Who's Who in ‘Homeric’ Society?

Geddes, A. G.

doi:10.1017/s0009838800029268

Cited by 57 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…1.397), or, for example, when Kyklops referred to his relationship with his ram (Od. 9.452-453; noted by Geddes [1984] 28). 46 Luraghi (2013a) 14-15;id.…”

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…As N. Luraghi points out, it seems hardly credible that a society with a traditionally institutionalised monarchy did not possess a specific word for a sole ruler.46 Moreover, there are notable inconsistencies in the description of monarchy in the poems.47 Every epic community had a basileus at the top, as the tradition required, but when the social fabric is described in more detail the monarchy tends to lose significance. No function in the society was reserved solely to the king,48 and the decisions in the community were made consensually.49 Neither Agamemnon in the "Iliad" nor 44 This circumstance (pointed out by Andreev [1979] 361-362;Geddes [1984] 28, 36; see also Luraghi [2013a] 15) makes the discussion of whether the Homeric basilees were kings (Carlier [1984] 131-230;van Wees [1992] 281-289; Lenz [1993] 175-256) or not (Quiller [1981]; Ulf [1990] 85-126;Hall [2007] 120-127 describe the basilees as bigmen; Donlan [1985];id. [1989];id.…”

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2013c) 134. 47 Note especially the discussion in Geddes (1984) 28-36. This does not deny the possibility to read coherence into the Homeric evidence by explaining discordant features as exceptional and assuming that the poet kept in mind different types of communities and leadership patterns (see especially Carlier [1984] 131-230; Lenz [1993] 175-256).…”

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This does not deny the possibility to read coherence into the Homeric evidence by explaining discordant features as exceptional and assuming that the poet kept in mind different types of communities and leadership patterns (see especially Carlier [1984] 131-230; Lenz [1993] 175-256). 48 See Geddes (1984) 31-36. The king was, naturally enough, the usual warleader and judge of his community, but in the tale of Odysseus in Od.…”

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

Kõiv¹

2016

Klio

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The article scrutinizes the development of the forms of leadership in the Early Iron Age and Archaic Greece, questioning the traditional view that per sonal leadership as described in the Homeric epics (the ‚Homeric basileia') was the rule during the Early Iron Age, but was replaced in the Archaic period by col lective aristocracies, and by tyrannies as a principally new kind of monarchy. The article questions the strict distinction between the ‚constitutional' forms of government like basileia and oligarchy, and tyrannis as an illegal break of the con stitutional order. The Early Iron Age archaeology supplies no evidence for institu tionalised and permanent personal leadership, and the Homeric epic, presenting a controversial vision of an ostensibly distant past, cannot be accepted as a reli able guide to the sociopolitical order of the Early Iron Age. The terms basileus and tyrannos were used largely synonymously until ca 400, demonstrating that the Archaic Greeks did not distinguish between legitimate basileia and illegal tyrannis in their contemporary world. The evidence, including the halflegendary accounts concerning particular poleis, suggests that the more or less firmly established monarchies emerged from the eighth century onwards. On the other hand, it infers constant tensions between competing elite groups striving for power, and the consequent fluctuation of the forms of government in the Archaic. The situation could have been similar during the Early Iron Age, which suggests that Early Iron Age Greeks were familiar with both collective and personal lead ership. The emergence of tyrannies and collectively governed poleis can be seen as varying, alternative, ways of polity formation resulting from the quickening development and growing tensions from the eighth century onwards; the legiti macy of both depended on local circumstances. Tyranny appears not as a break of established aristocratic order, but as the monarchic form of elite leadership; the legitimacy of both depended on local circumstances. Tyranny appears as the monarchic form of elite leadership in the early polis, which proved, however, unaccept able in the long term as personal rule became increasingly regarded as an undesirable negation of consensual order.

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“…1.397), or, for example, when Kyklops referred to his relationship with his ram (Od. 9.452-453; noted by Geddes [1984] 28). 46 Luraghi (2013a) 14-15;id.…”

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Evidence From the Heroic Epicmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

Kõiv¹

2016

Klio

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“…The pioneering work on Homeric politics is by Finley 1978Finley [1965, but the scholarship on the topic is extensive. Representatively, see Rose 1975;1992: 43-140;Donlan 1979;Quiller 1981;Geddes 1984;Raaflaub 1993;Flaig 1994;van Wees 1992;Hölkeskamp 1997;Thalmann 1998;Hammer 2002;Raaflaub and Wallace 2007: 24-32;Elmer 2013. eyes of the community, and of each other, far from the battlefields and assemblies "where men win glory" (kydianeiras: Il. 4.225,1.490).…”

Section: Politics In / Of the Odysseymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Authority of Telemachus

Gottesman

2014

Classical Antiquity

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The role of Telemachus in the Odyssey is a perennial puzzle. This paper argues that Telemachus must reconstruct authority in Ithaca in order to present the death of the suitors as a lawful execution rather than as an extra-legal murder. This is part of the Odyssey's strategy to exonerate Odysseus from any possible blame. The job falls to Telemachus because in the Odyssey authority is premised on personal relationships, and the suitors simply do not know Odysseus. The construction of authority occurs in a sympotic and domestic arena where Telemachus competes against the suitors to assert control over the key social practices of marriage (gamos), transportation (pompê), and hospitality (xeinia).

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From “Imperishable Glory” to History: TheIliadand the Trojan War*

Grethlein

2009

Epic and History

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Who's Who in ‘Homeric’ Society?

Cited by 57 publications

References 4 publications

Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

Basileus, tyrannosand polis. The Dynamics of Monarchy in Early Greece

The Authority of Telemachus

From “Imperishable Glory” to History: TheIliadand the Trojan War*

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