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The Structure of the Iliad, Illustrated by the Speeches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

J. L. Myres
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Extract

In a recent paper (JHS LXXII 1 ff.) is set out the distribution of speeches in the Odyssey, and the principles of their arrangement within its principal episodes. It is an obvious and necessary counterpart, to apply the same method of study to the Iliad. Though much has been done by Sir John Sheppard in The Pattern of the Iliad (1932), he has not made express use of the grouping of the speeches; and the present paper is designed to supplement his analysis of their contents by the special examination of their positions in the general design. I am still acutely aware of my debt to The Pattern of the Iliad; and it seems to me only possible to set out my own suggestions in full, at the cost of some repetition from a work so closely linked in its general theme.

Speeches in the Iliad (over 670) are more numerous than in the Odyssey (629 + 8 in Demodocus' second lay), but their distribution is similar:

The largest number, fifty, is in Odyssey XVII; forty-five are in Iliad XXIV.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 74 , November 1954 , pp. 122 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1954

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References

page 123 note 1 Examples are:—XII. 329–42; 370–407; XIII. 352 ff.; 487 ff.; XIV. 489 ff.; XV. 301–43; 583–660; 673–725; XVI. 275–419; 569–607; XX. 393–418; 455–503.

page 124 note 1 Homer and the Monuments, Oxford, 1950.

page 132 note 1 Casualty list following Zeus' inarticulate intervention may indicate an ‘undeveloped’ interpolation.

page 134 note 1 In this section six speeches are in three pairs.

page 140 note 1 Observe the unusually formal correspondence within this section.

page 140 note 2 This duel completes a traditional list.