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Pil oe Ilf.'ta 3av80v <e eocova <e, Watvonos "It, &Il<j>co '11A"yeo<epco, na<ept oe yoov Kal Kl\ow A"ypa Adn', end OD �ffiov<e Ilaxns eK voapovo� btltoM.I10to,
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Chapter Four
in genitive or UAOX0 f.ABovn yavuGGetat, onnote Kev i5i) f.K Tpol'1S GUV V'11JG\ veroJ.leBa KOiJpOt 'AxatOiv. Tell for me, Trojans, shining Ilioneus' dear father and mother to grieve in their home. The wife ofPromalthos, Alegenor's son, will not rejoice for her beloved husband's rerum home, whenever the sons of the Achaeans sail from Troy with their ships.
Naming Women in Homer
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Peneleus has balanced the scales, as he sees it, answering the death of Promalthos with that of Ilioneus. In his desire to know of the grief of Ilioneus' parents, he has described one of the chief semi-public functions ofwomen, which they share with old men, to grieve for dead warriors, as we see pre-eminently in the laments by Andromakhe, Hekabe, and Helen for Hektor in 11 24. If women do not enter the story by virtue of genealogy or lament, they may do so because they are valued as booty, prizes, gifts, and bribes.35 Their importance in this context lies both in their skills and in their beauty, as examination of their stories and naming patterns will show. The action of the Iliad is generated on one level by the wrangle over the booty from a recent raid, Briseis and Khryseis. Some of the prizes in the funeral games for Patroklos are females: a woman and a tripod are to be awarded for first place in the horse race (23.262-65) and a woman is destined for the loser in the wrestling contest (23.704-5). Both women are described as very skilled in work and the second is valued at four oxen (23.263-64, 705).36 Peneiope manipulates this motif when she sets up the contest with the bow for which the prize is herself. When Hera offers to give one ofthe Graces to Sleep as a reward for his help (MGffi OnUtEJ.leVat Ka\ G�V KeKAijGBat aKOtnV [11 14.269)), Sleep asks for Pasithee by name ( 14.275-76). Similarly, included in the long list of presents which Agamemnon says he will offer to Althilleus, are not only seven women from Lesbos and twenty Trojan women, but Agamemnon's own daughter as well (11 9 . 1 28-42). A subsidiary theme in these stories is the status of the woman in her new household. If she is lucky enough to enter it as the wife of the hero, she is fortunate, but few enjoy this fate. Most are condemned to servitude, as seems to have happened to the Phoenician servant in charge of Eumaios (Od 1 5 .4 1 7-26) or Eurymedousa, who was brought to Alkinoos as a prize and became the nurse to Nausikaa (7.8). Women introduced into an already-existing household could provoke great tension and trouble. Homer tells us that Laertes did not sleep with Eurykleia, which meant peace in the household (euvj1 O' ou not' eJ.ltKtO, XOAOV 0' aAEetVe yuvatKoS [ 1 .433)).37 Other Greeks, not just Agamemnon, were not so smart, as Phoinix recalls in his speech to Akhilleus: his father, Phoinix says, slept with a mistress and thus dishonored his wife, Phoinix's mother (t�V autos <jltMeGKev, anJ.lUSeGKe 0' aKOmv [11 9.450]). She begged her son to sleep with
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his father's mistress in order to anger his father, which Phoinix did. This resulted in his father cursing him and preventing him from ever having children of his own; eventually Phoinix fled to Peleus' house, who took him in (1/ 9 .447-83).38 Four powerful women in Homer-Helen, Klytaimnestre, Penelope, and Arete-contribute in various ways to the Iliad and Odyssey, but are united in their manipulation or abandonment of the roles we have seen women play in the poems. Three of these women-Helen, K1ytaimnestre, and Penelope-are close relatives, if we accept and combine both Homeric and later evidence. According to Homer, Helen and K1ytaimnestre were sisters, technically half sisters.39 Other storytellers identified Penelope as the first cousin of Helen and Klytaimnestre by making their fathers, Ikarios and Tyndareus, the sons of Oibalos.40 A different kind