Genealogy and catalogue: Thematic relevance and narrative elaboration in Homer and Hesiod.

Abstract

The many short studies about catalogues in Homer and Hesiod consider three issues: identifying the characteristics of a typical catalogue; relating a particular catalogue to some external reality; determining the narrative structure of the catalogue. All of these approaches assume that all catalogues are the same. In addition, none of these works discuss the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. This dissertation addresses these two matters. The first chapter shows that there are two types of catalogues, each with demonstrably different characteristics and poetic implications. The first is the Marked Catalogue, characterized by the elements usually associated with archaic catalogues. The second is the Unmarked Catalogue, characterized mainly by the lack of the above elements. Finally, the Teichoscopia is considered in detail. The second chapter considers the Catalogue of Heroines in the Odyssey, a Marked Catalogue in internal narrative. Odysseus chooses the thematic material in the Catalogue so as to show Arete that he is reassimilated to human society. The thematic implications of the extended genealogies of Arete and Theoclymenos, are also considered. The third chapter discusses the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, a Marked Catalogue. The author crafts this catalogue so as to provide a bridge between the worlds of the Theogony and the Iliad and Odyssey, through the repeated appearances of Heracles, Agamemnon and Menelaus, and Zeus. In addition, the Catalogue of Suitors anticipates the world view of the Homeric poems.