Newton 1998 Cloak and Shield in Odyssey 14

Cloak and Shield in "Odyssey" 14Author(s): Rick M. NewtonSource: The Classical Journal, Vol. 93, No. 2 (Dec., 1997 - Jan., 1998), pp. 143-156Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and SouthStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3298135 .Accessed: 16/02/2015 16:24

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CLOAK AND SHIELD IN ODYSSEY 14

he "blameless tale" (alvo; &dgov, 14.508) which the disguised Odysseus relates to Eumaeus the swineherd in Odyssey 14.462-506 has not attracted much scholarly

attention.1 The story of how Odysseus dupes Thoas the Aetolian into dropping his cloak illustrates the craftiness of the hero, to be sure. But the Odyssey is replete with illustrations of Odysseus' cleverness, and some readers may find that this particular account pales by comparison with the wily Ithacan's many other exploits. It is true that the story evokes words of praise from Eumaeus: he classifies the tale as an alvo;. Though clearly entertaining, however, the joke is not riotously funny. Lacking a real punch line, it does not make us laugh, and we may wonder if Eumaeus' generous classification of the account as "blameless" (if indeed this is the meaning of dlgluov) is more a reflection of his simple rustic tastes than it is a factual statement with which more urbane readers and listeners would agree.2

A close reading of the text suggests that the limited appreciation which the story has drawn from scholars may be due not to the

1 The many articles which discuss the "lies" of Odysseus in the later books of the poem do not consider the Thoas story: cf. C. R. Trahman, "Odysseus' Lies (Odyssey, Books 13-19)," Phoenix 6 (1952) 31-43; P. Walcot, "Odysseus and the Art of Lying," Ancient Society 8 (1977) 1-19; G. P. Rose, "The Swineherd and the Beggar," Phoenix 34 (1980) 285-97; A. J. Haft, "Odysseus, Idomeneus and Meriones: The Cretan Lies of Odyssey 13-19," CJ 79 (1984) 289-306; Chris Emlyn-Jones, "True and Lying Tales in the Odyssey," G&R s.s. 33 (1986) 1-10; H. M. Roisman, "Eumaeus and Odysseus-Covert Recognition or Self-Revelation?" ICS 15 (1990) 215-38; E. A. Schmoll, "The First Cretan Lie of Odysseus," CB 66 (1990) 67-71; E. Minchin, "Homer Springs a Surprise: Eumaios' Tale at Od. 14.403-84," Hermes 120 (1992) 259-66. Od. 14 is examined at length by S. Reece, The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theo- ry and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene (Ann Arbor 1993) 145-64, but the Thoas story is not mentioned. Nor is it discussed in A. Heubeck and A. Hoekstra, A Commentary on Homer's "Odyssey:" Volume II, Books IX-XVI (Oxford 1989) 228-30. The sole article which focusses on this tale is T. Corey Brennan, "An Ethnic Joke in Homer?" HSCP 91 (1987) 1-3. Brennan posits that Odysseus makes Aetolian Thoas the victim of the prank in an attempt to win the sympathy of Eumaeus, who harbors a prejudice against Aetolians in general.

2 See below for an alternative interpretation of the phrase ovo; &gtwv. The Classical Journal 93.2 (1998) 143-56


144 RICK M. NEWTON

story itself but to our failure to detect subtleties and allusions both to other passages in Odyssey 14 and to the Iliad. These allusions occur within contexts of type-scenes which raise expectations in the readers/listeners and invite them to make associations.3 The poet then manipulates these associations and expectations for comic or other effect. The fact that the Thoas story is the fabrication of Odysseus within the narrative of the poem, rather than of the poet directly, adds a special dimension to the passage's significance. Odysseus, himself a fictional product of collective oral tradition and of the individual creative genius of the Odyssey poet, concocts a tale which utilizes themes and motifs from the very tradition in which the fictional character finds himself situated. The result is a rich and self-conscious interplay of the dynamics of oral poetry and its internal and external audiences.

The general outline of the Thoas story resembles the account of Agamemnon's false dream in Iliad 2. Specifically, Odysseus' announcement in Od. 14.495, "Listen, friends: a divine dream has come to me in my sleep" (Kh6re,

qpiot' vei6; R0ot v

iwnvIov 1X0ev

6vEtpo;) is a verbatim repetition of Agamemnon's report to the Achaean chieftains in II. 2.56. In each case, the dream is announced within a context of loyalty testing: Agamemnon tells the Achaean leaders that he will first test the troops by bidding them to renounce the expedition (np(oTa 8' Eye'v "TEotv tEitpiooPIat, II.

