The crowd before the heroes in the Iliad

Author(s)

Gustavo Junqueira Duarte Oliveira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2010-04-16

Examining board members

Norberto Luiz Guarinello; André Malta Campos; Alfredo Julien

• Advisor: Norberto Luiz Guarinello

Abstract

In the Iliad, the crowd plays a fundamental role in the construction of the poem. It helps to set the story in an epic war stage, besides being necessary to define the poems key figures: the heroes. A discussion of the function of the crowd, mass, mob or collectivity was presented, regarding a poem in which the main focus lays in another element. It was necessary, at first, to establish the aspects that characterize the crowd, and to present the manner in which the crowd ensures that the hero is portrayed in an epic fashion. First, a discussion regarding the sources was proposed. The matter of orality in the Homeric poems and its implication to the study of History, with special emphasis to tradition was discussed. The validity of the use of such poems to the study of History was questioned. The proposed solution is to consider the texts as vehicles of a tradition that has historical validity for transmitting ideal values. From this notion the characteristics of the collectivity, mass or crowd was studied, starting from the idea of quantity as the most basic and necessary element for the very existence of such phenomena. The next important notion is the anonymity, which reigns among the men in the crowd. To be a part of a mob or a crowd, the participants cannot be named in the moments of reunion. Otherwise they do not work as a collectivity, but as individuals. The crowd is understood as a unity of body, action, opinion and humor. Finally, regardless of the main focus of the poem, the hero can be defined as opposed to the crowd. The hero is the character that is separated from the collectivity, being named and noticed for having individual action. Besides, the great deeds that ensure the heroes prestige must be performed in public, therefore needing an observing crowd which acts as audience and judge. The conclusion is that the crowd sets the stage, defines the hero and acts as fiscal, being an essential element to the understanding of the Iliad. (AU)