The Metaphorical Function of porfu/reoj in the Iliad
1）Yukiko SAITO
Abstract
This paper attempts to understand how the word porfu/reoj (purple) functions in the Iliad.
What I try to pursue is the metaphorical function of porfu/reoj in the story of the Iliad; how the presentations of porfu/reoj function during the stor y and how those contexts are associated with each other. The method employed is: I look at every presentation of porfu/reoj in the Iliad, analyse its referents, and examine its context to explore how the poet organises this word in his story, which I believe is an intentional placement. Hence, my questions are: How are those appearances of porfu/reoj connected with each other? How do they metaphorically affect their contexts? What do they symbolise during the story? I also integrate my investigation with my previous papers that examined other colour terms and propose my point of view on porfu/reoj;
the poet properly employs the term porfu/reoj, possibly between kua/neoj and r(o/don, in order to strengthen the darkness of the context through an imagery connection that is represented as awe-centred, at the same time composing a parallel between the negatively-presented Trojans and the positively-presented Achaians. This is my fundamental standpoint in this paper. Therefore, my conclusion points to the poetʼs sophisticated skill in choosing his words, together with his creative thinking in composing his story.
Keywords : porfu/reoj (purple), colour, the Iliad, imagery, Greek
1. Introduction
This paper attempts to discover how the word, porfu/reoj (purple, dark, red, or crimson)2）, functions in the Iliad. What I try to pursue is the metaphorical function of porfu/reoj in the story of the Iliad; how the presentations of porfu/reoj operate during the story and how those contexts inter-relate. I will also integrate my investigation with my previous papers that examined other colour terms and hopefully develop my ideas and present my point of view on porfu/reoj.
Let us take an example first from book 17:
w4j Ai1aj e0pe/telle pelw/rioj, ai3mati de_ xqw_n deu/eto porfure/w|, toi_ d 0 a0gxisti=noi e1pipton nekroi_ o9mou= Trw/wn kai_ u9permene/wn e0pikou/rwn kai_ Danaw=n: ou0d 0 oi4 ga_r a0naimwti/ ge ma/xonto, pauro/teroi de_ polu_ fqi/nuqon: me/mnhnto ga_r ai0ei_
a0llh/loij a0n 0 o3milon a0lece/menai fo/non ai0pu/n. (Il. 17.360-365)
Such were the orders of the huge Aias: and the earth was soaked with their red (porfure/w|) blood, and dead bodies fell piled on each other, Trojans and their strong allies and Danaans alike – the Danaans too did not fight without losses, but many fewer of them were killed, as they always had their minds on protecting each other from stark death in the mass of fighting. (M. Hammond, Homer: The Iliad, London, 1987, 284)
The poet pictures this scene vividly, displaying how violently the Achaians and Trojans are fighting over Patroklosʼ dead body. They fight like fire, pu=r.3） Many are killed; the earth is covered with blood (ai3mati) and dead bodies. Hammond translates porfure/w| as “red,” as it is shown above.4）
Chantraine notes “le sang peut être <<rouge>> ou <<bouillonnant>> for Il. 17. 361.5） According to Pulleyn, blood agrees with porfu/reoj here and ʻbloodʼ is associated with ʻdeath,ʼ which is why death sometimes has the reference of porfu/reoj within the Iliad, too.6） Pulleyn, disagreeing with scholars who previously argued that porfu/reoj was not originally ʻpurpleʼ but something ʻshimmeringʼ that then acquired association with colour, seems to accept porfu/reon as the colour ʻpurpleʼ in most cases in Homeric poems. I would suggest that the poet makes use of porfure/w|
to qualify the colour of blood, perhaps reddish purple, red or dark red, or at least perceives the colour of blood then tends to describe it and presents the movement of blood, in order to emphasise the dismal battle scene, which can be imagined as dark. This is a dark and bloody battle, in which sense porfure/w| is appropriate for the situation, because, supposedly, a dark image can be implied by the word ʻpurple.ʼ If the poet simply aims to describe the battle without considering any poetic effect or narrative influence that he could provide to his audience, why does he use the ornament, porfu/reoj, to refer to blood? One might say that it is just because of the system of the hexameter, as has been discussed by previous scholars.7） However, taking Platoʼs words that colours possess beauty and pleasures of the figure,8） I would like to argue that this shows the poetʼs creative thinking in composing the Iliad; he does make his choice in selecting his words, in order to tell his story as beautifully as possible.
Next, how about the other appearances of porfu/reoj? Are they connected with each other? How do they metaphorically affect the contexts? What do they symbolise during the story? Irwin once acknowledged that “[T]his word [porfu/reoj] would make an extremely interesting study,”9） so I am tempted to engage in exploring the world of the colour purple (if ʻpurpleʼ is the right translation for porfu/reoj) in the Iliad for possible new discoveries.
* * *
The method here is: I will look at every presentation of porfu/reoj in the Iliad, analyse their referents, and examine the contexts to explore how the poet organises this word in his story, as I believe, intentionally. As we shall see in more detail later, the proposal that the term porfu/reoj is properly employed by the poet to strengthen the darkness of the context through an imagery connection, which is represented as awe-centred, will be my fundamental standpoint in this paper.
2. porfu/reoj in context
Purple was recognised as the most desirable and valuable colour in antiquity.10） This was mainly because of the high cost of producing the purple dye. The best was Tyrian purple.11） That is why members of royalty or high-ranking officers wore purple cloaks or mantles, for instance. According to Pliny, purple dye was fashionable in his time.12） Perhaps people tried to imitate royal family members, highly-respected or well-known officers or knights, by wearing something purple, as people nowadays do also, by following the trendy fashions of celebrities or famous models.
It is also interesting to learn how the ancients understood the process of creating purple colour.
In the present day, it is generally acknowledged that purple colour is made by mixing blue and red.
In ancient time, however, purple was said to be a mix of white, black, and red.13） Also, the ancients already deemed that many varieties of purple hues could be seen, depending on the angle of light reflections.14） Gage claims that the manufacture of purple dye from the murex, or whelk, was the most significant turning point of colour technology in the ancient world.15）
Thus, there is no doubt that ʻpurpleʼ could represent, authority, royalty, or luxury.16） However, as we have already seen from the appearance of porfu/reoj above, the term bears references to blood and death as well, whose connotation can be dark and negative.17） So what imagery can be deduced from the examination of porfu/reoj presentations in the Iliad as a whole?18） My aim is, therefore, to seek the imagery connection of porfu/reoj in the Iliad. Considering Fountoulakisʼ account that
“[C]olour terms, far from having a mere decorative character, possess a clear signifying value, helping the dramatic construction of such an imagery, and revealing the conceptual framework upon which the whole poem is based,”19） the investigation of the colour description in the Iliad would certainly serve to comprehend the narrative structure of the poem.
* * *
There are seventeen instances of porfu/reoj in the Iliad, including the verb porfu/rw (heaves, surges, swirls).20） Their referents are: r(h=goj (rug), di/plac (double-folded mantle), pe/ploj (cloth), ta/phj (carpet), fa=roj (cloak), qa/natoj (death), ai[ma (blood), nefe/lh (cloud), a3lj (sea), i]rij (rainbow), and ku=ma (wave). Considering these referents, it seems that porfu/reoj applies to a wide
range of substances from human status to natural environment. They all seem to be reasonably described as ʻpurpleʼ or dark.21） I have divided them into categories and made the table of porfu/reoj shown below.22） I shall examine those contexts closely.
