Ways to die for warriors

Homeric similes and comparisons have many narrative functions. In death scenes, they contribute to the characterization of victim and aggressor and of death itself. Their focus on existential reflections or the ideal of heroic war lifts the description up to an ideological level. Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica shows a rich reception of Homeric imagery in death scenes and uses it to structure the narrative plot. His death similes evoke the ancient war ideal, but also show an evolution of heroic behaviour towards more bloodshed and eventually the pathetic sack of Troy. Hence, Posthomeric death similes can be interpreted to question the ancient – idealistic – role of the major heroes in the epic tradition from Homer onwards

'Always the foremost argive champion'? The representation of Neoptolemus in Quintus of Smyrna's posthomerica

Neoptolemus rather seldom figures in Ancient Greek literature. The Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna is one of the scarce examples in which the son of Achilles is staged as a hero on the battlefield. This paper investigates the representation of Neoptolemus as the successor of his father in the Trojan War. The vigorous youth who takes Achilles’ place as the principal Achaean champion is repeatedly recognised as latter’s heir. Various narrative techniques reinforce this profound assimilation, which proves crucial to determine Neoptolemus’ identity as a warrior. The image that is thus created of the young hero clearly enters into dialogue with the Homeric epics, in which the post-Achilles episode of the Trojan War is only indirectly treated. To complete what his father has left unfinished, Neoptolemus finds inspiration in his rich inheritance

Homerus lezen met Quintus van Smyrna : inter- en intratekstualiteit rondom de moord op Priamus

The death of Priam by the hands of Achilles’ son Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) is a popular episode in the Trojan tradition. Quintus of Smyrna’s version invites a creative dialogue with Vergil’s (Latin) Aeneid and Triphiodorus’ (Greek) Sack of Ilion. All of these texts look back on Iliad 24 from varying perspectives, creating a complex interplay which Quintus thematizes in book 13 of his Greek epic sequel to Homer (Posthomerica, third century AD). A diptych of two scenes, in which old men are killed by Greek heroes, serves to juxtapose two possible interpretations of this situation – one underlining the cruelty of the sack of Troy, the other bewailing the misery of a long life – and presents the reader with a moral dilemma. Heroic ideology and the tragedy of mortality clash on a level more explicit than in the Iliad. Quintus’ choices on an intertextual level thus enhance the overall narrative agenda of his own epic, on an intratextual level. This episode broaches a wide scope of narrative reflections, including the complex interaction of literary sources (mainly Homer reception), narrative composition and characterization, and themes such as heroism and pathos in war literature

Facing Achilles in two lessons : heroic characterization in Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 1 and 2

The Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna narrates the end of the Trojan War in 14 books that are generally considered to be episodic. However, the overall plot coherence of the epic is carefully designed to go well beyond a dry succession of individual stories. This article offers a comparative study of the first two books, which treat the heroic deeds of the Amazon queen Penthesilea and Eos’ son Memnon, respectively. The remarkably parallel composition of both books is in stark contrast with the strikingly dissimilar characterization of the two protagonists. As such, the beginning of the Posthomerica proposes a diptych of two failing attempts to face Achilles. Both performances indirectly refer to each other and reflect on good and bad practices of heroic behaviour. Simultaneously, they introduce the next episode of the Trojan story, Achilles’ own death, and hence reinforce the plot coherence of the epic as a whole