bassett, samuel e., daimon in homer
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ΔΑΙΜΩΝ in Homer
Author(s): Samuel E. BassettSource: The Classical Review, Vol. 33, No. 7/8 (Nov. - Dec., 1919), pp. 134-136Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/700129
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I3434
THE CLASSICAL REVIEWHE CLASSICAL REVIEW
Even if the graphicalprobability e
minimised o the utmost,and thereare
many who distrust the futilities of
palaeography,more especiallywhen it
claimsto be scientiSc, he serlseof the
words is so apt and appropriate hat
dissentbecomesverydifficult o main-
tain. Apollo is explaining he duties
that must be dischargedby his con-
scripts. This is the thirdduty,perhaps
the most important f all, ' Arrangeye
my ordinances.' The ordinancesare
the oracles,
f.
nw 03 eZ ludv' aZlt75fw zdsueoya?vozo+z?res.
These oracles requireembellishment;
they have to be put into verse. The
verb erTvvzexpresses his with quite
sufficient accuracy (H. Apht. VI.
20
eXrv 8' etz>rvvoro8rwlo).The temple
Even if the graphicalprobability e
minimised o the utmost,and thereare
many who distrust the futilities of
palaeography,more especiallywhen it
claimsto be scientiSc, he serlseof the
words is so apt and appropriate hat
dissentbecomesverydifficult o main-
tain. Apollo is explaining he duties
that must be dischargedby his con-
scripts. This is the thirdduty,perhaps
the most important f all, ' Arrangeye
my ordinances.' The ordinancesare
the oracles,
f.
nw 03 eZ ludv' aZlt75fw zdsueoya?vozo+z?res.
These oracles requireembellishment;
they have to be put into verse. The
verb erTvvzexpresses his with quite
sufficient accuracy (H. Apht. VI.
20
eXrv 8' etz>rvvoro8rwlo).The temple
authorities would be obliged to admit
that this versiEcationwas their function,
for they could not expect even the most
credulous of the faithful to believe that
Apollo, the leader of the quire of the
Muses himself composed such bad
verses. Read then without lacuna:
^X8v 8' eD Te0I\a%8e, 8g8e%8e 8 fu\' arap&7rww
evea8' &764pQv@v. Kt ' gMTbV(ff86 @gyzaTa
f 8 T TtOP OS tg6T4, i T {p7OP,
DpptS @,X aSS dSTt KaTa@VvT@V avapbTUY,
4\\0 e@' V#V S#&VToP(S &vapes {SorTas
TSV 7r' dvaSyKa?l 8eXea@' #arcrw 7ra^Ta,
EV 7r6+V\a%aE538) SChneideWin.
540 66 86 Franke, BaUme1Ster. The
Warn1ng1n 540 SeemS tO me tO 3e
nOt On1Y eneral, bUt a1SOSPeCia1 n
referenCe O the SefFza.
T. L. AGAR.
authorities would be obliged to admit
that this versiEcationwas their function,
for they could not expect even the most
credulous of the faithful to believe that
Apollo, the leader of the quire of the
Muses himself composed such bad
verses. Read then without lacuna:
^X8v 8' eD Te0I\a%8e, 8g8e%8e 8 fu\' arap&7rww
evea8' &764pQv@v. Kt ' gMTbV(ff86 @gyzaTa
f 8 T TtOP OS tg6T4, i T {p7OP,
DpptS @,X aSS dSTt KaTa@VvT@V avapbTUY,
4\\0 e@' V#V S#&VToP(S &vapes {SorTas
TSV 7r' dvaSyKa?l 8eXea@' #arcrw 7ra^Ta,
EV 7r6+V\a%aE538) SChneideWin.
540 66 86 Franke, BaUme1Ster. The
Warn1ng1n 540 SeemS tO me tO 3e
nOt On1Y eneral, bUt a1SOSPeCia1 n
referenCe O the SefFza.
