On madness without words: gestures in Homer’s poems as a nonverbal means of depicting madness.
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Date
2013-12-30
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Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk
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Abstract
The paper discusses various ways of depicting madness in Homer’s epics based on the example of a scene from
the Iliad, in which Andromache is compared to a maenad, as well as the scene concerning the feast of suitors
in book XX of the Odyssey. Depicting madness by means of gestures affects the reception of the described
scenes by the external and internal epic audience in a very special way. The gestures that are described invoke
in the listeners associations related to their own experiences and appeal to particular emotions, whose presence
affects the reception of an epic. The gestures and the nonverbal message allude to the Bacchic trance and this
raises the question whether Homer and his audience were familiar with the cult of Dionysus.
Description
The paper discusses images of madness in Homer’s epics based on the example of a scene
from the Iliad, in which Andromache is compared to a maenad, as well as the scene concerning
the feast of suitors in book XX of the Odyssey. Both episodes contain numerous allusions to Dionysian
mysteries. Homer and his audience were familiar with the cult of Dionysus, but due to the
specific nature of an epic poem, direct references to this cult were not acceptable. These allusions
are hidden in the second narrative layer, which is depicted by means of gestures. Gestures imply
a multidimensional message and trigger chains of associations that draw on audience’s experience.
Through descriptions of gestures the discussed scenes appeal directly to the listeners’ imagination;
they immediately evoke images that are familiar to the audience members and resemble their own
experiences. They also appeal to particular emotions, which enables the listeners to empathise
and bond with the epic characters. The nonverbal message is superior to words: it highlights the
exceptional importance of an event and, most of all, affects the audience’s emotions.
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Keywords
Homer, laughter, gestures, Dionysus, nonverbal behaviour, Andromache, suitors, maenad
Citation
Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium, 2013, nr XXIII/2, s. 5-16.