for the scene is disturbing. In general, instances of foreshadowing in the Homeric poems have 70 Mylonas 1962: 480 and Leaf 1908: II 549 ad W 168 (but cf. Leaf 1900-2: II 619). 71 For the Hittite evidence: Gurney 1954: 166-9. For the Indic evidence: Rig Veda 10.16.4 and 10.16.7 (the parallel between these passages and W 167-9 was suggested by Edward Hale in a seminar given by Gregory Nagy). 72 Kakridis 1949: 75-83.

Patroklos'

Funeral

151

an internal motivation within the context in which they occur/ Within a sacrificia} framework the absence of winds and fire would suggest that the gods are unwilling to accept the sacrifice. A parallel occurs in the Antigone when Teiresias attempts a burnt offering and the fat of the sacrifice does not burst into flame but only sizzles. Jebb comments as 74 follows: The fat wrapped about the thigh-bones ought to have caught fire, when the flesh on the bones would have burned, and the bones themselves calcined. But here there was no flame; the kindled fuel lay in smouldering embers .... So utterly bad the gods refused the offering. Patroklos' body could also serve as an offering to the gods. As noted above, the Luvian documents inform us that the corpse of the sacrificial victim was burned with a "tribute" and offered to the gods. The tradition of Greek human sacrifice also suggests that the body of the victim was cremated and that the ashes were extinguished with oil and honey much as Achilles If pours libations over the pyre (e.g., E., IT 632-5). Patroklos is a ritual substitute and the sacrifice is unacceptable, another substitute (Antilochos?) or Achilles himself must die. Iris comes to Achilles' aid. There is a curious aspect of her intervention: neither Zeus nor any other god dispatches Iris on her mission, as is usually the case elsewhere in the 15 IZiaa. Iris may provide a clue to this unusual detail in the speech she makes to Boreas and Zephyros (W 205-9);

oux fooc· etµL Y® a~TLC tn· ·oxeavoco ~te8pa, Al8L6TU&>v tc yatav, 08L ~tCouo· txa.61.$ac d8avdTOLC, tva 6~ xat tyoo µe.aoaCaoµaL tpli)v. cUA' .AXLA€0CBopt~v ~ot zt~upov XEAaOELvbv tA8etv t\i:>dTaL, xat OnCoxeTaL te~ xaAd

p. 32.

73 cf.

the

.

instances

of foreshadowing

74 Jebb 1900: 180 ad 1008. 75 Noted by Kakridis 1949: Monro 1897: 398.

80 and n.

mentioned

31;

above,

and earlier

by

3

154

Sacrificial

Aspects

I will not take a seat. For I am going back toward the streams of Ocean to the Aithiopians' land where they are sacrificing hecatombs to the immortals. I too shall have my share of the offerings. But Achilles prays that Boreas and blustering Zephyros come to him,and he promises fine offerings. The Aithiopians is

proceeding

conveys

the

gods'

the

Zeus

are

as visit

90).

all

cannot

not

other

gods

is

to

Aithiopians,

they

(such

is

Zeus

case

is

gods in Aithiopia when their 77 him. The dramatic motivation

dramatic

absence

accepted.

Aithiopian by the

Achilles'

Achilles' in the

passage

W 209)

is

hecatombs.

telling:

The absent

e 286disposes of

is

sacrifice

necessary at

will

above

not

between and

be

the

Achilles'

Achilles' gods

the

what

absence

(tpoov, W 207)

sacrifices

omnis-

of

poet

gods'

with

sacrifice

cannot

accept

sacrifice. This

journey occurs

that

(tepa,

sacrifice

eclipsed

motif

indicate

The juxtaposition

extravagant lonely

to

the

Troy

when

Poseidon, the

is

not

cognizant

noticed, of

in

Further,

with

of

Achilles'

in contrast

been

point

often

the

not

dispatched

consequence

For

are

not

sacrifice

Homeric

Iris

already

accept

Achilles'

Dios Apate.

the

is

and She

are

a further

be able

the

gods,

sacrifices.

