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Skempis, M. and Ziogas, I. (2009) 'Arete's words : etymology, Ehoie-poetry and gendered narrative in the

Odyssey.', in Narratology and interpretation : the content of narrative form in ancient literature. Berlin;

Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 213-240. Trends in dlassics., 4

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 Aretes Words: Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and
Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey
Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

This paper deals primarily with Aretes role in the Odyssey and offers a
gendered as well as a generic interpretation of this figures grounding in
the narrative. Aretes laconic stance in the so-called Phaiakia has raised
controversy over the way in which the queen of Scherie is to be in-
volved in the prime theme of the poem, Odysseus nostos.1 It is not
only the few and extremely cautious words spoken by Arete that are
under discussion in this essay, but also the formalities of further speeches
that frame her textual presence and determine her reception by ancient
and modern audiences. The first part of this paper tackles the question
of whether and to what extent Homer made use of etymological prac-
tice in shaping Aretes role in the Odyssey. On this ground, we suggest
and subsequently analyze the etymological potential of Aretes name and
the function of these etymologies in the narrative dynamics of the
poem. Our main focus will not be on acknowledging or discovering
possible etymological or para-etymological derivations, but examining
whether the etymologies suggested are justified by the narrative and
how they affect our reading of the Odyssey.

1. Etymology and Narratology

Etymological as well as para-etymological practices operated by the nar-

rator in the field of onomastics and denomination are of great signifi-
cance in interpreting narrative texts, and especially the Homeric epics
since, in most cases, the narrator does not consider the meaning of a
proper name fixed; on the contrary, there seems to be a constant inter-
play between primary or explicit meaning established by linguistic der-
ivations and secondary or implicit meaning as this can emerge from con-

1 For an assessment of this issue see Hlscher 1960; (1989) 31990, 122 34; Fenik
1974, 105 30.
214 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

text-specific parameters. The semantic flexibility of a proper name and

its subsequent potential for multiple interpretations allow it to be inscri-
bed within a set of circumscribed, embedded narratives, all familiar with
and subordinate to the main narrative. Of course, etymology as a textual
phenomenon can entail a certain amount of poetic subjectivism since it
shows how the narrator (either primary or secondary) perceives the
meaning of a name and how she/he wishes to project it to her/his narr-
atees, internal and external. Etymologizing, however, serves as a rhetor-
ical device that binds the literary character to the story, the events as
dispositioned and ordered in the text;2 it constitutes the means by
which characters are embedded in narrative situations, while it may
also reflect the etymon of the name-bearer as well as her/his ensuing am-
biguities. The etymologies of Arete, in specific, as proposed in the fol-
lowing sections, will show that name-etymologizing stipulates manifold
relations between narrative segments that are concerned with the name-
bearer. In other words, the etymology of a proper name is to be iden-
tified as a mechanism formatting narrative structures.3
Etymology is compressed narrative, and unpacking the etymological
potential of a word is to deploy its narrative force (uis).4 Etymologies are
enmeshed in narrative structures, and thus their use calls for a narrato-
logical approach. The etymology of a name, in particular, is closely as-
sociated with the characterization of a figure. Given that etymologizing
is a dynamic process of revealing or constructing the meaning of a name,
etymological analyses are crucial to interpreting the traits of characters as
they are presented or perceived not only by the primary narrator, but
also by the internal narrators. Defining the meaning of a name is a
power game.5 Thus, etymologies can reveal character features, which
are real or artificially constructed or representative of class or type.6

2 De Jong Nnlist Bowie 2004, xviii.

3 On the narrative use of name-etymologizing see Calame 1995, 174 85; on
speaking names foreshadowing the plot see the analysis of Aristophanes The-
smophoriazusae in Bierl 2001, 276 82.
4 uis, the force of the word, means the etymology of a word in Latin.
5 For an illuminating discussion of the power inherent in etymologizing see Stru-
ever 1983. Nagy (1979) 1999, 69 93, Peradotto 1990 and Tsitsibakou-Vasalos
2007 have explored the narrative dynamics of etymologizing in the Homeric
epics. On etymology and narratology see also Tsitsibakou-Vasalos (this vol-
ume).
6 See Phelan 1989, a narratological study of characterization. Phelan distinguishes
the mimetic, thematic, and synthetic traits of a character.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 215

As a means of implicit or explicit characterization, the meaning of a

name often foreshadows the words and/or acts of a character, or informs
the external and internal narratees about the characters past. Thus, etymol-
ogies can function as prolepses, anticipating certain character features, or as
analepses, recalling marked qualities of a figure. Yet, the etymology of a
name is not always confirmed by the narrative, but often negated (a narra-
tivized case of etymologizing e contrario), and thus the narrator can misdirect
the audience/readers. Anticipating the fulfillment of a names etymology
can also activate a retardation effect or create suspense (Spannung).
Etymologies can also form a second narrative level which goes in line
with or opposes the main narrative. On the one hand, they may be explan-
atory in relation to the main plot and the motivation of a character, while,
on the other, the implications of an etymological analysis may contrast with
the main narrative. In the latter case, etymology transcends the basic nar-
rative structure since the meaning derived from an etymological approach
points to an alternative narrative version; or it can result in an independent
thematic unit that may further function as a complementary excursus. In
other words, etymology can be seen as a second narrative voice, which
is sometimes in harmony with and other times in opposition to the plot.
After making these preliminary remarks on the association between
narratology and etymology, and establishing etymology as a starting-
point for our approach, we may proceed to examine the significance
of Aretes name. We shall first deal with the etymology from !q\olai.

2. Arete-!q\olai

The Arete-!q\olai connection has been acknowledged long since by

various scholars.7 The basic argument is that this etymology befits a
character who is to be prayed to by Odysseus.8 Hence, the name
Arete fulfills its function in the Odyssey. Peradotto, however, objected
to the connection between Odysseus supplication to Arete and the ety-
mology of her name from !q\olai.9 The basis of his objection is that
nowhere is this root used of prayers directed to any but divine beings.

7 See Stanford 1974 ad 7.54; Frame 1978, 79 n. 73; Ahl Roisman 1996, 58.
8 On the semantics of !q\olai and its affiliation with the context of Homeric
prayer see Morrison 1991, 147 with n. 8; Lateiner 1997, 246; Pulleyn 1997,
70 6.
9 Peradotto 1990, 108.
216 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

His observation is valid, but his conclusion needs reconsideration. We

argue instead that this etymological connection contributes to the
poets purpose to present the Phaiakian queen as an elevated, god-
dess-like figure. So, let us first examine whether our point is justified.
First of all, when the disguised Athene presents Arete to Odysseus,
we learn that the Phaiakian people look upon the queen as a goddess
(7.71: oV l_m Na hem r eQsoq|ymter). There are also two formulas
used of Arete, which allude to her divine status. The first is the expres-
sion haOla Qd]shai (6.306) used for the handicrafts of her spindle.10 The
same formula is used when Odysseus marvels at the harbors, ships, mar-
kets, and walls of the Phaiakians (7.45). Aretes works remind us of the
semi-divine status that the Phaiakians enjoy. What is more, the formula
haOla Qd]shai (6.306; 7.45) used both of Aretes female handicrafts and
of constructions that belong to male oriented activities (ships, market
place etc.) anticipates the gender juxtaposition between Alkinoos and
Arete which is about to follow.
The second formula which might point to Aretes divine status, is
v_ka vqom],s (she has friendly thoughts, 6.312 = 7.75).11 This for-
mula is used several times in the Odyssey for Athene. In the Phaiakian
episode, in particular, the formula refers to the friendly thoughts that
Athene has toward Odysseus (7.15; 42). We will see that this formula,
referring to Athenes divine support of her protg, is transferred from
Athene to Arete. When Athene, disguised as a young girl, meets Odys-
seus, she tells him that his safe homecoming depends on the friendly
thoughts of the Phaiakian queen:
eU j]m toi je_mg v_ka vqom],s 1m hul`,
1kpyq^ toi 5peita v_kour Qd]eim ja Rj]shai
oWjom 1r rx|qovom ja sm 1r patq_da ca?am.
So if she (scil. Arete) has thoughts in her mind that are friendly to you,
then there is hope that you can see your own people, and come back
to your house with the high roof and to the land of your fathers.
(7.75 7) 12

10 This expression is used of divine (Il. 5.725; 18.83; 18.377; Od. 8.366; 13.108)
or godlike works (Il. 10.439; Od. 7.45).
11 Louden 1999, 11 notes on v_ka vqom],s at 7.75: Elsewhere in Homer this
term (and its opposite jaj vqom]ym) usually describes a deitys attitude toward
a mortal.
12 All translations of the Odyssean passages cited are taken from Lattimore 1999
with occasional slight adaptations, whereas the Hesiodic ones from Most 2007.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 217

