Conventions of Prayer in Homer's Iliad

[brandondedicant]

From the Iliad, books 1-12

Divine name(s)

Epithets of character, attributes

Epithets of place, spatial locators

Reminder of god’s deeds

Reminder of speaker’s deeds

Petition

Vow

Formal or semi-formal phrases

Explanation of feelings, situation, personal reflections, internal monologue

Quoted Prayers

Chryses, priest of Apollo,

Comments

[athenamsb]

It makes sense that they would attempt to locate the Deities. They were only able to sail at all in The Oddysey because Poseidon was away.

I find it interesting that I write my own prayers in a similar format, beginning with an invocation and always taking care to offer praise to my Deities before I ask them for anything. I guess I have always been a Hellene at heart!

Nice work.

[brandondedicant]

The spatial locators in prayer are interesting. In some (not in these examples here, but in other Greek lit) there's often a phrase like "whether you come from such-and-such a place or such-and-such a place,..." where those places are known centers of worship. I find that interesting because it seems to suggest uncertainty about which center of worship is authoritative. It seems to entertain the idea that multiple or all could be authoritative, yet without suggesting that they are all the same. I wanna find out more about the matter. ;-)