This line marks the first appearance of the word mûthos in the Iliad. Here Agamemnon addresses Chryses; he κρατερὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε. Often this word is translated simply as word or speech. However, it is apparent in this line that mûthos is not just a speech but also an act that displays authority. On the one hand, mûthos is a performance of Agamemnon’s power over Chryses. On the other, it is a performance before the troops intended to persuade the audience that his action is appropriate. In general, the word mûthos is best understood as a speech-act which is performed in order to augment, diminish, or negotiate the status and power of speakers in the Iliad. In the Iliad all muthoi are performed at length, usually in public, and comprise a range of speech-genres. However, all but 12 of the 167 occurrences of the stem muth- (noun and verb forms) in the Iliad can also be categorized as marking proposals and commands or threats and boasts. These discourses can be further categorized into three genres:
Thus each hero in the Iliad is a performer who utilizes these genres in order to compete within Homeric society. mûthos then is an authoritative self-presentation of the speaker to the audience which can be directly contrasted with the Homeric word epos: a short utterance that accompanies but does not constitute performance.
Ultimately, Homeric poetry itself can be understood as mûthos. It is “poetry meant to persuade, enacted in public, created by authority, in a context where authority is always up for grabs and to be won by the speaker with the best style” (Martin 1993:238).
References
Martin, R. P. 1993. The Language of Heroes: Speech and Performance in the Iliad. Ithaca.