Cloak and Shield in "Odyssey" 14

Author(s): Rick M. Newton

Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 93, No. 2 (Dec., 1997 - Jan., 1998), pp. 143-156
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South
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CLOAK AND SHIELD IN ODYSSEY 14

he "blameless tale" (alvo;

14.508) which

the disguised Odysseus relates to&dgov,

Eumaeus the swineherd
in Odyssey 14.462-506 has not attracted much scholarly
attention.1 The story of how Odysseus dupes Thoas the Aetolian
into dropping his cloak illustrates the craftiness of the hero, to be
sure. But the Odysseyis replete with illustrationsof Odysseus' cleverness,
and some readers may find that this particular account pales by
comparison with the wily Ithacan's many other exploits. It is true
that the story evokes words of praise from Eumaeus: he classifies
the tale as an alvo;. Though clearly entertaining, however, the joke
is not riotously funny. Lacking a real punch line, it does not make
us laugh, and we may wonder if Eumaeus' generous classification
of the account as "blameless" (if indeed this is the meaning of
is more a reflection of his simple rustic tastes than it is a
dlgluov)
factual statement with which more urbane readers and listeners
would agree.2
A close reading of the text suggests that the limited appreciation
which the story has drawn from scholars may be due not to the

1The

many articles which discuss the "lies" of Odysseus in the later books of
the poem do not consider the Thoas story: cf. C. R. Trahman, "Odysseus' Lies
(Odyssey,Books 13-19)," Phoenix6 (1952) 31-43; P. Walcot, "Odysseus and the Art
of Lying," Ancient Society 8 (1977) 1-19; G. P. Rose, "The Swineherd and the
Beggar,"Phoenix34 (1980)285-97; A. J. Haft, "Odysseus, Idomeneus and Meriones:
The CretanLies of Odyssey13-19," CJ79 (1984) 289-306; Chris Emlyn-Jones,"True
and Lying Tales in the Odyssey,"G&Rs.s. 33 (1986)1-10; H. M. Roisman, "Eumaeus
and Odysseus-Covert Recognition or Self-Revelation?"ICS 15 (1990) 215-38; E.
A. Schmoll, "The First Cretan Lie of Odysseus," CB 66 (1990) 67-71; E. Minchin,
"Homer Springs a Surprise: Eumaios' Tale at Od. 14.403-84,"Hermes120 (1992)
259-66. Od. 14 is examined at length by S. Reece, TheStranger'sWelcome:OralTheory and theAestheticsof theHomericHospitalityScene(Ann Arbor 1993)145-64, but the
Thoas story is not mentioned. Nor is it discussed in A. Heubeck and A. Hoekstra,
on Homer's"Odyssey:"VolumeII, BooksIX-XVI(Oxford1989) 228-30.
A Commentary
The sole article which focusses on this tale is T. Corey Brennan,"An Ethnic Joke in
Homer?"HSCP91 (1987) 1-3. Brennanposits that Odysseus makes Aetolian Thoas
the victim of the prank in an attempt to win the sympathy of Eumaeus, who
harbors a prejudice against Aetolians in general.
2 See below for an alternative interpretation of the phrase ovo;
&gtwv.
TheClassicalJournal93.2 (1998) 143-56