T. L. AGAR.
AAIMQNIN HOMER.AIMQNIN HOMER.
THE
wordAatfwrhas been generally
understood o mean in the Homeric
poemseithera god or,morecommonly,
indefiniteand not clearly personalised
divine power; in the latter sense its
use seems to have been not unlike hat
of our word ' Heaven as distinguished
from ' God.' But Professor Finsler
(Hotner
I9I4], 268-270)
tries to show
that when used n the singular t means
' an evil spirit.' ' Besides the Gods,'
he writes, daemons reoftenmentioned.
When they appear in numbers(three
times, and only in the Iliad) they are
not to be distinguished rom the gods.
. . . The daemon s a powerby itself,
a spirit neverappearingn human orm,
. * . *
never spea lng, Dutremalnlngever In
mysteriousdarkness. His appearance
sually means harm. He is rarely
friendly.... That the boundssepar-
ating gods from daemonsoccasionally
overlap s natural,but a god who has
been mentioned by name is never
designated s a daemon n the passages
on whichour exposition s based.'
There are vital defects in Professor
Finsler's xposition. In the Srst place,
one naturallyquerieswhy the pluralof
Sai,4a3zJ
should refer to gods, and the
sillgular o an evil spirit. Again, the
authorrepeatedly orces he interpreta-
THE
wordAatfwrhas been generally
understood o mean in the Homeric
poemseithera god or,morecommonly,
indefiniteand not clearly personalised
divine power; in the latter sense its
use seems to have been not unlike hat
of our word ' Heaven as distinguished
from ' God.' But Professor Finsler
(Hotner
I9I4], 268-270)
tries to show
that when used n the singular t means
' an evil spirit.' ' Besides the Gods,'
he writes, daemons reoftenmentioned.
When they appear in numbers(three
times, and only in the Iliad) they are
not to be distinguished rom the gods.
. . . The daemon s a powerby itself,
a spirit neverappearingn human orm,
. * . *
never spea lng, Dutremalnlngever In
mysteriousdarkness. His appearance
sually means harm. He is rarely
friendly.... That the boundssepar-
ating gods from daemonsoccasionally
overlap s natural,but a god who has
been mentioned by name is never
designated s a daemon n the passages
on whichour exposition s based.'
There are vital defects in Professor
Finsler's xposition. In the Srst place,
one naturallyquerieswhy the pluralof
Sai,4a3zJ
should refer to gods, and the
sillgular o an evil spirit. Again, the
authorrepeatedly orces he interpreta-
tion to support his theory. In the
simile in which the Trojans besetting
the woundedOdysseusare likened to
jackals about a woundedstag (A 474-
482) the poet adds: eqrb e v ?yaeys
za^,v.
Finslercomments: 'The lion
has been ed there by a hostile power.'
But how does Finsler know that the
poet is taking he jackals'point of view
rather than the lioIl's? The latter
seems at least as probable,since the
lion is merltioned o make the com-
parison St lso the rescue of Odysseus
by Menelausand Aias. In
38I,
where
aai,uSear
inspires the comrades of
Odysseuswith great courage, Finsler,
while admittingthat 'the daemon in
this instance s friendly, dds: ' But at
the same time this thevengeance-spirit,
helpingagainst Cyclops.' This, agains
is mere assertion: we have not the
slightest evldence that Odysseus so
regarded
al,,ua>v.
To takeonly one more
example,when Philoetius xpresses he
wish that Zauzasmay bring Odysseus
home again (+
20I),
Finsler translates,
' Would that a daemon might bring
him hither ? and adds the comment
'For the neatherd s thinkingonly of
revenge,as the contextshows.' But it
is hardly
a
devil who one hopes will
bringhome a belovedmaster.
tion to support his theory. In the
simile in which the Trojans besetting
the woundedOdysseusare likened to
jackals about a woundedstag (A 474-
482) the poet adds: eqrb e v ?yaeys
za^,v.