2.73), just as Odysseus tells the story of Thoas by way of testing (ouporo nttpliwiov,

Od. 14.459) the swineherd in the hope of inducing him to part with his cloak.4 These passages share features of a type- scene which portrays the testing of a character with the account of a dream. In Od. 19.535-581, for example, Penelope tests the identity of her disguised guest by relating her dream of geese in the court-

yard.5 Each test in these three scenes involves the report of a false,

3For a bibliographical survey of the scholarship on type-scenes and a classification of general types, see M. W. Edwards, "Homer and Oral Tradition: The Type-Scene," Oral Tradition 7 (1992) 285-330. See also J. M. Foley, The Singer of Tales in Perfor- mance (Bloomington 1995) 164-80 and his Immanent Art: From Structure to Meaning in Traditional Oral Epic (Bloomington 1991) 1-60. See also B. Fenik, Typical Battle Scenes in the Iliad: Studies in the Narrative Techniques of Homeric Battle Description (Hermes Einzelschriften, Heft 21, Wiesbaden 1968) and his examination of "doublets" in Studies in the Odyssey (Wiesbaden 1974) 133-232.

4 For the most recent study of Agamemnon's testing of the troops, see J. E. McGlew, "Royal Power and the Achaean Assembly at Iliad 2.84-393," CA 8 (1989) 283-95.

5 For interpretations of this scene, see A. Amory, "The Gates of Horn and Ivory," YCS 20 (1966) 3-57; J. Russo, "Interview and Aftermath: Dream, Fantasy,


CLOAK AND SHIELD IN ODYSSEY 14 145

or at least suspect, dream. In Iliad 2 Agamemnon deliberately mis- represents his dream (sent likewise as a deception by Zeus) to the Achaean troops; in Odyssey 14, Odysseus apparently concocts the dream which he announces to his fellow night-watchmen; and in Odyssey 19 Penelope herself, after the stranger offers an interpretation of her vision, dismisses the dream as having emanated from the unreliable gates of ivory. Both the reader/listener of the poem and Odysseus himself must ponder whether Penelope ever had the dream. Likewise in the Thoas story, Homer's audience is left wondering not only if Odysseus actually had the dream at Troy but also if he even claimed to have had the dream which Eumaeus' humble guest now describes. After all, the account of this alleged dream is related by Odysseus, known for his wiles, disguised as a ragged beggar, i.e. as the sort of person who would say anything to get a coat (cf. Od. 14.121-132).

Within the context of this type-scene of "testing via false dream," the Thoas story in Odyssey 14 displays particularly distinct similarities with the scene in Iliad 2. In each narrative, for example, the announcement of the false dream is followed by a dash to the ships: in the Iliad all the troops rush in a frenzy to return home, while in the Odyssey Thoas runs off to the ships to carry Odysseus' message to Agamemnon. The fact that Odysseus mentions Agamemnon by name in Od. 14.497 may be read as a special invitation, as it were, for the audience to recall this specific Iliadic scene. Indeed, the beggar's claim in the Thoas story that "some god must have beguiled" him (nap6 'i' JinacpEv &aigov, Od. 14.488) into venturing out in the cold wearing nothing heavier than a chiton is parallel to Agamemnon's announcement to the Achaean troops that Zeus has enmeshed him in a grievous deception (ZeU; gE

Fgya Kpovi{Si &t _v 86iE , apEiB,

II. 2.111). The suggestion therefore presents itself that, within the broader context of type-scenes, either the passage from the Odyssey specifically recalls the Iliadic one or that the scenes enjoy an intertextual relationship, evolving with a mutual awareness of one another.6

and Intuition in Odyssey 19 and 20," AIP 103 (1982) 4-18; P. W. Harsh, "Penelope and Odysseus in Odyssey XIX," AJP 71 (1950) 1-21; H. Vester, "Das 19. Buch der Odyssee," Gymnasium 75 (1968) 417-34; and A. V. Rankin, "Penelope's Dreams in Books XIX and XX of the Odyssey," Helikon 2 (1962) 617-24.

6 For an intertextual reading of the Iliad and Odyssey, see P. Pucci, Odysseus Polytropos: Intertextual Readings in the Odyssey and Iliad (Ithaca 1987). The Thoas story is not among the passages from the Odyssey discussed.


146 RICK M. NEWTON

The most significant parallel lies in the detail that, in each account, someone leaves behind a cloak. In the Iliad, Odysseus hears Athena's voice bidding him to halt the mass exodus. In response, "he dashed off at a run and tossed off his cloak. The Ithacan herald Eurybates who was accompanying him picked it up" (P7J 8' 0 Ktv,

