Politics Through the Iliad and the Odyssey: Hobbes Writes Homer by Andrea Catanzaro

Author:Andrea Catanzaro [Catanzaro, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, Political Science, General, History & Theory
ISBN: 9781351205658
Google: Mi2NDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 45868904
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-03-14T12:39:26+00:00

It seems to me that these lines are a sort of emblematic summa of the main problems that Hobbes faced when translating the Iliad and the Odyssey. In a few lines, the thorniest and most complex issues, but also the less acceptable situations and conditions, are condensed into a very dangerous unicum, whose positioning at the beginning of the poem magnifies the level of criticality.

Here, we have the two well-known problems of Hobbesian political theory presented one after the other: the first concerns the dichotomy between sovereign and subjects, the second, the human or divine genesis of political power. This one, which will be explored in the next chapter, is evident because of the use of the Greek adjective diotrephés (“fostered, cherished by Zeus”,412 whose meaning suggests the existence of a sort of tie between the father of the Olympian gods and those that the Homeric poems identify as basiléus. The first one, instead, lays emphasis on the problem of overlapping sovereignties. There are two main critical elements: on the one hand, Agamemnon identifies Achilles as a man that, within the Achaean army, is allowed to be called basiléus. On the other, this noun is used in its plural form and it reveals the existence of a multifaceted political regime, whose political structure cannot immediately fit the clear-cut Hobbesian dichotomy between sovereign and subjects. Thus, it seems less surprising that the means through which the philosopher escapes from this problematic situation is the complete removal of the entire expression diotrephéon besiléon, without any kind of compensation in the English text.

What remains clear – and it cannot be otherwise – is the stigmatising of Achilles’s behaviour. It can be easily explained by considering the pivotal role played by the problems of the civil war and, in general, of the lack of safety in Hobbesian political theory, and the philosopher absolutely wants to fix these problems.

The twofold work in defence of both Agamemnon and the monarchy as a whole is carried on and we find another significant stage at line 219* (corresponding to the original 231), where the adjective referred to basiléus is more problematic than the noun itself. During the struggle, Achilles challenges his commander-in-chief with these words:

Safer by far, you find, to foray all through camp,

commandeering the prize of any man who speaks against you.

King who devours his people! Worthless husks, the men you rule.413

ἦ πολὺ λώϊόν ἐστιν κατὰ στρατὸν

εὐρὺν ᾽Αχαιῶν

δῶρ᾽ἀποαιρεῖσθαι ὅς τις σέθεν

ἀντίον εἴπῃ·

δημοβόρος βασιλεύς, ἐπεὶ

οὐτιδανοῖσιν ἀνάσσεις.414

But thou to take from other men their due

(Safe lying in the Camp) more pleasure hast.

But fools they are that ruled are by you.415

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.