Sanctified Violence in Homeric Society: Oath-Making Rituals in the Iliad

by Margo Kitts

• ISBN13: 9780521855297
• ISBN10: 0521855292
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-11-07
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In Sanctified Violence in Homeric Society, originally published in 2006, Margo Kitts focuses on oath-making narratives found in the Iliad through which she articulates a theory of ritualized violence. She analyzes ritual paradigms, metaphors, fictions, and poetic registers as oath-making principles, which she then traces through Homeric references and texts from the ancient New East. Discussing ritual features that are common to acts of religious violence throughout the world, Kitts makes use of the theory of ritual performance as communication.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Why Another Treatment of Greek Sacrifice?	1	(10)
Epics, Rituals, and Rituals in Epic: Some Methodological Considerations	11	(39)
Premises and Principles of Oath-Making in the Iliad	50	(65)
Ritual Scenes and Epic Themes of Oath-Sacrifice	115	(73)
Homeric Battlefield Theophanies, in the Light of the Ancient Near East	188	(28)
Conclusion	216	(3)
Appendix: Homeric Texts for the Principal Oaths Discussed	219	(10)
Bibliography	229	(12)
Index	241