lO 6E Xkaitvxv JiXE. rilv 6E K8F'- GE I c / icpu El'pupa&rj; 'IaKT1cGto;, Iq oi 6i'8lEt, 2.183-184). In the Odyssey, "Thoas, son of Andraimon, jumped up at once, set down his tawny cloak, and dashed off at a run toward the ships" (Jpro 8' "i iEtra 06a;, 'Av8paijovo; vui6, / IKapnaXkiwo;, d&6b 86 xXaivav 0ro potvteooav, / Pij 68i 0etyv &n' vlaq, 14.499-501). Note especially that the phrase Pil 8k -OEtv occupies the identical metrical position in each account. These textual similarities, placed within parallel contexts, strongly suggest that the Odyssey poet is presenting the plight of the cloakless beggar facing a cold night in the swineherd's quarters as analogous to the Iliadic situation in which Odysseus found himself at Troy when he-like his victim in the tale-dashed off to save the expedition. Indeed, the very ruse with which Odysseus induces Thoas to drop his coat is identical to the trick which Athena plays on Odysseus in the Iliad. In the Iliad, it is the voice of Athena which Odysseus recognizes bidding him to dash to the ships (o;a qd0', 6 S Evi)vce 0e6& 6i;a x c ocvov , 2.182). Likewise in the Odyssey, Thoas hears

a

voice in the night, that of Odysseus, who, lying on the ground, props his head on his elbow (cupping his mouth?) to announce the dream (4 c&i kn' 6yic vo; lEqxXOhv

oxa0Ev E ni -E gi0ov, 14.494). Both

Odysseus and Thoas, therefore, are induced by a faceless voice to drop their cloaks.7 The beggar's tale is highly credible, therefore, on two levels. Both Eumaeus and Homer's external audience find the story credible, first, because the reported antics of Odysseus are consistent with his well-known wily character (n&oat 86Xototv avOpdnotot pLFXw, 9.19-20). Second, Homer's external audience finds the account credible because it contains familiar and recognizable elements from oral tradition. It is reasonable to suggest, furthermore, that Eumaeus himself is impressed by the beggar's knowledge of

7 It is for these reasons, the most compelling parallel being the abandonment of the cloak, that I posit II. 2 as the most specific textual model within the context of the type-scenes invoked by the Thoas story. Contrast E. Block, "Clothing Makes the Man: A Pattern in the Odyssey," TAPA 115 (1985) 1-11, who reads the tale as a variation of the Iliadic Doloneia, which also takes place at night. For a discussion of A. Lord's view that compositional themes in epic are "more protean than pure" in form, see L. M. Slatkin, "Composition by Theme and the Metis of the Odyssey," in S. L. Schein, ed., Reading the Odyssey: Selected Interpretive Essays (Princeton 1996) 226.



type-scenes as they appear in the Iliad and elsewhere in the Odyssey. The Trojan War has been over for ten years by now, and oral accounts of the exploits and adventures of various warriors have long been in circulation.8 As the swineherd will tell his mistress in 17.513-527, this beggar tells stories which are as convincing as if they were sung by a bard. Odysseus is not only the hero of Homer's epic, therefore, but also a participant in the oral tradition which celebrates and ultimately defines him. The beggar's apparent knowledge of Odysseus' exploits in the Iliadic tradition authenticates his tale in the eyes of both internal and external audience.9

The dashing off of Thoas and Odysseus displays another variation of a stock theme. The running of troops and individuals toward ships is commonplace in the Iliad, a sign that the soldiers are fleeing from battle.10 The association of ships with retreat and individual safety is most vividly illustrated by Achilles, who withdraws from the fighting and takes up indefinite residence "in his hut by the ships" ( 2i TE KTia' Kaic vi~;, 9.185). A soldier who withdraws to his ships abandons the common cause and displays an anti-social interest in self-preservation which is anathema to the heroic value system. In the Odyssey, which focuses on hospitality rather than war, a character's heading for his ship is indicative of something quite different. In Od. 3.344, for example, Telemachus and the

8 Compare, for example, Nestor's account of the post-war experiences of the Argives in 3.102-200 and Menelaus' and Helen's accounts of events both during and after the war in 4.78-592. It is clear from 1.298-305 that an oral tradition has been developing concerning the deeds of Orestes. Eumaeus' remarks to the beggar in 14.122-47 make it clear that Penelope has been receiving orally transmitted accounts of Odysseus in her own house.

Cf. Slatkin (above, note 7) 228: "The Odyssey incorporates an explicit awareness of the creative tension of composition, an awareness of the existence of possibili- ties that could have become other songs." According to G. B. Conte, The Rhetoric of Imitation: Genre and Poetic Memory in Virgil and Other Latin Poets (Ithaca 1986) 59-63, the authentication of a new text by an authoritative old one is not restricted to orally-composed verse. Examining the significance of Ovid's Ariadne in Fasti 3 alluding to her experience as a "poetic self" in Catullus 64, Conte finds that "Ovid himself attracts attention to the artifice and the fictional devices underlying his own poetic world.. . It increases his infatuation with conscious knowledge of the poetic art and with his own freedom and power in achieving it." In Odyssey 14, this "consciousness" is shared by Homer and the narrating Odysseus.

