Homeric epaineo: The politics of reception and the poetics of consent (Greece)

Through close examination of the Homeric usage of epaineo , this thesis examines the representation of collective decision making in Homer, and the thematic importance the Iliad in particular attaches to a mode of decision making one can describe in terms of 'consensus.' Chapter 1 isolates the function of epaineo as part of a system of five formulaic expressions that together constitute a 'grammar of reception.' Epaineo emerges as a term for the most efficacious response an audience can give to a speaker. Chapter 2 explains this efficacy and relates Homeric epaineo to later usages of the verb by examining the social force of 'praise.' Chapter 3 begins to develop a reading of the Iliad in terms of consensus by exploring the many forces (and their phraseological markers) that interfere with epainos. Chapter 4 balances this analysis of social dysfunction by observing the three figures (Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomedes) who specialize in the practice of ainos, defined as 'socially constructive speech.' Chapter 5 brings together the results of previous chapters to produce a sustained reading of the Iliad that focuses on the drive toward re-establishing the social cohesion of epainos. Epainos---that is, the global support, or consensus, of the community---is not only central to the thematics of the Iliad; it is also presented by the Iliad itself as the fundamental force that creates and sustains Panhellenic epic tradition.