Status Warriors: War, Violence and Society in Homer and History

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Originally presented as the author's thesis--Leiden, 1992. STATUS WARRIORS WAR, VIOLENCE AND SOCIETY IN HOMER AND HISTORY Copyright ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER ONE HISTORY IN POETRY ON RECONSTRUCTING THE HOMERIC WORLD 1. Fact and fantasy : the fourth race 2. Tradition : old poems or the latest songs? (i) Compositional technique (ii) Subject matter (iii) Social function 3. The case of the Big Round Shield 4. History in poetry : points of method CHAPTER TWO LIFE IN TOWN THE ORGANISATION OF HOUSEHOLD, COMMUNITY AND STATE 1. The hidden society : reconstructions and models 2. Buildings and people 3. Government : the princes and the people 4. Beyond the town 5. A hero's home 6. Friends : the men who come to dinner 7. The economy of the estate 8. Life in town : fact and fiction CHAPTER THREE THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ANGRY STATUS, PERSONAL POWER AND VIOLENCE 1. Explanations of violence (i) The fragmentary society (ii) The heroic impulse (iii) The shame-culture (iv) Assumptions and questions 2. The meaning of honour and excellence 3. Princes and bad men : ideals and exploitation (i) Proper beatings (ii) Unjust violence (iii) Undeserved gifts (iv) Fighting over plunder 4. Competition I : personal excellence 5. Competition II : power and wealth 6. Competition III : the struggle for respect (i) The Benvolio-syndrome (ii) The attraction of hybris (iii) The bullying tendency (iv) Questions of superiority 7. The ethics of anger (i) The moral boundaries of anger (ii) Pity (iii) Reconciliation (iv) Self-control (v) The authorities 8. The might of men : strength, connections and justice 9. The importance of being angry : fact and fiction CHAPTER FOUR PILLAGE AND DESTRUCTION PREDATORY AND STATUS WARFARE 1. Warriors at peace 2. Troy I : the insult that launched a thousand ships 3. Troy II : the ideal of annihilation 4. Private conflicts, brawls and wars (i) The War of Men and Kentaurs (ii) The War of Kouretes and Aitolians (iii) The First Sack of Troy (iv) The War of the Seven against Thebes (v) The War of the Pylians and Epeians 5. Communities in competition : dangerous games (i) Champion-combat : Trojans versus Akhaians (ii) Games : the humiliation of communities 6. Predators 7. Booty and the Homeric economy (i) Subsistence economy : autarky and fair exchange (ii) Treasure economy : greed and generosity (iii) Convertibility of goods 8. Gift-exchange : the hospitality-racket 9. Trade and plunder : profit and prestige 10. Pillage and destruction : fact and fiction CONCLUSION (i) Homer (ii) History (iii) Violence APPENDICES Appendix One Towns And Townsfolk 1. The size of the population 2. Terms for towns and townsfolk Appendix Two Princes And Sc.eptres 1. Princely families and their elders 2. Symbolic and procedural functions of the sceptre Appendix Three Monarchs, Dynasties, Temenea 1. Kings versus Big Men 2. The royal estates Appendix Four Booty : Prizes And Portions 1. The mechanism of distribution 2. The principles of distribution NOTES Notes to Preface Notes to Chapter One Notes to Chapter Two Notes to Chapter Three Notes to Chapter Four Notes to Appendix One Notes to Appendix Two Notes to Appendix Three Notes to Appendix Four BIBLIOGRAPHY INDICES Subject index Index of passages