(1) The state of human beings
We can see three instances of ʻpurpleʼ death in the Iliad.23） Porfu/reoj applies to qa/natoj (death) and these sentences are very similar to each other. In book 5, Hypsenor, a Trojan, is killed by Eurypylos. His arm drops on the ground bloodily and the porfu/reoj death comes over his eyes and strong fate takes him24）:
ai9mato/essa de/ xei_r pedi/w| pe/se: to_n de_ kat 0 o1sse
e1llabe porfu/reoj qa/natoj kai_ moi=ra krataih/. (Il. 5. 82-83)
Can death be ʻpurpleʼ in colour? Is ʻdeathʼ generally realised as the colour ʻpurpleʼ? Leaf understands porfu/reoj as dark here and mentions that porfu/reoj is “used for what we call the “cold” colours, from blue to violet.”25） The ʻdeathʼ image can be very dark and in fact ʻblack (me/laj) deathʼ occurs in the Iliad, too.26） In this respect, Leafʼs view is agreeable to accepting porfu/reoj here as a dark colour and somewhere between blue and violet, because those hues could be neighbours of black, which metaphorically symbolises ʻdeath.ʼ In book 16, Kleoboulos, also a Trojan, is killed by Aias:
zwo_n e3le, blafqe/nta kata_ klo/non: a0lla/ oi9 au]qi lu=se me/noj, plh/caj ci/fei au0xe/na kwph/enti.
pa=n d 0 u9peqerma/nqh ci/foj ai3mati: to_n de_ kat 0 o1sse
e1llabe porfu/reoj qa/natoj kai_ moi=ra krataih/. (Il. 16. 331-34)
Aias finds Kleoboulos alive and strikes his neck with a sword. The whole blade warms with his blood, then the porfu/reoj death comes over his eyes and strong fate takes him. The third instance of porfu/reoj death occurs in book 20.27） Here again, a Trojan is killed:
ai0xmh_ xalkei/h: o9 d 0 0Agh/noroj ui9o_n 1Exeklon me/sshn ka_k kefalh_n ci/fei h1lase kwph/enti, pa=n d 0 u9peqerma/nqh ci/foj ai3mati: to_n de_ kat 0 o1sse
e1llabe porfu/reoj qa/natoj kai_ moi=ra krataih/. (Il. 20. 474-477)
One of the Trojans, Echeklos, is killed by Achilles. In book 20, Achilles returns to battle passionately desiring to revenge Patroklosʼ death and fights furiously. He behaves brutally.
Echeklos is only one of the Trojans whom Achilles kills in this book. In fact, there are other words that imply darkness in this scene; me/lan ai[ma (470), sko/toj (471), me/laina (494), and so on, and those words all contribute to creating a visual impact, elevating the intensity of the battle scene and showing how inhuman Achillesʼ behaviour is, which is very dark indeed.28）
It should be noticed that the porfu/reoj death always covers the Trojans who are killed by the Achaians in the Iliad. The third appearance involves Achilles, and is more intense and darker than the previous two occasions. That is, the intensity of the sceneʼs darkness gradually increases towards the ending. The poet gives a more impressive part to Achilles, one of the most important characters, by organising similar phrases. Because of the repetition, Echeklosʼ death is anticipated.
It is perhaps one of the poetʼs techniques for foreshadowing; the ending, in which the Trojans are defeated by the Achaians, is predicted.
As we have already seen, blood also is described as porfu/reoj in 17. 361. Porfu/reoj applies to blood (ai[ma) only here in the Iliad.29） The blood, including both the Achaiansʼ and the Trojansʼ, emphasises how cruel the fighting is. I should like to suggest that blood could be perceived as ʻpurpleʼ if it is very dark. The conceptions of death and blood, which are linked by porfu/reoj, give us a dark and negative image.30） Then understandably, porfu/reoj is appropriately chosen by the poet. In other words, the poet employs a fitting adjective for death and blood, in order to stress the darkness of the context, visually.
Considering those four uses of porfu/reoj in this section, porfu/reoj fits ever y context. It intensifies the sense of darkness during the scene. Indeed, particularly in the case of the blood movement in book 17, the term does provide visual impact to the context as well, communicating a dark image to readers.
(2) Natural environment
There are four substances that are categorised in the natural environment; nefe/lh (cloud), a3lj (sea), i]rij (rainbow), and ku=ma (wave).31） Under some circumstances, they all could be ʻpurple,ʼ or dark. Let us consider those scenes.
In book 17, there is a striking simile when Athene comes down from heaven. She is sent by Zeus to encourage the Achaians:
h0u5te porfure/hn i]rin qnhtoi=si tanu/ssh|
Zeu_j e0c ou0rano/qen, te/raj e1mmenai h2 pole/moio, h2 kai_ xeimw=noj dusqalpe/oj, o3j r9a/ te e1rgwn a0nqrw/pouj a0ne/pausen e0pi_ xqoni/, mh=la de_ kh/dei, w4j h9 porfure/h| nefe/lh| puka/sasa e4 au0th_n
du/set 0 0Axaiw=n e1qnoj, e1geire de_ fw=ta e3kaston. (Il. 17. 547-552)
Athene goes among the Achaians, enwrapping a porfure/h| cloud around her, as when Zeus spreads a porfure/hn rainbow in the sky for mortals to see. Porfu/reoj agrees with cloud (nefe/lh) in 551 and with rainbow ( i]rij ) in 547. Is purple included in the colours of a rainbow? Pulleyn admits that rainbows do contain purple, even though they are not exclusively purple.32） But could the whole rainbow itself be purple or dark coloured?
It is actually difficult to compare the path of the rainbow Zeus spreads with the descent of Athene who is wrapping a cloud around herself. Leaf sees the contradiction in the repetition of porfu/reoj here and claims that the porfure/hn of the rainbow rather makes a direct contrast with the porfure/h| cloud,33） which I generally agree with. Willcock suggests for porfure/h| nefe/lh|
“seems that Athene actually descends in a rainbow ...” and admits that it is a little different from the usual simile.34） In the Iliad, cloud is often used metaphorically, with black, to indicate sorrow or pitiful contexts and to anticipate somebodyʼs death.35） For instance, about forty lines later, in 17. 591, the black cloud of sorrow envelops Hektor: 4Wj fa/to, to_n d 0 a1xeoj nefe/lh e0ka/luye me/laina,.36）
The usage always denotes darkness in the context. Here Athene, wrapping herself in the porfure/h|
cloud, comes down to spur the Achaians. Does it denote something dark in the context? Probably so. However, this scene is not entirely negative but rather can be taken as enlightening and positive.
Perhaps, this is because the cloud represents a sort of clothing for Athene, an immortal, and this is related to the idea that the colour purple connotes status or authority. The goddessʼ clothing should not be characterised as completely dark especially when she is coming down from heaven.
Instead, I would rather like to observe that the context, which implies darkness and possibly purple, expresses ʻaweʼ and that the poet might be showing a feeling of awe for the goddess by using porfu/reoj. This is what I would suggest concerning this use of the colour purple, porfu/reoj.
Moreover, this is just after Zeus changes his purpose,37） which is actually good for the Achaians.
Thus, my suggestion here is that porfu/reoj describes a slightly brighter purple instead of a dark or cold colour that would indicate a completely negative image. Since Atheneʼs descent itself is a sign of war38） and mortals are still dying on the ground, both positive and negative images are skilfully mingled through porfu/reoj. The picture would be drawn as a radiant goddess descending from
the sky where a rainbow can be seen.39） It is not unreasonable to assume that the sense of awe for the immortal is the radical representation of porfu/reoj here.
Porfu/reoj is applied to the sea (a3lj) once in book 16.40） Here it is also a part of a simile:
tw=n de/ te pa/ntej me_n potamoi_ plh/qousi r9e/ontej, polla_j de_ klitu=j to/t 0 a0potmh/gousi xara/drai, e0j d 0 a3la porfure/hn mega/la stena/xousi r9e/ousai e0c o0re/wn e0pika/r, minu/qei de/ te e1rg 0 a0nqrw/pwn:
w4j i3ppoi Trw|ai_ mega/la stena/xonto qe/ousai. (Il. 16. 389-393)
The sound raised loudly by the Trojan horses is compared to the flow of rivers swelling as many slopes are cut by the torrent rushing with a loud roar from the mountains down to the porfure/hn sea.