At the end of book 6 (6.324 6), Odysseus prayed to Athene and asked
to come among the Phaiakians loved (v_kom) and pitied (1keeim|m). Let
us examine Odysseus prayer to Athene and its relation to Arete closer:
aqt_j 5peit Aqto Dir jo}q, lec\koio
jkOh_ loi, aQci|woio Dir t]jor, )tqut~mg
mOm d^ p]q leu %jousom, 1pe p\qor ou pot %jousar
Naiol]mou, fte l 5qqaie jkutr 1mmos_caior.
d|r l 1r Va_gjar v_kom 1khe?m Ad 1keeim|m.
r 5vat eqw|lemor, toO d 5jkue Pakkr )h^mg
aqt` d ou py va_met 1mamt_g aUdeto c\q Na
patqojas_cmgtom b d 1pifavek_r lem]aimem
!mtih]\ idus/z p\qor Dm ca?am Rj]shai.
r b lm 5mh Aqto pok}tkar d?or idusse}r,
jo}qgm d pqot %stu v]qem l]mor Bli|moizm.
And immediately thereafter [Odysseus] prayed to the daughter of great
Zeus:
Hear me, Atrytone child of Zeus of the aegis,
and listen to me now, since before you did not listen
to my stricken voice as the famous shaker of the earth battled me.
Grant that I come, as one loved and pitied, among the Phaiakians.
So he spoke in prayer and Pallas Athene heard him,
but she did not yet show herself before him, for she respected
her fathers brother, Poseidon, who still nursed a sore anger
at godlike Odysseus until his arrival in his own country.
So long-suffering Odysseus prayed, in that place,
but the strength of the mules carried the young girl on, to the city.
(6.323 7.2)
Odysseus prays to Athene and the narrator frames his prayer with the
verb Aqto at the end of book 6 and at the very first line of book 7.
This verb here seems to allude to Aretes etymology from !q\olai
and functions as an anticipatory echo of the supplication scene that is
about to follow (7.139 152). Odysseus prayer to Athene follows Nau-
sikaas advice that he should supplicate her mother (Aretes name re-
maining unmentioned). After Odysseus prayer, the disguised Athene
gives him the same advice: his homecoming depends on the queen
(7.75 7). We see that Odysseus prayer, framed with Aqto, is placed
between Nausikaas and Athenes similar advice, that Arete is the key-
person to enable the heros homecoming.13 To put it in another way,

13 Nausikaas advice (6.303 15): Odysseus should supplicate her mother-Aqto

(6.323) Odysseus prayer-Aqto (7.1) Athenes advice: Odysseus home-
coming depends on Arete (7.53 ff.).
218 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

Odysseus prayer anticipates his supplication to Arete. What is more, the

fact that Aretes etymology is anticipated in a prayer to a goddess points
to her divine status. Athene hearkens to Odysseus prayer, but she ap-
pears disguised as a girl out of respect for her uncle Poseidon, who is
enraged with Odysseus. It turns out that Athene could not help Odys-
seus straightforwardly. The fulfillment of Odysseus prayer is to be made
through Arete, and that is what Athene does. She delegates the prayer
addressed to herself to the Phaiakian queen. Athene is v_ka vqom]ousa
(7.15) to Odysseus, but his safe return home depends overtly on the
friendly disposition of the queen (7.75 7), not that of Athene. The re-
direction of Odysseus plea from Athene to Arete, alluded to by the
Arete-!q\olai etymology and the parallel v_ka vqom]ousa (7.15 for
Athene) and v_ka vqom],s (7.75 for Arete), elevates Aretes status to
a divine level.14 She is to play Athenes role and she will play this role
well. It is interesting in this respect that Athene does not appear openly
out of respect for her uncle Poseidon (6.229 30: aUdeto c\q Na/
patqojas_cmgtom). Arete eventually wants to support Odysseus, but
must also respect her husband and uncle Alkinoos (who is her patqo-
jas_cmgtor, the brother of her father Rhexenor). Poseidon also stands
in Aretes way since she knows that helping Odysseus is against his
will.15
The fact that Odysseus prayer to Athene anticipates the supplication
scene and the potential etymology of Arete should not surprise us.
Homer often uses this technique in order to achieve effects not stated
plainly in the narrative. By using a word alluding to the etymology of
a character, the poet invokes this character without mentioning her/
him by name. When Odysseus leaves Kalypsos island, for instance,
he is washed up naked onto Scherie and faces a difficult dilemma; if

14 Beye 1966, 177 notes that Athenes presentation of Arete serves to magnify
Arete; see also Rose 1969, 404.
15 Doherty argues that Arete can be seen as braving Poseidons wrath by helping
Odysseus. She compares Tyros defiance to Poseidons order that she remain
silent (11.251 2) with Aretes cautious silence. By telling Tyros story, Odys-
seus is inviting Arete to speak and help him against Poseidons will. See Doherty
1993; 1995, 125. That Odysseus adventure in Scherie as well as his encounter
with Arete should be set against the theme of Poseidons wrath against Odys-
seus is for the first time implied in 7.34 5, where the narrator makes the con-
nection of the Phaiakians with the realm of Poseidon fairly explicit. In this re-
spect, it is also significant that Arete herself descends from Poseidon (7.56 66).
On Poseidon and the Phaiakians cf. Reinhardt 1960, 122 ff.; Aronen 2002,
92 f., 99 f.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 219

he rests by the river, he may freeze to death, but if he climbs up the

slope to the shady wood and lies down to rest in the thick brushwood,
he may become prey to wild beasts. He finally finds a sheltered copse
guarded from cold and wild beasts. We see here that the first thing
Odysseus must do upon his arrival on a new island after leaving Kalypso
(the Concealer) is to hide and thus secure himself. Odysseus eager
willingness to shun eternal concealment and oblivion is now challenged
by his need to be hidden and thus survive. In this passage, the poet al-
ludes to Kalypso by means of her etymology:
r iduser v}kkoisi jak}xato. t` d %q )h^mg
vpmom 1p ellasi weO, Vma lim pa}seie t\wista
duspom]or jal\toio, v_ka bk]vaq !lvijak}xar.
So Odysseus covered himself in the leaves, and Athene
shed a sleep on his eyes so as most quickly to quit him,
by veiling his eyes, from the exhaustion of his hard labors.
(5.491 3)
Odysseus now has to cover and shield himself from death, something
that Kalypso was also willing to do by granting him immortality. Kalyp-
so is now absent, but at the same time present under cover of her ety-
mology. It is a nice touch that Kalypso is here concealed, true to her
name. What is more, her function of concealing passes from Odysseus
finally to Athene, who covers his eyes with sleep. !lvijak}xar is the
very last word of book 5; a book where Kalypso is a very prominent
figure. Athene now takes over her functions as she pours sleep that cov-
ers Odysseus eyes (7.14 7). We see that Athene takes over Kalypsos
role and etymology at the end of book 5 and continues to do so in
book 7, as she pours mist over Odysseus in Scherie.
Tsitsibakou-Vasalos has recently called the compositional technique
at issue transference of etymology.16 This technique is an indispensable
tool in enriching narrative structures, since it creates pairs of surrogate
or foil figures, forms alliances or enmities, most importantly of mortals
and immortals.17 Elaborate cases of transference of etymology con-
tribute to understanding the interaction of characters in the plot, and
consolidate the structure of the narrative.
In Od. 5.491 3 the technique of transferring the etymology of a
character to another functions as a transitional device. This sort of trans-

16 See Tsitsibakou-Vasalos 2003, 119 29; 2007, 60 6.

17 Tsitsibakou-Vasalos 2007, 61.
220 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

ference is marked by the formula deim he|r, occurring right after

Athene has poured mist to cover Odysseus on his way to Alkinoos pal-
ace (7.41); a characterization applied elsewhere to designate only Kalyp-
so (7.246; 255; 12.449) and Kirke (11.8; 12.150), the initial blockers
and eventual helpers of Odysseus nostos.18 Furthermore, the motif of
the dread goddess is curiously linked in the cases of Athene and Kalyp-
so to female affection (7.42: v_ka vqom]ousa ; 7.256: 1mduj]yr 1v_kei ;
12.450: l 1v_kei): both goddesses show their love towards the hero
by covering him. This instance of transference of etymology seems,
then, to have a rather ambivalent effect: it does not only point out
the occasional similarity of Athenes role to that of Kalypso in terms
of covering and sentimental connection to the hero, but also stresses
the discrepancy between the two of them since Athene uses the cover-
ing device in order to advance Odysseus nostos, certainly not to block
it. On a further level, Athene hands over her role as a recipient of Odys-
seus prayer to Arete at the beginning of book 7. We see Odysseus fate
passing from Kalypso to Arete through Athene. The transition is made
through Kalypsos and Aretes etymologies (Kalypso Athene [ !lvija-
k}xar]/Athene [Aqto] Arete).
This transition underscores Aretes divine status. We have already
mentioned the parallels between Arete and Athene. There are also sim-
ilarities between Kalypso and Arete. In Kalypsos first appearance men-
tion is made of the goddess hearth and weaving (5.59 62). Likewise, in
Aretes first appearance, Nausikaa approaches her mother, who sits by
the hearth spinning her spindle (6.52 3). Another goddess that Arete
shows parallels with is Kirke. Louden pointed out the similarities be-
tween Kirke and Arete, commenting on the pattern v_ka/jaj vqo-
m]ousa, and argued that Kirke, who is first jaj vqom]ousa (10.317),
changes her evil thoughts to friendly ones and helps Odysseus to return
to his country.19 She is at first hostile, but after asking who he is (10.325:
t_r p|hem eQr !mdq_m ;) and learning Odysseus identity, she changes her
attitude. Likewise, Arete, first cautious and suspicious, asks about Odys-
seus identity (7.238: t_r p|hem eQr !mdq_m) and becomes finally v_ka
vqom]ousa after Odysseus account of the heroines he met in the under-