Aithiopians.

from

the

these

there

depicts,

has

to

why Iris

accept

the

evident

the

explain

will

visiting

as

share

But

they

elsewhere

In fact,

this

is

is the

transpires

to

Olympos.

whom Hesiod

cient,

to

would

The gods they

gods

from

hecatombs

that

detail

absence:

sacrifice. while

impression

This

by any god

sacrificing

to Aithiopia

the 76

there.

the

are

interpretation

to of at 76

Aithiopia

of requires

human sacrifice the

end of

the

in the

winds'

more the

scene.

absence

definite

funeral As the

and

the

evidence scene. conclusion

gods'

for

This

the

evidence to

Patroklos'

Kakridis (1949: 76-9) presents a convincing argument the Aithiopian against the view of Scholiast bT (ad W 206) that hecatombs are a fabrication made up by Iris to escape the "crude" winds. 77 see Wilamowitz 1916: 113 and Stanford 1965: I 21 ad a 22.

Patroklos'

Funeral

155

funeral, Achilles orders the Myrmidons to collect Patroklos' bones and to place them between a double layer of fat (6lnAaK1. And the Myrmidons carry out his orders (W 252-4): 6nl!Q, W 243). KAalov,ec 6' t,dpo1.o tvntoc 6o,ta AEUKa d>..Aeyov tc xpuotnv ~1.dAnv Kal 6lnAaKa 6nu6v, tv KA1.oluo1. 6t atv,Ec tavQ AL,l KdAu~av• The weeping men collected the gentle companion's white bones in a double layer of fat in the golden jar; and when they had placed them in the hut, they covered them with pliant cloth. The use of a double layer of fat is not paralleled in either of the other elaborate funerals depicted in the Homeric poems (C 707-804, w 43-84). The reason is that a double layer of fat has a distinctly sacrificial connotation. The sacrificial nature of the lines above is especially evident when compared to the Hesiodic description of the prototypic sacrifice at Mekone (Th. 540-1):

,otc

6" a~.•

£u8£,loac

6o,ta Ka,t8nK£

AEUKa

6ooc 6oAl~ tnl ,txvu

KaAu~c

a,pyt.1.

6nl,li;>.

But he put down for them the white bones of an ox, having covered them with gleaming fat and arranged them with devious skill. The similarity of diction (6o,ta AEUKd, forms of onuoc and KaAun,£1.v) is clear. The distinctly sacrificial nature of the double layer of fat is revealed by the following sacrificial lines (A 460-1 = B 423-4 = y 457-8 • u 360-1): 5ln,uxa

Ka,d ,£ KVlOll tKdAu~v no1.~oav,£c

They covered

the

thigh-bones

in fat,

making a double

fold.

It is difficult to explain the double layer of fat by any other means than that of sacrifice. Earlier in the funeral Achilles had covered Patroklos' unburnt body with a layer of fat, but he had done this for a pragmatic reason, namely to facilitate the cremation; but obviously the bones are not going to be burned again. Leaf's suggestion, that the fat is meant "to

Sacrificial

156

Aspects

keep out air and moisture," is also without basis. 78 Are the bones about to disintegrate in the golden urn? Further, if we are to believe Mylonas, there does not appear to have been much concern as to the fate of the bones of the dead: 79 In contrast to the anxiety expressed for the cremation of the body is the apparent indifference to the fate of the bones of those who perished far from their native land. The bones could suffer whatever fate nature or men wished to impose. The image of fat placed around Patroklos' bones unquestionably has a sacrificial coloring. The type of sacrifice suggested in this detail, however, pertains not to the slaughter of humans but to that of animals. For, it is unlikely that participants at a human sacrifice would have consumed parts of the victim's body; while feasting regularly concluded the sacrifice of animals. The partition of the victim's body with the bones and fat reserved for the gods and the rest of body granted to the humans would only apply to an animal sacrifice. where the victims were consumed. Nevertheless the poet does cleverly allude to the feast at this human sacrifice (W 181-3): 6v par excellence. It would also be pertinent to the thigh-slapping sequence not only because the most elaborate instance of the sequence pertains to Patroklos but because the word~ is often found in collocation with the thighslapping sequence as one of its associations. Secondly, evidence independent of the proposed etymology of 8£panoov was present~d in the last section to indicate that the motif of 81 Tbe account of Neoptolemos' death in Pindar (N. 7.3442), in which Neoptolemos is struck with a l,ld.xaLpa. in Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi, probably reflects an earlier tradition regarding Achilles' death. This point is examined in Nagy 1979: Chapter 7.