Here the Trojans set their course into battle and they may die on the battlefield. This scene shows their courage in war but on the other hand implies a dark image, perhaps fear, for the coming battle as the heaving sea is relentlessly swollen. The colours of the sea can be very different according to angles and depending on the time of day.41） As a result, the sea can naturally be coloured purple sometimes.42） It could be admitted that the porfure/hn describes purple or dark colour and the movement of the sea, which is the poetʼs intention.
How about the presentation of porfu/reoj wave (ku=ma) that occurs twice in the Iliad? Let us look at one appearance in book 1:
oi9 d 0 i9sto_n sth/sant 0 a0na/ q 0 i9sti/a leuka_ pe/tassan, e0n d 0 a1nemoj prh=sen me/son i9sti/on, a0mfi_ de_ ku=ma stei/rh| porfu/reon mega/l 0 i1axe nho_j i0ou/shj:
h9 d 0 e1qeen kata_ ku=ma diaprh/ssousa ke/leuqon. (Il. 1. 480-483)
This is the scene when Odysseus and his crew sail back to the camp of the Achaians from Chryse.
They set up the mast and spread the white sails. The wind swells and the wave rising at the stem hisses loudly as the ship moves on. Since the surging wave can be doubtlessly purple or dark colour, porfu/reon here is appropriate as colour ʻpurple,ʼ which also indicates the movement of a seething wave.43） In book 21, the river Xanthos is angry with Achilles and is rising high in turmoil to attack him; a porfu/reon wave surges up from the Zeus-fed river, to overwhelm him:
porfu/reon d 0 a1ra ku=ma diipete/oj potamoi=o
i3stat 0 a0eiro/menon, kata_ d 0 h3|ree Phlei5wna: (Il. 21. 326-327)
The movement of the wave or the swollen flow represents how fiercely Xanthos is angry and the word porfu/reon emphasises the intensity of darkness. It can be purple, or very dark colour and the darkness properly matches the context.44） A purple (or dark) seething wave in the sea is indeed overpowering and can be frightening sometimes. Here again, I would suggest that the poet locates porfu/reoj properly to reinforce the dark image of the context, ʻawe.ʼ
It is interesting to look at how differently those contexts are narrated between the Achaians and the Trojans. The wave is caused by Xanthos, on the Trojansʼ side, but he is soon defeated by fire lit by Hephaistos, following instructions given by Hera45）, on the Achaian side. In contrast, the porfu/reoj wave in book 1 was for the Achaiansʼ ship and their sailing goes well. They safely reach their camp46）. Even though the event in book 21 occurs among immortals, it does connect with my argument on death in the previous section; the Trojans are always killed by the Achaians, covered by porfu/reoj death. The outcomes of porfu/reoj substances that are related to the Trojans end cruelly for them after all. Consequently, this comes to a vital point of the subtly paralleled narrative structure that the Achaians contain a positive, or enlightening image, but the Trojans, oppositely, negative and dark. This suits the story of the Iliad - the Trojans lose in the end and the Achaians win. This also shows the poetʼs skill; by using the same term in various ways, he composes scenes differently for the Achaians and the Trojans, in order to foretell the closing. The poet does not compose his lines in the same way all the time. Certainly those words are not selected randomly but are chosen on purpose.
The poet eloquently arranges his words, giving double senses of purple colour and movement of the substance, which underlines the, mainly, dark image. However, now we can assume that purple could contain a positive image to some extent, like bravery in book 16, especially in the cloud wrapped around Athene. So far my point of view on the representation of porfu/reoj is, ʻaweʼ in general.
(3) Materials
There are six occasions when porfu/reoj applies to materials in the Iliad: r9h=goj (rug), di/plac (double-folded mantle), pe/ploj (cloth), ta/phj (carpet), and fa=roj (cloak).47） Unquestionably they would be purple. Our next task comes to what porfu/reoj materials represent in their context.
In book 24, Achilles tells his companions and women to prepare beds for Priam and the heralds.
They put down fine purple rugs, spread blankets, and lay woolly cloaks48）:
]H r9 0, 0Axilleu_j d 0 e9ta/roisin i0de_ dmw|h=|si ke/leuse de/mni 0 u9p 0 ai0qou/sh| qe/menai kai_ r9h/gea kala_
porfu/re 0 e0mbale/ein, store/sai t 0 e0fu/perqe ta/phtaj,
xlai/naj t 0 e0nqe/menai ou1laj kaqu/perqen e3sasqai. (Il. 24. 643-646)
The word porfu/re 0agrees with r9h/gea here. Also, the purple rugs are described as fine, kala_. The poet lets Achilles possess these fine rugs and makes Priam, the king of Troy, use them. This pitiful scene where Priam visits Achilles to ask for Hectorʼs dead body, is one of the essential events in the Iliad. The two men negotiate, agree, and sympathise with each other, i.e, reconciliation. It is a very serious and secretive meeting between one of the top members from each side. Again, porfu/reoj probably denotes ʻauthorityʼ – both of them are socially and politically highly positioned. Again it does actually combine my former point in which porfu/reoj symbolises something dark, the sense of ʻaweʼ as well.
We can find references to a purple double-folded mantle twice, in books 3 and 22, and the lines are very similar.49） When Iris comes to Helen in book 3, Helen is working on a great web of purple cloth for a double cloak (di/plac) in her room50）:
th_n d 0 eu[r 0 e0n mega/rw|: h9 de_ me/gan i9sto_n u3faine, di/plaka porfure/hn, pole/aj d 0 e0ne/passen a0e/qlouj Trw/wn q 0 i9ppoda/mwn kai_ 0Axaiw=n xalkoxitw/nwn,
ou4j e3qen ei3nek 0 e1pasxon u9p 0 1Arhoj palama/wn: (Il. 3. 125-128)
On the porfure/hn cloth, she is weaving many scenes of the battle of the Achaians and the Trojans.51） In book 22, Andromache is also working on a web of purple cloth for a double cloak:
4Wj e1fato klai/ous 0, a1loxoj d 0 ou1 pw/ ti pe/pusto 1Ektoroj: ou0 ga/r oi3 tij e0th/tumoj a1ggeloj e0lqw_n h1ggeil 0 o3tti r9a/ oi9 po/sij e1ktoqi mi/mne pula/wn, a0ll 0 h3 g 0 i9sto_n u3faine muxw=| do/mou u9yhloi=o
di/plaka porfure/hn, e0n de_ qro/na poiki/l 0 e1passe. (Il. 22. 437-441)
In a corner of their house, Andromache, who has not yet heard anything about her husband, weaves a pattern of flowers in it.52） Interestingly, only Trojan women are involved with di/plaka
porfure/hn in the Iliad and again, both of them are of high position in society. This also serves as further evidence that porfu/reoj might represent status or authority. However, there is irony in fact – one actually brings tragedy to the other; Helen comes to Troy, the battle starts, then Andromache loses her husband and everything. The patterns of what they are weaving are also contrasted – Helen weaves a picture of battle on the cloth and Andromache weaves flowers.53） Furthermore, it is worthy to note that it is only women who actually weave on purple materials in the Iliad. Male characters are involved with purple material in other occasions but surely they do not weave on them. A provocative prospective view could be offered hereafter – the di/plaka porfure/hn woven by Helen and Andromache symbolises that women cause troubles all the time, then they hope and mourn afterwards. Men actually use something porfure/hn for their business, which derives from troubles that women cause. This viewpoint maybe aims to discern the context too figuratively, but at any rate, the two narratives provide an ironic sense and porfu/reoj is suitable to imply darkness in this context. Significantly, Andromache decides to burn the clothes after the sad news about her husband reaches her (512-13), which supports the view that the clothes could have an association with death.54） I suppose that porfu/reoj describes purple and also represents the movement of their weaving in those two scenes, because this connects the ideas that porfu/reoj contains status or authority connotation and represents dark movement.