18 On the inherent ambivalence of women as blockers and helpers in the Odyssey

see Foley 1995, 107. Within this context, Beye 1974, 95 speaks of an arche-
type, on which the poet of the Odyssey relies in order to fabricate the repre-
sentation of each individual woman of the poem.
19 See Louden 1999, 6, 11.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 221

world. We see that Aretes role in the Odyssey is constantly paralleled

with goddesses.
Though presented as if she were a goddess, Arete is definitely not a
goddess as far as the Odyssey is concerned. However, she appears to flirt
with the divinized status acquired by the heroines of Greek cult after
their death. In the Odyssey, against the contentions of older scholars,20
the deification of a mortal is possible. In his trip from Ogygia to Scherie,
Odysseus raft is wrecked by Poseidon and finally the hero is saved by
the intervention of Ino-Leukothea (5.333 5). Ino-Leukothea enters
the list of powerful female figures that save Odysseus and facilitate his
homecoming. Her appearance before Odysseus arrival at Scherie
gives us the important information that a mortal woman can become
a goddess (tm d Udem J\dlou huc\tgq, jakk_svuqor Ym~,/D pqm lm
5gm bqotr aqd^essa,/mOm d "kr 1m pek\cessi he_m 1n]lloqe til/r,
The daughter of Kadmos, sweet-stepping Ino called Leukothea, saw
him. She had once been one who spoke as a mortal, but now in the
gulfs of the sea she holds degree as a goddess, 5.333 5). Deification
of women is also a recurring motif in the Ehoiai:21 Iphimede becomes
Artemis Enodia (fr. 23a.22 6 M.-W.) and Phylonoe becomes immortal
and ageless (25a.10 2 M.-W.). Fr. 91 probably refers to Ino-Leukothea
and her apotheosis (Hirschberger 2004, 79). The deified Ino in the
Odyssey might point to a motif and a character of the Catalogue of
Women. Odysseus deliverance by this heroine preludes the importance
of Arete and the Catalogue of Women in Odysseus nostos.
Helen, as she appears in book 4, is another example of a demigod-
dess. Arthur pointed out that Helens elevated status in book 4 is related
to her semi-divine nature. She also commented on Helens similarities
with Arete and argued that their elevated status is singled out as anom-
alous. Helens and Aretes presence in the megaron after the meal and
their participation in the reception of a xeinos mark them out as excep-
tional female characters.22 Arete does not only participate in the recep-

20 Wilamowitz 1884; Rohde 1950; Farnell 1921 argued that there is no trace of
hero cult in Homer. This view has been challenged by Hack 1929; Hadziste-
liou-Price 1973; 1979; Lyons 1997, 7 ff., passim.
21 For apotheosis as a recurring motif in the Catalogue of Women, see Rutherford
2000, 87 8: Hirschberger 2004, 79; 2008, 122 5.
22 Arthur 1984, 16 19. See also Doherty 1992, 162 ff.; 1995, 76; Wohl 1993,
32 5.
222 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

tion of Odysseus, but also declares him as her own xeinos (11.338).23 An-
other parallel between Helen and Arete is that their exceptional author-
ity seems to be a source of tension with their husbands. It is true that we
find a similar implicit, but easily traced conflict between husband and
wife both in Sparta and Scherie. Helens divine descent guarantees Me-
nelaos immortality (4.569), but her peculiarly high status as a woman is
a cause of domestic friction. In short, Aretes parallel with Helen hints at
her exceptionally high position. We have reasons to suspect that the
queen belongs to the world of the heroines, like Helen and Leukothea,
an aspect that Odysseus will later on exploit successfully.

3. Arete-%(q)qgtor

Aretes name and the narrative dynamics of its etymology are not ex-
hausted with the )q^tg-!q\olai nexus. We suggest that her name is
also associated with %(q)qgtor (unspoken, ineffable) and examine
whether this hypothesis can be supported by the narrative. Aretes
name most likely derives from the adjective !qgt|r.24 The etymology
of this adjective is, however, doubtful; it could derive either from
!q\olai or be a variant of %qqgtor.25 Both etymologies of !qgt|r,
from which Aretes name derives, are narrativized in the Odyssey. 26
Let us examine first whether our text suggests a relation between
Arete and %q(q)gtor. In the beginning of book 6, when Nausikaa,

23 A comparison with a similar scene in Nestors palace reveals that the queen does
not join the men, but appears only later sleeping at her husbands side (3.404);
see Arthur 1984, 18 9.
24 Eust. Od. 1474.43 4; 1567.54 5. Cf. LfgrE s.v. )q^tg and Ruijgh 1967, 153
n. 287 on the link of the personal name -qgtor to !qgt|r.
25 The adjective %qqgtor with double q must be a later spelling of AQGTOS (see
Eust. Il. 4.10.4 fti d t !qgtm pmhor %qqgtom timr cqvousi, d/kom, ja r
oqj eqaqestoOmtai oR pakaio t0 cqav0 and the remarks in LfgrE s.v. !qgt|r). It
is indicative that the double q in %qqgtor was considered superfluous by the an-
cient etymological dictionaries (Et. Mag. 237.42 4 s.v. cocc}fy : K t coc-
cq}fy !p toO cocc}fy pkeomasl` toO q, r Ngtr %qqgtor).
26 On !qgt|m and Ngh/mai ( !e_ Ngt|m) see Apion fr. 20 N. with Rengakos 1992,
44; sch. D Il. 17.37c; sch. Il. 24.741. Furthermore, the Hellenistic poet Aratus,
to give an example similar to Arete, puns on his name and the word %qqgtom, as
Peter Bing argued, at Phaen. 1 2: 1j Dir !qw~lesha, tm oqd]pot %mdqer
1_lem/%qqgtom. Callimachus makes the same pun in one of his epigrams
(Ep. 27.3 4 Pf.: kepta_/N^sier, )q^tou []). See Bing 1990.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 223

after her dream, goes to report it to her parents, the narrator makes clear
that she will speak both to her father and her mother:
Aqt_ja d Ir Gkhem 1`hqomor, F lim 5ceiqe
Mausij\am eupepkom %vaq d !peha}las emeiqom,
b/ d Ulemai di d~lah, Vm !cce_keie tojeOsi,
patq v_k\ ja lgtq_ jiw^sato d 5mdom 1|mtar.
B lm 1p 1sw\q, Hsto sm !lvip|koisi cumain_m,
Ak\jata stqyv_s "kip|qvuqa.
And next the Dawn came, throned in splendor, and wakened the well-
robed
girl Nausikaa, and she wondered much at her dreaming
and went through the house, so as to give the word to her parents,
to her dear father and her mother. She found them within there;
the queen was sitting by the fireside with her attendant
women, turning sea-purple yarn on a distaff.
(6.48 53)
However, Nausikaa will not disclose her dream (or her intention to
marry), but will ask her father to provide her with a chariot in order
to do the laundry by the river. This is a case of misdirection27 the effect
of which is to make Nausikaas reticence more conspicuous, as de Jong
points out.28 What is more, Nausikaa will not speak in the end to her
mother, but only to her father. This is a second misdirection since the
anticipation of a speech to the Phaiakian queen is not fulfilled, and,
therefore, it is emphasized that the queen is not addressed.29 Aretes
name is not mentioned either. Although the narrator describes her sit-
ting by the hearth and spinning her spindle, she is not introduced by
name.30 We see Arete on stage, but her name remains unmentioned;
we expect Nausikaa to speak to her, but Arete is not to be spoken to.
Later on, when Nausikaa advises Odysseus to go to Alkinoos palace