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144

RICKM. NEWTON

story itself but to our failure to detect subtleties and allusions both
to other passages in Odyssey 14 and to the Iliad. These allusions
occur within contexts of type-scenes which raise expectations in
the readers/listeners and invite them to make associations.3 The
poet then manipulates these associations and expectations for comic
or other effect. The fact that the Thoas story is the fabrication of
Odysseus within the narrative of the poem, rather than of the poet
directly, adds a special dimension to the passage's significance.
Odysseus, himself a fictional product of collective oral tradition
and of the individual creative genius of the Odyssey poet, concocts
a tale which utilizes themes and motifs from the very tradition in
which the fictional character finds himself situated. The result is a
rich and self-conscious interplay of the dynamics of oral poetry
and its internal and external audiences.
The general outline of the Thoas story resembles the account
of Agamemnon's false dream in Iliad 2. Specifically, Odysseus'
announcement in Od. 14.495, "Listen, friends: a divine dream has
1X0ev
come to me in my sleep" (Kh6re,
R0ot v
vei6;
iwnvIov
the
to
qpiot'
of
a
verbatim
is
report
Agamemnon's
repetition
6vEtpo;)
Achaean chieftains in II. 2.56. In each case, the dream is announced
within a context of loyalty testing: Agamemnon tells the Achaean
leaders that he will first test the troops by bidding them to renounce
the expedition (np(oTa 8' Eye'v "TEotv
II. 2.73), just as
tEitpiooPIat,
of
of
Thoas
the
tells
testing
way
by
story
Odysseus
(ouporo
him
Od. 14.459) the swineherd in the hope of inducing
nttpliwiov,
to part with his cloak.4 These passages share features of a typescene which portrays the testing of a character with the account of
a dream. In Od. 19.535-581, for example, Penelope tests the identity
of her disguised guest by relating her dream of geese in the courtyard.5 Each test in these three scenes involves the report of a false,
3For a bibliographical survey of the scholarship on type-scenes and a classification
of general types, see M. W. Edwards, "Homer and Oral Tradition: The Type-Scene,"
Oral Tradition 7 (1992) 285-330. See also J. M. Foley, The Singer of Tales in Performance (Bloomington 1995) 164-80 and his Immanent Art: From Structure to Meaning
in Traditional Oral Epic (Bloomington 1991) 1-60. See also B. Fenik, Typical Battle
Scenes in the Iliad: Studies in the Narrative Techniques of Homeric Battle Description
Heft 21, Wiesbaden 1968) and his examination of
(Hermes Einzelschriften,
"doublets" in Studies in the Odyssey (Wiesbaden 1974) 133-232.
of the troops, see J. E.
4 For the most recent study of Agamemnon's testing
McGlew, "Royal Power and the Achaean Assembly at Iliad 2.84-393," CA 8 (1989)
283-95.
5 For interpretations of this scene, see A. Amory, "The Gates of Horn and
Ivory," YCS 20 (1966) 3-57; J. Russo, "Interview and Aftermath: Dream, Fantasy,

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

145

or at least suspect, dream. In Iliad 2 Agamemnon deliberately misrepresents his dream (sent likewise as a deception by Zeus) to the
Achaean troops; in Odyssey 14, Odysseus apparently concocts the
dream which he announces to his fellow night-watchmen; and in
Odyssey 19 Penelope herself, after the stranger offers an interpretation
of her vision, dismisses the dream as having emanated from the
unreliable gates of ivory. Both the reader/listener of the poem and
Odysseus himself must ponder whether Penelope ever had the
dream. Likewise in the Thoas story, Homer's audience is left
wondering not only if Odysseus actually had the dream at Troy
but also if he even claimed to have had the dream which Eumaeus'
humble guest now describes. After all, the account of this alleged
dream is related by Odysseus, known for his wiles, disguised as a
ragged beggar, i.e. as the sort of person who would say anything
to get a coat (cf. Od. 14.121-132).
Within the context of this type-scene of "testing via false
dream," the Thoas story in Odyssey 14 displays particularly distinct
similarities with the scene in Iliad 2. In each narrative, for example,
the announcement of the false dream is followed by a dash to the
ships: in the Iliad all the troops rush in a frenzy to return home,
while in the Odyssey Thoas runs off to the ships to carry Odysseus'
The fact that Odysseus mentions
message to Agamemnon.
in
Od.
14.497
name
may be read as a special invitation,
Agamemnon by
as it were, for the audience to recall this specific Iliadic scene.
Indeed, the beggar's claim in the Thoas story that "some god must
have beguiled" him (nap6'i' JinacpEv
&aigov, Od. 14.488) into venturing
out in the cold wearing nothing heavier than a chiton is parallel to
Agamemnon's announcement to the Achaean troops that Zeus has
&t
enmeshed him in a grievous deception (ZeU; gE
Fgya Kpovi{Si
_v 86iE
, II. 2.111). The suggestion therefore presents itself
apEiB,
that, within the broader context of type-scenes, either the passage
from the Odyssey specifically recalls the Iliadic one or that the scenes
enjoy an intertextual relationship, evolving with a mutual awareness
of one another.6

and Intuition in Odyssey 19 and 20," AIP 103 (1982) 4-18; P. W. Harsh, "Penelope
and Odysseus in OdysseyXIX,"AJP 71 (1950) 1-21; H. Vester, "Das 19. Buch der Odyssee,"
Gymnasium 75 (1968) 417-34; and A. V. Rankin, "Penelope's Dreams in Books XIX
and XX of the Odyssey," Helikon 2 (1962) 617-24.
6 For an intertextual reading of the Iliad and Odyssey, see P. Pucci, Odysseus

Polytropos:IntertextualReadingsin the Odysseyand Iliad (Ithaca 1987). The Thoas

story is not among the passages from the Odyssey discussed.