The last appearance of porfu/reoj cloth in the Iliad is most tragic. It is the covering of Hectorʼs remains, after cremation:
kai _ta/ ge xrusei/hn e0j la/rnaka qh=kan e9lo/ntej.
porfure/oij pe/ploisi kalu/yantej malakoi=sin: (Il. 24. 795-796)
After the pyre, his bones are wrapped in soft purple cloths and put in a golden box.55） The employment of purple in this very last moment of the story is indeed powerful and symbolic – Hector, son of Priam, a great warrior, highly positioned in society and most beloved by the people, is wrapped in a large purple cloth now. This confirms that purple cloth can be associated with death, as the poet carefully makes a link with those woven cloths that we just saw above. Andromacheʼs decision to burn all clothes as a substitute for Hectorʼs funeral is related to the purple cloth here.
There we can trace an imagery connection; purple – cloth – dark – death .56） Here again colour purple indeed indicates a dark image, ʻawe,ʼ as I am intending to show.
Achilles again is involved with purple materials when the embassy visits him in book 9. This time we can see purple carpets (ta/phj):
4Wj a1ra fwnh/saj prote/rw a1ge di=oj 0Axilleu/j,
ei[sen d 0 e0n klismoi=si ta/phsi/ te porfure/oisin. (Il. 9. 209-200)
Odysseus, Phoinix, and Aias come to Achillesʼ camp to persuade him to return to the battle.
Welcoming them, Achilles lets them sit on couches. Purple carpets (ta/phj) are spread under them.57） This embassy scene is a significant part of the story and all characters who appear in the meeting are highly-positioned warriors. The poet uses purple carpets in this vital scene where leading characters discuss the crucially important issue of whether Achilles should return to the battle. It is a cool business scene and they all are seriously engaged with the mission. The whole air could be quite dark and the presentation of porfu/reoj is suitable here.
In book 8, Agamemnon holds a purple cloak only once in the Iliad:
bh= d 0 i0e/nai para/ te klisi/aj kai_ nh=aj 0Axaiw=n
porfu/reon me/ga fa=roj e1xwn e0n xeiri_ paxei/h|, (Il. 8. 220-221)
Hector and the Trojans are achieving their success on the battlefield and Hector could have fired the Achaian ships. But Hera stirs Agamemnonʼs mind into action and urges the Achaians58）. Then Agamemnon goes along by the huts and ships of the Achaians, holding his great purple cloak (fa=roj) in his hand. Then later he shouts and encourages all the Achaians. For what reason does he carry this large purple cloak? It is not certain why Agammemnon suddenly has it. It is slightly different from other appearances of purple materials, which are recognised as for covering, putting underneath or so as we have seen. Wilson proposes that “Agamemnon wishes to draw attention to himself. There is no device comparable to this elsewhere in the poem.”59） Kirkʼs claim is also similar, explaining that the cloth is to be waved to draw attention.60） That is a logical insight to understand that Agamemnon flaps the large cloak to attract attention that he needs, but still doubtful, however. Does he need the cloak to draw othersʼ attention to his words? Does he not always have everybodyʼs attention, if he is properly recognised as a leader? Moreover, it is indeed agreeable to see that Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaian army, holds the cloak of the colour purple, which presumably symbolises authority, but he goes out because he is stirred by Hera. Therefore, porfu/reoj here rather might be associated with Hera, not only Agamemnon. That would make it easier to accept Leafʼs statement; “it may be noticed that purple does not seem to be a distinctively royal colour in Homer.”61） Perhaps again the purple of his cloak not only represents status but also denotes the sense of ʻaweʼ for the goddess Hera, like the lurid cloud that Athene enwraps herself and the lurid rainbow that Zeus spreads in book 17.
As a whole, the characters who are involved with purple materials in the Iliad are Helen, Andromache, Agamemnon, and Achilles. Even if we include Hectorʼs remains that are wrapped in the purple cloth at his funeral, they all are highly positioned in society and there is no strange presentation of porfu/reoj in the Iliad. Thus they all are appropriately handled by the poet to denote a ʻdarkʼ image, which, I would like to suggest more precisely, is ʻaweʼ in these contexts.
(4) Verb porfu/rw
There are two appearances of porfu/rw, which, I would say, are both used metaphorically. In book 21, Agenor meets Achilles on the battlefield and his heart is in turmoil:
au0ta_r o3 g 0 w9j e0no/hsen 0Axillh=a ptoli/porqon, e1sth, polla_ de/ oi9 kradi/h po/rfure me/nonti:
o0xqh/saj d 0 a1ra ei]pe pro_j o4n megalh/tora qumo/n (Il. 21. 550-552)
Actually Apollo puts courage into Agenorʼs heart62）. That is why Agenor does not run away from Achilles but fights against him. Later Apollo helps Agenor again, snatching him away. An agitated heart can be very dark, purple.63） However, at the same time, porfu/rw connotes bravery in this case, as Agenor is encouraged by Apollo to face Achilles. The poet eloquently pictures Agenorʼs disordered heart by using porfu/rw, which strengthens dark colour and movement of an unstable heart. But not only a dark sense but also a slightly positive context can be realised because of his brave heart. Furthermore, concerning Apolloʼs intervention into the mortal world, the sense of awe is heightened here as well. Also, in book 14, the poet employs porfu/rw to describe the turmoil in Nestorʼs heart in the simile when Nestor sees the terrible sight of the Achaians running in confusion:
w9j d 0 o3te porfu/rh| pe/lagoj me/ga ku/mati kwfw=|, o0sso/menon lige/wn a0ne/mwn laiyhra_ ke/leuqa au1twj, ou0d 0 a1ra te prokuli/ndetai ou0dete/rwse, pri/n tina kekrime/non katabh/menai e0k Dio_j ou]ron, w4j o9 ge/rwn w3rmaine dai+zo/menoj kata_ qumo/n dixqa/di 0, h2 meq 0 o3milon i1oi Danaw=n taxupw/lwn,
h]e met 0 0Atrei5dhn 0Agame/mnona, poime/na law=n. (Il. 14. 16-22)
As when the great sea heaves darkly with a soundless swell, sensing the shrill winds on their swift paths, but cannot set its waves rolling to this side or that, until some settled gale comes down from Zeus, so Nestor pondered whether he should haste into the fast-horsed Danaans or go to find Agamemnon. Then Nestor decides to seek Agamemnon. The simile is picturesquely illustrated to compare Nestorʼs anxiety about what was happening and what he should do with the swollen wave in the sea.64） Although Leaf notes that “porqu/rh| seems to express heaving motion rather than colour,”65） I would contend that porqu/rh| depicts the surging movement of the wave, which not only perceptibly describes a dark colour but also is suitable to explain a personʼs confused heart.
It does present a visual impact as well as human emotion there.66） Like Agenorʼs heart in book 21, porfu/rh| for Nestorʼs wondering heart represents darkness, which corresponds to a dark image in the context as well as the hue of the motion wave. The poet shows the double senses of porfu/rh|;
the swollen motion of the wave and disordered state of humanʼs heart, both of which match dark thoughts, i.e., awe. This is an astute and well-organised technique in composing the story.
(5) Summary
I would like to clarify what I have investigated in this paper. What can we deduce from examining presentations of porfu/reoj in the Iliad?
Certainly they let us imagine something dark. The deep and dark thought of a tormented heart is powerfully symbolic and porfu/reoj has an association with ʻmovementʼ in dark scenes. Thus porfu/reoj gives us the imagery of instability as well.