27 The poet applies this poetic device in order to manipulate his audience by cre-
ating expectations that are eventually not fulfilled; by interspersing false indica-
tions that lead to an outcome other than the one that will actually occur. The
aim of such strategies is usually to increase the suspense about the way the story
unfolds or surprise the audience. On Homeric misdirection see Morrison 1992,
de Jong 1997b, 321 2.
28 De Jong 2001a ad 6.49 51.
29 It is odd that Nausikaa does not address her mother about washing the clothes
since the task of doing the laundry might be more in the jurisdiction of the lady
of the house. The subject of Nausikaas request to her father makes her failure
to address her mother more prominent. See Ahl Roisman 1996, 59.
30 Alkinoos name, on the other hand, has been mentioned at 6.12.
224 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

and supplicate her mother because his return depends on her, Nausikaa
mentions Alkinoos name twice (6.299; 302), but refers to Arete as
lgt]q 1l^m (6.305). Here the absence of Aretes name is more conspic-
uous. It makes sense that Odysseus needs to know the name of the
queen since he has to supplicate her, but Nausikaas silence about her
mothers name leaves Aretes name still unmentioned.31 And although
one acknowledges the natural way in which Nausikaa refers to Arete as
mother, her silence does manage to bring about a quite tantalizing re-
tardation effect.32
The supplication scene also suggests Aretes etymology from
%(q)qgtor.33 When the mist that covered Odysseus disperses, everyone
is speechless (7.144: oR d %mey 1c]momto). From all the speechless Phaia-
kians Odysseus has to address the queen. When Odysseus finishes his
supplication, everybody is again silent (7.154: oR d %qa p\mter !jm
1c]momto siyp0) and above all Arete. She now has become speechless
from unspoken and will keep her silence for a long time. Ekheneos
breaks in and tries to resolve the awkward situation, but he ignores
Arete and advises Alkinoos how he should deal with the stranger
(7.155 66). Alkinoos follows his advice and commands Pontonoos to
pour wine and make a libation to Zeus of the suppliants (7.167 81).
Then he speaks to the Phaiakian leaders (7.186). Although Odysseus
supplicated Arete, she remains completely unmentioned afterwards.
It is only when the Phaiakian leaders withdraw that Arete breaks her
silence. It turns out that she did not speak to Odysseus because what she
had to say was not to be spoken publicly. Arete noticed that Odysseus
wore the cloak and tunic that she had made herself and that her daughter
took to wash. Therefore, she knows that Odysseus most likely met Nau-
sikaa. The fact that he wears these clothes makes him suspicious and

31 Later on, after Odysseus will have learned Aretes name and genealogy from the
disguised Athene (7.63 78), he will start his supplication to Arete by stating her
name and her fathers name ()q^tg, h}cateq gQgn^moqor !mtih]oio, 7.146). On
the revelation of Nausikaas and Aretes names, see Olson 1992.
32 In Homeric poetry this sort of retardation in naming a hero constitutes a rather
usual poetic technique; cf. Il. 1.307/337 (Patroklos); 1.351/413 (Thetis) we
owe this point to Magdalene Stoevesandt. It is a fact, though, that the interval
between the introduction of a figure and its naming lasts in Aretes case unusu-
ally long, exceeding the boundaries of a book (6.52 7.54). On retardation
technique in the Odyssey see Rengakos 1999.
33 On the supplication scene see Pedrick 1982, 138; Crotty 1994, 134; Naiden
2006, 39; Dreher 2006. Newton 1984, views this scene of supplication as a
metaphor for the ritual of rebirth.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 225

Arete skeptical to grant him his requests. Her silence is cautious and pru-
dent since she does not reveal her concerns in public and thus tarnish
her daughters reputation (see Besslich (1966) 1990, 61 9). We see
now Aretes etymology functioning in a different direction. While
Ekheneos and Alkinoos ignored her and left her unmentioned, she her-
self proves her name to mean a person who knows what and especially
when something is not to be spoken. But when the occasion is appro-
priate, she finally asks Odysseus bluntly:
ne?me, t l]m se pq_tom 1cm eQq^solai aqt^
t_r p|hem eQr !mdq_m ; t_r toi t\de eVlat 5dyjem ;
oq d v+r 1p p|mtom !k~lemor 1mh\d Rj]shai ;
Stranger and friend, I myself first have a question to ask you.
What man are you and whence? And who was it gave you this clothing?
Did you not say that you came here ranging over the water?
(7.237 9)
Aretes use of eQq^solai, a cognate with %qqgtor (see Chantraine s.v. 2
eUqy), is here particularly significant. eQq^solai seems to allude to Aretes
name e contrario; the queen negates her unutteredness, rendered so far as
suppression of her importance by Alkinoos and Ekheneos, and as silence
on her own part, and speaks. oq v-r seems to set up a further etymolog-
ical wordplay on Aretes narrative profile as %q(q)gtor as well as an an-
ticipatory echo on outir and Odysseus, especially since Odysseus will
not reveal his name to Arete. His name will be also unuttered and
hence he will remain very much a nobody.34 If we acknowledge the
Arete-%q(q)gtor connection, the narrators delay to mention Aretes
name can be paralleled to Odysseus long delay in revealing his name
to the Phaiakians. Odysseus movement from anonymity to heroic
kleos is analogous to Aretes elevation from being an unknown character,
probably invented by the poet of the Odyssey, to a heroine that finally
acquires kleos by her place in the Catalogue of Women (fr. 222 M.-W.).35

34 The parallel between Odysseus and Arete on the basis of their names can first be
made through Odysseus epithet poku\qgtor, which is the name that Eurykleia
implicitly suggested that Autolykos should give to Odysseus (19.404). Peradotto
1990, 108, 120 42 discusses Aretes name and its relation to Odysseus epithet
poku\qgtor. Note also that Odysseus has been mentioned obliquely as a
poku\qgtor he|r by Nausikaa at 6.280. On the implications of the epithet
see also Murnaghan 1987, 39 41.
35 %qqgtor can mean a person without kleos. See LfgrE s.v. %qqgtor B2: von
Menschen ungenannt, ruhmlos, cf. Hes. Op. 2 4: Di 1mm]pete /fm te
di bqoto %mdqer bl_r %vato_ te vato_ te,/Ngto t %qqgto_ te
226 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

As a character given prominence in the Odyssey, she resembles Kalypso.

The names of Kalypso (the Concealer) and Arete (the Unmentioned)
are very suitable to these heroines who rise from concealed anonymity
to epic prominence by enabling Odysseus travel back home; a travel
that for him is always a travel from anonymity to heroic fame.
Odysseus, being the master of manipulating his own name, seems to
have grasped Aretes connection with %q(q)gtor. In his response, he first
tells her that what she asks is hard to be spoken. He goes on to say that
he will tell her what she asks him, but then he gives an abbreviated ver-
sion of his wanderings and, what is more, he does not say who he is or
where he is from:36
!qcak]om, bas_keia, digmej]yr !coqeOsai,
j^de 1pe_ loi pokk d|sam heo Oqqam_ymer
toOto d] toi 1q]y, f l !me_qeai Ad letakkr.
It is a hard thing, O queen, to tell you without intermission,
all my troubles, since the gods of the sky have given me many.
But this now I will tell you in answer to the question you asked me.
(7.241 3)
Odysseus answer to Arete contains linguistic traits that underpin the
proposed Arete-%(q)qgtor connection further: the use of 1q]y and !me_-
qeai, both cognates with %qqgtor, invites us to acknowledge a striking
and persistent allusion to Aretes name.37 Odysseus will end his speech
to Arete with a ring composition, saying that he spoke, as was asked
to do, although he was distressed (7.297: taOt\ toi !wm}lem|r peq
!kghe_gm jat]kena).
At this point, it is worth mentioning Virgils adaptation of 7.241 2.
Dido asks Aeneas at the end of book 1 of the Aeneid to tell her about the
ambush of the Greeks, the downfall of the Trojans, and his wanderings
(1.753 6). Then everyone is silent (2.1). Aeneas answers to the Phoe-
nician queen more or less as Odysseus answered to the Phaiakian queen:
infandum, regina, iubes renouare dolorem
Queen, you are asking to renew an ineffable pain.
(Aen. 2.2)
The word infandum, emphatically placed at the head of the line, corre-
sponds to the Greek word %qqgtom. Virgil here alludes to Odysseus an-

36 See Besslich (1966) 1990, 60 1.

37 digmej]yr !coqeOsai (7.241) actually recalls the etymology of !qgt|r from !e
Ngt|m, attested at sch. D Il. 17.37c; sch. Il. 24.741.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 227

swer to Arete and we suggest that he also alludes, in the subtle way of an
Alexandrian poet, to Aretes etymological connection with %q(q)gtor.
By doing so, he leaves Aretes (but also Didos) name unmentioned,
but at the same time, implied. Virgil manages to hint at the scene he
adapts here by means of a witty paradoxical pun; Arete is mentioned
by remaining unmentioned.
Turning back to the Odyssey, after 8.445 Arete will remain silent
and unmentioned until book 11. Her silence does not reduce her im-
portance in the narrative.38 We argue against scholars who believed
that, although Arete is proclaimed to be the key-person for Odysseus
return, her role is afterwards downplayed.39 Doherty argues convincing-
ly that Odysseus organizes the first half of his apologoi as an attempt to
win over Arete.40 Odysseus realizes that the Phaiakian queen has the
power to either facilitate his nostos or keep him in Scherie trapping
him in a world of anonymity forever. Aretes ambivalent power resem-
bles that of the goddesses Kalypso and Kirke. All these women threaten
Odysseus nostos but finally offer valuable help. It seems that the queen
can decide whether Odysseus will return home or stay marooned in the
fictional and isolated Scherie.41 Odysseus does not seem to have forgot-

