Proverbial speech and mythological exempla in Homer

Abstract

THE OBJECT of this paper is to study the function of proverbial speech in the specific context of a mythological exemplum in Homeric poetry. The use of proverbial speech is quite common in literature. It is known that a proverb or proverbial phrase always functions within a specific literary environment and serves the purpose of providing additional proof in order to support what the speaker claims. The proverbial speech has a generalizing character. The mythological exemplum, by contrast, refers to a particular incident in mythology although it also has a demonstrative function. Both these means derive their power from their association with the prestigious past and offer lessons of life and acceptable behavior. Therefore, through the study of specific cases from the Iliad and the Odyssey we can make several important observations regarding the parallel use of these means. The conclusion is that with this method the speaker fully exploits the possibilities of persuasion since he/ she covers the subject both generally and specifically and leaves little room for doubt.