A Working Definition
Elliptic Constructions in Homer
We see here at verse 80 an exceptional attestation of the word for ‘Athens’ in the singular, Athḗnē. Elsewhere, ‘Athens’ is Athênai, in the plural. We see the plural form as we look ahead at Text 1d below, verse 546, and we see it in general everywhere in ancient Greek literature.
This combination is purely hypothetical (hence the prefixed asterisk) and in fact untenable for three mechanical reasons: (1) we expect the last syllable of the epithet εὐρυαγυίας to be long; [8] (2) the first syllable of the word for ‘Athens’ in this position has to be short; (3) the second syllable of the word for ‘Athens’ has to be long. These three specific reasons add up to one overriding general reason: such a hypothetical combination of words would produce a rhythmical sequence of long + short + long (the criterion of measure is syllabic length), and this sequence is systematically shunned in Homeric diction. [9] I should add that the same idea, as expressed by this hypothetical epithet + noun combination, could indeed be expressed, within the same metrical framework, by another epithet + noun combination: {160|161}
‘… to Athens, with its spacious area for song and dance’
The ‘Athens’ of text Text 1d must surely be the same place as the ‘Athens’ of Text 1a, as we see from the reference at verse 549 to the temple of Athena as the home of the goddess. At verse 547, we see that the temple is also home for the hero Erekhtheus, whom Athena establishes inside her temple, much as {161|162} the goddess Aphrodite establishes the hero Phaethon inside her own temple in Hesiod Theogony 990–991. [12] Similarly in Text 1a, the singular ‘Athens’ is the home of the hero Erekhtheus at verse 81, and it seems to be the home of the goddess Athena, who is described as going to the palace of Erekhtheus, situated in a place that has a name identical to the name of the goddess. While Odysseus proceeds to the palace of Alkinoos, Athena flies off to the palace of Erekhtheus. So Athena’s city par excellence is presumably Athens.
ἀνέρος ἀφνειοῖο πάις· …
I proclaim that I am by birth from Crete [plural], the far-and-wide,
the son of a rich man…
φησὶ δὲ πολλὰ βροτῶν ἐπὶ ἄστεα δινηθῆναι
πλαζόμενος·…
He proclaims that he is by birth from Crete [plural], the far-and-wide,
and he says that he has wandered around over many cities of mortals,
veering from his path. [20]
There is of course only one island of Crete, and we may readily conclude that the plural usage reflects the idea of “Crete and everything that belongs to it.” Such an idea corresponds to the historical construct of a “Minoan thalassocracy,” as already intuited by Thucydides (1.4), who speaks of King Minos of Crete as the founder of a prototypical naval empire extending throughout the Cyclades Islands and beyond. [21]
In the case of a similar problem, the use of the duals where we expect plurals in the “Embassy” passage of Iliad IX, Page again resorts to the rhetorical device of an apostrophe addressed to a Homeric character: “Unhappy Phoenix, Achilles’ oldest friend, not one single word of you; and if that were not enough, your leadership is instantly and silently taken from you.” [26] In this case, Page thinks that Phoenix is the odd man out in the dual references to what seems to be a trio comprised of Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus. [27]
I suggest, however, that there is no “confusion,” and that it is inaccurate to speak of “intrusions.” Instead, if we adopt an evolutionary model for the making of Homeric poetry, there are simply different levels of recomposition-in-performance, which are traces of an evolving fixity or textualization—and I use this term without implying the presence of written texts. [31]
Elliptic Meaning in Homer
I might add that we must cease trying to find an absolutely final version of any traditional song.
I have written about this passage: {171|172}
With his “seal,” the figure of Theognis is authorizing himself, making himself the author. There is an explicit self-description of this author as one who succeeds in sophíā, the ‘skill’ of decoding or encoding poetry. [65] On the basis of this success, the author lays claim to a timeless authority, which resists the necessity of changing just to please the audience of the here and now, who are described as the astoí ‘townspeople’. [66] The author must risk alienation with the audience of the here and now in order to attain the supposedly universal acceptance of the ultimate audience, which is the cumulative response of Panhellenic fame: [67]
Here the notion of mimesis becomes an implicit promise that no change shall ever occur to accommodate the interests of any local audience in the here and now, that is, of the astoí ‘townspeople’. The authorized reperformance of a composition, if it is a true reenactment or mimesis, can guarantee the authenticity of the “original” composition. The author is saying about himself: “But no one who is not skilled [ a-sophos] can reenact my identity.” [69]
Elliptic Homer
Narrate to me, Muse, …
Still, this “I” of Homer is interchangeable with a “we,” as in the ἡμεῖς ‘we’ of Iliad II 486 or in the καὶ ἡμῖν ‘us too’ of Odyssey i 10, and I propose that such a “we” can refer elliptically to a whole vertical succession of performers. [73]