38 Aretes name and its etymology from %q(q)gtor provide a nice paradox that ex-
plains her function and her importance in the Odyssey; by remaining unmen-
tioned for a long time, she is present through the etymology of her name.
To put it in another way, the etymology of her name evokes her presence
through her silence. The emphasis of her importance by means of her with-
drawal from the forefront of the narrative resembles Achilles in the Iliad,
whose absence from the battlefield does not reduce his importance, but rather
emphasizes how crucial he is for the war.
39 Nitzsch 1826 40, 2.138; Thomson 1949, 419; Fenik 1974, 105 ff.; Pedrick
1988, 87.
40 See Doherty 1992; 1995, 87 160. See also Minchin 2007a, 20 1 = 2007b,
266.
41 Tsitsibakou-Vasalos suggests an intriguing etymological parallel between Ares
and Arete. Ares etymological relation to !q\olai/!q\ (cf. sch. A Il. 18.
521b; Hsch. 7145) suggests that the god is a curse, a bane (per litteras).
Being a belligerent god, Ares is also %q(q)gtor, unpersuaded by words and rea-
son. Thus, Ares shares the same etymological potential with Arete, but while
the god of war develops the dark sides of his etymologies in the Iliad, the Phaia-
kian queen activates the positive dynamics of her etymologies in the Odyssey.
Ares and Arete have a relation of polarity. The Iliadic Ares is a baneful god
that defies negotiation, while the Phaiakian queen stands for supplication and
persuasion. Arete, the daughter of Rhexenor (Breaker of Men), incorporates
the semata of Ares, who is a man-slaughtering god (cf. pa}sashai bqotokoicm
228 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

ten Nausikaas (6.310 15) and Athenes (7.75 7) advice that his safe
return to his longed-for fatherland depends on Arete. If he wants to re-
turn to Ithaca and claim his kleos, he has to talk his way out of Scherie by
winning her over. The only way to accomplish that is to speak of his
unspeakable woes.

4. Gender and Generic Tension in Scherie

The above section has made apparent Aretes double etymological dy-
namics, which indicates her centrality in the Phaiakian episode. In the
following section we argue that Arete belongs to a generic frame that
renders her role in the narrative comprehensible. This generic frame,
the so-called ehoie-poetry, and its narrative conventions seem to be
the point where Aretes semantic multivalence and her prominent
role in the gender-system of the Odyssey intersect. The Phaiakian epi-
sode provides a nice glance at the harmonic cooperation of gender
and genre mechanics. We are invited to see how gender roles are per-
formed in an archaic epic context, and to what extent the narrative con-
tributes to the construction of gender identities and inter-gender rela-
tionships.42
In specific, attention is drawn to the fact that the gender of the nar-
rator (Odysseus) and the narratee (Arete) holds a key position in estab-
lishing communication, and consequently that this configuration impos-
es a certain discourse upon the narrative so that communication can be
achieved after all. Moreover, the episode of Odysseus encounter with
the Phaiakians contains an instance of inter-genre transference of a gen-
dered narrative mode, i. e. the stylized narrative patterns of ehoie-poetry,
within an already explicitly gendered genre. Thus, we are called to ob-
serve how the gendered narrative of ehoie-poetry works in an epic prais-
ing a male hero, and what kind of narrative purposes it serves.
-qg !mdqojtasi\ym, Il. 5.909), but reverses the qualities of the Iliadic god of
war, accommodating the values of the new epic. Note also that Demodokos
song about Ares and Aphrodite (Od. 8.266 366) may activate the juxtaposition
between Ares and Arete in the Phaiakian episode. In sum, the etymological par-
allels between Ares and Arete highlight the antithetical/foil relation between
the god of war and the Phaiakian queen, and adumbrate Aretes function in
the Odyssey.
42 For current insights into the relationship of narratology to gender studies see
Lanser 1986, Nnning 1994, Prince 1996.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 229

We have already mentioned that Aretes high position makes her

comparable to a heroine of the Catalogue of Women. Let us examine
this point closer. We begin with Athenes presentation of Arete to
Odysseus (7.53 77). When the disguised Athene introduces Aretes ge-
nealogy, we move from the world of heroic epic poetry, which focuses
synchronically on heroes of a certain age and time, to the diachronically
oriented catalogue poetry. Athenes language emphasizes this generic
shift, and frames Arete and her genealogy within the poetic tradition
of the Catalogue of Women.
Earlier as well as contemporary Homeric research has curiously
overlooked a trait intrinsic to the presentation of Arete in book 7: the
fact that Athenes speech makes extensive use of linguistic elements
and especially formulas that recall the typical language of the so-called
ehoie-poetry. To begin with, the explicitly genealogical frame of the
narrative that Athene puts forward in order to introduce Arete is to
be identified as a distinctive feature of this kind of female-oriented nar-
rative mode. According to the genealogical tree given, Aretes grand-
mother was Periboia, who is described as a woman of exceptional beau-
ty (7.57: cumaij_m eWdor !qstg). This expression, attested hapax in the
Homeric epics, constitutes an allomorph of the recurrent Iliadic formula
hucatq_m eWdor !qstg43 and should be semantically associated with
cumaij_m vOkom aT t|t %qistai 5sam in the proem of the Hesiodic
Ehoiai (fr. 1.1 3 M.-W.) as well as with the introductory section of
the Odyssean Catalogue of Women (11.225 7: [] aR d cuma?jer/
[]/fssai !qistym %kowoi 5sam Ad hcatqer).44 Its narrative function
is to mark and activate the ehoie-genre a turn made all the more ex-
plicit as soon as the genealogy reaches its intended point of reference,
Arete. This association of Arete with the semantics of !qstg, mainly
addressing beauty and social status, on the one hand urges us to think
of a poet suggesting an oblique wordplay this wordplay might be im-
plied, as Alkinoos asks his wife to fetch the best chest with a clean cloak
and a chiton in it for the stranger to use after his bath (8.423 4: d Na
tt )qtgm pqosvg lmor )kjimoio7/deOqo, cmai, vqe wgkm

43 Il. 2.175 (Alkestis); 3.124, 6.252 (Laodike); 13.365 (Kassandre); 13.378 (daugh-
ter of Atreids); hDem. 146 (Kallidike); cf. also hVen. 41: lca eWdor !qstg 1m
!hamt,si he0si (Hera). Cf. Meier 1976, 144 with n. 3. On female eWdor in
the Hesiodic Ehoiai see Osborne 2005, 10 f.
44 Lyons 1997, 10 f. notes the thematic connection of the two Catalogues in terms
of these best women (%qistai). See also Irwin 2005, 41.
230 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

!qipqep, F tir !qstg [Thereupon the king Alkinoos said to Arete:/

Come, wife, bring out a magnificent coffer, the best one you
have]). On the other hand, the term is followed within the narrative
by another superlative, pq~tg, stressing Aretes primary position in
the episode (cf. 7.53: pq_ta).
In addition, the formal elements that directly follow the sequence
oUgm )qtgm point towards conceiving Aretes entry as a disguised
form of an ehoie: line 7.66 touches on the union of Arete and Alkinoos,
brought forth by the formula he made her his wife (poi^sat %joitim).
That the formula occurs seven times in the Ehoiai in a marriage context
is surely indicative of the formulas connection to ehoie-poetry.45 In the
following line the theme of Aretes exceptional til^ is addressed
(7.67 8: ja lim 5tis r ou tir 1p whom tetai %kkg/fssai mOm ce
cuma?jer rp !mdqsim oWjom 5wousim [and (scil. Alkinoos) honored
her as no other woman on earth is honored, such women as there are
now and keep a house under their husbands]).46 In the Homeric
epics men usually honor men, whereas their respect towards women
is expressed only twice in the Odyssey, with regard to Arete and Eury-
kleia. In the case of Eurykleia, we find a slightly similar wording as well
as a concise genealogy (1.428 33: t` d %q l aQholmar dadar vqe
jedm Qdu?a/Eqqjkei, por huctgq Peisgmoqdao,/tm pote Kaqtgr
pqato jtetessim 2o?si,/pqyhbgm 5t 1oOsam, 1eijosboia d 5dyjem,/
Wsa d lim jedm0 !kw\ tem 1m lecqoisim,/eqm0 d ou pot 5lijto, wkom
d !keime cumaijr [and devoted Eurykleia went with him, and carried
the flaring/torches. She was the daughter of Ops, the son of Peisenor,/
and Laertes had bought her long ago with his own possessions/when she
was still in her first youth, and gave twenty oxen for her,/and he favored
her in his house as much as his own devoted/wife, but never slept with
her, for fear of his wifes anger]).47 The similarity of the phrasing relat-

