The Winnowing Oar – New Perspectives in Homeric Studies. Studies in Honor of Antonios Rengakos

310 Pages·2017·1.84 MB·English

by  Christos Tsagalis

The Winnowing Oar – New Perspectives in Homeric Studies

The Winnowing Oar –
New Perspectives
in Homeric Studies
Studies in Honor of Antonios Rengakos
Edited by
Christos Tsagalis and Andreas Markantonatos
ISBN 978-3-11-054335-3
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-055987-3
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-055949-1
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Text
M. L. West†
Editing the Odyssey 13
Margalit Finkelberg
Homer at the Panathenaia: Some possible scenarios 29
Interpretation
Franco Montanari
The failed embassy: Achilles in the Iliad 43
Egbert Bakker
Hector (and) the race horse: The telescopic vision of the Iliad 57
Ruth Scodel
Homeric fate, Homeric poetics 75
J. S. Burgess
The Apologos of Odysseus: Tradition and conspiracy theories 95
Jonas Grethlein
The best of the Achaeans? Odysseus and Achilles in the Odyssey 121
Language and Formulas
G. O. Hutchinson
Repetition, range, and attention: The Iliad 145
VI TableofContents
A. C. Cassio
‘Authentic’ vs. ‘artificial’: Homeric EΠEΕΣΣΙ(Ν) reconsidered 171
Christos Tsagalis
ΑΠ’/ΚΑΤ’ ΑΙΓΙΛΙΠΟΣ ΠΕΤΡΗΣ: Homeric iconyms and Hittite answers 191
Stephanie West
Mysterious Lemnos: A note on AΜΙΧΘΑΛOΕΣΣΑ (Il. 24.753) 215
Homeric Hymns
Anton Bierl
‘Hail and take pleasure!’ Making gods present in narration through choral
song and other epiphanic strategies in the Homeric Hymns to Dionysus and
Apollo 231
Richard Janko
Tithonus, Eos and the cicada in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite and Sappho
fr. 58 267
Publications by Antonios Rengakos 297
General Index 301
Index of Principal Homeric Passages 305
Introduction
Thiscollectionofessaysbyahostofeminentclassicalscholarsonfiendishlyin-
tricateandnotoriouslyimpenetrableHomericzetemataaimstopaylavishtribute
to avigorously incisive researcher of epic poetry, Antonios Rengakos, Professor
of Greek in the Department of Philology at the Aristotle University of Thessalo-
niki, and to celebrate the happy occasion of his 60th birthday. The editors,
both fortunate recipients of the honoree’s wisdom and friendship, consider
this the perfect opportunity to highlight the influence that Antonios Rengakos
hasexercisedonthefieldofthestudyofGreekliteratureworldwideinvaluable
and memorable ways. His seminal work on the close interconnections between
the Homeric text and Hellenistic poetry, as well as his astute and detailed con-
tributionstoourbetterunderstandingofthecomplexnetworkofechoesandaf-
finities amongst a plethora of highly interrelated Greek texts spanning a vast
stretchoftimefromthearchaiceratoAlexandrianliterarytraditionandbeyond,
speaksvolumesofhisimpeccablescholarshipandsoundcriticaljudgement.Itis
not overbold to claim that this Festschrift is but a minor testimony to the great
respectwhichAntoniosRengakoscommandsintheacademicworldofclassical
learning; for it would unquestionably take more than one liber amicorum to
showcasetheimpressivelybroadrangeofhisresearchinterestsandthestriking-
ly profound erudition of his academic writings.
