Telling presences : narrating divine epiphany in Homer and beyond
This thesis argues that ancient Greek narratives of encounter between gods and mortals cannot be understood simply in terms of constellations of recurrent descriptive features or in terms of the iterability of type-scene or ritual. Divine epiphanies are moments of disruption or antistructure which provoke strategic, structuring responses, not least in narrative and ritual. But these responses do not subsume the potential that remains at the intersection between gods and mortals. Contestation over power, authority and legitimacy is constitutive of epiphany. In the first section I examine problems caused by scholarly concern for 'authentic experience' in treating epiphany-accounts in general and Homeric epic in particular. I propose an alternative focus on how sense, both as perception and as significance, is actively produced in such contexts: narrativisation and ritualisation offer experiences-in-themselves in which people participate to make sense and significance in the world. The cultural currency of such narratives depends not on their relation to religious experiences or religious belief as such, but on the ways that such narratives engage their audiences in exploring the difference of gods from mortals
Stevens, Alexander David
Telling presences : narrating divine epiphany in Homer and beyond. This thesis argues that ancient Greek narratives of encounter between gods and mortals cannot be understood simply in terms of constellations of recurrent descriptive features or in terms of the iterability of type-scene or ritual. Divine epiphanies are moments of disruption or antistructure which provoke strategic, structuring responses, not least in narrative and ritual. But these responses do not subsume the potential that remains at the intersection between gods and mortals. Contestation over power, authority and legitimacy is constitutive of epiphany. In the first section I examine problems caused by scholarly concern for 'authentic experience' in treating epiphany-accounts in general and Homeric epic in particular. I propose an alternative focus on how sense, both as perception and as significance, is actively produced in such contexts: narrativisation and ritualisation offer experiences-in-themselves in which people participate to make sense and significance in the world. The cultural currency of such narratives depends not on their relation to religious experiences or religious belief as such, but on the ways that such narratives engage their audiences in exploring the difference of gods from mortals
telling presence narrating divine homer beyond argues ancient_greek narrative encounter god understand simply term constellation recurrent descriptive feature term type scene ritual divine moment disruption provoke strategic structuring response least narrative ritual response subsume potential remains intersection god contestation power_authority legitimacy constitutive first_section examine problem cause scholarly concern authentic experience treat accounts general homeric epic particular propose_alternative focus sense perception significance actively produce context offer experiences themselves people participate make_sense significance world cultural currency narrative depend relation religious_experience religious_belief way narrative engage audience explore difference god