45 Cf. frr. 23a.31, 33a.7, 85.5, 190.6 M.-W.; frr. 5.59, 6.1, 11.12 Hirschberger.
Mureddu (1983) 119 recognizes the formula as a variant of the type (v_kgm)
jejk^s,/poi^sat %joitim. Cf. Drger 1997, 24.
46 Wagner-Hasel 2000a, 206 and 2000b, 191 3 believes that the exceptional til^
that Arete enjoys in Scherie is interwoven into the soziales Geleit, which in
the ritual of guest-friendship rests on the fabrication of signs made from textile.
On Arete as hostess see Pedrick 1988, 86 87, 92 3.
47 On the parallel Arete-Eurykleia in terms of til^ see Wagner-Hasel 2000b, 205.
Eurykleias low social status seems to be a good reason why the alleged formula
might have been modified in this case. Eurykleias moral integrity and the fact
that she functions as a surrogate for Antikleia show her to be a rather distorted
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 231

ing t_y to a discourse of til^ is, however, to be found also in the ehoie
of Alkmene. The diction at Hes. Eh. fr. 195.16 7 M.-W. = Scut. 9 10
(D d ja r jat hulm 2m tesjem !jotgm,/r ou p tir 5tise
cumaij_m hgkuteqym [and in her spirit she honored her husband as
no other female woman ever yet honored hers]) is strongly reminiscent
of Od. 7.67 8, although the circumstances of attributing til^ are not
exactly identical.48 Alkmene was not being honored by her husband
like Arete, but honored her husband in a unique manner. It is our con-
tention that the discourse related to female til^, as presented in the cases
of Eurykleia, Arete and Alkmene, belongs to a fixed concept of an or-
ally transmitted genealogical poetry, the ehoie-poetry. The poet of the
Odyssey must have inherited this concept and the subsequent vocabulary
from an allegedly pre-Hesiodic genealogical tradition.49 Thus, by the
time of Hesiod it seems to have been already established as a formula.
These parallels can explain why Odysseus proceeds to relate his en-
counter with famous heroines and, what is more, why these tales are ap-
pealing to Arete.50 Minchin (2007a, 20 1 = 2007b, 266) has recently
argued that Arete responds positively to the tales of Odysseus in
Od. 11.336 7 and encourages him to continue because she enjoys lis-
tening to them. This is true, but Minchin fails to explain why Odysseus
storytelling is so appealing to her as to make her break her protracted
silence and retract her cautious behavior concerning Odysseus recep-
tion as a guest. It is, in our view, precisely the well-established nexus
based on multiple implicit and explicit allusions to ehoie-poetry that
helps us to comprehend Aretes approval of the excursus of the Cata-
logue of Women in the Odyssey. As a result, when Odysseus decides
image of a noble woman; on this see Skempis (forthcoming). In this respect it
should be noted that only Eurykleia and Eumaios out of the slaves of Odysseus
are worthy of acquiring a concise genealogical entry by the poet. On this see
Higbie 1995, 7 f.
48 Hirschberger 2004, 366 on fr. 91.9 10 and Hunter 2005c, 253 n. 51 note the
similarity in poetic expression, but do not comment on the stylization of the
formulaic language of the Ehoiai. Neitzel 1975 and Cohen 1989 90 do not in-
clude the passage in their studies as an example of Homeric reception in Hesi-
od.
49 On the existence of such a pre-Hesiodic tradition see West 1985, 125; Ruth-
erford 2000, 89 93; Hirschberger 2004, 63, 64 f.; Hunter 2005a, 2; Nasta
2006, 64 8; Arrighetti 2008. Rutherford 2000, 93 6 even believes that an
early version of the Hesiodic Ehoiai was available to the poet of the Odyssey.
50 This point has recently been put forward also by Doherty 2006, 313 f., who
nevertheless does not develop her argument on a textual basis.
232 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

to interrupt his story right after he has finished reciting the heroines he
met in the Underworld, he does not do so randomly, and accordingly,
the self-interruption is far from unexpected.51 Odysseus wants to test the
efficiency of the narrative skills he has employed to serve a concrete
goal: that of gaining Aretes sympathy by acknowledging the impor-
tance of the heroines in the epic universe of the Odyssey.
In the light of this generic interpretation we should now turn back
to reassess the verse that introduced Arete (7.65 6: 1m lecq\ lam oUgm
pa?da kipmta/)qtgm): she was the one and only daughter of Rhex-
enor, the brother of Alkinoos. The word oUg not only expresses the ge-
nealogical particularity of Arete, but furthermore implicitly marks her
uniqueness as a female Homeric character; it designates, to put it in Ka-
hanes words, her existence as a heroic one-of-a-kind (Kahane 1997,
118). Further we suggest that this precise word (oUgm) might be thought
of as subjected to a process of semantic fluctuation, fairly equivalent to
R. Barthes famous notion of anchorage and his floating chain of signi-
fieds.52 Thus, it sets up an allusive interplay with oVg. Bearing in mind
the predominantly genealogical context of Athenes speech so far, a
reader would be enticed to see in the pronoun an alluring association
with the marker of female genealogical poetry (A) oVg53 and subsequent-
ly to read the passage as a proper ehoie. Against this background, Kahane
maintains that within the specific discourse of Homeric hexameter
there are significant pragmatic links between the word oios (alone, on
his own) and the word hoios (such a/what a, as an expression of
emotion), [.]. This idea should not surprise us. What Milman Parry
termed calembour (more serious than a pun) is a recurrent feature of
Homeric poetry: autme//and aute//; omphe//and odme//; demos//
(fat) and demos//(people) are some well known examples, all localized
(like the rhythm in later poetry) at the end of the verse (Kahane 1997,
121 2). We suggest that a further instance of this calembour might be
the semantic approximation of oUg to oVg in Athenes speech.54

51 For a different view on this matter see Rabel 2002; Graziosi Haubold 2005,
47; Minchin 2007b, 242.
52 Barthes 1977, 39.
53 On the formula see West 1985, 35; Cohen 1989 90, 60 5; Rutherford 2000,
83 5; Hirschberger 2004, 30 f.; Nasta 2006, 59 64; Arrighetti 2008, 13 4.
54 Cf. the relevant remark in Minchin 1996, 13: The connectedness of his mate-
rial at associative and semantic levels would have been of considerable assistance
to Homer as he sang his lists and catalogues.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 233

Of course, in our case there is no double mentioning of oUg and oVg,

which would make the phonetic parallelism somewhat explicit, and ac-
cordingly, no ehoie-formula. That the ehoie-formula, however, is not at-
tested in the Nekyia,55 the most straightforward instance of ehoie-poet-
ry, can be explained on a narratological basis: Odysseus apologoi,
where the Catalogue of Women is integrated, requires a formulaic ex-
pression adapted to Odysseus first-person narrative of his encounter
with the heroines instead of the ehoie-formula, which is appropriate to
third-person narration.56 In other words, Odysseus does not need here
the formula in order to make the transition to the ehoie-poetry.57 In
our view, it is exactly the position of oUgm, appropriated in a passage
making extensive use of formulas connected to ehoie-poetry and
above all introducing a female figure, that effectively triggers the allusive
play with the ehoie-formula.
The use of variants of the ehoie-formula in the Odyssey as a means of
alluding to the genre of ehoie-poetry as crystallized in the Hesiodic
Ehoiai is not unique. When Telemakhos speaks of his mother to the sui-
tors, oVg functions as a signpost of poetry related to the Catalogue of
Women:58
-kk %cete lmgst/qer, 1pe t|de va_met %ehkom,
oVg mOm oqj 5sti cum jat )wai_da ca?am,
But come on suitors, since there is a prize set before you, a woman such as
there is none in all the Akhaian country now.
(21.107 8)
Telemakhos invites the suitors to the bow contest which has Penelope
as its prize (%ehkom). Note that the wooing of a woman as well as a

