biē ‘force, violence, strength’

... been the god Zeus instead of the hero Peleus. This Achilles-who-would-have been is connected with the primal themes of biē ‘force, violence, strength’. The monstrous figures of Briareos and Aigaion, syn ... Continue reading

... a war-dance. To be compared is the Arcadian festive event of the Mōleia, which is a ritualized dramatization of martial biē ‘force, violence, strength’. The expression mōlos Arēos ‘struggle of Ares’ refe ... Continue reading

The name of Hēraklēs is linked with the epic theme of biē in the sense of martial ‘force, violence’; even the name of Hēraklēs can be formulated periphrastically as ‘the force of H ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeSee the comment on I.02.658. See the comm ... Continue reading

The periphrasis of the name Eteokléēs here as bíē Eteoklēeíē is comparable to the periphrasis of the name Hērakléēs as biē Hēraklēeíē. See the comment on I.02.658. The element kleo ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeSee the comment on I.02.658. ... Continue reading

... Hektor’s challenge to the duel and Ajax’s fighting himAjax boasts that he is superior to other Achaeans both by way of biē ‘force, violence, strength’, I.07.197, and by way of idreiē ‘intelligence’, I.07 ... Continue reading

... the duel and Ajax’s fighting himEven Hector acknowledges the superior status of Ajax among the Achaeans: Ajax excels in biē ‘force, violence, strength’, I.07.288, and in pinutē ‘intelligence, I.07.289. In ... Continue reading

... telligence’ in the sense of ‘plan’ here is relevant to the undercurrent of an opposition between this word and the word biē ‘force, violence, strength’. The opposition of mētis and biē corresponds to a po ... Continue reading

... in effect saying to him at I.09.347: let Agamemnon rely on your mētis, Odysseus, since he cannot any longer rely on my biē ‘force, violence, strength’. As we will see in a later comment, Achilles is the ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of themeIn a later posting, the links that connect ... Continue reading

... Achilles and Odysseus (and biē and mētis)Conventionally, the heroic superiority of Achilles is measured in terms of his biē ‘force, violence, strength’. See the comment on I.09.346–352. Continue reading

We can understand bíē 'force, violence' as a key to the kléos 'glory' of Achilles/Odysseus in the Iliad/Odyssey, as well to the kléos of other heroes in the epic tradition. In the ... Continue reading

... y in its elemental dimension, here the power of winds as designated by it or its synonym is (as in this verse)This word biē ‘force, violence, strength’ and its synonym īs are conventionally associated wit ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and other heroic names built with kleos besides Herakles found in the naming construct with biēLike other names containing ... Continue reading

connections of biē and kleos, the former as an epic theme and the traditional linking of the Herakles figure and biē on the level of theme See the comment on I.02.658. See the comm ... Continue reading

... compares him to a ravenous lion at I.24.041–043. The wild beast is driven by its wild instincts, described here as its biē ‘force, violence, strength’ and its thūmos ‘heart’, I.24.042, as it lunges to de ... Continue reading

... lles and Odysseus centering on this question: who will get credit for conquering Troy? Will it be Achilles, exponent of biē ‘force, violence, strength’, or will it be Odysseus, exponent of mētis ‘mind, in ... Continue reading

... clopes, when they were neighboring enemies of the Phaeacians, O.06.005, are said to have been superior because of their biē ‘force, violence, strength’, O.06.006. The Cyclopes, when they were neighboring ... Continue reading

... es would be claiming to be the ‘best of the Achaeans’. Achilles would have claimed to be ‘best’ because of his superior biē ‘force, violence, strength’, while Odysseus would have counter-claimed to be ‘be ... Continue reading

(Epitomized from Nagy 2007b:70–72.) Even in situations where the mētis ‘mind, intelligence’ of Odysseus in the specialized sense of ‘craft’ helps advance the homecoming of the her ... Continue reading

... ewise a cannibal. These memories of cannibalism are most telling, since the name of the Cyclops is linked here with the biē ‘force, violence, strength’ of this monster, O.10.200. And the link surely exten ... Continue reading

... tion is all the more apt here, since the element īs ‘force, violence, strength’ in the name of Iphiklēs is a synonym of biē ‘force, violence, strength’. Continue reading

See the comment on O.11.290. See the comment on O.11.290. See the comment on O.11.290. See the comment on O.11.290. ... Continue reading

On the use of bíē Hēraklēeíē ‘force of Hēraklēs’ to name Hēraklēs, see the comment on I.02.658. On the use of bíē Hēraklēeíē ‘force of Hēraklēs’ to name Hēraklēs, see the comment o ... Continue reading

The parallelism of biē ‘force, violence, strength’ with hubris ‘outrage’ here at O.15.329 shows that the first word, as applied to the suitors of Penelope, is to be interpreted in a strictly ne ... Continue reading

This story, extending from line 1 of Rhapsody 18 all the way through line 117, shows a temporary change in poetic form. There is a sudden switch here from epic to non-epic. The cha ... Continue reading

Here we see that Odysseus is a paragon of biē ‘force, violence, strength’ in his own right. He and only he has the strength to string his own bow, while all the suitors fail to show any matching strength. So, Odysseu ... Continue reading

Already here at O.21.253–255, it is becoming evident that the suitors will not have the strength to string the bow of Odysseus, and the word for ‘strength’ here is biē, O.21.253. F ... Continue reading

... evident that Odysseus will be able to string his bow by virtue of his strength, as indicated by that most telling word biē ‘force, violence, strength’, O.21.315. Once again, it is made evident that Odys ... Continue reading

The reference here at O.23.031 to the biē ‘force, violence, strength’ of the suitors shows that this word is used here in a strictly negative sense. See the comment at O.15.329. The reference here at O.23.031 to ... Continue reading