Myths Of The Underworld In Contemporary Culture PDF Download

This book examines Homer's use of Hades as a poetic resource. By portraying Hades as a realm where vision is not possible, Homer creates a unique poetic environment where social constraints and divine prohibitions are not applicable. The resulting narrative emulates that of the Muses but is markedly distinct from it, as in Hades experimentation with and alteration of epic forms and values can be pursued, giving rise to a 'poetics of Hades'. In the Iliad, Homer shows how this alternative poetics works through the visit of Patroclus' shade in Achilles' dream. The recollection offered by the shade reveals an approach to its past in which regret, self-pity, and a lingering memory of intimate and emotional moments displace an objective tone and a traditional exposition of heroic values. The potential of Hades for providing alternative means of commemorating the past is more fully explored in the 'Nekyia' of Odyssey 11; there, Odysseus' extraordinary ability to see (idein) the dead in Hades allows him to meet and interview the shades of heroines and heroes of the epic past. The absolute confinement of Hades allows the shades to recount their stories from their own viewpoint. The poetic implications of this are important since by visiting Hades and hearing the shades' stories, Odysseus-and Homer--gains access to a tradition in which epic values associated with gender roles and even divine law are suspended in favour of a more immediate and personally inflected approach to the epic past. -- Prové de l'editorial.