Finslercomments: 'The lion
has been ed there by a hostile power.'
But how does Finsler know that the
poet is taking he jackals'point of view
rather than the lioIl's? The latter
seems at least as probable,since the
lion is merltioned o make the com-
parison St lso the rescue of Odysseus
by Menelausand Aias. In
38I,
where
aai,uSear
inspires the comrades of
Odysseuswith great courage, Finsler,
while admittingthat 'the daemon in
this instance s friendly, dds: ' But at
the same time this thevengeance-spirit,
helpingagainst Cyclops.' This, agains
is mere assertion: we have not the
slightest evldence that Odysseus so
regarded
al,,ua>v.
To takeonly one more
example,when Philoetius xpresses he
wish that Zauzasmay bring Odysseus
home again (+
20I),
Finsler translates,
' Would that a daemon might bring
him hither ? and adds the comment
'For the neatherd s thinkingonly of
revenge,as the contextshows.' But it
is hardly
a
devil who one hopes will
bringhome a belovedmaster.
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THE
CLASSICAL
REVIEW
I35
These interpretations,
strained as
they seem,might have more
chanceof
acceptance
if they were reinforcedby
other considerations.
But quite the
contrary s true. For vle may note as
a further
defect in Finsler'sdiscussion
the failure
o takeaccountof a principle
of Homeric
technique,pointed out by
Jorgensen
Hermes,XXXIX.,
I904,
357-
382), according
o which the characters
refer o the
cause of some unnatural r
unexpected
action as 8eos,3a^,uer, sob,
or Zev?, whereas the
poet himself
commonly tells us the
name of the
particular divinity who
is acting.
Hencethedozen or morepassages rom
the
Odyssey,which Finslercites (p. 270)
as evidence that ' a daemon
is an
unfriendly ower,have no
weight. All
that can be said is that
in these
instances,withoutexception,
one of the
dra1xatispersonaeascribes
o Bab,uzlohe
source of
some actionwhich
seems to
be out of the
naturalorderof things-
and by no
meanscan all of
theseactions
be due to an
unfriendly ower
cf. q}248,
#
I69,
T
I38
V
87). In the
Odyssey
he
word Safv is used only in speeches,
neverby the
poet himself in his narra-
tive; in the
IViad, he singular s used,
outsideof
oratiorecta,only n the simile
mentioned
bove (19474 ff.), in the oft-
repeatedcomparison,
B,uov os, and
in two other
passages(r 4zo, 0
4I8).
On Bai,uovs
ros Finsler comments,
' Here we cannot understand
god.by
the word
daemon, for that would not
give a clear
picture at all. The only
god to whom chargingwarriors are
compared s Ares; Patroclus
s likened
to Ares and to a daemon
in a single
breath (II
784, 786).' This passage
seems to the present writer
to justify
the equation Aab,v= deos.
But at
least we may say -and
we think
Finsler'^shouldhave noticed
that the
authorof the Hymn to Demeter,
when
he tells us that Demophon
grew in
stature
uSal,uov zcos, means by Zab,uels
rleithera vengeance-spirit
or a devil,
but a god. ' Grew like the devil' may
have found ts way into our
vernacular,
but we cannot
think of it in a Homeric
Hymn.
The two
passages where the poet
himselfuses
Sas,4cezo
not in a simile and
in the singular,
Finslerfails to mention
in his discussionof ' daemons
-rather
unfortunatelysor they disprove
his
statement hat
the poet neverrefersby
the wordBapzv to a god who
has been
named. In 0
4I8, e7re)taffe rys Bab,ev,
seems clearly to refer to
Apollo
(cf.
O 259),although
possiblyAmeis-Hentze
may be right in saying that there
s no
definite eference o this divinity.
