Classical Echoes—Epic
Classics 263
UMass Spring '06
 
   

Some terms associated with the study of ancient epic

Homer
the Homeric question
aoidos
formula; oral composition
rhapsode
panhellenism
dactylic hexameter

Iliad:

proem
menis
geras
time
kleos

Homeric simile
ecphrasis
akhos/penthos ("grief")

Iliad characters:

Achilleus (akhos + laos)
Agamemnon
Menelaos
Diomedes
Aias (x2)
Odysseus
Helen
Priam
Paris/Alexandros
Hektor
Aineias/Aeneas
Sarpedon
Andromache
Hekabe/Hecuba
Briseis
Nestor
Patroklos
Meleager/Kleopatra (including the meaning of her name) /Phoinix

Iliad gods:

Muse
Thetis
Zeus
Hera
Athene
Aphrodite
Apollo
Poseidon
Hephaistos
Hermes (Argeïphontes)

Odyssey:

nostos
polytropos Odysseus

Ithaka
the suitors
H
elen's drug, ne-penthe
Phaiakians
underworld
ring composition
Cretan lies

Odysseus' scar

Odyssey people:

Odysseus (odussomai)
Outis
"Nobody"
Telemachos
Penelope
Laertes
Phemios
Demodokos
Agamemnon/Orestes/Aigisthos/Klytaimestra
Eurykleia
Eumaios
Kalypso (kalupto)
Nausikaä, Alkinoös
Polyphemos
Autolykos