The origins of the law in Homer. The Iliad and the Odyssey as legal narratives

The book aims to introduce the Homeric oeuvre into the law and literature canon. It argues for a reading of Homer's __The Iliad__ and __The Odyssey__ as primordial narratives on the significance of the rule of law. The book delineates moments of correspondence between the transition from myth to tragedy and the gradual transition from a social existence lacking formal law to an institutionalized legal system as practiced in the polis. It suggests the Homeric epics are a significant milestone in the way justice and injustice were conceptualized, and testify to a growing awareness in Homer’s time that mechanisms that protect both individuals and the collective from acts of unbridled rage are necessary for the continued existence of communities. The book fills a considerable gap in research on ancient Greek drama as well as in discourses about the intersections of law and literature and by doing so, offers new insights into two of the foundational texts of Western culture.

The book aims to introduce the Homeric oeuvre into the law and literature canon. It argues for a reading of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey as primordial narratives on the significance of the rule of law. The book delineates moments of correspondence between the transition from myth to tragedy and the gradual transition from a social existence lacking formal law to an institutionalized legal system as practiced in the polis. It suggests the Homeric epics are a significant milestone in the way justice and injustice were conceptualized, and testify to a growing awareness in Homer's time that mechanisms that protect both individuals and the collective from acts of unbridled rage are necessary for the continued existence of communities. The book fills a considerable gap in research on ancient Greek drama as well as in discourses about the intersections of law and literature and by doing so, offers new insights into two of the foundational texts of Western culture.

"The book aims to introduce the Homeric oeuvre into the law and literature canon. It argues for a reading of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey as primordial narratives on the significance of the rule of law. The book delineates moments of correspondence between the transition from myth to tragedy and the gradual transition from a social existence lacking formal law to an institutionalized legal system as practiced in the polis. It suggests the Homeric epics are a significant milestone in the way justice and injustice were conceptualized, and testify to a growing awareness in Homer's time that mechanisms that protect both individuals and the collective from acts of unbridled rage are necessary for the continued existence of communities"-- Provided by publisher "This book offers an innovative reading of two key texts in Western culture, Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, that have been curiously overlooked in the law and literature canon. The book introduces the Homeric epics as an essential link in a chain of stories about the establishment of the law, and delineates the transition from myth to tragedy as one closely linked to the emergence of an instutionalized legal system." -- Back cover Acknowledgments Contents Introduction Chapter 1 Law and Story Chapter 2 Law in the Odyssey – the Story of Motion Chapter 3 From The Iliad to the Odyssey – Toward the Juridification of Anger Chapter 4 The Metis Syndrome: Women and Law in the Odyssey Coda Quotations in Headings Bibliography Index