But
in the otherverse
(r 420)7sp%e
e
Basls
unquestionably
refers to Aphrodite,
who has been
mentionedby name in
verse4r3. If Finslerhas failed
o note
these verses n discussing he
meaning
of Ba s because hey are not
included
' in the passages n whichhisexposition
is based'
(cf. p.
270), then
his whole
method of exposition s unconvincing.
At the beginning
of the section on
religion (p.
220) he recognises the
diverse religious
elements that must
have entered nto
the Homericpoems,
but sees running
through both Iliad
and Odyssey, ith the exception
of the
' Olympicscenes'
of the Iliad and the
6co,ua%aof
Books XX. arld XXI.,
certain uniform
views of the gods,
which, he adds, it is his task to
portray. Tlle excepted portions
he
regards s sufficiently istinct o
warrant
a separate reatment.
These
portions,
therefore, e excludesfrom his
exposi-
tion and later
(pp. >76-287) indicates
the ways in
which the gods are
diSerentlyconvinced
by their author.
Now in the
Erst place he gives the
readerno clue
to the precise limits of
the passageswhich he excludes.
In
the case of the omittedverses,however,
we shouldbe able
to infer hat they are
not excluded, ince
he cites verses
from
the episodesof
which they forma part.l
Secondly, in his treatment
of the
excludedportionshe refers o
r 420 as
follows (p. 284): ' In the light
of such
views of life we
comprehendhe
words
of the gentle Priam hat it is
not Helen
[who is to blame]
but only the gods,
who are the cause of all unhappiness.
We understandow farabove
Aphrodite
the poet places Helen, and when the
goddesshas abused
her superiorpower
he (i.e. the poet)
angrilycries out: ' So
1 E.g., p. 230,
note
2,
of Apollo going
to the
assistance of Hector, 0 n37; p. 240,
note
I;
and
p. 247, note 3, of
Aphrodite's activity in Book
I I I (vv. 374, 439)
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t3636
THE CLASSICALREVIEWHE CLASSICALREVIEW
they departed,and the daemon went
ahead.' In the eyes of the poet
the goddess s a devil. Hence accord-
ing to Finsler himself even if r 420
belongs o a portionof the Iliad which
showsa different onception f the gods
StheFVeltanschaugn.gn so far as it
concerns Q&#@^ iS the same as in the
otherportions,and this passage hould
have preventedhim from making the
statement hat
BatusI)zo is
not applied o a
dis7initywho has been mentioned by
name. I*othe otherpassage O
4I8)
I
can find no reference n his whole
discussion f religion.2
ProfessorFinsler's orced nterpreta-
tions, his failure to take sufficient
account of IIomerictechniqueand his
omission of passages which disprove
his statements,make t improbablehat
his interpretationof Basfi/Zv ill be
accepted by scholars. Furthermore,
the faultiness of his method in this
they departed,and the daemon went
ahead.' In the eyes of the poet
the goddess s a devil. Hence accord-
ing to Finsler himself even if r 420
belongs o a portionof the Iliad which
showsa different onception f the gods
StheFVeltanschaugn.gn so far as it
concerns Q&#@^ iS the same as in the
otherportions,and this passage hould
have preventedhim from making the
statement hat
BatusI)zo is
not applied o a
dis7initywho has been mentioned by
name. I*othe otherpassage O
4I8)
I
can find no reference n his whole
discussion f religion.2
ProfessorFinsler's orced nterpreta-
tions, his failure to take sufficient
account of IIomerictechniqueand his
omission of passages which disprove
his statements,make t improbablehat
his interpretationof Basfi/Zv ill be
accepted by scholars. Furthermore,
the faultiness of his method in this
particularnstancewill tend to produce
a scepticalattitudeof mindtowardshis
other conclusions-e.g., that Homer is
the authorof the Iliad, but not of the
Odyssey; that
the
Odyssey as
coinposed
about 600 B.C., etc. Since his book
hasalreadypassed nto a secondedition
and is meant for a somewhatwider
circle of readers han the specialists n
Homer, t has seemeddesirable o point
out one exampleof the weaknessof the
author's reasoningS o that his bcrok,
usefuland suggestiveas it undoubtedly
is, may be used with due caution,and
its results tested carefully efore being
accepted.