Havingallthis in mind one feels inadequatetopayduehomagetothe vol-
uminousandversatileresearchworkofthededicatee,andthethoughtthatthis
should be dispatched within the limited space of a preface can without doubt
humble the most confident author. Be that as it may, the editors should hope
that even a brief sketch of the honoree’s remarkable achievement and creative
intelligencewillofferreadersaninklingofhisinternationalstature.Itisindeed
beyond accident that Antonios Rengakos, an outstanding student of the presti-
gious German School of Athens, chose to pursue his undergraduate and post-
graduate studies at the University of Freiburg; for it swiftly strikes those who
havehadtheprivilegetohaveknownthehonoreeinpersonthatthedisciplined
sensitivityandrocksolidanalyticalthinkingofGermanclassicalscholarshipbe-
come him, especially when what is at stake is nothing less than the laborious
task of both ascertaining the integrity of the text and unearthing the richness
ofitsimplications.Morethanthat,inGermanyAntoniosRengakoswasfortunate
enough to enjoy the enormous benefits accruing from his close collaboration
with the pre-eminent scholar and distinguished classicist, Professor Wolfgang
Kullmann,whohashadamajorimpactonthehonoree,motivatinghimtowards
followinga distinctly neo-analytical approach to thestudyofHomericepics,as
https://doi.org/9783110559873-001
2 Introduction
well as encouraging him to forge indissoluble links to German academia.This
intense schooling in the best traditions of German classical scholarship has
paiddividendsforAntoniosRengakos;forhiswell-arguedandfullofdeeplearn-
ingdoctoral thesis entitled Form und Wandel des Machtdenkens der Athenerbei
Thukydides(1984),togetherwithhistightlydocumentedanddenselydeliberated
habilitation dissertation on the remarkable ways inwhich the meticulous study
of eminent Hellenistic poet-scholars such as Callimachus and Apollonius Rho-
dius can shed revealing light upon the misty beginnings of the Homeric text
(1993 & 1994), has established him as an undisputed authority on Greek litera-
ture and culture.
Furthermore,withhisnumerousstudiesconfirmingthenarrativecomplexity
and intertextual sophistication not only of the Iliad and Odyssey but also of a
wide range of Hellenistic poems, Antonios Rengakos has evaluated the current
thinking on this most demanding area of knowledge, while at the same time
both setting the agenda for new exciting research and making more than a
few original arguments about the future direction of the continuing debate
over the validity of such theoretical tools as Narratology and Intertextuality in
thefieldoftheClassics.Anyonewhothinksthatissues ofnarrational authority
andintertextual empowermentaresimpleandeasilygraspableshould readthe
dedicatee’s important publications, which combine stimulating discussions of
the special ways in which myth-sequences are always mediated through some
kind of narrative recasting and recalibration with a wealth of useful insights
intoaliterarywork’smultiplepointsofreference.Inaseriesofwell-considered
andinformativearticles,aswellasofferingamuch-neededmappingofthecul-
tural and intellectual terrain of Hellenistic poetry, Antonios Rengakos has ele-
gantly explored the striking intricacy of those patterns of images and motifs
which one can see unabatedly building throughout poems, thereby rendering
both the narrated events and the vivid descriptions overwhelming in their spe-
cific details and sensory impressions.
This first attempt at outlining the honoree’s impressive scholarly accom-
plishments would be gravely amiss if it failed to include mention of another
long series of important publications: Antonios Rengakos’ remarkable edited
outputcomprisingseveral multi-authoredvolumesabout abroadrange ofclas-
sicalthemesandtopics,aswellasnumerousModernGreektranslationsoffun-
damental reference works and academic treatises. For instance, there is some-
thing almost uncanny about how Brill’s Companion to Thucydides (2006),
proficiently edited by the dedicatee and Antonios Tsakmakis, makes the work
ofalong-deadhistoriancomealivebeforeoureyes,therebyencouragingreaders
toexplorehislifeandwork,aswellassuchperennialissuesastruth,humanity,
politics,andreligion.Thesameobservationapplies,tomoveontoadifferentau-
Introduction 3
thorandgenre,toBrill’sCompaniontoHesiod,editedtogetherwithFrancoMon-
tanariandChristosTsagalis.ItisnotincidentalthatinterestinHesiodicstudies
hasbeenrenewedafterthepublicationofalong-neededcollectiveworkoffering
arichpanoramaofthecurrentstatusquaestionisinHesiodicstudies.Morethan
this,theModernGreektranslationofFrancoMontanari’sinfluentialandauthor-
itative Modern Dictionary of the Ancient Greek Language (2013), expertly edited
byAntoniosRengakoswhowasassistedbyanimpressiveteamoflearnedschol-
arsfromtheAristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,iswidelyrecognisedinhisna-
tive Greece and elsewhere as a monumental achievement of scholarly sophisti-
cation and capable editorship. Last but not least, Antonios Rengakos, together
with Franco Montanari, directs a large and most prestigious print publishing
programme in Classical Studies. Both the Trends in Classics scholarly journal
and the corresponding series of beautifully produced and refreshingly open-
minded academic monographs(Trends inClassicsSupplementary Volumes) pro-
videvaluableaccesstoessentialresearchworkbyleadingclassicalscholarson
Greek and Latin literature and culture, thereby allowing new theoretical ap-
proaches to be reconciled with traditional modes of study.