of link, one between these mortal women and a particular goddess, may suggest how we are to see the woman and what qualities we are to find in her." Sometimes these links are expressed in a . story, in which the goddess is described as giving a quality to a woman. In other instances, the use of the same epithet for both a mortal and a divine female may express the bond betw= them. There is the story which Penelope tells about the daughters ofPandareos: Aphrodite fed and cared for them, Hera provided them with doos Kalmvu't1\v (beauty and wisdom), Artemis with �fiKOS (stature), and Athena with epya . . . KAma epyal;Ecr8at (the ability to do fine handwork). Aphrodite then asked Zeus to arrange marriages for them, but he gave them to the Furies (Od20.66-78).42 With this we might compare the creation ofPandora, during which Zeus directs specific gods to flesh our the creature formed of earth and water by Hephaistos (W0rks and Days 60--82), a tale in which we see the creature endowed not only with desirable qualities but with those which are not. From Athena, Pandora learns craftwork and weaving; Aphrodite provides xapts, ,,080s, and �M.Eo&Vat (grace, longing, and cares); from Hermes, Pandora receives a shameless mind and treacherous character. Athena, the Graces, Persuasion, and the Seasons then dress and decorate Pandora. The story of the judgment of Paris is somewhat different, in that we do not see gods endowing humans with qualities, bur offering a man a reward which reflects something of their natute or abilities. Although the tale is only briefly teferred to in 1124.25-30,43 the full version is told elsewhere, perhaps most conveniently in Apollodorus. There we learn
Naming Women in Homer
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that to Paris the goddesses offered these gifts in return for being chosen "for beauty" (Epit. 3.2): al oe enaryfJ)...oV1at o&pa OrocrEtV 'AAE�aVOp'f>,
"Hpa �ev nacr&v npoKpt8Etcra �acrtAdav nav1,"v, 'A6r]vii oe "OAE�OU v'KYjv, 'A'I'PoO,'tl] Oe ya�ov 'EAEVllS (they announced that they would
give gifts to A1exander-Hera offered kingship over all people, Athena victory in war, and Aphrodite marriage to Helen). Paris' selection reveals his own association with Aphrodite, as his defence of his behavior to Hektor also makes clear: he has accepted willingly the lovely gifts of golden Aphrodite (c&p' epma . . . XPucrEllS 'A'I'Poo,'tl]S [1/ 3.64]).44 Ifwe examine the naming patterns for Helen, we shall understand better the power given her by her beauty, since these patterns reveal her associations with others.'5 She is three times LlloS eKyEyaUta (born ofZeus [/1 3 . 1 99, Od 4.184, 23.218]), once Atos 8tlya111P (daughter of Zeus [Od 4.227]), and once KOtlptotllv 0' aAoxov MEvEAaou KuoaA'�Oto (wedded wife of famous Menelaos [11 7.392]). Much more frequently, Helen is 'Apyetll-Argive, one of the few women, indeed humans, in the poems to be identified with an ethnic 46 With this last epithet, 'Apyetll, Helen betrays her links to one of . the two goddesses with whom she shares ttaits." Hera is described with that same epithet in the Iliad (4.8 5.908). This is not the only verbal link between Helen and Hera, for they both share the distinction of having their husbands identified in a naming pattern which is the reverse of the norm.48 Thus Alexander is three times 'EAEVl1S nocrts 1\iiK6�oto-husband of Helen with beautiful hair (II 3.329 7.355 8 . 82)-and Zeus either ep,yootlnOS nocrts "Hp11S or noatS "Hpl1S 1\iiKo�oto-loud-thundering husband of Hera (e.g., 11 7.4 1 1 , Od 1 5 . 10), husband of Hera with beautiful hair (1/ 10.5).'9 To describe a man or a male god as the husband of a woman, even if she is Hera or Helen, is a powerful reversal of this naming pattern and may testifY not only to the strength of the women, but the weakness of the men as well. The sexual power that both Helen and Hera have over their husbands is described by Paris (I/ 3.441--46) and Zeus in the Dios Apate: although they do not use the same language, their remarks share a very similar rone.50 These two scenes of lovemaking are also the only two in which Aphrodite plays an important role, as Clader observes.51 It is not surprising, therefore, that Aphrodite is the other goddess with whom Helen is closely associated, although the telationship is not straightforward. Helen is never compared to Aphrodite, as are other =
