Status Warriors : : War, Violence and Society in Homer and History.

• Superior document: Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology
• Author: van Wees, Hans.
• Place / Publishing House: Boston : : BRILL,, 1992.; ©1992.
• Year of Publication: 1992
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (465 pages)

Table of Contents

Intro -- STATUS WARRIORS WAR, VIOLENCE AND SOCIETY IN HOMER AND HISTORY -- Copyright -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- CHAPTER ONE HISTORY IN POETRY ON RECONSTRUCTING THE HOMERIC WORLD -- 1. Fact and fantasy : the fourth race -- 2. Tradition : old poems or the latest songs? -- (i) Compositional technique -- (ii) Subject matter -- (iii) Social function -- 3. The case of the Big Round Shield -- 4. History in poetry : points of method -- CHAPTER TWO LIFE IN TOWN THE ORGANISATION OF HOUSEHOLD, COMMUNITY AND STATE -- 1. The hidden society : reconstructions and models -- 2. Buildings and people -- 3. Government : the princes and the people -- 4. Beyond the town -- 5. A hero's home -- 6. Friends : the men who come to dinner -- 7. The economy of the estate -- 8. Life in town : fact and fiction -- CHAPTER THREE THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ANGRY STATUS, PERSONAL POWER AND VIOLENCE -- 1. Explanations of violence -- (i) The fragmentary society -- (ii) The heroic impulse -- (iii) The shame-culture -- (iv) Assumptions and questions -- 2. The meaning of honour and excellence -- 3. Princes and bad men : ideals and exploitation -- (i) Proper beatings -- (ii) Unjust violence -- (iii) Undeserved gifts -- (iv) Fighting over plunder -- 4. Competition I : personal excellence -- 5. Competition II : power and wealth -- 6. Competition III : the struggle for respect -- (i) The Benvolio-syndrome -- (ii) The attraction of hybris -- (iii) The bullying tendency -- (iv) Questions of superiority -- 7. The ethics of anger -- (i) The moral boundaries of anger -- (ii) Pity -- (iii) Reconciliation -- (iv) Self-control -- (v) The authorities -- 8. The might of men : strength, connections and justice -- 9. The importance of being angry : fact and fiction -- CHAPTER FOUR PILLAGE AND DESTRUCTION PREDATORY AND STATUS WARFARE -- 1. Warriors at peace.

2. Troy I : the insult that launched a thousand ships -- 3. Troy II : the ideal of annihilation -- 4. Private conflicts, brawls and wars -- (i) The War of Men and Kentaurs -- (ii) The War of Kouretes and Aitolians -- (iii) The First Sack of Troy -- (iv) The War of the Seven against Thebes -- (v) The War of the Pylians and Epeians -- 5. Communities in competition : dangerous games -- (i) Champion-combat : Trojans versus Akhaians -- (ii) Games : the humiliation of communities -- 6. Predators -- 7. Booty and the Homeric economy -- (i) Subsistence economy : autarky and fair exchange -- (ii) Treasure economy : greed and generosity -- (iii) Convertibility of goods -- 8. Gift-exchange : the hospitality-racket -- 9. Trade and plunder : profit and prestige -- 10. Pillage and destruction : fact and fiction -- CONCLUSION -- (i) Homer -- (ii) History -- (iii) Violence -- APPENDICES -- Appendix One Towns And Townsfolk -- 1. The size of the population -- 2. Terms for towns and townsfolk -- Appendix Two Princes And Sc.eptres -- 1. Princely families and their elders -- 2. Symbolic and procedural functions of the sceptre -- Appendix Three Monarchs, Dynasties, Temenea -- 1. Kings versus Big Men -- 2. The royal estates -- Appendix Four Booty : Prizes And Portions -- 1. The mechanism of distribution -- 2. The principles of distribution -- NOTES -- Notes to Preface -- Notes to Chapter One -- Notes to Chapter Two -- Notes to Chapter Three -- Notes to Chapter Four -- Notes to Appendix One -- Notes to Appendix Two -- Notes to Appendix Three -- Notes to Appendix Four -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDICES -- Subject index -- Index of passages.