Considering the characters who are actively involved with porfu/reoj in the Iliad, they are Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen, Andromache, Xanthos, Athene, and Zeus. Other occasions are excluded because they are passively activated and those characters do not actually use porfu/reoj substances by themselves; Hypsenor, Kleoboulos, Echeklos, and Hector are covered:
the blood of warriors is run over the ground: the Trojanʼs roar is narrated in the simile: the hearts of Agenor and Hestor are in turmoil. Discriminating among those cases, the positions of Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen and Andromache are obviously high in society and Xanthos, Athene and Zeus are authoritative on account of their immortality, which fortifies the vision that purple connotes authority in ancient times as well. The purple cloth for Hectorʼs remains in his funeral is most emblematic to envisage the purple connotation. However, after my study on porfu/reoj, I would like to add my proposition on this. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the imagery of porfu/reoj can be represented as ʻawe,ʼ which is associated with the dark, serious, deep, and brave as well. For example, ʻaweʼ can be sensed from the mission of the embassy in book 9, the rainbow that Zeus
sends as the sign of war in book 17, and the secretive meeting between Priam and Achilles in book 24. Every occasion of porfu/reoj manifests the sense of awe. I would like to suggest that there is an imagery connection of porfu/reoj, which is centred in awe throughout the Iliad; death – blood – instability - dark – purple - awe – bravery . Again, the purple cloth for Hector in book 24 perfectly represents the imagery. I would also put forward my proposal that the poet illustrates the imagery connection in the Iliad through ʻaweʼ then develops that sense of awe towards the climax.
Moreover, the different approach in the poetʼs narrative between the Achaians and Trojans should not be ignored. It is interestingly contrastive. The Trojans who are related to porfu/reoj items in the Iliad are more negatively narrated in the context. In fact, Hypsenor, Kleoboulos, and Echeklos are all killed. Hectorʼs remains are wrapped in the purple cloth for his funeral at the end, which conveys a deeply sorrowful context. Even an immortal, Xanthos, is defeated by Hephaistosʼ fire after Hera instructs Hephaistos. On the other hand, even though the scene itself might be dark, serious or pitiful, the Achaians are never covered by purple death. They are rather actively narrated with porfu/reoj substances. The Achaiansʼ ship successfully returns to their camp, with the movement of the porfu/reoj wave in book 1. Athene, although she wraps the lurid cloud around herself, comes down to encourage the Achaians. They are fighting, but her descent is positively accepted. Also, Achilles uses purple carpets in book 9 for the important negotiations and Agamemnon uses his purple cloak in book 8 to urge on the Achaians. I do not insist that porfu/reoj for the Achaians is always entirely positive. But it is not negative, either. It would not be impossible to assert that porfu/reoj is used negatively for the Trojans and positively for the Achaians, which does suit the storyline of the Iliad; the Achaians win and the Trojans lose in the end. This is, as I wrote above, the poetʼs refined skill of composing his story, in short, foreshadowing. Employing the same term while composing the story, the poet builds his narrative structure differently for the Achaians and the Trojans.
To sum up, porfu/reoj metaphorically functions as ʻaweʼ throughout the stor y, which helps to link the narratives in the Iliad in unity with the imager y connections. Concerning these connections, the connotation that porfu/reoj possesses represents darkness, principally. But it is not completely dark like me/laj, since porfu/reoj contains both negative and a slight positive image.
In this respect, porfu/reoj, purple, can be displayed between me/laj and canqo/j, somewhere mixed with kua/neoj and r9o/don. Combining other colour terms with porfu/reoj, I shall clarify my point in my conclusion, as follows.
3. Conclusion
I have aimed to investigate the metaphorical function of porfu/reoj in the Iliad. From my point of view, it stands for awe:awe:
me/laj kua/neoj <porfu/reoj> r(o/don canqo/j leuko/j
death --- blood --- aweawe --- brave --- light instability
royalty authority
Certainly porfu/reoj is associated with death, or something dark and negative. The apparently novel discovery in this paper is the fact that porfu/reoj can be positive in a dark situation as well.
This means that, as there are many purple hues, porfu/reoj is not very dark but a brighter purple, which can include positive and negative images. As we saw that only highly-positioned characters are involved with porfu/reoj, its association with authority is maintained.
All in all, the appearances of porfu/reoj reinforce intense situations with the image of dark and unstable movement. In fact, the degree of dark intensity is increased gradually towards the ending when Hectorʼs remains are covered with the large purple cloth for his funeral, which is remarkably symbolic. Further, the narrative path between the Achaians and the Trojans is contrasted quite strikingly; by using porfu/reoj, the poet elaborates the parallel pattern of the negatively-related Trojans and the positively-related Achaians, which corresponds to the stor yline. Thus, the metaphorical function of porfu/reoj is well manoeuvred by the poet through the awe-centred imagery connection, in order to heighten the situation, mostly in dark circumstances. That actually provides the narratives of the Iliad with further coherence. Clearly the poet controls his words.
Therefore, he delivers his own story with creative thought and careful selection of words, which reveals his sophisticated skill in story composition.
I hope I have clarified my objective and newly-developed views on porfu/reoj, which may perhaps be provocative for some readers who might wish to express their opposing views on this issue. I would be glad if my argument inspires some readers, and I prefer to leave this matter open for further discussion.
Summer 2009 Liverpool67）
Appendix I: Uses of porfu/reoj in the Iliad68）
The state of human beings:
death – [5.83] (T) [16.334] (T) [20.477] (T) blood – [17.361] (A and T)
Natural environment:
cloud – [17.551] (A) <in simile>
sea – [16.391] (T) <in simile>
rainbow - [17.547] (N/A?) <in simile>
wave – [1.482] (A) [21.326] (N/T)
Materials:
rug - [24.645] (A)
double-folded mantle [3.126] (T) [22.441] (T) cloth – [24.796] (T)
carpet – [9.200] (A) cloak – [8.221] (A)
Verb:
Agenorʼs heart – [21. 551] (T)
Nestorʼs heart – [14.16] (A) <in simile>
Miscellaneous:
fine – [24.465]
soft – [24.796] great / large – [8.221]
* (A) means that objects or persons referred to are on the Achaian side. (T) means on the Trojan side.
Notes
１）For the Homeric Text, I mainly refer to the OCT, Prendergastʼs concordance (A Complete Concordance to the Iliad of Homer, Georg Olms Verlag, 1983), Tebbenʼs concordance (Concordantia Homerica II: Ilias.
A Computer Concordance to the van Thiel Edition of Homer's Iliad, Georg Olms Verlag, 1998), Kirkʼs commentar y (The Iliad: A Commentary vol. I-VI, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1985-1993), and Hammondʼs translation. See also other commentaries passim; W. Leaf, The Iliad vol. I-II, New York, 1886- 1888; C. Macleod, Homer: Iliad Book 24, Cambridge, 1982; J. Griffin, Homer: Iliad Book Nine, Oxford, 1995; M. M. Willcock, Homer: Iliad. 2 vols., Bristol, 1998-2000; S. Pulleyn, Homer: Iliad Book One, Oxford, 2000; Norman Postlethwaite, Homer s Iliad: A Commentary on the translation of Richmond Lattimore, University of Exeter Press, 2000. For other Greek authors, I use the Loeb texts.
２）Autenrieth gives purple for porfu/reoj, though mentioning “spoken of non-transparent substance with a reddish gleam, yet without distinct notion of colour”; Georg Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary, Duckworth, 1984, 269. In Liddell and Scottʼs intermediate Greek-English lexicon, it is said that porfu/reoj means to grow red or dye red after Homer, since Homer is unlikely to have known porfu/ra, in which case the word would not denote any definite colour in Homer (1889, 662).
３）Il. 17. 366.
４）Hammond, op cit, 284. Fitzgerald renders “bright”; R. Fitzgerald, Homer: The Iliad, introduced by G. S.
Kirk, Oxford, 1984, 309.
５）P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Grecque, Paris, 1999, 930. ６）Pulleyn, op cit, 244-245; He gives brief but good consideration on porfu/reon.
７）The discussion on colour in Homer starts from Gladstone: W. Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age vol. III, Oxford, 1858, 457-499. His interpretation of porqu/reoj is ʻvioletʼ (p. 459). His fundamental viewpoint on colour in Homer is that the poet is colour-blind. See also his later article;
“The Colour Sense,” Nineteenth Century 2, 1877, 373ff. Scholars have exhaustively discussed to resolve this issue on colour in Homer after Gladstone; G. Allen, The Colour-Sense, London, 1879, esp. 267ff; E.