=
=
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women, but both are LlloPWt SilKE 8Ea YAatlKiimtpOVt IIl1V£A01t£l1\, Od 2 1 . 1-2
mP£VEp�v (q>prov )-and emphasize the intelligence of the one to whom they are applied. The third adjective, O:�{,�oov (blameless) =
Naming Women in Homer
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is applied to a much wider range of nouns-heroes, Akhilleus' mortal horse, Pedasos (Il 1 6. 1 52), inanimate substantives,66 and to five women.67 Penelope's manipulation of traditional women's roles reveals the aptness of these epithets applied to her and makes her an equal partner for Odysseus. Just as Odysseus reworks the heroic code, Penelope makes use of her roles as mistress of the house and daughter-in-law to put off the suitors for many years by claiming responsibility for a shroud for Laertes; not only does Antinoos report this to Telemakhos (2.93- 1 1 0), but we are allowed to hear Penelope tell the story to the disguised Odysseus ( 1 9 . 1 36-56). Penelope claims merely to be carrying our Odysseus' orders given to her as he departed for Troy. She quotes what she says were his final words (Od 1 8.265-70):
'tiP OUK otc ' � KEV 11' aVE<JEt 6£6-;, � KeV b}...roro a,lYWU 8Vt T poiU . (JOt (5' £v6aoe nav'tCl Il£MV'tOOV. �E�vi\a8m "atpomen in Greek Myth (Baltimote: The Johns Hopkins Up, 1986) to Amazons. 2. A very suggestive study in this context is Griffin'sJHS 106 (1986): 3657, fOf, in addition to distinguishing between narrative and speech, he also shows words characteristically spoken by women and Priam to express their predicaments. They are words often prefixed with aiv-, n:a.vcx-, 01.)0'-. a-. testifYing to their perceptions of themselves and their lack of power. 3 . In some manuscripts of the Odyssey> Odysseus repeats his indirect question to the disguised Athena (6.177 7.26). 4. Compare the name of the wrestler whom Odysseus bested, according to Menelaos: er, ,ptOOS LAOM1]AdoU enaAo:tcreV o.VMt"S (he wtestled with Philomeleides in competition [Od 4.343 17.134]). Even ancients wete puzzled by this name. Although it is formed with the patronymic suffix, it should perhaps be understood as just a proper noun. See ch. 2 above. 5. Akhilleus also uses the phrase KOUp1]V Bptcrfjos (daughter of Briseus [II 1 .392]). The scholia to this vetse give her the name Hippodameia. Othet women do have both a personal name and a patronymic of this type, e.g., E>eavro KCtAAl1to:pnO; / KlcrcrTyi; crAOXO; 'Av't1lvo po; innooO:jlOlO (beautiful cheeked Theano, daughter of Kisseus, wife of horse-training Antenor [11 6.298-99; compate 11 1 1 .223-24]). On the form, see Risch, Wt>rtbildung §51b, 35 eo; Carl Darling Buck, Comparative Grammar ofGreek and Latin (Chicago: The U of Chicago P, 1933): §492.3, 493. Other fotms of the feminine patronymic OCCUt in 11 5.412 (,Aop1]miv1]), 9.557 (Eu1]viv1]s). 6. See Fenik, Studies in the Odyssey 1 9 1 . He cites John A. Scott, "Eurynome and Eurykleia in the Odyssey," CQ 1 2 ( 1 9 1 8): 75-79, for making this observation about the patronymic. Whether we can identifY this Aktor any further is uncertain. No one of that name appears in the Odyssey. while in the Iliad, Menoitios is the son of =
=
137
Aktor ( 1 1 .785, 16.14); Asryokhe is said to have given birth to Askalaphos and Ialmenos, leaders of the Minyans, in the house of "AK'Crop 'A<eioT\; (2.51 1-13); there are the twins identified as 'AKtOptrove (2.62 1 , 1 1 .750, 1 3. 1 85, 23.638); and Exekles, son of AktOt CAKtOpi81]S), accepts Polymele as his wife (16.1 89-90). 7. See ch. I on the importance of etymology in Homeric names. Douglas Frame suggests that the significance of Helios' wife's name in this passage is also connected to her husband's power and has nothing to do with her father: NEatpCt, argues Frame, might be derived from the verb VEO/lat (to return) and thus her name would refer to the "returning light of day," but "in the context of'salvation.'" According to him, "this would suit Neaira's role as the provider of guatdians fot the cattle ofHelios." (Myth ofReturn 41-42) Does this also imply that she was invented to be married to him or that her name was changed upon her marriage to reflect her relationship with Helios? Gregory Nagy compares the names ofHelios' daughters. �cdeo'Ucra. and Au�nfti1], with those of Dawn's horses, o:e9rov and Ao.MnoS (Od23.246). He argues that these horses were once "metaphorical aspects of the Sun." (Best 198-99) See the discussion of these names in ch. 1 above. 8. Contrast the extreme rarity with which men are identified by their wife's name. Only Zeus and Paris are thus named by the poet, though Hektot once desctibes himself as the husband of Andtomakhe (see the discussion below). Helen's power is also illustrated in Homer's identification of Laodike not only as the wife of Antenot and daughter ofPriam, but also as sistet-in-Iaw to Helen (I1 3 . 1 21-24). 9. Both aA-OXo; and 1tapO:Koln; are compounds in which the second element is a wor.d meaning "bed" (Aexos, Koh1]). Modern scholarship hesitantly identifies oa./lap as a derivative of OCtIlUuMcrcrelv ' Mentor, who was a friend of noble Odysseus and to whom he, when he departed on his ships, turned over his entire house, to be under the old man's sway and for him to watch over everything steadily. Nothing �ore is made of this, 69. Fenik provides a very thorough discussion of the scene between Odysseus and Arete. Although I disagree with his conclusion that Arete's failure to pursue her questions about the stranger's identity is a problem of Homeric style rather than psychology, his analysis of the language and patterns is astute (Studies in the Odyssey 5-18, 53-60). 70, Odysseus introduces these autobiographies with lines which suggest he is telling the truth (7.243, 19.171). See ch. 3 above.
144 Aga� em cunnmg,
1 1.422, . Homer,
CHAPTER FIVE
Harvarc
THE FAMILY OF IAERTES
Best 37, 56. (
l')..ov na1ep' evoov eov"" OU1E n 8auflai;EtV nEptroatOV OU1' ayaaa8at· ou flEV yap 10t e1' a')..')..oelf10tcrt f1eXxeaBctt (it would not do for two men to fight many, strong men [ 1 6.243-44])-as Telemakhos and others repeatedly observe, Odysseus has succeeded. With the suitors finally killed, though all danger from their families is not past, one obstacle to Odysseus' long-delayed reunion with Penelope is finally removed. 50 Odysseus, in his disguise as beggar, has already had several conversations with Penelope, in which he tells new lies about himself. It is Penelope who first summons him to talk to her, when she hears of the blow struck the beggar by Antinoos and is angered by the suitors' treatment of the stranger; she asks Eumaios to bring him to her so that she can quiz him about Odysseus, as she always does with strangers (1 7.492-51 1). Odysseus puts off their first meeting until night, when, he hopes, the violent mood among the suitors will have calmed. Divine favor is shown when Athena steps in to inspire Penelope to go downstairs and to heighten her beauty, with this purpose ( 1 8. 1 60-62): 01t(t)� 1t€:taa£le llaAtG'to:. eWov f1Vllcr�PIDV ioe nf1l)ecrcrct yevoHo f1aA.A.ov "po, "oato, "e Kal "leo, � "eXpo, i'j8V. . • •
. . 'so that she might rouse very much the spirit of the suitors and become prized even more in front of her husband and son than she had been before. Such cannot help but to hasten the reunion of Penelope and Odysseus, particularly when Penelope purs her beauty and brains to acquiring presents from the suitors, something very pleasing to her husband ( 1 8 .281-83).51 Their first conversation finally comes about when Penelope hears one of the maids, Melantho, abusing the beggar. She scolds the girl, then asks for Odysseus to be brought before her. When he is seated, Penelope, like Arete before her, begins with a pair of direct questions ( 1 9 . 1 04-5):
