“Entering the house of Hades”

Horn, Fabian (2020): “Entering the house of Hades”. The formulaic language for metaphors of death and the question of deliberateness in Early Greek poetry. In: Biase-Dyson, Camilla di and Egg, Markus (eds.) : Drawing Attention to Metaphor: Case studies across time periods, cultures and modalities. Figurative Thought and Language, Vol. 5. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 159-188

Abstract

This paper considers the possibility of metaphors being used in a deliberate manner in Early Greek poetry and particularly Homer’s Iliad: the epic poems of Homer are shaped by a tradition of oral composition and formulaic language which contains a wealth of metonyms and metaphors. By focusing on the copious formulaic metaphors and metonyms of death in battle, it will be argued that the communicative purpose of metaphors, which is essential for philological interpretation, can be independent of deliberate usage and that deliberateness constitutes no reliable requirement for poetic purpose and effect.

• Item Type: Book Section
• Faculties: Languages and Literatures > Department 2 > Greek and Latin Philology
• Subjects: 800 Literature > 880 Classical and modern Greek literatures
• ISBN: 978-90-272-6149-6 ; 978-90-272-0501-8
• Place of Publication: Amsterdam, Philadelphia
• Language: English