The Geography of a Legend
Aeolic/Anatolian Phase, the Mythopoetic Phase and Homer
In Part 2 of my proposed roadmap to the development of the Trojan War legend, I cover the Aeolic/Anatolian phase, which occurred in mainly in western Anatolian in the early Iron Age, and Mythopoetic phase, which happened along with the flowering of Ionian poetry in the 8th century, but may have had roots going back into the 9th. These are the two traditions with which Homer worked in the latter part of the 8th century, and whom I touch on only briefly, as I will cover his epic separately.
Keywords: the Trojan War, the Iliad, the Homeric poems, the Cyclic poems, Homer, Literary models.
Acknowledgements: As always, I am deeply indebted to Cynthia Gralla of Royal Roads University for her kind assistance and support in the creation of my work, including help with research, excellent editorial suggestions and many insightful comments. I also received much-needed help from Eric Luttrell of Texas A&M, which was indispensable to formulating my arguments and correcting my many unfounded suppositions. They have saved me from many embarrassing errors. Those that remain are solely my own.
3. Aeolic/Anatolian Phase.
This map is a detail of the one showing my overview of the whole evolutionary process. It focuses on what I consider the crucial part of the Trojan War legend’s development. The White Nile represents the Aeolic/Anatolian phase of the legend’s evolution. During this phase, which occurred in the early Iron Age, Aeolic settlers from Greece intermingled with western Anatolians (chiefly Luwians) to develop versions of the Trojan War story, melding Aeolic traditions with Luwian traditions. (Hittite records indicate there were Mycenaeans present on Lesbos as early as the 15th century, when the Trojan War began.) Greek folk heroes (Achilles, Odysseus and Diomedes) found their way into the legend in this phase; perhaps Diomedes first, then Odysseus; Achilles may have been a later addition than the others. He was originally a Thessalian folk hero in the mold of Heracles – a traditional Indo-European hero, not the Iliadic Achilles he would become – and the Aeolic settlers most likely brought him along with them when they emigrated to the west coast of Anatolia and Lesbos. Diomedes, who seems to have originated in Aetolia (although he appears in the Iliad as king of Argos)1, Odysseus and Hector were introduced and incorporated into the legend as the poets saw a need.2
This is also when the legend began to acquire its linguistic strata, along with words and phrases from different dialects and periods “like a snowball rolling down the hill of time,” in the words of Caroline Alexander (her introduction to her 2015 translation of the Iliad, pp. xxi). Thus, the oldest stratum is Aeolic Greek, originally spoken in Boeotia and Thessaly,3 with the later changes coming about as the legend (in various forms) was handed down from one generation of poets to another. Possibly as early as the late 10th century, the Aeolic epic began to enter the work of Ionian poets, who “enhanced” it with their own parallel traditions and “made [the epic] their own” by around the year 800 (Alexander 2009, pp. 11; her introduction to the Iliad; pp. xxiv), and this is the form Homer (himself, an Ionian poet) would receive it in, with its archaic features intact.
References for the Aeolic/Anatolian phase:
Alexander, Caroline. The War the Killed Achilles. New York: Viking Penguin, 2009. (I question some of her conclusions, but valuable and with lots of good information.)
Homer. The Iliad, A New Translation (translated by Caroline Alexander). New York: HarperCollins, 2015. (See her introduction.)
Bachvarova, Mary R. From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. (A good discussion of how the epic likely evolved in western Anatolia in this period. I don’t embrace all of her views. See my essay, Wrestling with Proteus, for my objections.)
4. Mythopoetic Phase.
The Blue Nile represents the Mythopoetic phase that could have begun in 9th century Greece (Renaissance Dam), but occurred mainly in the 8th (Senner Dam), to explain the end of the “Age of Heroes” (the Bronze Age Collapse); it is reflected in the works of Hesiod (late 8th-early 7th century) and later in Greek lyric poetry (mid 7th century). Both the Theban War and Trojan War are blamed for the collapse in this phase (Hesiod). Zeus’ plan seems to be either missing or (perhaps more likely) nascent. I believe the sack of Troy became the key theme of the legend in this period, probably drawing on Hittite and other Near-Eastern sources. (See Wrestling with Proteus for my thoughts on this.)