10 In 15.346-51, for example, Hector urges the Trojans "to rush toward the ships" (virc;iv

ntoo;Ie'Oae(t) in pursuit of the fleeing Achaeans; cf. the use of the

same phrase in 15.593. In 8.345 the panic-stricken Achaeans flee from Hector and gather "beside the ships" (nxap& vplciv). In 11.274 the wounded Agamemnon retreats from battle and orders his charioteer to drive "toward the ships" (v1cdiv iEnt ykap(pijcnv 'Xa1uv'Av).


148 RICK M. NEWTON

disguised Athena arise from their meal with Nestor and set off for their ship: 6g(ppo io09iv oiriv in~t via v~E0at. Indignant that his guests are planning to sleep on their ship (Ooiv int via iotlTE, 3.347), Nestor reads their gesture as a reflection on his manners as host. Specifically, he is concerned that his guests may think that he does not have enough clothing or linens to bed them down: "As if I did not own a stitch of clothing (dvEiLtovo;) or were a pauper, without an abundance of cloaks (XXh^ivnt Ki flyEcxa) and coverlets in my house to provide my guests with comfortable sleeping arrangements! But I do in fact own cloaks and fine coverlets (air6ip 'oi orn6pa jv Xhaivait ai plyEac

Kak6).."11 It is interesting to note that Odysseus'

tale of Thoas is set within the context of this type of scene: a guest tests his host for tokens of hospitality, specifically for an indication that he will be warmly bedded down for the night.12 But it is also significant that Thoas, in making a dash for the ships, is in fact displaying loyalty to the Achaean cause, not abandonment and self- interest. This reversal of audience expectations, combined with the conflation of military and domestic contexts evoked by Thoas' hasty dash, accounts for much of the humor which both Eumaeus and Homer's audience find in the story.

The image of Thoas running toward the ships is rich in ambiguity. On the one hand, he performs an altruistic act in the interest of the common good. He alone responds to Odysseus' call, and immediately so. The fact that he responds so quickly suggests that Homer may be punning on Thoas' name: Wp-o 8' antiia O6ia ... KapnaLtS ... ifi 8E

Eitv.13 But the fact that he sets off in the direction of the

ships recalls also the Achaean troops' response to Agamemnon's announcement in Iliad 2. The leader's decree that Troy could no longer be taken "stirred up" the heart in their breasts (i~; pdr&o, toi-ta

11 Cf. the exchange between Telemachus and Athena-Mentes in 1.301-18: after the guest announces that he wishes to return "to the ship" (~i't viVa, 1.303) Telemachus bids him to stay long enough to have a bath and receive a guest gift before "returning to the ship" (ini vi~x K{in, 1.311).

12 Read in this light, Odysseus' detailed lie to Polyphemus in Od. 9.283-86 that Poseidon wrecked his ship on the rocks may be part of the hero's overall strategy to extract guest gifts from his "host." Odysseus is explicit in articulating his desire for gifts to his men, the monster, and his audience of Phaeacians: see 9.172-76, 227-30, and 266-71.

13 Cf. II. 23.744-45: the prize for the winner of the foot race in the funeral games for Patroclus is a silver crater which had originally been presented by the Phoenicians to a man named Thoas. The passage does not specify that this particular Thoas is the Aetolian, son of Andraimon. It is appropriate, however, that a fast runner be recognized with a bowl which originally belonged to "Swifty."



6 0F'tov vi vt o~ri0Eotv 5ptvE, II. 2.142; cf. Od. 14.499 0; E(paez', pzpo 8' 1n etra O6a;q) and drove them to rush toward the ships in flight, kicking up the dust with their heels (via; En'

_eoioeovro, II. 2.150; cf. Od. 14.501 PI

% 6 ~ietv di vi a;). Part of the humor of Odysseus'

tale lies in the incongruity between the image of a deserter which Thoas unknowingly projects, an image based on expectations raised by the type-scene context, and the reality of his selfless commitment to help his comrades in instantaneous and unquestioning obedience to his commander. Like Thoas, the Iliadic Odysseus displays unique loyalty to the Trojan cause, dashing off without a second thought for his own comfort. The fact that Thoas runs off without protection within such perilous proximity to the enemy makes his gesture even more altruistic than that of Odysseus: Odysseus sacrificed his comfort, but Thoas jeopardized his very safety.

With these ambiguities in mind, it is interesting to reconsider Thoas' gesture of dropping his cloak. In his tale to the swineherd, the beggar explains that he had thoughtlessly forgotten to bring his cloak on that cold and rainy night. He had nothing but a waist- cloth and shield to protect him from the elements. His comrades, by contrast, were not only wearing chitons and cloaks, they also curled their shoulders beneath their shields as they slept. It is clear from this description that, in severe weather, a shield can serve double duty as an additional cloak." If a shield can double as a cloak, it occurs to us that a cloak may also double as a shield. Such an improvisation may have been commonplace, especially for warriors in rural areas. Pausanias, for example, describing a battle in Messenia, reports that the soldiers who lacked shields protected themselves with goatskins and sheepskins. The mountaineers of Arcadia relied on hides of wolves and bears.'s The interchange- ability of shield and overcoat is attested, furthermore, in Odyssey 14. At the end of the beggar's tale, Eumaeus literally "arms himself"(6tnXtero, 14.526) for his night watch at the sties.16 As he

14 In II. 10.152, for example, Diomedes' men sleep, using their shields as pil- lows. Archilochus' playful epigram on the multiple functions which his spear can serve (Arch. 2D) may likewise be based on a tradition of soldiers' innovative ap- plications of their equipment.