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�dv£, to �ev a£ npiii1:ov tyrov £ip1\ao�at uutf] · ttS n6eEV £is avoprov; n6e, tOt n6A'S 1\0£ tOKijES; Stranger, this I shall ask you first: who are you of men? where are your city and parents? Arete has previously used the sarue opening line and first question, but her second question-1:ts to' taO£ i(�ut' eOOlKEv; (who gave you these clothes? [7.238])-moves immediately to the subject of Odysseus' clothing, which she recognizes; only later in their conversation will Penelope question the beggar about the subject of Odysseus' dress (19.215-19). As he had with Arete, Odysseus attempts to sidetrack Penelope, this time by praising her in words-� yap a£1) KAeos oupuvov £upuv iKaVBt (for your farue reaches the broad heavens [19.1 08])-a1most identical to the terms in which he identified himself to the Phaeacians-Kut �BI) KAeos oupuvov lK£' (and my farue reaches the heavens [9.20]). He then suggests that Penelope ask him about anything other than his yevoS KUl 1tutptoU ymuv (family and homeland [ 1 9 . 1 16]) because remembering them fills him with grief Penelope's response is to describe her own grief and efforts to put off her unwanted suitors,52 then again to ask who her visitor is (19.1 62-63): a'AM Kat 0)(; Ilot £ine 't80V yevo eating and destruction have more in common than perhaps first seen: meals with the Lotus-eaters. the Cyclops, Laestrygonians. and Kirke, and meals made of the cattle of the Sun all lead to destruction. Other meals, such as Odysseus' at the Phaeacians or with Eumaios, signal the acceptance of the stranger and the averting of violence. After the slaughter of the suitors,
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Odysseus will prevent premature discovery of the event by staging what sounds to outsiders like a wedding feast (23.1 33-52). The teunion of Odysseus and Laertes is followed immediately by a meal (24.384ff.). 47. As Katz obsetves, Telemakhos has also shown himself the son of Odysseus by "his capacity for duplicity" (Penelopes Renown 9). Norman Austin also discusses this in CSCA 2 (1969): 45-63. Penelope's trick with het weaving may be one of the ways in which she is presented as a worthy partner for Odysseus. 48, See the ironic words of Leokritos, who unwittingly predicts the general circumstances under which Odysseus will make himself known to the suitors, although he is wrong about the outcome (2.243-5 1). 49. This ethnic is applied to Odysseus only one other time, in Od 2.246, in a speech by Leokritos (see the previous note), 50. Anothet problem, that of Penelope's loyalty to Odysseus, disappeats as we see her in the palace, as retainers such as Eumaios report on her (16.37-39), as she is assisted by Athena, and as Odysseus tests her himself. He has good reason to be afraid, for he has learned much about homecom ings from Agamemnon when they spoke in the Underworld. With hind sight, Agamemnon realizes he was naive to imagine his homecoming as he did (1 1 .430-34). He condemns all women, but exempts Penelope, whom he praises. He imagines Odysseus' welcome by his son, Telemakhos (1 1 .447-5 1), then tells that he missed seeing his own son, Orestes, because Klytaimnestre killed him first ( 1 1 .452-53). Finally, Agamemnon offers Odysseus advice about his return (1 1.454-56):
&'A.Ao of. 'tOt Epero, cru o' Evl roKtOt eUpe8flv(1l, auv Oe aiHCf> Kat XPU(JOV Eupaa8at 'tour; (1)(01(8
The Genealogy o/Objects
203
again mentioned in Homer, it becomes a distinctive part of Odysseus' garb in later Greek art. We see, then, that the Homeric world treasured possessions as much for their ancestry as for their intrinsic value. The makers and owners of horses, armor, and clothing transferred something of their own nature or valor to them. In a world which valued display, the display of words and deeds could be joined by the display of possessions.
205
Endnotes
ENDNOTES 1 . We might wonder, given the history of relations between this pair, why Atreus would leave the scepter to Thyestes. Why does Thyestes then leave it to his nephew, Agamemnon? See Kirk's summary of the evidence in his note on It 2.1 0 1-8. Pat Easterling discusses this seepter in ''Agamemnon's Skeptron in the Iliad," in Images ofAuthority, eds. Mary Margaret Mackenzie and Charlotte Roueche (Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Sociery, 1989): 1 04-2 1 . She explores both the context in which this genealogy of the scepter is placed and the description of the scepter itself. 2. As we have seen in Glaukos' remark about Proitos and Argas, Zeu� yap ol uno '''''In
