The "Iliad", the Athlete and the Ancient Greek Polis: A Descriptive Study of Homer's "Iliad" as Hero Myth

Abstract

This descriptive reading of the Iliad explores its meaningful reception within the ancient Greek polis. Because it was performed at the Greater Panathenaic Festival at Athens, I have approached the poem as a religious artefact, or hero myth, that expresses devotional attitudes, beliefs and practices specific to its most normative, content defining cultural context, the Panathenaic Festival. More precisely, my study identifies an underlying, paradigmatic association between the heroic characters of the poem's narrative and the male athletes who competed at the Games such as Olympia, which were held in honour of the gods. Building from the association I identify as operating between the heroes of the Iliad, Achilles and the Achaeans especially, and the athletes, I argue that the poem expresses the attitudinal/characterological entailments of the Greek male as he prepares to marry and become a citizen.