15 Cf. Paus. 4.11.3 0dpaic T yp i~ doanid EyTXv oix 1XCaoroq, oot 8B in6pouv TOUT(OV, 7EptEI 4PXTVTO aiytv viOcaKaq Kai c poPdTyo, oli 8 Kai Op 0phov &pxPara Kat RdXtoira oi 6pEtVOi tF- v 'ApicadOv XiCOV rE Ka &pmWv. 16 For the use of

6rnkUF0at meaning "arm oneself," see II. 8.55, Od. 24.495. Cf.

xnototv Evt &Etvointv r6,rlyv in II. 10.254, 272.


150 RICK M. NEWTON

dresses, he follows the sequence of an arming scene, but with some rustic variations. In traditional arming accounts, the warrior dons his gear in the order of 1) sword, 2) shield, 3) helmet, and 4) spear.17 As Eumaeus dresses for his watch, he begins by slinging his sword over his stout shoulders and ends by picking up his sharp-pointed spear. His second item, however, is not a shield. Instead, "he put on his cloak." The cloak is described as "very thick, defender against the winds" (0pi S E' Xaivav aicooa ' lEE&VEyov, idia nucKvilv, 14.529). Similar epithets emphasizing thickness describe the shields of warriors. 1 In step three, where we expect the warrior to don his helmet, Eumaeus puts on the shaggy skin of a large, well-fed wild goat (&v 56 vTlv Xet' aiyb; t'9PE(Po ioEYdloto, 14.530), its bristling hairs comically reminiscent of the plume of a horse-hair helmet.19

It is clear from this "arming" of Eumaeus, which presents yet another variation of a type-scene, that a cloak can indeed serve double duty as a shield. The implications of this ambiguity are significant for our understanding and appreciation of the Thoas story. In setting aside his cloak and heading for the ships, Thoas' actions paradoxically-and humorously-resemble those of a shield-dropper. Only moments earlier in Book 14, we recall, Odysseus himself had boasted to the swineherd that he saved his life during the raid on the Egyptians by dropping his armor and weapons and supplicating the king: "At once I took my well- wrought helmet from my head, my shield from my shoulders, and I tossed my spear from my hand" (azriK' n p Kpazbq Ki)~lvv EU'31Ktov ?E0T'Ka / Kca oCTtKog (iL0otv, Y6pV 60 ' i~Kpakov iEKoo XItp6;, 14.276-277). Note especially Odysseus' employment of the compound verb U9noziOrl?t to describe his "setting down" of his shield. His account of Thoas is identical: a9nb 6 Xaivav 8~zo potvtlK6o00av (14.500). In Iliad 2.183, by contrast, we find the compound verb

17 This sequence is observed in the elaborate arming scenes in II. 3.330-38 (Paris), 11.17-46 (Agamemnon), 16.130-39 (Patroclus), and 19.369-88 (Achilles). See G. S. Kirk, The "Iliad:" A Commentary, I: Books 1-4 (Cambridge 1985) 313-15; J. I. Armstrong, "The Arming-Motif in the Iliad," AJP 79 (1958) 337-54; Fenik (above, note 3) 78-79; and R. S. Shannon, The Arms of Achilles and Homeric Compositional Technique (Mnemosyne Supplement 36, Leiden 1975). The sequence of sword-shield- helmet is observed in the abbreviated arming scene in Il. 10.255-259. The sequence of shield-helmet-spear is observed in the abbreviated accounts in Il. 14.370-74, 15.479-82 and Od. 22.122-25.

Is Cf. Il. 3.335, 15.479, 16.136, 19.373 and Od. 22.122. 19 For descriptions of nodding horse-hair plumes, cf. Il. 3.336-37, 11.41-42,

15.480-81, 16.137-38, 19.380-83 and Od. 22.123-24.



adtnodh6 o to describe the "casting aside" of Odysseus' cloak: &dr6 86i

X,alvav dhaE. Rather than "toss" his cloak, Thoas "sets it down."

The suggestion presents itself that the Aetolian is treating his garment more as a piece of his battle-gear than as an item of clothing.