55 In this respect, Rutherford 2000, 93 4 believes that the ehoie-formula might

have been replaced with a set of formulas amounting to And I saw: tm d
Udom , ja eWdom and so on and that the Nekuia catches and pre-
serves for us an earlier stage in the development of ehoie-poetry.
56 On the implications of Odysseus first-person narration in the apologoi see
Reinhardt 1960, 58 62; on the arrangement and significance of the apologoi
see Most 1989 and Bierl 2007.
57 Nasta 2006, 60 points out: Au fil des apparitions Ulysse reprend chaque fois le
mme tour introductif: (Udom / 5sidom eWdom) Jai vu /Je vis encore
/Je vis aussi . Ailleurs, selon la spcificit des contextes, C oVg aurait pu
fonctionner comme une formule de relance, tout aussi vhmente que litra-
tion du verbe qui faisait revivre dans lOdyss e un tmoignage focalis par le nar-
rateur.
58 Cf. Nasta 2006, 63 4.
234 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

woman set as the prize of a contest are recurring motifs in the Ehoiai. 59
The female excellence of Penelope, who is said to be the best of the
Akhaian women, is also thematically associated with the Hesiodic Ehoiai
(cf. fr. 1.1 4 M.-W.). Thus, the passage quoted above relates Penelope
to the most characteristic formula and themes of the Ehoiai. Penelope is
actually compared to the heroines of the Catalogue of Women by Anti-
noos: 5qca t 1p_stashai peqijakk]a ja vq]mar 1shkr/j]qde\ h, oX
ou p~ tim !jo}olem oqd pakai_m,/t\ym aT p\qor Gsam 1{pkojal?der
)waia_,/Tuq~ t )kjl^mg te 1{st]vam|r te Luj^mg (to be expert in
beautiful work, to have good character and cleverness, such as we are
not told of, even of the ancient queens, the fair-tressed Akhaian
women of times before us, Tyro and Alkmene and Mykene, wearer
of garlands; Od. 2.117 20). Within this context, oXa seems to set up
an allusion to the Ehoiai.
However, this generic interplay is not without tension in Scherie.
We argue that the undercurrent of the gender conflict in the Phaiakian
episode is reflected upon the generic interplay between heroic and
ehoie-poetry. Arete is a woman who enjoys a higher status than usual
(see Arthur 1984, 16 9). Alkinoos honored her as no other woman/
wife on earth is honored (7.67 9). Her authority is so strong that she
can even resolve quarrels among men (7.74).60 Nausikaas and Athenes
advice to Odysseus to supplicate Arete further elevate her exceptional
status. We contend, however, that her elevated status is a cause of covert
tension in Phaiakia. When Odysseus beseeches her, her subsequent si-
lence causes Ekheneos intervention. Ekheneos ignores her and the
fact that Odysseus supplicated her, and addresses Alkinoos. Subsequent-
ly, Alkinoos addresses the Phaiakian leaders and also ignores his wife,
who is sitting next to him. It also seems that Alkinoos and Arete have
constantly opposite attitudes towards Odysseus. While Alkinoos is gar-
rulous and friendly to Odysseus, and offers him Nausikaas hand, Arete

59 Several episodes of the Catalogue develop the motif of the wooing of a woman
and the woman is often the prize of a contest. Atalantas suitors woo her by
competing with her in a foot race (fr. 72 6 M.-W.). Sisyphos woos Mestra
on behalf of his son Glaukos, promising countless wedding gifts (fr. 43a.21:
luq_a 6dma). The Ehoiai conclude with the lengthy episode of the wooing of
Helen (fr. 196 204 M.-W.), which is actually a contest of wealth. On the
motif of wooing in the Odyssey see Tsitsibakou-Vasalos (this volume).
60 On the idealized image of Arete as presented in Book 7 see Wohl 1993, 29 32;
Latacz 1994, 105 11; Whittaker 1999; Felson Slatkin 2004, 105 with n. 41;
Buchan 2004, 190 3.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 235

is silent and skeptical. Alkinoos is initially enthusiastic, whereas Arete is

cautious and suspicious with the stranger. While Alkinoos speaks pub-
licly and makes his offer without knowing the identity of the stranger,
Arete speaks in private and asks Odysseus bluntly who he is. Alkinoos
offers Odysseus gifts and is confident about his safe return
(8.424 32), whereas Arete warns Odysseus that he might be robbed
by the Phaiakians on his way home (8.443 5). When Arete has been
won over and suggests that the Phaiakians bestow more gifts upon
her guest, the gender tension reaches its peak. Arete sees the bond of
xenia with Odysseus as a personal one (11.338: ne?mor 1l|r 1stim ;
see Doherty 1995, 80). Thus, she replies obliquely to Ekheneos
(7.159 66), who addressed his speech to Alkinoos, using the word
ne?mor three times and passing over the fact that Odysseus had supplicat-
ed Arete and not Alkinoos. Ekheneos now intervenes for a second time.
He politely seconds the queens suggestion, but notes that this business
belongs to Alkinoos (11.344 6). Alkinoos agrees with Aretes proposi-
tion, yet in seconding her he uses the same formulaic language in which
Telemakhos rebuked Penelope: lOhor/polp d %mdqessi lek^sei/
psi, l\kista d 1lo_7 toO cq jq\tor 5st 1m oUj\/d^l\ (1.358 9 ~
11.352 3).61 This is the mens business, not Aretes, who urged the
Phaiakians not to make haste to send Odysseus away (11.339: t` l
1peic|lemoi !pop]lpete ; 11.352: polp^). Telemakhos utters these
words while his authority is seriously questioned. By alluding to book
1, the poet parallels the two situations.62 Alkinoos of course is not
weak like Telemakhos, but the repetition of the lines implies that Are-
tes intervention might intrude into the male sphere of authority. In
book 1, Penelope is excluded from the audience of Phemios song
and retreats to her place after being rebuked. Alkinoos also rebukes
Arete (though subtly), but not only has Arete enjoyed Odysseus stories
(unlike Penelope whom Phemios song grieved), but also Odysseus at-
tempted to win her over by choosing a subject matter and a treatment of
his topic that would please her.

61 For this formula and possible interpretations of the tensions between Arete and
Alkinoos, see Doherty 1991, 151; Wohl 1993, 31 2, 38, 42. Cf. Hektors an-
swer to Andromakhe in Il. 6.492 3, (p|kelor d %mdqessi lek^sei/psim, 1lo
d l\kista, to Yk_\ 1ccec\asim), a passage also pregnant with gender tension;
see Rutherford 1991 93, 51; Kahane 2005, 168 71.
62 See Doherty 1992, 166.
236 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

Arete belongs to the genre of female !qet^, and we know from Hes.
Eh. fr. 222 M.-W. that she had a place in the Hesiodic Catalogue of
Women. Within the narrative of the Odyssey, Athenes speech to Odys-
seus contains two pieces of advice; an overt one (that is to beseech the
queen) and a covert one (that is that Arete belongs to the genre of the
ehoiai, and therefore should be treated respectively). Odysseus will ex-
ploit the second hint while relating the heroines he met in the Under-
world. In order to ingratiate Arete, he will turn to the genre to which
Arete belongs.
Let us examine some parallels between Athenes presentation of
Aretes genealogy and Odysseus foray into the Catalogue of
Women: Odysseus relates at length Poseidons affair with Tyro. Like-
wise, Athene mentioned Periboias affair with Poseidon.63 Tyro is also
referred to as bas_keia (11.258), a title also given to Arete (7.241;
11.345). Tyros husband Kretheus was her uncle, according to Eh.
fr. 30 M.-W. Likewise, Alkinoos and Arete are uncle and niece. The si-
lence motif is also important in Tyros story (see Doherty 1993). Posei-
don asked Tyro that she not reveal their affair (11.251 2). However,
Tyro defies his order as she reports her affair to Odysseus. It is striking
that Poseidons words are given in direct speech (Od. 11.248 52), al-
though in book 11 women do not speak directly, but their stories are
reported in indirect speech by Odysseus. The direct speech stresses
Tyros defiance. The revelation of the affair is against Poseidons pro-
hibition, and his words, which are supposed to remain concealed, re-
sound in direct speech. Doherty argues that Tyro and Arete, like Odys-
seus, can be seen as resisting the will of the god Poseidon. Tyros defi-
ance consists of breaking the taboo of silence, while Arete can also be
seen as braving Poseidons wrath by helping Odysseus (Doherty 1995,
125). By breaking her silence, Tyro guarantees her place in the ehoie-po-
etry. Hence, her name acquires kleos. Had she obeyed Poseidons order,
she would remain unknown and unmentioned. Her only escape from
anonymity is the fame ensuing from her affair with Poseidon. There-
fore, Odysseus story of Tyro would be targeting Aretes cautious si-
lence. The hint is that Arete should not be afraid of Poseidon, and
should speak for Odysseus cause. Odysseus return home will guarantee
Aretes fame. Since Odysseus features as a poet of ehoie-poetry, and
Arete belongs to this poetic universe, he is her chance to escape ano-

