Homer and the Lesbians: Dialect Variation in Archaic Greek Poetry

Abstract

This dissertation is concerned with the dialectal history of Homeric diction. It investigates four pieces of evidence that have been largely ignored by Homeric scholars: the athematic inflection of the contract verbs, the datives in -εσσι, the preservation and analogical extension of -σσ- (e.g. μέσσον, ἐκάλεσσα), and the infinitives in -(έ)μεν and -(έ)μεναι. These Aeolicisms are significant because, unlike the genitives in -ᾱο, -ᾱων, and -οιο, which are commonly adduced in favor of an Aeolic Phase, they are linguistic innovations proper to Aeolic.

A study of the historical development of these forms and their distribution in the Iliad and the Odyssey leads to the conclusion that the base dialect of Homeric diction was Ionic from as early as it makes sense to use the term “Ionic.” Moreover, the Aeolicisms that characterize Homeric diction are the result of linguistic borrowing on and off the coast of Asia Minor for the sake of producing metrical variants. The Ionic speaking poets of the poetic tradition that culminated in the Iliad and Odyssey had full mastery of these Aeolicisms, which were synchronically productive late into the tradition; their use in certain parts of the verse, especially at the end of the line and the main caesuras was an integral part of the Homeric technique of epic verse making.