It may be instructive at this point to consider briefly Archilochus' famous shield-dropping epigram.20 In Arch. 6D, the poet claims that he "left behind" his shield beside a bush. The verb KaXklUtov suggests that he set the shield down rather than tossed it.21 The Saean who retrieved it, furthermore, "revels" in it (&da9i6t Rhv XEaiWv tI; 0y,Erat),

as if it were some kind of trophy.22 Similarly, in Iliad 17.473 Hector is described as revelling in the armor of Achilles which he stripped from the corpse of Patroclus and now wears on his shoulders (alrb6 ~bXov 6)jiyOLc tV &dy6Eoty ral AiaKi8ao). It may be significant that, in the Thoas story, the beggar revels in the cloak which the Aetolian left behind:

'b 5 ' 8vi 'iwaxt KEivo0 /

cEirlv dvo5taoaion;, Od. 14.501-502.23 The adverb &dotaoiwa, "in an

embrace," makes it clear that the beggar warms his shoulders in Thoas' cloak, in much the same way as Hector revels in the armor of Achilles. Archilochus' epigram dismisses the incident with the assertion that he will soon acquire another shield equally good (Fgaxt; Ktiroo0lat oi KaKio). In similar fashion, Eumaeus responds to the beggar that, although there is no surplus of cloaks for the guest to wear beyond this one night, Telemachus will surely provide him with one in town. Both cloaks and shields are to be had in abundance, and fine ones at that-but elsewhere and later, not here and now. Finally, Archilochus refers to his lost shield as a "blameless piece of equipment" (Evtro; &dpgpyrov), and it is at least curious that Eumaeus praises the beggar's tale with a similar, perhaps cognate, epithet: alvo; gu641)v.24

20 For insightful studies of the fragments of Archilochus and their relation to the Odyssey, see J. Russo, "The Inner Man in Archilochus and the Odyssey," GRBS 15 (1974) 139-52 and B. Seidensticker, "Archilochus and Odysseus," GRBS 19 (1978) 5-22.

21 Cf. II. 21.17-18: Achilles leaves his spear propped against the tamarisks (MIrtEV ... KCEKXtLEvov). 22 Cf. Hdt. 5.95: after Alcaeus saved his life by dropping his shield in rapid flight, the victorious Athenians displayed it as a trophy in the Temple of Athena at Sigeum.

23 For a similar description of soldiers who "don" their shields like articles of clothing, cf. II. 14. 371-72 d~roi6q (wat aptoxat Evt onpat i Eytotrat / aoda~&~vot. 24 For a discussion of the etymology of &apywOv and an argument that it is not cognate with oipgOpoq or wgohpgroq,

see A. A. Parry, Blameless Aegisthus: A Study of 'Ag6ugov and Other Homeric Epithets (Leiden 1978) 71-93.


152 RICK M. NEWTON

It is particularly strange that, despite the cleverness of the tale, Eumaeus is not duped-as is Thoas-into parting with his cloak. Earlier it was suggested that Thoas, his name synonymous with speed, was particularly gullible and therefore a likely target for such a prank. A review of the Iliadic scenes in which Thoas is prominent, however, indicates just the opposite. In 15.281-283 it is Thoas, "best by far of the Aetolians, skilled with the javelin but steadfast in battle" (AitoXhv ox' ~iptoTo;, EIto(yTlREvo; TtRv aKOVtl, / 6~ao6,

6' cv ora6i,), who rallies the Achaean leaders and urges them to remain and face the raging Hector while the troops retreat to the ships.25 In 7.168 Thoas is among the brave Achaeans who volunteer to face Hector.26 In 4.535 Thoas attempts to remove the armor from an enemy he has just slain at sword point. But after the Thracians surround him in an invincible mass and force him from the body, Thoas gives way staggering backward from the corpse (xaoa

iEvo; nEXEJiX071). He never turns his back to the enemy.27 In 13.216, Poseidon likens his voice to that of Thoas, son of Andraimon, in order to inspire the Achaeans into battle.28 Idomeneus responds to the voice, "Thoas, in the past you have been steadfast (eLvE61ltog, 3.229) and you urge on anyone else whom you see shrinking from the fight." Despite the swiftness implied by his name, therefore, Thoas is one of the least likely Achaeans to take flight. The accomplishment of Odysseus in the story he tells Eumaeus is thus all the more impressive. It is funny because it is napa& upoao~iav. The wily Ithacan induced the steadfast Thoas-of all people-to take to his heels and dash off to the ships, in ironic imitation of a shield-dropper.

Not so Eumaeus. As he has already warned his ragged guest on more than one occasion (14.122-132, 361-389), this swineherd is nobody's fool. Rather than surrender his own cloak, he ceremoniously dons it as if it were the shield of a warrior about to enter the fray. Odysseus' story was clever, after all, indeed too clever. In response

25 Note that, in this scene, Thoas' name appears in a situation which divides the men into two groups: those who remain and those who run to the ships. The prank in Od. 14 presents the same scenario.