F. Wallace, Color in Homer and in Ancient Art, Northampton Mass., 1927, esp. 8f, 18f, 55 and 74ff; A.
Kober, The Use of Color Terms in the Greek Poets, New York, 1932, 93ff and 117. Irwinʼs book has been particularly suggestive for my research; E. Irwin, Colour Terms in Greek Poetry, Toronto, 1974. See her argument on porfu/reoj at p. 17-19 and 24ff. According to Irwin, porfu/reoj is included in red-yellow range colour (p. 201). Also, her statement on porfu/reoj is noteworthy; “[I]n early poetry porfu/reoj is not definitely chromatic, but describes the appearance which purple-dyed material and certain other objects have in common”(p. 17) and ““[P]urple” in the ancient world was a rich brilliant crimson” (p.
28). As stated by Berlin and Kay, purple appears at Stage VII, which is actually the very last stage in the evolution of basic colour terms. See their explanation for these stages; B. Berlin & P. Kay, Basic Color Terms, CSLI Publications, 1999, 2-45, and for Homeric Greek colour terms, 27f, 70f and 137f. Fowler gives a good observation on colour as well. Fowler mostly agrees with Irwin and states that no one word can be an adequate translation for porfu/reoj. Her primary viewpoint on colour seems to be the idea of ʻthe play of light,ʼ which reflects on any substance or objects; B. H. Fowler, “The Archaic Aesthetic,” AJP 105, 1984, 127-136, esp. 127-129 (cf. 121). Porphúreos is included in the both categories of warm and dark colours in Moonwomonʼs article; B. Moonwomon, “Color Categorization in Early Greek,” JIES 22, 1994, 48, 52, 57f, and 59ff. Moonwomon concludes that porphúreos, “if an abstract color term, named an area of color space that covered both bluish and reddish purples” (p. 62). Clark conducts a semantic investigation on the early Greek language and gives porfu/reoj as one of the “salient qualities of centrally important phenomena or things”; M. Clarke, “The Semantics of Colour in the Early Greek Word-Hoard,” Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World, edited by L. Cleland and K. Stears with G. Davies, Oxford, 2004, 138.
８）Plato Philebus 51D; kai_ xrw/mata dh_ tou=ton to_n tu/pon e1xonta kala_ kai_ h9dona/j.
９）Irwin, op cit, 28.
10）J. Gage, Colour and Culture, Thames and Hudson, 1993, 16. See also his other book, Colour in Art, Thames and Hudson, 2006, 147-150.
Vitruvius clearly states that purple is the most delightful colour in VII 13.1; incipiam nunc de ostro dicere, quod et carissimam et excellentissimam habet praetor hos colores aspectus suavitatem. See also Plinyʼs description on purple in Natural History IX 125-139. He mentions a Homeric phrase, i.e., blood of purple hue at 135; laus ei summa in colore sanguinis concreti, nigricans aspect idemque suspect refulgens;
unde et Homero purpureus dictitur sanguis.
11）Pliny Natural History IX 127, XXI 45, XXXV 44-5 and 50. See A. Feisner, Colour, London, 2006, 123 and 137. On the production of purple dye, see Wallace, op cit, 7f; R. Goheen, “Aspects of Dramatic Symbolism:
Three Studies in the Oresteia,” AJP 76, 1955, 116. n. 8 and 123. n. 24; M. Nosch, “Red Coloured Textiles in the Liner B Inscriptions,” Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World, op cit, 33ff; Also in the same volume, I. Ziderman, “Purple Dyeing in the Mediterranean World: Characterisation of Biblical Tekhelet,”40-45; B.
Lowe, “The Industrial exploitation of Murex: Purple dye production in the Western Mediterranean,”46-47. 12）Pliny Natural History IX 137: ʻMe,ʼ inquit, ʻinvene violacea purpura vigebat, cuius libra denariis centum
venibat, ...ʼ See also Aeschylus Agamemnon 945-956.
13）Plato Timaeus 68B-C. See also Aristotle De Coloribus 792a, 793a, 797a, 794a, 795b, 797a; De Sensu 439b;
Vitruvius VII 13.1-14.2. For further information on ʻpurpleʼ besides the footnotes above, see A. E. Kober,
“Some Remarks on Colour in Greek Poetry,” CW 27, 1934, 189-191; Goheen, op cit, 115ff; R. Edgeworth,
“Does “purpureus” mean “bright”?” Glotta 57, 1979, 281- 291(esp. 283); Gage, op cit (1993), 25ff and his later book, Colour and Meanings, Thames and Hudson, 1999, 71f and 94. See also A. Fountoulakis,
“The Colours of Desire and Death: Colour Terms in Bionʼs Epitaph on Adonis,” Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World, op cit, 113f. On Democtirusʼ perception, see J. Mansfeld, “Out of Touch: Philoponus as Source for Democritus,” Democritus: Science, the Arts, and the Care of the Soul, Paris, 2006, 280-283. A number of valuable studies have addressed colour in antiquity. For colour (or more likely colour
perception) in general in antiquity, see Plato Phaedo 110B-E; Timaeus 67C-68D; Meno 76E; Symposium 211E; Philebus 51; Cratylus 424-425; Theaeteus 153d-154d and 156a-157b; Republic 6.507D-509B and 10.600E-602E; Aristotle De Coloribus; De Sensu 439a-440b; On Gorgias 980b; Lucretius De Rerum Natura II 54-61; Vituvius VII 7.1-14.3 Beareʼs work is instructive regarding colour perception in antiquity; John I. Beare, Greek Theories of Elementary Cognition from Alcmaeon to Aristotle, Oxford, 1906 (esp. p. 75 for purple). See also H. Ellis, “The Colour-Sense in Literature,” Contemporary Review 69, 1896, 714-719 and 727; C. Rowe, “Conceptions of colour and colour system in the ancient world,” Color Symbolism: Six Excerpts from the Eranos Year Book 1972, ed. By A. Portmann, 1977, esp. 30f, 41f, 46f. Further, Gageʼs chapters are also good to learn how ʻcolourʼ has been recognised from antiquity, chronologically; Gage, op cit (1993), 11-28 and op cit (2006), 17-60. Edgeworth particularly focuses on ʻbrownʼ in Ancient Greek and investigates ai1qwn as brown; R. Edgeworth, “Terms for “Brown” in Ancient Greek,” Glotta 61, 1983, 31-41. 14）Aristotle Meteorologica 342b 8 and 375a 25. See also Philostratus Imagines I. 28.
15）Gage, op cit (1999), 69. See Aristotle De Coloribus 794a and 795b.
16）Fountoulakis, op cit, 113.
17）See Fountoulakis, ibid, 114; “The Homeric resonances illuminate the connotations concerning the idea of youthful, violent and bloody death.” Feisner gives bravery (purple heart), aristocracy, spirituality, mystery, luxury, and royalty for purpleʼs positive connotations, and conceit, pomposity, mourning, death, and rage for its negative connotations; Feisner, op cit, 123. See also D. Fontana, The Secret Language of Symbols, London, 1993, 67; J. Tresidder, Dictionary of Symbols, London, 1997, 164.
18）For the imagery in Homer, P. Vivante, Homeric Imagination, Indiana University Press, 1970. See also A.
L. Keith, Simile and Metaphor in Greek Poetry, George Banta Publishing Co., 1914, 10-51; M. Parry, “The Traditional Metaphor in Homer,” CP, 1933, 30-43; W. Stanford, Greek Metaphor, London, 1972, esp. 61 and 118-143; M. S. Silk, Interaction in Poetic Imagery, Cambridge, 1974; H. Musurillo, Symbol and Myth in
Ancient Poetry, Greenwood Press, Inc., 1977; C. Moulton, “Homeric Metaphor,” CP 74, 1979, 279-293; M.
