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Divine Resonance in Early Greek Epic: Space, Knowledge, Affect
- American Journal of Philology
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 142, Number 4 (Whole Number 568), Winter 2021
- pp. 535-569
- 10.1353/ajp.2021.0019
- Article
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Abstract:
This article reframes the cultic prohibition of sound in Homeric Hymn to Demeter 478–9 as an emic model for understanding sonic encounter with the divine in early Greek epic. It argues that these lines represent divine resonance, that is, the experience of divine sound, according to the themes of space, knowledge, and affect. This framework guides three close readings: Penelope and the eidôlon (Od. 4.830–4), Talthybios and the boar (Il. 19.249–68), and Agamemnon and the false dream (Il. 2.35–41). In these readings, the model not only enriches interpretation but also reveals that passages of varying lengths can operate as nonlinear resonant circuits in which divine resonance anticipates divine revelation.