26 The other volunteers are Agamemnon, the two Aiantes, Diomedes, Idomeneus, Meriones, Eurypylus, and Odysseus.

27 The same tenacity in the face of the foe (and the same phrase, xaood6Evoq

nEKEgiXqOlT) is exhibited only by Ajax in 5.626 and by Hector 13.148. Thoas is in truly heroic company. 28

Similarly, in the beggar's tale to the swineherd, Thoas responds to an invis- ible voice.



to this "blameless tale" the swineherd-himself providing the punch line to the story-clings all the more tenaciously to his gear and elevates his shaggy xailva to the status of a shield, now modified by the hapax, "defender against the winds." Odysseus may have succeeded in tricking the steadfast Thoas, but he cannot outsmart this keeper of pigs. In the end, Odysseus himself is duped: he has told a perfectly good story and received nothing in exchange. But the hero is not disappointed. On the contrary, he takes delight witnessing the loyalty of this servant who has faithfully guarded the master's livestock holdings for some twenty years: "Odysseus rejoiced (yXaipE 8' 'OS)TooEi;, 14.526) to see him taking such good care of the property in the owner's absence." What Eumaeus has accomplished is no small feat, and he sets out for his night watch looking like a rustic version of an Achaean at Troy.

The suggestion that the rustically-armed swineherd is stepping out for a military night watch sheds light on another feature of Book 14 which has puzzled scholars and commentators. It has long been observed that the description of the elaborate sties which Eumaeus has built in Odysseus' absence (14.5-22) bears a resemblance to the account of Priam's palace in 6.244-249. The parallels have been interpreted as either deliberate and therefore "parodic" in tone and intent, or as unavoidable "inconcinnities" resulting from the awkwardness of the poet's applying the limited heroic diction of epic to non-heroic situations.29 I suggest that the effect of this protracted "mock-epic" portrayal of the swineherd may not be so much to parody either the figure of Eumaeus or the heroic tradition as to suggest to the audience, in an entertaining and non-threatening manner, that heroic actions occur every day, not only on the battle- field. For in validating the house as a worthwhile goal for a returning hero, the Odyssey presents many domestic figures and their activities as ultimately noble. This epic validation of a humble swineherd is presented in a context which is not lacking in humor, to be sure. But the smile provoked in the audience by this noble portrayal of the lowliest of domestic servants may not be an end in itself. It may be the means to the ultimate end of presenting a novel

29 See D. B. Munro, Homer's "Odyssey," Books XIII-XXIV (Oxford 1901) 20-21, who terms the description of the sties "almost a parody of the description of Pri- am's palace." In arming for his night watch over the pigs in their palatial sties, Eumaeus exhibits mock-heroic behavior. Reece (above, note 1), in general, does not find parody in the Eumaeus scenes but attributes the textual inconcinnities (the application of heroic diction to non-heroic settings) to the limitations of conventional epic diction.


154 RICK M. NEWTON

idea to an audience steeped in the conservative values and diction of epic tradition. The light tone and parodic flavor of the "heroization" of Eumaeus reflect a wily and "Odyssean" approach to the new heroics espoused by this poem. In "heroizing" those individuals who invest their energies in the preservation of the household, the Odyssey heroizes Odysseus himself, the "untypical hero."30 Eumaeus' elaborate sties indicate that he takes his domestic duty as seriously as the Achaean warriors take their military mission. Indeed, the siege of Troy which endured for ten years overseas is now matched in gravity by the suitors' siege on Odysseus' house. But Eumaeus' heroic measures, unlike those of his Trojan analogues, have resulted in the preservation of his garrison. For unlike Thoas, who was tricked into a momentary and uncharacteristic action resembling flight, Eumaeus has never wavered from commitment to his mission.

What is particularly noteworthy about the Thoas story and its context is that, within the short span of well under 100 verses, so many type-scenes and stock themes have been invoked and inverted that we may safely classify the episode as a tour deforce: (1) Thoas, among the most steadfast of the Achaeans, is tricked into what appears to be an automatic act of running away; (2) in heading for the ships and setting down his cloak, Thoas gives the appearance of a deserting shield-dropper, when he is actually performing the heroic and perhaps foolishly altruistic act of running without cover in a dangerous enemy zone; (3) the Odysseus of the tale, who retrieves the cloak through a non-heroic deception, revels in his prize as if he were a courageous and vaunting victor who routed his foe; (4) contrary to the story-teller's (and the external audience's) expectation, Eumaeus demonstrates that he is even more tenacious of his equipment than the normally steadfast Thoas; the swineherd "fails" the test and does not act on the suggestion of the tale by relinquishing his cloak; in donning the heavy coat, he sends his guest a signal, "Go and run for your own coat;" (5) contrary to the expectations of both external audience and Odysseus-as-beggar, the teller of the tale is not disappointed by the swineherd's apparent lack of generosity; instead, both Odysseus and, we may assume, the external audience "rejoice" in the sight of the swineherd heroically arming for his watch at the sties, the very sties which he had built years ago as a mini-version of Troy to remind himself that his duty

30 See W. B. Stanford, The Ulysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero (2nd ed., Ann Arbor 1978) 66-80.



in maintaining the home front for his absent master was every bit as important as that of the soldiers who crossed the Aegean.