W. Edwards, Homer: Poet of the Iliad, London, 1987, 111-116.
19）Fountoulakis, op cit, 115. See also Gageʼs account that “colour has seemed to most of us to speak directly and unambiguously”; Gage, op cit (1993), 7.
20）1. 482, 3. 126, 5. 83, 8. 221, 9. 200, 14. 16, 16. 334, 391, 17. 361, 547, 551, 20. 477, 21. 326, 551, 22.441, 24. 645 and 796.
21）Chantraine mentions on porfu/ra as “conquillage dont on tire la pourpre murex trunculus...,
<< teinture de porpre tirée de ce coquillage>> ... <<étoffe>> ou <<vetement de pourpre>> ou <<garniture de pourpre>>” and “<<teint en pourpre>>; chez Hom. Le mot a pu sʼappliquer à lʼarc en ciel ... ou à un nuage qui lui ressemble, au sang, à la mort”; Chantraine, op cit, 930; For more etymological points of view on the word, see also E. Boisaco˛ , Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Grecque, Heidelberg and Paris, 1916, 805f; J. Chadwick and L. Baumbach, “The Mycenaean Greek Vocabulary,” Glotta 41, 1963, 238; H. Frisk, Griechisches Étymologisches Wörtherbuch Vol. II, Heidelberg, 1970, 581f.
22）See Appendix I.
23）Il. 5. 83, 16. 334, and 20. 477.
24）See Chantraine, op cit, 930; “la mort peut être <<rouge>>, ou << telle le gouffre de la mer>>” See also Edgeworth, op cit (1979), 288; Pulleyn, op cit, 245. Kirk says “powerful description of death”; G. S. Kirk, The Iliad: A Commentary Vol. II, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1990, 62.
25）Leaf, op cit, 151.
26）Il. 2. 834, 11. 332 and 16. 687. Also, we can see black heart, pain, and fate; Il. 1. 103, 2. 859, 3. 454, 360, 4. 117, 191, 5. 22, 562, 7. 254, 11, 360, 443, 14. 462, 15. 394, 17. 83, 499. 573 and 21. 66. They all denote dark image on the context. See my argument on black death; Y. Saito, “Me/laj in the Iliad,” Journal of Humanities 29, 2006, 61-67. Mueller takes the lines of ton de kat / osse / ellabe porphureos thanatos kai moira kratai as one of closing phrases in the Iliad and translates porphureos thanatos as ʻred deathʼ; M. Mueller, The Iliad, London, 1980, 88.
27）M. Edwards, The Iliad: A Commentary vol. V, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1991, 342.
28）If the colour terms pile up, there is the poetʼs intention to convey visual impact and command his audienceʼs attention; R. Edgeworth, “Color Clusters in Homer,” Eos 77, 1989, 195-198. See also A. E.
Harvey, “Homeric Epithets in Greek Lyric Poetry,” CQ 7, 1957, 217ff.
29）Leaf, op cit, 199; Wallace, op cit, 18f; Edwards, op cit (1991), 96f; Moonwomon, op cit, 50. In Greek poetry, porfu/reoj is often with reference to the colour of the blood; Kober, op cit (1932), 97; Rowe, op cit, 30; Irwin, op cit, 18-28; Moonwomon, op cit, 58; Fountoulakis, op cit, 113.
30）Goheen, op cit, 117ff; F. E. Brenk, “ʻPurpureos Spargam Floresʼ: A Greek Motif in the Aeneid?” CQ 40, 1990, 219; Pulleyn, op cit, 245; Fountoulakis, op cit, 114. See also J. Clark, “Colour Sequences in Catullus ʻLong Poemsʼ,” Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World, op cit, 124f. According to Edgeworth, we can see that Vergil usually uses “purpureus” in association with death in the Aeneid; Edgeworth, op cit (1979), 287. There are eleven references to black (me/laj) blood in the Iliad; 4.149, 7.262, 10.298, 469, 11.812, 13.655, 16. 529, 18. 583, 20. 470, 21. 119 and 23. 806.
31）Il. 1. 482, 16. 391, 17.547, 551, and 21.326.
32）Pulleyn, op cit, 245. Kober claims that porfu/reoj must mean “variocolored,” if the word alone is used of the rainbow; Kober, op cit (1932), 97f. Edwards notes on 17. 547ff. that Athene actually “takes the form of the gloomy portent”; Edwards, op cit (1987), 109. On the rainbow colour, see also Gladstone, op cit (1858), 485; Wallace, op cit, 24; Kober, op cit (1934), 190; Irwin, op cit, pp. 9-10 and 76; Edgeworth, op cit (1979), 289; R. Edgeworth, ““Off-Color” Allusions in Roman Poetry,” Glotta 65, 1987, 135. Xenophanes describes a rainbow as porfu/reoj, foini/keoj and xlwro/j (fr. 32.1-2: h3n t 0 I)}rin kale/ousi, ne/foj kai_ tou=to pe/fuke, / porfu/reon kai_ foini/keon kai_ xlwro_n i0de/sqai.). See Lesherʼs comment on the lines; J. H. Lesher, Xenophanes of Colophon: Fragments: text and translation with commentary, Toronto, 1992, 139ff; Moonwomon, op cit, 55. See also Aristotleʼs work on rainbows; Meteorologica 373a 32 -377a 29.
According to Edgewor th, Tibullus and Proper tius render a Homeric phrase for the rainbow:
porfure/hn i]rin (17.547) and use the term as it is perceived in the red range of the spectrum, which is more visible than its violet; R. Edgeworth, “What Color is “ferrugineus”?” Glotta 56, 1978, 303.
33）Leaf, op cit, 208f. See also Edwards, op cit (1991), 115f; Moonwomon, op cit, 50.
34）Willcock, op cit, 260. Moulton analyses that there is an effective “interaction between literal clouds or dark and cloud imagery”; Moulton, op cit (1979), 291f. See also A. Christol, “Les Couleurs de la Mer,” Couleurs et Vision dans L Antiquité Classique, edited by L. Villard, Rouen, 2002, 34f.
35）Keith, op cit, 29f and 42; Edwards, op cit (1987), 112.
36）For other occasions of ʻblack (me/laj) cloud,ʼ see Il. 4. 277, 16. 350, and 18. 22. 37）Il. 17. 546: dh_ ga_r no/oj e0tra/pet 0 au0tou=.
38）A rainbow can generally be recognised as “a Zeus-sent portent of war stormy precipitation”; J. Fenno,
““A Great Wave Against the Stream”: Water Imagery in Iliadic Battle Scenes,” AJP 126, 2005, 492. See also Keith, op cit, 30 and 42f; Fontana, op cit, 115; Tresidder, op cit, 166f; Postlethwaite, op cit, 225.
39）For discussion of the visual memory, which explains the interwoven connection between images and words in Homeric ʻpictureableʼ simile, see E. Minchin, Homer and the Resources of Memory, Oxford, 2001, 25-8 and 133-160 (chap. 4).
40）Chantraine states as “dans la mer bouillonnante”; Chantraine, op cit. 930. Leaf notes that “the epithet is only here applied to the a3lj or shallow water of the coast; it elsewhere belongs only to ku=ma when used of water”; Leaf, op cit, 152. Janko notes that this may be an ad hoc adaptation; R. Janko, The Iliad: A Commentary vol. IV, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1992, 367. See also Irwin, op cit, 3 and 89.
41）Fowler, op cit, 128.
42）Aristotle admits that the sea has a purple tinge, depending on the wave angle. See De Coloribus 792a:
fai/netai de_ kai_ h9 qa/latta porfuroeidh/j, o3tan ta_ ku/mata metewrizo/mena kata_ th_n e1gklisin skiasqh|=:.