SAMUELE. BASSETT.
IJniversity of Vermont
BurSin^,ofon, ersfzonS, .S.X.
2
I have tlOtcited Homeric jYyfuzn oHertnes
53I
where the god himself is referred to as
esXv
plOVYf aal,uov,
because of the recognised
lateness of this part of the Hymn.
particularnstancewill tend to produce
a scepticalattitudeof mindtowardshis
other conclusions-e.g., that Homer is
the authorof the Iliad, but not of the
Odyssey; that
the
Odyssey as
coinposed
about 600 B.C., etc. Since his book
hasalreadypassed nto a secondedition
and is meant for a somewhatwider
circle of readers han the specialists n
Homer, t has seemeddesirable o point
out one exampleof the weaknessof the
author's reasoningS o that his bcrok,
usefuland suggestiveas it undoubtedly
is, may be used with due caution,and
its results tested carefully efore being
accepted.
SAMUELE. BASSETT.
IJniversity of Vermont
BurSin^,ofon, ersfzonS, .S.X.
2
I have tlOtcited Homeric jYyfuzn oHertnes
53I
where the god himself is referred to as
esXv
plOVYf aal,uov,
because of the recognised
lateness of this part of the Hymn.
EURIPIDEA.URIPIDEA.
I.Iphzg.inAul.ggof.
a\A' eD ,uAv dp%&s eT7rasXeI dk raS t#X7^ *
?ouSyAp #eX6wros 7razs * fflwiJ@*ETs.
Mustwe not read seXe ? With ?ov
eyapSeBovTos e shall then supply ev
PreXezzJ/. Aesch. Sxppl.
2IO /c6tVoV
fleBorrosev TE6VT4S& ra8e.
There is
the same confusionof reXe and reXv n
Soph. Tr. 238. For the construction
cf. Aesch. Suppl.
I9 a\\' ev T' e7re,+ev
ev e 8etaerdz%dovt'.For ev seXetv f.
ev reXeiSsosAesch. S@t. 35, ev reXer
Pers.
225.
It
iS
regularlyused of the
right carryingout of a promiseor a
task: Soph. Aj. 528 ea7wuovorro
ta%Selsu rok,ue eXerv. Cf. the use of
the simplereX in Soph. Tr. >86 ravTa
/ , \ , . n . , , >, \
7apros
Te
vosIeSezz e70 os,
ffrox
ZV EC6&@, TE\@,
and the simpleeXev
sn Eur. Alc. 374 fcal rup eys fr# fica
reXevvXv T86.
I greatlydoubtwhether
p%aS er7ras
in the sense which the traditional ext
demands here is j ustiISedby such a
phraseas ecar'
p%aD
But in any case
surely eX11could not have the sense
ascribed
to it.
I assume ap%aso be
used much as itl Iph. in ]ar. 939
Beryoy' aa>*ap%z 8' aBe ,mOl qro)tZv
vrovzlJSnd it refersnot to the beginning
of AchilIes'speech as opposedto the
I.Iphzg.inAul.ggof.
a\A' eD ,uAv dp%&s eT7rasXeI dk raS t#X7^ *
?ouSyAp #eX6wros 7razs * fflwiJ@*ETs.
Mustwe not read seXe ? With ?ov
eyapSeBovTos e shall then supply ev
PreXezzJ/. Aesch. Sxppl.
2IO /c6tVoV
fleBorrosev TE6VT4S& ra8e.
There is
the same confusionof reXe and reXv n
Soph. Tr. 238. For the construction
cf. Aesch. Suppl.
I9 a\\' ev T' e7re,+ev
ev e 8etaerdz%dovt'.For ev seXetv f.
ev reXeiSsosAesch. S@t. 35, ev reXer
Pers.