160

Sacrificial

Aspects

sacrifice in respect to Patroklos is active in Books 11 and 23 of the IZiad. There are several methodological problems which are intrinsic to an attempt to verify the hypothesis that the thighslapping sequence is connected with sacrifice. First, there are not any instances of human sacrifice in the Homeric poems with the exception of the slaughter of the twelve Trojan youths at Patroklos' funeral. Hence, there is not any Homeric material with which to compare the salient points of the thigh-slapping sequence. In part it will be necessary to resort to later Greek literature, which may not of course be entirely faithful to the archaic conception of human sacrifice. It should also be mentioned that the exact details of human sacrifice at any 82 period in Greek history escape us. Secondly, as the instances of 6,pyt,L onJ.14>and o,nAaxa onu6v demonstrate, allusions to human sacrifice are often presented in terms of animal sacrifice. Much of the evidence which will be adduced in this section relates to animal sacrifice with the result that if correspondences are found between details of the thigh-slapping and animal sacrifice it is difficult to determine whether we are only dealing with a figurative use of sacrifice or whether human sacrifice was sometimes depicted by the poets in terms of animal sacrifice. _These problems preclude any firm conclusions and at most allow the likelihood of the hypothesis to be indicated. The formula~ n£nA~Y£,o µnpw contains two words which are associated with sacrifice. It is unnecessary to stress the significance of thighs in animal sacrifice, The dual form µnpw, however, which is restricted in the Homeric poems to this formula, does deserve some comment. There are at least three instances in which the dual form µnpw would be metrically and

82 Even Porphyry's

highly useful De Abstinentia·II provides few details .pertaining to the rite. Of course, was practically no human sacrifice in Greece.

53-6 there

The Thigh-Slapping

Sequence

161

grammatically feasible but in which the plural form occurs 146, a 135, a 67). All three cases pertain to the instead(~ thighs of humans in a secular context. All references to animal thighs, on the other hand, are restricted to sacrificial contexts. The number of animal thighs and thigh-bones denoted by the neuter plural µ"pa is usually difficult to determine since sacrifices often entailed the slaughter of more than one animal. There are, however, a few manuscripts, supported by Aristarchos and Ptolemaios Askalonites and followed by Munro and Allen in the Oxford Texts, which contain the reading µ"pe xan in passages relating to the sacrifice of animals (A 464, y 461, µ 364). This archaic construction, an athematic collective dual with singular verb, would be appropriate for a conservative context such as that of sacrifice: "pairs of thigh-bones were bur~ed. 1183 Not only does the athematic dual of µnp6c have a specialized connotation, but there is evidence that the thematic dual of the same word also possesses a sacrificial coloring. In the fragment of Pherekrates' Automoloi which Walter Burkert has called the most 84 detailed ancient description of sacrifice, the thighs of the sacrificial animal are denoted by.& µn~ (fr. 23.3-5): OU.& µnpw nepLMilJic,.v.ec µtxpL aouaoovwv * * * xal .~v 6a~uv xoµL6~ XLA~V, AOLnOV.ov an6v6UAOV au.ov wcmep ~Lv~aa.v.ec vtµea· l:x:mep xal .otc xualv ~µtv1 When you have tasted the thigh-pieces right up to the groins ... , don't you dispense to us as though we were dogs the loin completely smooth and the very chine as if you had filed it down? Hence, secular

in cases context, 83

in which a pair of thighs are mentioned in a we find that µnpol or µnpouc is employed to

For the collective µ"pa, see Schwyzer 1939: 581-2. On fluctuation between thematic and athematic desinences, see 1973: 231-2. On neuter dual subjects with singular Chantraine 1963: 23. On thighs in sacrifice, see verbs, see Chantraine Meuli 1946. 84 Burkert 1966: 104, f. 37.