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146

RICKM. NEWTON

The most significant parallel lies in the detail that, in each

account, someone leaves behind a cloak. In the Iliad, Odysseus hears
Athena's voice bidding him to halt the mass exodus. In response,
"he dashed off at a run and tossed off his cloak. The Ithacan herald
Eurybates who was accompanying him picked it up" (P7J8' Ktv,
0
c
lO6E Xkaitvxv JiXE. rilv K8F'6E
GE /I icpu
El'pupa&rj;'IaKT1cGto;,
Iq oi 6i'8lEt, 2.183-184). In the Odyssey, "Thoas, son of Andraimon,
jumped up at once, set down his tawny cloak, and dashed off at a
run toward the ships" (Jpro 8'"i iEtra 06a;, 'Av8paijovo;vui6, /
d&6b
86xXaivav 0ro potvteooav, / Pij68i0etyv &n'vlaq,
IKapnaXkiwo;,
14.499-501). Note especially that the phrase Pil 8k-OEtv occupies

the identical metrical position in each account. These textual

similarities,placedwithin parallelcontexts,stronglysuggest that

the Odyssey poet is presenting the plight of the cloakless beggar
facing a cold night in the swineherd's quarters as analogous to the
Iliadic situation in which Odysseus found himself at Troy when
he-like his victim in the tale-dashed off to save the expedition.
Indeed, the very ruse with which Odysseus induces Thoas to drop
his coat is identical to the trick which Athena plays on Odysseus in
the Iliad. In the Iliad, it is the voice of Athena which Odysseus
recognizes bidding him to dash to the ships (o;a qd0', 6 SEvi)vce
6i;a c ocvov , 2.182). Likewise in the Odyssey, Thoas hears a
0e6&
voice inxthe night, that of Odysseus, who, lying on the ground, props
his head on his elbow (cupping his mouth?) to announce the dream
(4 c&i kn' 6yic vo; lEqxXOhv
E ni-E gi0ov, 14.494). Both
oxa0Ev
induced
are
and
Thoas, therefore,
by a faceless voice to
Odysseus
is
The
tale
cloaks.7
their
highly credible, therefore,
beggar's
drop
on two levels. Both Eumaeus and Homer's external audience find
the story credible, first, because the reported antics of Odysseus
are consistent with his well-known wily character (n&oat86Xototv
9.19-20). Second, Homer's external audience finds
avOpdnotot pLFXw,
because it contains familiar and recognizable
credible
the account
It is reasonable to suggest, furthermore,
tradition.
from
oral
elements
is
himself
Eumaeus
that
impressed by the beggar's knowledge of

7 It is for these reasons, the most compelling parallel being the abandonment
of the cloak, that I posit II. 2 as the most specific textual model within the context
of the type-scenes invoked by the Thoas story. Contrast E. Block, "Clothing Makes
the Man: A Pattern in the Odyssey," TAPA 115 (1985) 1-11, who reads the tale as a
variation of the Iliadic Doloneia, which also takes place at night. For a discussion
of A. Lord's view that compositional themes in epic are "more protean than pure"
in form, see L. M. Slatkin, "Composition by Theme and the Metis of the Odyssey,"
in S. L. Schein, ed., Readingthe Odyssey:SelectedInterpretiveEssays (Princeton 1996) 226.

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

147

type-scenes as they appear in the Iliad and elsewhere in the Odyssey.

