The Iliad’s big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition

Barker, Elton (2011). The Iliad’s big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition. Trends in Classics, 3(1) pp. 1–17.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/tcs.2011.001

URL: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/tcs.2011.3.issue-1...

Abstract

In book 5 of the Iliad Sarpedon suffers so greatly from a wound that his ‘‘ψυχή leaves him’. Rather than dying, however, Sarpedon lives to fight another day. This paper investigates the phrase τὸν δὲ λίπε ψυχή in extant archaic Greek poetry to gain a sense of its traditional referentiality and better assess the meaning of Sarpedon’s swoon. Finding that all other instances of the ψυχή leaving the body signify death, it suggests that the Iliad exploits a traditional unit of utterance to flag up the importance of Sarpedon to this version of the Troy story.

Viewing alternatives

Look up in Google Scholar

Download history

Metrics

Public Attention

Altmetrics from Altmetric

Number of Citations

Citations from Dimensions

Item Actions

Export

About

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

Recommendations