Sacrificial

162

Aspects

denote them; but in this sacrificial passage the dual unpw is attested. This instance of ,oounpwtogether with the Homeric examples of µ~p£ suggests that the duals in the formula oo n£nA~Y£,o unpwconvey a sacrificial connotation. (This argument, like the following, is based on the concept of persevering association, on which see above, pp. 22-9.) The verb nAnOO£LV is also connected with sacrifice. Although there are not any examples of nAnaa£LV associated with human sacrifice in the Homeric poems, there are several instances in Greek tragedy. In the Odyssey Agamemnon describes his death as follows (A 409-15): cUAa UOL ACyLa8oc ,£uEac aciva.6v ,£ µ6pov ,£ fxTa crov ouAoµtvij dA6X~, otx6v6£ xaAtaaac, 6£LnvCaaac, CA>C.Cc TE xa,tx.av£ eoov tnt cp6.,vn. n£pt 5• dAAOL t.atpoL ~c Mvov olxTCa.~ aava,~· VOOA£Utooc KTECVOVTO,00£C ~ apyL66ovT£C, oC t,ci •• tv d.cpv£LoOav6pbc µtya 6uvaµtvoLo ~ Y«lJ(f)~ tpav~ ~ £(AanCv~ T£8aAuC~. But after he had invited me home and entertained me at dinner, Aigisthos caused my death and doom and with my cursed wife killed me as one kills a bull by the trough. Thus I died with a most pitious death. And my other companions were killed around me, one after another like white-tusked boars at the marriage, meal, or banquet of a very powerful, rich man. Agamemnon and especially his companions are killed like animals who are sacrificed at a conmunal meal. Aischylos inherits this motif and presents Agamemnon's death in sacrificial terms. In Agamemnon 1433 Klytaimestra boasts that she has sacrificed her 85 husband (T6v6· facpa.f· tyw). Also through the sacrificial language which she employs in her description of Agamemnon's death, she reveals the fact that her "sacrifice" of Agamemnon 86 is intended to avenge his sacrifice of Iphigeneia. Hence, it is especially appropriate that when Agamemnon is struck, he screams (Ag. 1343): 85 cf.

A., A. 1384-92 and see Zeitlin 1965: 475-81. sacrificial language in the Agamemnon, see Zeitlin Headlam and Thomson 1938 ad A. 1385-6 and especially 1965 and Lebeck 1971: 60-3 and passim. 86 For the

The Thigh-Slapping

Oh!

I am struck

a deep fatal

Sequence

163

blow!

Eieatra. A similar motif of sacrifice is found in Euripides' As she anticipates her mother's death, Electra conceives of it 87 (1142-4): as a sacrificial offering

xavo0v 6" tv~px,aL xal ,£8nyutvn aqnylc, ~n£p xa&£tA£ ,a0pov, o~ ntAaC n£af3 nAnY£taa.· The barley is taken from the basket; and whetted is the sacrificial knife which killed the bull [Aigisthos], near whom you will lie when you have been struck. Again the fatal blow in a human sacrifice is denoted At Auiis, the attempt of nA~OO£LV. In the Ipigeneia 88 fice Iphigeneia is described (1578-9):

by a form to sacri-

t£p£uc 6i cpaayavov Aa6wv tn£ofa,o, AaLu6v •• tn£axon£t&·, tva nA~E£L£v dv· The priest took over her throat

the for

knife and made the prayer a place to strike her.

and looked

This instance is especially significant because tnd,aEa is 1189 usually used as the aorist active form of the verb "strike. These instances and many more indicate that nA~aa£LV is commonly employed in tragedy to denote the sacrificial blow in 90 human sacrifice. The contextual evidence which was presented in the first three chapters indicated that the Homeric gesture of slapping one's thighs foreshadows a confrontation with death; and now it is being asserted that the formula of thigh-slapping carries 87

For sacrificial

1938 ad 791 ff. 88

language

in the

Eieatra,

see Denniston

There is a serious question as to the authenticity of lines. 89 see Jebb 1900: 42 ad 170 ff. and LSJ 9 s.v. nA~aO. 9 °For other instances of the verb ttA.~aaeLv and the noun nAnY~ employed to denote the sacrificial blow, see A., Ch. 312(on which see Casabona 3, 884; S., Ei. 1415, Ant. 1283-1302 1966: 180); E., IA 1582, Or. 497, fr. 143 (= Ar., Th. 694-5) and see Ar. Th. 693. these

