I noticed a couple of phrases repeated throughout the Iliad and I suppose they could be repeated because they rhyme in Greek since this is a poem in Greek, but I kind of think the reason they are repeated so often is because they are important. I will share two of my favorites.
"Hera, of the white arms" I read this as I am sure you did at least fifty times through out the past couple of chapters. I started to wonder why on earth would Homer repeat this phrase over and over again. Last Thursday we discussed beauty within the Iliad and that really made me think about this phrase. I realized when any woman is referred to as "so and so of the white arms" they are a woman of exquisite beauty. And thus I began to wonder why would that particular characteristic signify true beauty. After further thought I realized that mortals often worked outside and therefore would have tan and possibly sun burned skin. Those of noble descent (i.e. Helen) and most obviously gods and goddesses did not spend their time toiling in the hot sun and therefore had the beauty and status of white arms. Isn't it interesting, the very thing many women strive for in the United States, the tan beautiful body would have been seemingly unappealing to the people of Ancient Greece?
"and they obeyed him" This phrase actually began to annoy me....Clearly, if the reader continues to read the god or person who has been given an instruction carries out the instruction and therefore obeys. Why is this statement needed? I still don't exactly know but from what I can figure, the gods especially were very...opinionated (: and stubborn. So when one god (namely Zeus) said to another god "Go. Do this" most of the time the order was followed but sometimes it wasn't. As we see Hera multiple times opposing Zeus' ruling to stay away from the Trojan War. After Zeus initially gave that order the phrase "and they obeyed him" is not found. So maybe the reason that obedience is so stressed is because it is not as common within the daily interaction between the gods.
P.S. I also commented on Mallory's Post, it was quite long.... just sayin (: haha
Love, Mildred/Betsy Bevers/Rachel
I agree with you. Most questions about the Iliad can be answered simply by further reading and deeper thinking. It is also important to think of the characters as real people with real emotions. I know I read through it too quickly sometimes and get annoyed by repeated phrases, but I should be giving them more attention. Also, I never thought about why Homer referred to the beautiful women as the "ones of the white arms", but now it makes sense. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm real beautiful because I have REAL white arms! That was really interesting!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea about the phrases-or titles- being repeated so often because of the importance of what was being said. Another example of repetition to show significance is in the Bible. One of the ways Hebrew writing emphasized something is to repeat it. When the Hebrews repeats something it is for impact. It is like saying, “I saw a stone. I saw a big stone. I saw a big, big stone. I saw a big, big, big stone.” If someone were to speak like this, you would understand that he or she was describing a gigantic boulder. A boulder beyond what anyone could lift, beyond what anyone could handle himself. In the Bible, when the angels around the throne (Revelation 4) say “holy, holy, holy,” they are saying that God’s holiness is beyond measure, beyond what they could bear! I hate to compare the holiness of our God with "Hera, the white arms" but the theme still stands: If you want a point taken across you say it more than once!
In Hebrew there is not a suffix that means more...so for example they could not write "holier or holiest." the way to emphasize was to repeat the word 3 times which was the amount to repeat it so that the audience would know that it was important and unmeasurable holiness. Just as you were saying...just a little background to that.
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