Finally, by reading the Thoas story as a comic conflation of stock themes and type-scenes in the oral tradition, we gain insight into Eumaeus' problematic classification of the tale as an atvo; ;daigCWv. In her exhaustive study of the Homeric epithet &'iwCv, Anne Amory Parry finds the application of this adjective to the noun avo; "most curious" in that it presents "an unprecedented extension of meaning in &iwgiCv."''31

She finds the meaning of the epithet so anomalous in this context that she concludes that the passage is "a relatively late addition to the story of Odysseus." "'AgjijCv is ... used as a general term of commendation, not incomprehensibly, but certainly more imprecisely than in any other one of the passages which we have examined." Elsewhere in the epic tradition, Parry finds, the adjective &tijgiCV carries "overtones of 'brave, valiant'." "'

Agu ov may possess the connotation of

'brave,' 'spirited,' 'steadfast in battle'." She interprets

,6yo; &ogjCV as "heroic

speech." But these are precisely the characteristics of the beggar's tale. First, as an atvo;, the account is not a "tale" but an exercise in "praise." The noun aivo; occurs twice in the Iliad and one other time in the Odyssey. In each instance, it means "praise" and is closely associated with the conferring of a gift or prize. In Iliad 23.652 Nestor nostalgically recites a catalogue of the athletic feats he accomplished as a youth (Eitd

nawv' aVvov inKX1E). This lengthy exercise in self-praise

is inspired by the gift of a special cup which Achilles confers on the aged Achaean who is no longer able to compete in the funeral games. Similarly, in II. 23.795, Antilochus' praise of swift-footed Achilles as an invincible runner (o5 ptv tot RXEo; Eiplcejorat aivo;) is rewarded by the gift of an extra half-talent of gold from the object of the flattery, Achilles himself. In Odyssey 21.110, Telemachus, presiding over the contest of the bow, announces to the suitors that the winner shall take the prize of Penelope, a woman whose praises need no singing (ti rg Xpi intrpo; aivou;). Likewise in 14.508, the beggar has just delivered an aivo; of Odysseus which is not only an exercise in self-praise (i.e. a laudation of Odysseus by Odysseus, along the lines of Nestor's self-encomium in II. 23) but also a bid for the prize of a cloak. But the praise is also a&'g[.t0v in the sense which, according to Parry, it carries elsewhere in Homer. If we recall parallel scenes in the epic tradition in which

31 For the quotations cited here from this study, see above, note 24, pp. 60, 80-81, and 101.


156 RICK M. NEWTON

steadfastness in battle and the temptation to drop shields in flight are at issue, this atvo; is indeed

ajngCiov, for it portrays not only Odysseus but also-and more significantly-his "victim" as surprisingly "noble, brave, and steadfast in battle." The impact of the story carries over into how we interpret the subsequent behavior of Eumaeus. In donning his humble gear, this swineherd now appears to both us and Odysseus as anything but lowly. Preparing himself for his night watch, he emerges from his hut wearing his trophies and looking very much like a hero engaged in a clearly heroic undertaking. Just as the external audience of the poem knows throughout Book 14 that the beggar is really a hero in disguise, so too we now see the lowly swineherd in a light which confers on him a profound, if not readily visible, nobility. Looks are truly deceiving in this little story, and Eumaeus walks out a winner, truly deserving alvo;

dagi~Cv, "praise which befits a hero."32

RICK M. NEWTON Kent State University

32 A preliminary version of this paper was presented in spring 1996 at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, held in Nashville, Tennessee. I express my thanks to the editor of CJ and the anonymous referees who made many valuable suggestions for the improvement of this paper.


Article Contentsp. [143]p. 144p. 145p. 146p. 147p. 148p. 149p. 150p. 151p. 152p. 153p. 154p. 155p. 156

Issue Table of ContentsThe Classical Journal, Vol. 93, No. 2 (Dec., 1997 - Jan., 1998), pp. 121-224Front Matter [pp. 142-142]Mourning and Community at the Athenian Adonia [pp. 121-141]Cloak and Shield in "Odyssey" 14 [pp. 143-156]Echtheitskritik: Ovidian and Non-Ovidian Heroides Again [pp. 157-166]The Roman Empire in American Cinema after 1945 [pp. 167-196]Book ReviewsReview: New Homeric Studies [pp. 197-202]Review: New Homeric Studies [pp. 203-206]Review: New Homeric Studies [pp. 207-208]Review: New Homeric Studies [pp. 209-210]Review: Staging Vergil's Future and Past [pp. 211-216]

Books Received [pp. 217-218]Back Matter [pp. 219-224]

Documents

Newton 1998 Cloak and Shield in Odyssey 14