Sacrificial

164

Aspects

sacrificial associations. One naturally wonders how this gesture could have come to possess this meaning and association. The meaning of many gestures is arbitrary and only understood by convention; and consequently it is difficult to analyze ancient gestures without ancient testimony. But, on the other hand, gestures are often meant to represent some action, and one may attempt to connect a gesture with the activity it was intended to depict. We cannot be certain whether thighslapping was an arbitrary gesture or whether it was intended to represent some specific action. If it adheres to the latter category, it is possible to suggest how the gesture might have 91 acquired its meaning. One can witness the following gesture in Greece today: a Greek will aim his flattened hand, fifth finger first, at the neck of an antagonist and, with a slashing motion back and forth, towards the neck and away from it, say, ea aoO x6\llei>"t'Oxe:Q>CU-1. ("I will cut off your head"). The stiff, flat hand is obviously meant to represent a blade. If the Greek were to aim his hands at his own thighs and to strike them with a sidewards motion, he would seem to be striking his thighs with his palms (Ka"t'anpnvfaat.) and would be suggesting the idea of cutting off his thighs. In ancient Greece this gesture would have indicated that he was sacrificing himself. This interpretation would explain the meaning and association of the gesture but without ancient testimony must, of course, remain hypothetical. In order to compare the details of sanguinary sacrifice with those of the thigh-slapping sequence, it will be useful to recount the course of a sacrifice. It will suffice to describe the sacrifice which Nestor performs in Book 3 of the Odyssey since this is the most detailed sacrifice in the 91

The interpretation which fo1lows was suggested by N.G.L. Hanmond in the discussion period following the presentation of my paper on thigh-slapping, "A Gesture in Homer," which was delivered at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest held in Victoria on 3 April 1976.

The Thigh-Slapping

Sequence

165

Homeric poems. 92 At the beginning of the rite after the animal has arrived at the altar, the leader of the sacrifice washes his hands and sprinkles the victim with barley. The leader cuts off some hairs from the victim's head and casts them into the fire. A prayer follows, and the participants of the sacrifice cast barley at the victim. One of the participants who bas been standing by the victim (naplcnaTo, y 443) strikes the victim with an axe and the women scream (y 448-51): auTlxa NtaTopoc ut6c, untpeuµoc &paauu~6nc ntA€KUC 6° dntxo~e TtVOVTQC ~Aaoev dyxL OTdt· at 5• 6A6AuEav auxevlouc, AOaev 6t Booeutvoc· 8uyaTtpec Te vuol Te xal a(ooln na,:>dxoLTLC At once Nestor's son, high-hearted Thrasymedes, who was standing next to the bull struck it. The axe sliced the neck muscles and took away the bull's strength. Nestor's daughters, daughters-in-law, and respected wife screamed. Another participant, Peisistratos in this passage from the Odyssey, kills the victim by cutting its throat (ocpd.Eev, y 454). The body is cut up and roasted, and a feast follows. Certain details in sacrifice have a curious similarity to those of the thigh-slapping sequence. First of all, the sacrificial victim is stunned before it suffers the fatal blow. In the sacrifice at Pylos, Thrasymedes strikes the bull's neck with an axe before Peisistatos cuts its throat. Just so, Apollo stuns Patroklos before Euphorbos and Hektor pierce him with their spears. So too, in the part of Book 13 of the IZiad which is devoted to the fate of Asios and his followers, Alkathoos is dazed by Poseidon before Idomeneus kills him. Stunning is not always applicable to the second step of the thigh-slapping sequence, however, as is indicated by the cases of Poseidon striking the Phaiakian ship and Hera striking the ground. When Athena strikes Ares on the neck, the stunning blow occurs without a second, fatal blow. 92 y 418-63.

Other passages which facilitate the study Homeric sacrifice are A 447-76, B 410-31, and E 420-36. A useful bibliography on sanguinary sacrifice can be found in Burkert 1966: 102, f. 34.

of

166

Sacrificial

Aspects

This stunning blow which precedes the fatal blow in the thigh-slapping sequence, however, may be secondary and may have developed as a result of the sacrificial connotations of the sequence. The reason for this supposition is that two blows are already present in the thigh-slapping sequence, one in each part. A character slaps his thighs in the first part of _the sequence. As mentioned above, the formula w n£nA~Y£To un~ probably has a sacrificial colori~g. This gesture and formula is often found in collocation with the verb 6A0