Archives: Chapters

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Conclusions

Conclusions Each chapter of this book has examined the aesthetic and poetic effects of a different type of conversation. In the first two chapters, we saw that one-on-one conversations in the Odyssey consistently highlight the conflict that the main characters in the poem feel between revealing themselves and/or believing what other characters […]

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Chapter 6. Group Contexts II—Athletic Games, Laments

Chapter 6. Group Contexts II—Athletic Games, Laments This chapter differs somewhat from the previous chapters in its organization and goals. Chapters 1-5 discussed various forms of lengthening and elaboration that occur in connection with repeating conversational types (one-on-one conversations, single speeches, and formal assemblies). The conversational types that were studied in these […]

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Chapter 5. Group Contexts I—Assemblies

Chapter 5. Group Contexts I—Assemblies Let us begin this discussion of assembly patterns with a basic question. What is an assembly? How can we recognize a given scene as an assembly rather than as simply a group of people talking, or a council, or an embassy? The ἀγορή, generally translated as “assembly,” […]

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Chapter 3. One-on-one Conversations (Iliad)

Chapter 3. One-on-one Conversations (Iliad) The Odyssey, as we have seen, uses conversation to dramatize the conflict between honesty and concealment that underlies Odysseus’ various reunions on Ithaca and indeed, much of the social interaction in the poem as a whole. The Iliad, too, uses one-on-one conversations to depict significant themes and […]

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Introduction

Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed […]