Johannes Haubold

Homer's People: Epic Poetry and Social Formation

Introduction 1. Laoi in early Greek hexameter poetry 2. Homers people 3. Laos epic in performance Appendix A. Epic formulae Appendix B. Ritual formulae.

Greek epic: a near eastern genre ?

This article addresses a problem that is rapidly advancing to the status of a new Homeric question: the relationship between Greek epic and the narrative traditions of neighbouring Near Eastern cultures. The present situation recalls the debates that raged over the issue of oral poetry not so long ago. The formula used to be the central object of contention, now it is the ‘Near Eastern parallel’. Today there are so many parallels on record that it is hard to keep track. Yet, as with the formula, the number of known parallels seems to bear little relation to their usefulness. Now as then, problems of the most basic kind abound. What, for a start, is a Near Eastern parallel? And why should we care if someone pointed one out to us? Questions such as these are only just beginning to be asked in earnest. As with the oral-traditional hypothesis, the Near Eastern hypothesis concerns the whole of Greek literature. But the problem has crystallised around epic, and so it is epic that concerns me here. In the first part of my paper, I sketch out briefly what I see as some of the parameters of the present impasse. In the second half, I suggest a framework for future study that enables us to see what we have come to call ‘Greek epic’ as one regional offshoot of the broader Near Eastern genre of cosmic history. In order to illustrate my claim, I look at one of the more notorious parallels between Greek and Near Eastern literatures: the problem of mortality as developed in the Iliad and the Poem of Gilgamesh . I argue that the full implications of the issue are better understood within the overall framework proposed in this article.

Wars ofWissenschaft: the new quest for Troy

This article looks at the recent debate in the German media and among German academics about the nature of Bronze Age Troy. It suggests that some of the more unusual features of the debate—such as its exceptional violence—should be seen as reflecting the cultural and political upheavals that are transforming German society in the wake of unification. Whereas the public response reflects major political developments such as the redefinition of German citizenship, the academic response is underpinned by current battles over the university system and the nature of academic inquiry. In this context, Bronze Age Wilusa, as reconstructed by Manfred Korfmann, takes on the status of an evocative cultural and academic icon which enables post-unification German society to explore some deep-seated anxieties and aspirations.

From Text to Reading in Enūma Eliš

This article makes two main points. First, the transmitted text of Enūma eliš can be more reliably construed than has hitherto been assumed, provided we take seriously the spelling of the manuscripts and the rules of Akkadian grammar. If we do this, and that is my second point, we can also make progress at the level of interpretation. To illustrate these claims, I look at two passages that have caused difficulties to modern readers. In Enūma eliš I.1–10 we encounter some forms that seem prima facie to defy the normal rules of Akkadian grammar. Through careful analysis of spelling, syntax, and poetic context I show that the text as it stands can in fact be securely construed. I then turn to a passage that the poet himself introduces as a masterpiece of verbal craft. In Enūma eliš II.61–70 the god Ea soothes the excited Anšar by reassuring him that he has the situation under control. I argue that existing translations misconstrue the personal pronoun šâši and consequently misinterpret the climactic final couplet of the speech. Clarifying the grammar of the passage enables us to establish not only what the text says, but also to appreciate it better.