000001703 001__ 1703 000001703 005__ 20251007025124.0 000001703 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.6082/uchicago.1703 000001703 037__ $$aTHESIS$$bDissertation 000001703 041__ $$aeng 000001703 245__ $$aInspiration and Narrative in the Homeric Odyssey 000001703 260__ $$bUniversity of Chicago 000001703 269__ $$a2019-03 000001703 300__ $$a271 000001703 336__ $$aDissertation 000001703 502__ $$bPh.D. 000001703 520__ $$aOne can read the Odyssey as the product of a poetic tradition interested in innovating the very process of its own narrative performance. In my thesis I focus on examples of metanarrative that feature a particular type of internal narration: the communication of gods with men. In particular, the Odyssey features two apparent aberrations of the standard portrayals of 'Homeric' divination—one, a dream scene, Penelope's 'symbolic' dream in Book 19, another, a moment of prophecy, Theoklumenos’ 'ecstatic vision' in Book 20. I will argue, however, that Penelope’s and Theoklumenos’ scenes are not aberrant so much as purposefully exceptional. In other words, I will propose that both scenes can be understood more productively as depictions that have been conscientiously stylized by the poet(s) to encourage a reception by their audience that is similarly aware of the scenes’ metacommentative, and especially metapoetic, significance. Indeed, by manipulating the standard representations of gods and men as they communicate within epic narrative, the poet has crafted an innovative and self-referential exploration of the vehicle of that communication between gods and men, the medium. Along with the poet, both Penelope and Theoklumenos are mediums within the epic because they act as the intermediary between the gods and mankind in moments when information from the divine sphere is shared with the human sphere. I will argue that the poet takes advantage of the metanarrative nature of these scenes, in order to disclose to his audience the essence of his own poetic contributions which are otherwise obfuscated by traditional elements of the genre. In line with the other metanarrative innovations of the Odyssey, the poet uses the scenes of Penelope and Theoklumenos as internal descriptions of his own role in order to challenge traditional conceptions about divination and divination’s sister craft, poesis. 000001703 540__ $$a© 2019 Natalie L Trevino 000001703 542__ $$fCC BY-NC-SA 000001703 650__ $$aClassical literature 000001703 650__ $$aClassical studies 000001703 650__ $$aAncient languages 000001703 653__ $$aHomer 000001703 653__ $$aInspiration 000001703 653__ $$aNarratology 000001703 653__ $$aOdyssey 000001703 653__ $$aPenelope 000001703 653__ $$aTheoklumenos 000001703 690__ $$aArts & Humanities Division 000001703 691__ $$aClassics 000001703 7001_ $$aTrevino, Natalie L$$uUniversity of Chicago 000001703 72012 $$aChristopher A. Faraone 000001703 72014 $$aSarah Nooter 000001703 72014 $$aEmily Austin 000001703 8564_ $$9e779fffa-c4cb-45bd-be9c-7f17d0b38e20$$ePublic$$s1583146$$uhttps://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/1703/files/Trevino_uchicago_0330D_14659.pdf 000001703 909CO $$ooai:uchicago.tind.io:1703$$pDissertations$$pGLOBAL_SET 000001703 983__ $$aDissertation