ItisfairtosaythatAntoniosRengakoshashadhisheftyshareofaccolades
andtributesinGreeceandabroad;nonetheless,hiselectionasatenuredmem-
ber of the Academy of Athens in 2011, the Academia Europea in 2013, and the
HeidelbergerAkademiederWissenschaftenin2016cameasthecrowningpoints
ofhisprofessionalroadthatbeganmanyyearsago.AntoniosRengakos,aswell
as having transformed the historical Department of Philology at the Aristotle
UniversityofThessalonikithroughhiscontinuouseffortstoattractthemostgift-
ed Greek scholars and to create a forum for academic research of the highest
order, has shown himself to be an inspiration for his colleagues and students,
therebyenablingagreatlyimprovedunderstandingnotjustofHomer’sownleg-
acy,butalsooftheentireGreekliterature.Hisisarichandimportantcontribu-
tiontoclassicallearningthatwillbecentraltoallfuturediscussionsofancient
Greek texts.
This volume includes twelve chapters treating various themes pertaining to
HomerandtheHomericHymns.Theyclearlyfallwithinthebroadlydefinedcat-
egoriesoftextandinterpretationoftheIliadandtheOdyssey,aswellastheHo-
meric Hymns to Hermes and Aphrodite.
Part I (Editingthe Odyssey; Homer at the Panathenaea: Some Possible Sce-
narios) deals with the text of the Homeric epics.
In light of his forthcoming edition of the Odyssey Martin West† presents
some of the principles on which it is based.The fact that the Odyssey does not
have its Venetus A and we are less well informed about it than is the case
4 Introduction
with the Iliad has some consequences on the use of the sources available.One
cardinalcaseisEustathius,whohastobeconsultedmoreoftenwhenoneispre-
paring an edition of the Odyssey thanwhen doing the same thing for the Iliad.
The reason is that in the latter case we have two tenth-century and six elev-
enth-century MSS all predating Eusathius, while in the former we have one
from the later tenth century, one from the eleventh, one from the twelfth, and
the rest are later, Eustathius antedating all but two or three of them. West,
whohasconsultedthelargestnumberofmanuscriptsandpapyriincomparison
toallpreviouseditions,hasalsoembarkedonameticulousstudyofvariouspre-
vious editions and especiallyearly modern editions ofHomer.On thisbasis,he
arguesthatthereisreasontotacklevarioustetxualproblemsafreshandalsore-
considersome brilliantemendationsmade by18thand 19thcenturyscholars.He
alsodrawsattentiontothewayamoderneditorhastodealwithvariousfacetsof
the modernization the text of Homer has suffered in antiquity.
Margalit Finkelberg surveys the basic theories pertaining to the date of the
Homericepicslayingemphasisonvarioustextual,iconographical,andperform-
ative issues. She argues in favor of a seventh-century, rather than an early
eighth- or late sixth-century dating, which is strongly suggested by the icono-
graphical evidence. Finkelberg places much emphasis on the timespan needed
forthediffusion,recognition,andimpactHomericepichadinsixth-centuryAth-
ens.ThisoftenneglectedaspectoftheperformanceofHomerinthePanathenaea
isofprimeimportanceforaseventh-centurydating,sinceitgivesampletimefor
theHomerictraditiontobecomeinfluentialandisintunewithvaserepresenta-
tions of Homeric themes which become known in the seventh century. Finkel-
bergmaintainsthatonbalanceaseventh-centurydatingofatleasttheIliad‘al-
lowsforaconsiderablywidermarginforaccommodatingthelinguisticevidence
as regards the relative chronologyof the early hexameter poetry’.
Part II contains five interpretive studies, of which three pertain to the Iliad
(TheFailedEmbassy:AchillesintheIliad;HectorandtheRaceHorse:TheTele-
scopicVisionintheIliad;HomericFate,HomericPoetics)andtwototheOdyssey
(The Apologos of Odysseus: Tradition and Conspiracy Theories; Achilles and
Odysseus’ Revenge).
FrancoMontanaristudiesoneofthemostfamousepisodeintheentireIliad,
theembassytoAchilles,withakeeneyeforthedeploymentoftheactionandthe
laterIliadic nonsequiturpertainingtoAchillesstill“waiting”for asupplication
bytheAchaeans.Montanariarguesthatthefailedembassyisaninventionofthe
poet of the Iliad,who is for him the person responsible for the final shapingof
theepicasweknowit.Afterembarkingonaminuteexaminationofthevarious
aspectsofthecourseofactionaftertheactualembassy,Montanarisuggeststhat
its aim is to“fail”.The impasse at which things find themselves heightens the