Indo-European poetry and myth / M.L. West.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

West, M. L. (Martin Litchfield), 1937-2015.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology, Indo-European.

Poetry, Ancient--History and criticism.

Poetry, Ancient.

Mythology, Indo-European, in literature.

Physical Description:

xii, 525 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The Indo-Europeans, speakers of the prehistoric parent language from which most European and some Asiatic languages are descended, most probably lived on the Eurasian steppes some five or six thousand years ago. Since the mid nineteenth century it has been realized that through the comparative method it may be possible to recover not only details of their language but also something of their religion and mythology and of the forms and diction of their poetry. Martin West's fascinating book provides a systematic survey of the solider results achieved in this field and develops them further.

In The East Face of Helicon (1997) West showed the extent to which Homeric and other early Greek poetry was influenced by Near Eastern traditions, mainly non-Indo-European. His new book presents a foil to that work by identifying elements of more ancient, Indo-European heritage in the Greek material. But it will be welcomed not only by classicists but equally by students of other ancient Indo-European literatures, for example, by Sanskritists, Iranianists, Slavicists, Celticists, and Germanists, as well as by non-specialist readers interested in traditional myths and pagan survivals in folklore and folk customs.

Topics covered include the status of poets and poetry in Indo-European societies; metre, style, and diction; gods and other supernatural beings, from Father Sky and Mother Earth to the Sun-god and his beautiful daughter, the Thunder-god and other elemental deities, and earthly orders such as Nymphs and Elves; the forms of hymns, prayers, and incantations; conceptions about the world, its origin, mankind, death, and fate; the ideology of fame and of immortalization through poetry; the typology of the king and the hero; the hero as warrior, and the conventions of battle narrative.

Contents:

Note on Translations Quoted xiii

The Indo-Europeans in space and time

Chronological parameters.-Sources.-Considerations of method.-Conclusion

1 Poet and Poesy 26

The poet

Status, training, rewards.-Concepts of poetry

Poetry as recall

Poesy as construction

Poesy as weaving

Poesy as carpentry

The ship of song

The chariot of song

The song takes off.-Versification

Graeco-Aryan metre

Other Indo-European metre

Alliteration

Metrical terminology

Poetic prose

Verse in a prose setting.-Occasions and genres

Hymns and praise poetry

Narrative poetry

Personation

Invectives?

Codifications

Assemblies and contests

2 Phrase and Figure 75

Vocabulary and phraseology

Compound words

Kennings

Epitheta ornantia

Various idioms.-Narrative gambits.-Similes.-Figures

Polar expressions ('merisms')

Positive reinforced by negated opposite

Epanadiplosis

Epanalepsis

Questioner's suggestions negated in turn

Anaphora

Anaphora of first element of compounds

Juxtaposition of opposed terms

Juxtaposition of like terms (polyptoton)

The priamel

Behaghel's Law; the Augmented Triad

3 Gods and Goddesses 120

Upper and lower gods

Gods and men: two races

Characteristics of divinity

Relations with mankind.-Gods' names.-Female deities

'Mothers'.-Some individuals

Aryomen

Some Western goddesses

Velesu, Velinas, and others: a dubious equation

Heteronymous homologues.-Mythical themes

The mighty infant; the typical weapon

The gods' assembly

Getting about

El Dorado

The divine smith

The food of the gods

The language of the gods

Predecessors and antagonists. Assaults on heaven

4 Sky and Earth 166

The divine Sky

Father Sky

The all-seeing, all-knowing god.-The divine Earth

Mother Earth

Attributes of Earth

Earth and the dead.-Sky and Earth as a pair

Bull and cow.-Children of Dyeus

The divine Twins

A one-parent family?

5 Sun and Daughter 194

The divine Sun

The Sun as a deity

Attributes; the all-seeing god

Oaths by the Sun.-The Sun's motion conceptualized

The solar wheel

The solar steed(s)

The solar boat

The dark side of the sun

How old is all this?-Further mythical motifs.-Cultic observance

Salutation of the rising and setting sun

A taboo.-Dawn (and Night)

Attributes; imagery

Dawn's lovers

The Dawn goddess and the spring festival.-The Daughter of the Sun

The Vedic evidence

The Baltic and Slavic evidence

The Greek evidence

Daughters of the Sun in other traditions

Astronomical interpretations

Ritual aspects.-Conclusion

6 Storm and Stream 238

The god of thunder

Perkunas

Fiorgynn

Perun

Possible cognates in south-east Europe

Parjanya, Indra

Tarhunna

Zeus, Jupiter, Heracles

Taranis, Thor

The thunder-weapon

The Water Dragon

Visvarupa and his cows

Trisiras, Ullikummi, Hrungnir.-Wind gods.-Fire gods

The Fire in the Waters

The acquisition of fire.-The Waters

7 Nymphs and Gnomes 280

A god of ways and byways.-Nymphs

Indian nymphs

Iranian, Lycian, Armenian

Greek, Roman

Albanian

Germanic

Celtic

Slavonic

Baltic.-Elves, Dwarfs, and Satyrs

Beings with elements of animal physique

Dancers and mischief-makers

Dwarfs and manufacturers.-Giants

Multiple heads and limbs

By their works shall ye know them

Strange meeting.-Conclusion

8 Hymns and Spells 304

Invocatory hymns

Calling the god

Praise of the god's status and powers

Narrative elements

'Hear us.'

'Look on us.'

'Come.'

'Come with-.'

Finding range and direction

Prayers.-Magic, charms

Incantations: style and delivery

Nine as a sacral number

Herbs

Maledictions

Healing

Legendenzauber

9 Cosmos and Canon 340

Cosmology

Heaven and earth

Stony skies

Body imagery

World pillar, world tree

The cosmic serpent

The land of the blest

Celestial river

Moon and stars.-Cosmogony

Before heaven and earth

The solitary Twin.-Canon and catechism

Proverbs.-Riddles

Year riddles.-The World Wide Web

10 Mortality and Fame 375

The origin of humankind

Human and animal lifespans.-The Fates

Images of destiny.-Death

Death as sleep; death as a journey

Crossing the water

Gates, border control

Beware of the Dog

Pastures and herds

Going to join the fathers

All Souls Day.-Transcending mortality through fame

Names

Fame won in combat

Fame valued above life

Fame conferred and sustained by poetry

The embedding of names in poetry

A thesaurus of glory

11 King and Hero 411

Kings

The Queen

King and horse

King and priest

The king's qualities

The king's justice and the land's fertility

The king's liberality.-The hero

His exceptional nature

Birth and infancy

Boyhood feats

Bigger animal challenges

The hero in dialogue.-The hero and women

Winning a bride

The sword in the bed

Winning her back; the Husband's Return.-The hero and his son

The Sohrab and Rustum motif

The hero's child as object of pathos.-How to kill a hero

Invulnerability; the weak spot.-Conclusion

12 Arms and the Man 447

The war-band

Cattle raids

Strongholds.-The hero as warrior

Predicates

Alarming symptoms

Eagerness to fight

The vow of abnegation.-Weapons.-Horses

Chariots.-Battle narrative: setting the scene.-The time Frame.-Speeches

Altercations

Exhortations.-Events on the field

Divine participation

Archers

Chariots

Single combat

Doom and downfall

Vindictive victory.-Similes.-The hero's funeral

Laments

Suttee

Funeral games

Elegy on an Indo-European Hero 504.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [505]-510) and index.

ISBN:

9780199280759

0199280754

OCLC:

76937305

Online:

Contributor biographical information