See also Aeschylus Agamemnon 958-60. Musurillo calls this passage “Clytemnestraʼs Purple Sea speech” as included in blood-imagery; Musurillo, op cit, 69 (for the symbol of the sea in later Greek and Roman poets, see 82f, 87, 110, 116, 136 and 145f). Vergil uses ʻpurple seaʼ in Georg. IV 373-4; ... quo non alius per pinguia culta / in mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis. See Edgeworth, op cit (1987), 136. In addition to Edgeworthʼs articles on purpureus in Roman world, see J. André, Étude sur les Termes de Couleur dans la Langue Latine, Paris, 1949, 90-102; Brenk, op cit, 218-223 (particularly in the Aeneid). Unfortunately I have not been able to properly read Gipperʼs article before submitting this paper; H. Gipper, “Purpur,” Glotta 42, 1964, 39-69.
43）See Leaf, op cit, 29; Leaf notes porfu/reon here as “seems to be properly used, as here, of the dark colour of disturbed waves.”
44）Richardson notes that porfu/reon here can be translated ʻheavingʼ, or ʻsurgingʼ; N. Richardson, The Iliad: A Commentary vol. VI, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1993, 79. He also mentions that “kukw/menoj ... qu/wn ... mormu/rwn a0frw=| ... porfu/reon all contributes to the idea of a seething, boiling wave.” See also Vivante, op cit, 111-12; Fenno, op cit, 498-503, for Fennosʼ interesting theory of hydropolemic imagery that supports the unity of the Iliad.
45）Il. 21. 331-341. 46）Il. 1. 484.
47）Il. 3. 126, 8. 221, 9. 200, 22. 441, 24. 645 and 796. 48）See Richardson, op cit, 344.
49）G. S. Kirk, The Iliad: A Commentary vol. I, edited by G. S. Kirk, Cambridge, 1985, 280. See also G. Nagy, Plato s Rhapsody and Homer s Music, Harvard University Press, 2002, 93.
50）On di/plac, see L. Casson, “Greek and Roman Clothing: Some Technical Terms,” Glotta 61, 1983, 194- 199. Mentioning Helenʼs weaving, Casson mentions that this is “another name for the xlai=na diplh=, a kind of mantle favoured by the heroes” at p. 194.
51）Willcock mentions that di/plaka porfure/hn is in apposition to i9sto_n “because this is what she was in
fact weaving, a large red piece of cloth, which when folded was of the ordinary dimensions of a cloak”; Willcock, op cit, 218. Willcock understands porfure/hn here as red. Also, Mueller reads it as “a red folding robe”; Mueller, op cit, 75.
52）Willcock, op cit, 297; Postlethwaite, op cit, 277.
53）Mueller, op cit, 121. Vivante gives an interesting note on Helenʼs weaving, explaining that what she is weaving represents her thoughts and mirrors her struggling life; P. Vivante, Homer, Yale, 1985, 85ff. See Barolskyʼs consideration on ʻweavingʼ as art in Homer; P. Brolsky, “Homer and the Poetic Origins of Art History,” Arion 16. 3, 2009, 19-20. Graziosi discusses the weaving metaphor; B. Graziosi, Inventing Homer, Cambridge, 2002, 25. See also J. Griffin, Homer on Life and Death, Oxford, 1980, 97f; Postlethwaite, op cit, 68f; Nagy, op cit, 70-79.
54）C. Tsagalis, Epic Grief, New York, 2004, 132f; Griffin, op cit (1980), 2f. For clothing symbolism in later Greek and Roman poets, see Musurillo, op cit, 75 and 111. Noticeably, a robe poisoned by Medea appears in later sources; E. Irwin, “Flower Power in Medicine and Magic,” Mouseion 6, 2006, 427.
55）See Macleod, op cit, 157; He mentions that “wrapping the burnt bones is the basis for a powerful oxymoron.”
56）See Gladstone, op cit (1877), 374; F. Brenk, “Auorum Spes Et Purpurei Flores: The Eulogy for Marcellus in Aeneid VI,” AJP 107, 1986, esp. 224f. n. 13. Citing other Roman writings, Brenk mentions that purple flowers (purpureos flores), particularly lilies (lilia), can indicate a short life in funeral imagery in Roman world, which could be a good backup for the idea of the connection between purple and death in Homeric times as well.
57）Griffin, op cit (1995), 99f.
58）Il. 8. 217-219.
59）C. H. Wilson, Homer: Iliad Books VIII and IX, Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1996, 191. Willcockʼs idea is the same – “the purpose of the red cloak is naturally to draw attention”; Willcock, op cit, 265. See also Griffin, op cit (1980), 29.
60）Kirk, op cit (1990), 317. Postlethwaite notes that the purpose of the “great coloured mantle” is unclear but it is probably a kind of standard; Postlethwaite, op cit, 123.
61）Leaf, op cit, 268. 62）Il. 21. 547.
63）Wallace, op cit, 30; Keith, op cit, 42; Postlethwaite, op cit, 266.
64）Chantraine, op cit, 930. Willcock notes that this simile (14. 16-19) is a striking one; Willcock, op cit (1984), 226; See also Vivante, op cit (1970), 92; Richardson, op cit, 100; Pulleyn, op cit, 245.
65）Leaf, op cit, 55. Leaf admits that the two meanings of porfu/rh| here, as motion and colour, are closely allied, because of the frequent appearances of the adjective porfu/reoj which applies to waves. Janko approves of the connotation of ʻdarkʼ of porfu/rh| like porfu/reoj; Janko, op cit, 153. According to him, porfu/rh| denotes the waterʼs turbid eddying in its literal sense but connotes dark as well. Willcock gives porfu/rh| as ʻboils upʼ and seems not to consider the meaning of colour in this context; Willcock, op cit, 226. See also Postlethwaite, op cit, 185; Brenk, op cit, 219. n.9.
66）Vivante, op cit (1985), 164ff.
67）As always, I greatly thank Dr. F. Hobden, who helped me to access the research sources at SJL, while I was visiting the University of Liverpool in England in the summer of 2009. Most of the documents or research materials used in this paper were read during that period.
68）See Gladstone, op cit (1858), 461; Gladstone, op cit (1877), 373; Wallace, op cit, 64.
『イリアス』に見られる porfu/reoj の文学的効果
西 塔 由貴子
要 旨
本論文は，ホメロスという詩人による物語構成上の創造性の探求を基本的な課題とし，ホメロスの作品と される『イリアス』の中で，詩人が色彩表現をどのように使用しているのか，その文学的効果について分析 考察を行い，詩人の物語構成の創造性をより明らかにしようと試みた論文である。この論文では，特に紫と 一般に訳される porfu/reoj に着目し，『イリアス』に見られるporfu/reojをとり上げ，それらがどのような 場面で，どのような文脈で使用され，各々の場面に関連性はあるのか，そしてどのような文学的効果をもた らしているのか，物語構成の分析と共に，porfu/reojのイメージを考察した。また，これまでの筆者によ る他の色のイメージ性に関する研究成果とも考えあわせ，『イリアス』に見られるporfu/reoj ついて，以 下のような見解を示した；porfu/reojの使用に不適切な箇所はなく，むしろ，紫のイメージがもつ「暗」
を表現しつつ，その場面に適切な効果をもたらすような形で使用されている。この『イリアス』に見られ
るporfu/reojの表現全体を，「awe（畏怖）」というイメージで捉えることができ，物語全体を通して一貫
したイメージが見られる。また，他の色を含めて考えると，おそらくkua/neoj（青，群青）と r(o/don（赤，
ピンク）の間に位置すると言える。さらに，アカイア勢（positively-presented）とトロイア勢（negatively-
presented）とで，porfu/reojが文脈上分けて使用されていることから，詩人は，単に韻に従って決まり文句
を繰り返しているだけではなく，自分の創造性を持って物語を構成している。まとめとして，『イリアス』
全体を通して，porfu/reojの表現には，「awe（畏怖）」を中心としたイメージの連鎖があり，そこに詩人の 物語構成の技術そして創造性が見られる，という筆者の見解を提示している。
キーワード：porfu/reoj（紫），色，『イリアス』，イメージ，ギリシャ