225.
It
iS
regularlyused of the
right carryingout of a promiseor a
task: Soph. Aj. 528 ea7wuovorro
ta%Selsu rok,ue eXerv. Cf. the use of
the simplereX in Soph. Tr. >86 ravTa
/ , \ , . n . , , >, \
7apros
Te
vosIeSezz e70 os,
ffrox
ZV EC6&@, TE\@,
and the simpleeXev
sn Eur. Alc. 374 fcal rup eys fr# fica
reXevvXv T86.
I greatlydoubtwhether
p%aS er7ras
in the sense which the traditional ext
demands here is j ustiISedby such a
phraseas ecar'
p%aD
But in any case
surely eX11could not have the sense
ascribed
to it.
I assume ap%aso be
used much as itl Iph. in ]ar. 939
Beryoy' aa>*ap%z 8' aBe ,mOl qro)tZv
vrovzlJSnd it refersnot to the beginning
of AchilIes'speech as opposedto the
end, but to his speech as a whole con-
trastedwith the carryingof his words
into execution.
z. Troades568 ff.
'EKtZ,
e0SerS Tv8' tAP8po#&%77v
46VLSOTS7r DXOFSrOp@yeUoudvrlv
rapa 82 eTpeSTa ,UTWP Y7reras
tEXos 'Arvavat, "EKTOPOS bts.
All editors, I think, take clpe&
Ha?rr together. Apart from other
difficulties t is extremelyawkward o
have
cbpesla
following mmediately n
7ropS,uevo)ervaJf the metaphor f a boat
is not kept up.
ebpe^a
shouldnaturally
meanthe caror the occupant f the cart
and it will have this meaning f we take
,ua?Tu . . . +LBos ogether,perhapsa
subconscious cho of Aesch.Ag. 7r7 ff.
Bsoszov tzo^ . . . +zXo,aa-rov. (t6X09
if it standsalone,seems ratherweak.
3.
TYoades
62 S.
9cryatd' d?t/3bfitot
bpuPyXYS {v Te deyvfons
zap&rojuosprgLa
veuv?axv rdpavor ?epev
'EX\&6l ospowrp6pg
bpuoyxv e 7rarp6 7rdr@0s.
Tyrrell in his edition (I 897) reads
Jearlcov for the MSS. veav68zoand
notes: 'The meaning is 'the young
men butchered,alone and defenceless,
added laurels to the crowrlof Hellast
end, but to his speech as a whole con-
trastedwith the carryingof his words
into execution.
z. Troades568 ff.
'EKtZ,
e0SerS Tv8' tAP8po#&%77v
46VLSOTS7r DXOFSrOp@yeUoudvrlv
rapa 82 eTpeSTa ,UTWP Y7reras
tEXos 'Arvavat, "EKTOPOS bts.
All editors, I think, take clpe&
Ha?rr together. Apart from other
difficulties t is extremelyawkward o
have
cbpesla
following mmediately n
7ropS,uevo)ervaJf the metaphor f a boat
is not kept up.
ebpe^a
shouldnaturally
meanthe caror the occupant f the cart
and it will have this meaning f we take
,ua?Tu . . . +LBos ogether,perhapsa
subconscious cho of Aesch.Ag. 7r7 ff.
Bsoszov tzo^ . . . +zXo,aa-rov. (t6X09
if it standsalone,seems ratherweak.
3.
TYoades
62 S.
9cryatd' d?t/3bfitot
bpuPyXYS {v Te deyvfons
zap&rojuosprgLa
veuv?axv rdpavor ?epev
'EX\&6l ospowrp6pg
bpuoyxv e 7rarp6 7rdr@0s.
Tyrrell in his edition (I 897) reads
Jearlcov for the MSS. veav68zoand
notes: 'The meaning is 'the young
men butchered,alone and defenceless,
added laurels to the crowrlof Hellast