63 Doherty 2006, 313 points out some parallels between the stories of Tyro and
Periboia.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 237

nymity. The epic world of Odysseus has not been incompatible with
the world of the heroines. On the contrary, the one guarantees the
kleos of the other.
As already mentioned, the gender tension in Phaiakia is reflected
upon the generic interplay with the ehoie-poetry. Ekheneos is the
key-character that connects the gender with the generic tension. In
his twofold intervention, he ostentatiously passes over Arete and em-
phasizes Alkinoos authority. He is twice referred to as hero (7.155,
11.342: Fqyr 9w]mgor) by the narrator a rather peculiar appellative
considering the standards of the peaceful Phaiakians, who refrain from
any kind of warrior activity.64 As a character underscoring Alkinoos au-
thority and undermining Aretes,65 his characterization as Fqyr may im-
plicitly presuppose an attempted generic shift, which the representative
of the heroic world tries here to squeeze out. In this respect, it is signif-
icant that these two formulaic references to Ekheneos are carefully
placed by the poet after Aretes ehoie (7.155 7) and after the Cata-
logue of Women (11.342 3a) respectively.66 Ekheneos undermines
Aretes power by pointing to Alkinoos authority and thus exemplifies
the undercurrent of conflict between the king and the queen of Scher-
ie.67 In this way, he seems to react implicitly against ehoie-poetry. His
reaction points against the potential establishment of powerful female
figures like Arete and the women of the Catalogue in the narrative of
the Odyssey. This would signal a grave adulteration of the heroic po-
etry by ehoie-poetry. Besides, the significant name of Ekheneos, the one

64 On the use of Fqyr in Homer see now van Wees 2006, 366 70, who argues
against a secular meaning.
65 On this see Doherty 1995, 68 f., 77 f.
66 On the interventions of Ekheneos see the brief remarks in Hlscher (1989)
3
1990, 128 and Garvie 1994, 196 ad 7.155 6; cf. Heubeck 1989, 98 ad
11.342 6, Latacz 1994 and Mori 2001, 93, 111 on the same passage.
67 As far as Arete is concerned, her fathers name seems to reveal an analogous se-
mantics of gender conflict, on the condition that one accepts the paternal no-
menclature as an ad hoc invention by the poet of the Odyssey in order to indi-
rectly serve the characterization of Arete: Ugn^myq (7.63) is the one who
breaks armed ranks (cf. LfgrE s.v. Ngn^myq : men-breaking, shattering (the
ranks of) his opponents) and subsequently his daughter displays the same
trait, though certainly not on the battlefield. The similar function of Eurykleias
paternal nomenclature (Od. 1.429; 2.347; 20.148: por huc\tgq Peisgmoq_-
dao) is treated in Skempis (forthcoming). On the identification of epic
women with their fathers see Olson 1992, 4 n. 13.
238 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

who possesses ships,68 suggests the Homeric aristocratic ideal, and

makes him particularly appropriate to bring up the subject. The empha-
sis on Ekheneos age in both instances as c]qym and Vai^jym !mdq_m
pqocem]steqor emphasizes the significance of the old counselors opin-
ion. But one is also inclined to think that this reference may also imply
the characters reaction to a lapse of the traditional heroic epic into the
thematically diverse genre of the Catalogue of Women.69 It is a fact
that the Odyssey significantly refines the epic tradition, in particular
the ideal of the Iliadic warrior hero, and consequently reflects on the
evolution of the epic genre.70 We believe that the Phaiakian episode of-
fers a concrete example of this evolutionary tendency inherent in the
Odyssey by projecting a generic tension between heroic epic and
ehoie-poetry.
At 11.363 76, Alkinoos says that Odysseus does not seem to be a
dissembler or a thief. Thus, he answers obliquely to Odysseus sugges-
tion that he would be willing to stay for one more year in Scherie,
should that be more profitable for him (11.355 61). Alkinoos attitude
to Odysseus is again at odds with that of his wife; while Arete seems
willing to shower Odysseus with gifts and delay his escort home
(11.339 41), Alkinoos is not at all willing to have Odysseus for one
year in Scherie and increase his gifts. Oddly enough, Alkinoos says
that Odysseus has surveyed skillfully the story of his own sorrows and
of all the Argives (11.368 9). This is of course a strange statement.
First of all, Odysseus did not say anything about the sorrows of the Ar-
gives, much less about all the Argives. Odysseus has just finished relating
his encounter with the heroines, but Alkinoos not only does not praise,
but deliberately passes over this part of Odysseus account. Then, he asks
Odysseus to change the subject. Alkinoos dismisses the ehoie-poetry
and asks Odysseus to tell them about his comrades who followed him
and died at Troy. We see here that Alkinoos is interested in the Iliadic
stories of Odysseus. His request is that Odysseus change genre and move
from the female catalogue to the male-oriented heroic poetry. He
phrases this request by leaving the ehoie-like part of Odysseus account

68 See von Kamptz 1982, 63; Braswell 1982, 133 n. 12; Pedrick 1988, 86 7;
Wohl 1993, 29 31.
69 For a different approach cf. Wagner-Hasel 2007, 329 f.: der greise Heros Eche-
neos reprsentiert mit seinem Alter eine Art Krpergedchtnis, in dem ebenso
wie in den Geweben der Frauen das Wissen um zentrale Werte der Gesellschaft
aufgehoben ist.
70 For the most recent discussion on this see Slatkin 2005, 316 ff.; cf. Pucci 1995.
 Etymology, Ehoie-Poetry and Gendered Narrative in the Odyssey 239

completely unmentioned.71 Alkinoos seems to imply that Odysseus

should speak about the heroes who died at Troy, about the epic
world that he claims to be a part of, and not about the women of
ehoie-poetry. Aretes fascination with the account of the heroines and
Alkinoos request that Odysseus change topic and thus genre represent
the gender tension reflected upon the generic question.
Hence, our reading proposes an ehoie-frame that starts in a rather ob-
lique way with Athenes speech in book 7 and ends more straightfor-
wardly with the Catalogue of Women in book 11. Odysseus narrative
in the Nekyia extols female virtue and particularly motherhood
through the long conversation with Antikleia in the Underworld.72 It
is worth noting that ehoie-poetry provides a particularly suitable vessel
for praising motherhood due to the matrifocal emphasis on the presen-
tation of the genealogies of heroes.73 Gera is right to acknowledge that
Arete is the first of Odysseus listeners to react to his Catalogue, where
the encounter with his dead mother Antikleia is recounted it seems
that the narrative activates Aretes motherly responses.74 It is also note-
worthy that Nausikaa refrains from naming Arete, but refers to her
twice merely as mother (6.305; 310), a designation which brings
forth the texts accent on Arete in her capacity as a mother. In this re-
spect, it might be no coincidence that Odysseus decides to narrate the
meeting with his dead mother, perhaps seeking to create a link with
Arete and her position in Scherie. The point seems to be that in his cul-
tural background, i. e. that of an epic hero, ones mother is as highly re-
spected as Arete appears to be in the community of the Phaiakians.

5. Conclusion

The usefulness of the formal references to ehoie-poetry lies on creating a

codified channel of communication between Odysseus and Arete. This
kind of poetry, standing at the heart of an innovative epic, provides a

71 Still, oXa (11.364) in this context might allude to ehoie-poetry.

72 On the details and implications of this conversation see Combellack 1974, Ahl
Roisman 1996, 126 34, and especially Tracy 1997, 361 3.
73 Cf. Lyons 1997, 5. On the matrifocal and subsequently matrilineal character of
the genealogies in the Hesiodic Ehoiai see West 1966, 34 f.; Heilinger 1983, 28.
Pace Finkelberg 1991, 308, who speaks of an explicit patrilineality in Greek ge-
nealogical poetry relying on West 1985, 31 50.
74 Gera 1997, 48; cf. Louden 1999, 119 f.
240 Marios Skempis Ioannis Ziogas

heuristic tool for honing inter-gender communication. Ehoie-poetry is,

however, a code, which is phatically articulated, though left unclassified,
unnamed, at times even covert, as in the case of Aretes entry. One sees
in the reaction of Ekheneos that this sort of poetry can cause a disrup-
tion on the heroic conceptualization of the epic collective and its rep-
resentatives, i. e. men. Aretes narrativized etymologies and her affinity
to genealogical poetry about women in the Phaiakian episode serve to
establish a social communication, which transgresses gender and
genre. Besides, the two etymologies of Aretes name which have
been discussed in this paper exhibit the paradoxical nature of her
names semantics: on the one hand, it claims communication as its
basis and, therefore, fosters narrative by suggesting the necessity of her
being addressed by Odysseus; on the other, it reveals a character
more or less challenging communication since she remains silent most
of the time after Odysseus has supplicated her. Yet, in Aretes case,
the meaning of her name as well as her generic affiliation with ehoie-po-
etry have a concrete narrative function: Odysseus understands Athenes
hint in book 7, i. e. that his safe homecoming depends on a heroine of
genealogical poetry, and when the time comes, he veers his narrative to
Aretes world, a world of female arete. He seems to be aware that his
epic nostos passes through ehoie-poetry, just as Aretes kleos passes
through Odysseus nostos.