Silence in the Land of Logos

326 Pages·2000·1.05 MB·English

by  Silvia Montiglio

SILENCE IN THE LAND OF LOGOS
This page intentionally left blank
SILENCE IN THE LAND OF LOGOS
Silvia Montiglio
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright2000byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
Chichester,WestSussex
AllRightsReserved
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Montiglio,Silvia,1960–
Silenceinthelandoflogos/SilviaMontiglio.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-00472-2(cloth:alk.paper)
1. Greekliterature—Historyandcriticism. 2. Silencein
literature. 3. Literatureandanthropology—Greece. 4. Literature
andsociety—Greece. 5. Greece—Civilization. 6. Silence.
I. Title.
PA3015.S52M66 2000
880.9′38—dc21 99-36892 CIP
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinGalliard
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirements
ofANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992(R1997)(PermanenceofPaper)
http://pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
To the memory of my father
NEVER SILENT
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Sources xi
Introduction 3
Chapter One
Religious Silence without an Ineffable God 9
Sonorous Prayers and Degrees of Silence 9
The Injunction of Ritual Silence 13
Silence and Impurity 17
Closing One’s Lips, Closing One’s Eyes: Silence in the
Initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries 23
“Great Reverence for the Goddesses Holds Back the Voice” 32
To Be Silent around the Erinyes 38
Chapter Two
A Silent Body in a Sonorous World: Silence and Heroic Values
in the Iliad 46
Drawing the Silent Body 46
Silence and Verbal Fighting 54
Silence in the Flow of Verbal Exchange 60
Silence and Authoritative Speech 64
Traveling Voices 68
The Resonant Voice of the Homeric Speaker 74
Overcoming Silence 77
Chapter Three
The Poet’s Voice against Silence 82
Silence, Oblivion, and Blame 82
The Vocality of Poetry 91
The Boundless Spreading of Song 97
The Specter of Silent Impotence 101
Silence to Modulate Song 106
Chapter Four
“I Will Be Silent”: Figures of Silence and Representations of
Speaking in Athenian Oratory 116
Silence for Useful Speech? 116
The Silent Praise of Oneself 123
Insulting without Insulting 127
Aposiopesis, Eupheˆmia, and the Forbidden 132
viii CONTENTS
Perceptions of the Orator’s Silence: A Rhetorical Choice or a
Sign of Impotence? 137
The Voice of the Orator against the Uproar 144
For an Assembly without Silence 151
Chapter Five
Words Staging Silence 158
Uttering Silence instead of Emptying the Stage 158
Calls for Silence and Representation of the Audience 167
Long Silences 173
Silence and the Veil 176
Speaking Defines Seeing 181
Words That See Silence 188
Chapter Six
Silence and Tragic Destiny 193
Tragic Reticences 193
Apollo’s Silences and Orders of Silence 199
The Failure of Auspicious Silence 204
Chapter Seven
Silence, a Herald of Death 213
Cassandra’s Demystifying Silence 213
Comic Explosions of Silence 216
“I Fear Lest This Silence May Explode into Misfortunes” 220
Between Silence and Cries: Illnesses of Tragic Heroes 224
Losing One’s Voice, Losing One’s Life: Silence in the
Hippocratic Writings 228
Phaedra’s Silence: A Way of Saving Her Honor or of Letting
Herself Die? 233
Silence and Suicide 238
Killing in Silence 245
Chapter Eight
Silence, Ruse, and Endurance: Odysseus and Beyond 252
Women’s Silent Conniving in Greek Tragedy 252
Much-Enduring Odysseus, the Master of Cunning Silence 256
Odysseus’ Silence as a Model of Behavior in the Odyssey 267
Tragic Odysseus, a Silent Deceiver 276
Ideological Uneasiness about Silence and Secrecy in Classical
Athens 281
What Happens to Odysseus’ Silent Endurance? 286
Conclusion 289
Select Bibliography 293
Index 309
Acknowledgments
THISBOOKhasaEuropeanandanAmericanhistory.Itbeganasadoctoral
thesisattheEcoledesHautesEtudesenSciencesSocialesinParis.Nicole
Loraux, then my advisor, has been an invaluable guide from its very in-
ception. With her imaginative, energetic, all-encompassing mind, she
has encouraged me to try new paths and bold comparisons, but never at
the expense of philological accuracy. To her I owe more than I am able
to say.
I also wish to thank Paul Demont, Marcel Detienne, Yves Hersant,
JackiePigeaud,andPierreVidal-Naquet,forhavingcontributedinvarious
ways to the first version of this book. To Diego Lanza, who inspired me
when I was still an undergraduate at the University of Pavia and never
failedtostimulatemethroughoutmywork,Iwanttoexpressmyadmiring
gratitude. My admiration also goes to Jan Heesterman, who illuminated
several aspects of ritual silence for me. The uninterrupted dialogue with
AnastasiaSerghidouhasbeenapreciousmineofideas.Finally,themembers
of the Centre Louis Gernet in Paris have warmly welcomed me to their
library and their seminars. Thanks to you all.
IntheNewContinent,FromaZeitlinsupportedmebeyondexpectation,
with her brilliant mind and disinterested generosity. I also profited from
AndrewFord’sexpertiseinGreekpoetics,fromJosiahOber’scompetence
in Athenian ideology, and from Pietro Pucci’s insights on the figure of
Odysseus. Richard Martin, benevolent and yet not uncritical reader, has
mademebroadenmyperspectiveatalaterstageofthiswork.Ialsowish
tothankthesecond,anonymousreaderforthePress,whoprovidedsharp
observations and useful bibliographical references.
Since I have joined the Department of Classics at the University of
Wisconsin-MadisonIhaveincurredmanymoredebts.TheResearchCom-
mitteeoftheGraduateSchoolgrantedmesummersupportovertwoyears,
which allowed me to complete this project at leisure. Several sections of
this book were presented in earlier versions at conferences or lectures. I
seizethisopportunitytothankalltheparticipantsintheseeventsfortheir
interestinmywork.Mydeepestgratitude,however,goestomycolleagues.
Hearty thanks to Jim McKeown and Barry Powell, who read the entire
manuscript.Jimadvisedmeonseveraltextualissues;Barryputmylanguage
and my thought on a healthy diet. Patricia Rosenmeyer read a French
version of chapters 2 and 8, and shared with me her bibliography on
Sappho. John Bennet was patient enough to lend me his ear the many
timesIknockedathisdoorinsearchforanEnglishword.TerrencePenner