Introduction
Part I
§3. In saying what I just said, I am reviving arguments I presented in an early work (Nagy 1972, hereafter cited by way of a second edition dated 2023.08.21). Arguing against the claim of Ernst Risch (1958:92) that φορῆναι is an artificial creation paired with φορήμεναι (as in XV 310), on the model of the athematic type μιγῆναι (ΙΧ 133, etc.) as paired with μιγήμεναι (VI 161, etc.), Ι pointed out (Nagy 1972 [2023.08.21]:64-65) that no other Homeric verbs with present forms ending in -έω have -ῆναι for infinitive. Instead, we see -ήμεναι, as in καλήμεναι (X 125), πενθήμεναι (xviii 174), ποθήμεναι (xi 110), φιλήμεναι (XXII 265). Also, in the case of athematic aorist pairs like δαμήμεναι vs. δαμῆναι, δαήμεναι vs. δαῆναι, μιγήμεναι vs. μιγῆναι, φανήμεναι vs. φανῆναι, etc., “the type in –ῆναι regularly occurs in the archaic slot of line-final position, or in the secondary conversion-slot immediately preceding the trochaic caesura; the type in –ήμεναι, on the other hand, regularly occurs immediately preceding the bucolic diaeresis” (Nagy 1972 [2023.08.21]:64); further, “the latter slot tends to suit a relatively greater proportion of innovated forms” (again, Nagy p. 64).
§4. As for the dialect features of phorēnai (φορῆναι), they are clearly Arcado-Cypriote from the standpoint of reconstructing backward in time from the first to the second millennium BCE. We may compare such forms as Arcadian ἀπειθῆναι and Cypriote ku-me-re-na-i = κυμερῆναι (Nagy 1972 [2023.08.21]:63, with reference to Thumb and Scherer 1959:133, 169). The two basic features are:
§8. My inquiry returns, with modifications, to the possible reading, first mentioned by Ventris and Chadwick, of po-re-na- as phorēnai. A relevant piece of evidence, I suggest, is the syntax of the following Homeric passage:
The text of PY Tn 316 transcribed
A working translation of the transcribed text
§12. Focusing on the expression do–ra–qe pe–re po–re–na–qe a–ke, at lines r2-r3 of the recto and at lines v2, v5, and v8 of the verso, I highlight the following formal correspondences with the Homeric passage that I already quoted:
Part II
§20. Although I have replicated in Part I most of the content I presented in the original printed version of my work in Nagy 1994–1995, I have omitted some additional arguments I made about po-re-na- in footnote 10 on the printed page 173 there. That is because those arguments are now superseded, in my opinion, by further arguments presented in an essay by Roger Woodard (2018.02.04; also 2020.11.03), where he has more to say not only about Linear B po-re-na- but also about two other forms that he proves to be relevant, Linear B po-re-si and po-re-no-. I agree with his argumentation about all three of these Linear B forms. In my Bibliography below, I include relevant works cited by Woodard (the most important of these works: Palaima 1996–1997 and 1999).
Bibliography
Nagy, G. 2023.08.19, new version of an archived essay dating from 2020.11.03. “Greek dialects in the late second millennium BCE.” Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/observations-on-greek-dialects-in-the-late-second-millennium-bce-2/. Pamphlet 1 in the series “Pamphlets from the New Alexandria Foundation.”
Nagy, G. 2023.08.20, new version of an archived essay dating from 2015.07.22. “East of the Achaeans: Making up for a missed opportunity while reading Hittite texts.” Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/east-of-the-achaeans-making-up-for-a-missed-opportunity-while-reading-hittite-texts-2/. Pamphlet 2 in the series “Pamphlets from the New Alexandria Foundation.”
Nagy, G. 2023.08.21, new version of Greek: An Updating of a Survey of Recent Work, second edition. Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/greek-an-updating-of-a-survey-of-recent-work-second-edition/.
Nagy, G. 2023.08.22, new version of an archived essay, originally published as Nagy, G. 2011. “The Aeolic Component of Homeric Diction.” Proceedings of the 22nd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, ed. S. W. Jamison, H. C. Melchert, and B. Vine, 133–179. Bremen. Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/the-aeolic-component-of-homeric-diction/. Pamphlet 3 in the series “Pamphlets from the New Alexandria Foundation.”
Nagy, G. 2023.09.04. “Greek myths about invasions and migrations during the so-called Dark Age.” Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/greek-myths-about-invasions-and-migrations-during-the-so-called-dark-age/. Pamphlet 4 in the series “Pamphlets from the New Alexandria Foundation.”
Nagy, G. 2023.09.07, present version. “Yet another look at a possible Mycenaean reflex in Homer: phorēnai.” Classical Continuum. https://continuum.fas.harvard.edu/yet-another-look-at-a-possible-mycenaean-reflex-in-homer-phorenai/. Pamphlet 5 in the series “Pamphlets from the New Alexandria Foundation.”