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Rereading Death: Ethics and Aesthetics in the Ancient

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Rereading Death: Ethics and Aesthetics in the Ancient REREADING DEATH: ETHICS AND AESTHETICS IN THE ANCIENT RECEPTION OF HOMERIC BATTLE NARRATIVE by Nicholas Kauffman A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, MD March, 2015 [Intended to be blank] ii Abstract In this dissertation, I examine the many famous death scenes in the Iliad and argue that their reception within antiquity reflects a lively and diverse discourse about the meaning of violence, and specifically of death in battle. As evidence of this reception, I consider later Greek epics and the exegetical tradition, viewing these texts using the methodological frameworks of intertextuality and reception studies. In the first chapter, I provide a descriptive analysis of the Iliad’s deaths and discuss the often conflicting interpretations of them advanced in modern scholarship. I argue that these deaths are underdetermined, that the text itself articulates no clear ideological framework within which to understand them, and I view this underdeterminedness as productive, in that it makes possible and even encourages dialogue among later readers. In the subsequent chapters I examine three texts that engage in this dialogue. First, I look at the death scenes in Apollonius’ Argonautica. Though these are largely constructed from Homeric motifs, I show that Apollonius consistently defamiliarizes these motifs and thus calls into question not only the formal qualities of the Iliadic narrative but also its ethical underpinnings. In Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, as I show in the following chapter, the deaths are designed to seem Homeric, and they are formally almost identical to their Iliadic counterparts. But I argue that this similarity belies subtle differences, and that Quintus is generally less interested in the ethical and emotional significance of death in battle and more interested in its aesthetic qualities. Finally, I consider the reading of the Iliad’s deaths preserved in the exegetical scholia to the epic, which represent the most direct response to these scenes available to us. Interestingly, the scholiasts respond to death not primarily as an ethical or aesthetic phenomenon, but as a locus for exploring iii cultural identity. They highlight ways in which Greek and “barbarian” deaths differ, and seem to take a kind of pleasure in the latter. These case studies reveal three very different ways in which ancient readers found (or made) meaning in the Iliad’s battle narratives. iv Acknowledgements I am grateful to my advisor, Professor Silvia Montiglio, whose Iliad seminar prompted me to pursue this project. Her teaching has been consistently inspiring, and her guidance has deeply shaped my approach to ancient texts. She advised me throughout the process of writing this dissertation, providing countless suggestions on points both large and small. I am also grateful to the entire Classics Department at Johns Hopkins University. Many conversations with various members of the faculty and with my fellow graduate students have influenced the thought and arguments reflected in this dissertation. Finally, I am thankful to my wife, Kjerstin, who has been a constant support to me, devoting many of her busy evenings to discussions of dead men in poems written thousands of years ago, and often offering me just the right insights at just the right times. Though it seems not quite right to dedicate a work on death and slaughter to someone as lovely and lively as her, there are moments of beauty and grace in the poetry I discuss here, and it is on those grounds that I do dedicate it to her. v Note on the spelling of Greek names: I have generally used phonetic transliterations of Greek names rather than their Latinized versions (e.g. Imbrios rather than Imbrius), except in the cases of better known individuals, where I have used conventional spellings (Achilles, Ajax, etc.). vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1. Subject......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Scope ........................................................................................................................... 6 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 7 4. Ethics and Aesthetics ................................................................................................ 12 5. Outline of the Chapters ............................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1: Describing Iliadic Death ................................................................................. 19 1. Death Scenes and the Oral Tradition ........................................................................ 22 2. Philhellenism............................................................................................................. 27 3. Biographies ............................................................................................................... 29 4. Similes....................................................................................................................... 44 5. Wounds ..................................................................................................................... 58 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 72 Chapter 2. Displacing Death: Parody and Pathos in Apollonius’ Argonautica ................ 75 1. Dying in Battle .......................................................................................................... 81 2. Dying out of Battle.................................................................................................. 105 3. Monstrously Beautiful Deaths ................................................................................ 119 4. Death and the Ethics of Reading ............................................................................. 131 Chapter 3: Death Without Pathos in Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica ...................... 135 1. Philhellenism........................................................................................................... 140 2. Biographies ............................................................................................................. 142 3. Similes..................................................................................................................... 153 4. Wounds ................................................................................................................... 166 5. The Aesthetics of Slaughter .................................................................................... 173 vii Chapter 4. Bloodthirsty Scholarship: Responses to Death in the Iliad Scholia .............. 191 1. The Involved Reader ............................................................................................... 193 2. Feeling Death .......................................................................................................... 198 3. Learning from Death ............................................................................................... 213 4. Savoring Death........................................................................................................ 224 5. Conclusion: The Use and Abuse of Homeric Death ............................................... 232 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 239 1.1 Individual Deaths in the Iliad ............................................................................... 240 1.2 Biographies in the Iliad ......................................................................................... 245 1.3 Death Similes in the Iliad ..................................................................................... 247 1.4 Graphic Wounds in the Iliad ................................................................................. 249 1.5 Slaughter in the Iliad ............................................................................................. 251 3.1 Individual Deaths in the Posthomerica ................................................................. 252 3.2 Biographies in the Posthomerica .......................................................................... 256 3.3 Death Similes in the Posthomerica ....................................................................... 257 3.4 Graphic Wounds in the Posthomerica .................................................................. 259 3.5 Slaughter in the Posthomerica .............................................................................. 261 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 265 Curriculum Vitae ...........................................................................................................
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