The 8th century saw a great flowering of Ionian poetry and stories of the Trojan War were part of this (the efflorescence of Arthurian literature in Europe in the 12th AD presents a similar case – a topic I will develop in the future). These poems existed separately and were standalone, so (to use Martin West’s examples) there would have been a poem that began with the Judgement of Paris, included his elopement with Helen and ended with their marriage in Troy. (A fragment of Sappho’s poetry describes their wedding.) There would also have likely been a poem about the gathering at Aulis, another about the construction of the Trojan Horse, and so on. These works existed alongside stories of Achilles’ life and exploits, the deeds of Heracles and other Greek heroes like Bellerophon and Jason, a “proto-Odyssey” in some form, and epics about the Theban war. These poems have their roots back in the 12th century or perhaps (as I have suggested) even earlier.4 They were unlikely to be seen as part of a comprehensive whole (that is, no overall Heracles legend) to be performed together or having any particular order, although they all had a place relative to each other in the overall mythic timeline. (Again, the Nart sagas provide examples of how such poems could coexist.)
All the various mythological elements – the Sun Maiden, the Divine Twins, the Judgement of Paris, the Trojan Horse, cattle theft, divine twin sacrifice, abductions, elopements, serpents, magic weapons, immortal horses, enchanted apples, dead heroes translated to “otherworldly” realms, and the practice of human sacrifice in dire circumstances (such as a siege) – were pulled into the poems from a multitude of sources: Greek, Anatolian, Ugaritic, perhaps others.5 Other elements that were incorporated include divine beauty contests, the tales of the returning husband and the one-eyed ogre. All these themes are of Bronze Age and ancient Indo-European origin, and would have seemed appropriate the furnish a grand heroic age, long past.6 This brings us to the most important phase of all: Homer.
References for the Mythopoetic phase:
Bachvarova, Mary R. From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. (Relisted, as she covers both phases.)
Burgess, Jonathan. The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. (An influential work. Valuable, although I have reservations about some of his going-on positions; see Wrestling with Proteus.)
5. Homer, the Iliad.
Homer composes the Iliad7 over a period of decades while traveling through western Anatolia and probably Euboea, drawing primarily from the older epic-historical tradition, while alluding to the mythopoetic tradition. He leaves out the beginning of the legend and also the sack (which contradicts the epic-historical tradition), focusing instead on the mênis of Achilles. Homer writes his epic as a personal possession; it is conveyed orally by himself and others whom he taught, and was likely performed while in composition. The epic evolved while he was still writing it, as described by Martin West, but it is possible that parts were being transmitted independently of Homer before he finished (Jebel Alia Dam).
How he composed his epic – the steps he went through and the sources he may have encountered and used – is itself a long and fascinating story. In future posts, I will do what I can to present a synopsis of Martin West’s monumental work on this subject. For now, I will move on to what happened next: the Cyclic phase.
References for the Iliad:
Homer. The Iliad, A New Translation (translated by Caroline Alexander). New York: HarperCollins, 2015.
West, Martin. The Making of the Iliad. Oxford University Press, 2011. (Indispensable. Expensive but available through university libraries.)
Muellner, Leonard. The Anger of Achilles: Mênis in Greek Epic (Updated). Cornell University Press. 1996.
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_MuellnerL.The_Anger_of_Achilles.1996. (An interesting, if dense read, but a valuable perspective. I’m not sure I embrace all his positions, to the extent I understand them, but that may be due to my ignorance.)
This is the end of the second installment. Part 3 coming soon…
Footnotes
Aetolia is just north of the Corinthian Gulf, southeast of Thessaly and east of Boeotia.
Although Achilles may have been present among the Aeolic speaking settlers before the others, he appears to have been added to the legend later. He doesn’t fit into the main narrative; unlike Diomedes and Odysseus, he is an outsider, not subject to the Oath of Tyndareus (later rationalized as his being too young) and brought into the legend via a prophecy – a typical poetic excuse. This suggests the legends of Achilles existed in parallel with the Trojan War legends for a long time before they were finally merged. It’s purely speculative, but seems possible, that this might not have happened until the Ionian poets took over the narrative. The Aeolic poets may have preferred to keep their hero separate – to themselves as it were – but the Ionians would have had no such qualms and Achilles was a stirring and glamourous figure, well suited to being their “new” epic’s principle hero. Hector seems to have been added to the legend as a foil for Achilles, since the historical Paris/Alexander survived the war. Odysseus and Hector’s origin are among the most obscure of the major heroes.
As Alexander observes, it is no doubt meaningful that the Iliad has multiple references to Thessaly, Boeotia and other places related to them; these are all signs of the strong, lasting imprint the Aeolic poets left on the epic.
For example, Martin West argues the legend of the voyage of the Argo was first composed in the 12 century or not much later (West 2013, 16). Bellerophon has echoes of the war in Anatolia in the late 15th century, as do the exploits of Heracles and Theseus.
Whether the Mesopotamian influences came in this early is questionable, given Greece had lost most of its previous connections to the Near East. Any Egyptian influence came much later.
Similar embellishments occurred with the Arthurian tales.
Herodotus, The Histories (5th century), is our earliest source for the name (Alexander’s Introduction to the Iliad, pp. xv.)