The Trojan War has been over for ten years by now, and oral
accounts of the exploits and adventures of various warriors have
long been in circulation.8 As the swineherd will tell his mistress in
17.513-527, this beggar tells stories which are as convincing as if
they were sung by a bard. Odysseus is not only the hero of Homer's
epic, therefore, but also a participant in the oral tradition which
celebrates and ultimately defines him. The beggar's apparent
knowledge of Odysseus' exploits in the Iliadic tradition authenticates
his tale in the eyes of both internal and external audience.9
The dashing off of Thoas and Odysseus displays another variation
of a stock theme. The running of troops and individuals toward
ships is commonplace in the Iliad, a sign that the soldiers are fleeing
from battle.10 The association of ships with retreat and individual
safety is most vividly illustrated by Achilles, who withdraws from
the fighting and takes up indefinite residence "in his hut by the
ships" ( 2i TE
Kaicvi~;, 9.185). A soldier who withdraws to
KTia' the
his ships abandons
common cause and displays an anti-social
interest in self-preservation which is anathema to the heroic value
system. In the Odyssey, which focuses on hospitality rather than
war, a character's heading for his ship is indicative of something
quite different. In Od. 3.344, for example, Telemachus and the
8 Compare, for example, Nestor's account of the
post-war experiences

of the
Argives in 3.102-200 and Menelaus' and Helen's accounts of events both during
and after the war in 4.78-592. It is clear from 1.298-305 that an oral tradition has
been developing concerning the deeds of Orestes. Eumaeus' remarks to the beggar
in 14.122-47 make it clear that Penelope has been receiving orally transmitted accounts of Odysseus in her own house.
Cf. Slatkin (above, note 7) 228: "The Odyssey incorporates an explicit awareness
of the creative tension of composition, an awareness of the existence of possibilities that could have become other songs." According to G. B. Conte, The Rhetoric of
Imitation: Genre and Poetic Memory in Virgil and Other Latin Poets (Ithaca 1986) 59-63,
the authentication of a new text by an authoritative old one is not restricted to
orally-composed verse. Examining the significance of Ovid's Ariadne in Fasti 3
alluding to her experience as a "poetic self" in Catullus 64, Conte finds that "Ovid
himself attracts attention to the artifice and the fictional devices underlying his
own poetic world.. . It increases his infatuation with conscious knowledge of the
poetic art and with his own freedom and power in achieving it." In Odyssey 14, this
"consciousness" is shared by Homer and the narrating Odysseus.
10 In 15.346-51, for example, Hector urges the Trojans "to rush toward the
in pursuit of the fleeing Achaeans; cf. the use of the
ships" (virc;iv
ntoo;Ie'Oae(t)
same phrase in 15.593.
In 8.345 the panic-stricken Achaeans flee from Hector and
gather "beside the ships" (nxap&vplciv). In 11.274 the wounded Agamemnon
retreats from battle and orders his charioteer to drive "toward the ships" (v1cdiv

iEnt
ykap(pijcnv'Xa1uv'Av).

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148

RICKM. NEWTON

disguised Athena arise from their meal with Nestor and set off for
their ship: 6g(ppoio09iv oiriv in~t via v~E0at. Indignant that his
guests are planning to sleep on their ship (Ooiv int via iotlTE,3.347),
Nestor reads their gesture as a reflection on his manners as host.
Specifically, he is concerned that his guests may think that he does
not have enough clothing or linens to bed them down: "As if I did
not own a stitch of clothing (dvEiLtovo;)or were a pauper, without
and coverlets in my
an abundance of cloaks (XXh^ivntKi flyEcxa)
house to provide my guests with comfortable sleeping arrangements!
jv
But I do in fact own cloaks and fine coverlets (air6ip 'oi
orn6pa
to
note
that
It
is
Odysseus'
interesting
Xhaivait ai plyEac
within the context of this type of scene: a guest
tale of Thoas is setKak6).."11
tests his host for tokens of hospitality, specifically for an indication
that he will be warmly bedded down for the night.12 But it is also
significant that Thoas, in making a dash for the ships, is in fact
displaying loyalty to the Achaean cause, not abandonment and selfinterest. This reversal of audience expectations, combined with the
conflation of military and domestic contexts evoked by Thoas' hasty
dash, accounts for much of the humor which both Eumaeus and
Homer's audience find in the story.
The image of Thoas running toward the ships is rich in ambiguity.
On the one hand, he performs an altruistic act in the interest of the
common good. He alone responds to Odysseus' call, and immediately
so. The fact that he responds so quickly suggests that Homer may
be punning on Thoas' name: Wp-o 8' antiia O6ia ...
KapnaLtS ...
ifi8E Eitv.13 But the fact that he sets off in the direction of the
ships recalls also the Achaean troops' response to Agamemnon's
announcement in Iliad 2. The leader's decree that Troy could no
toi-ta
longer be taken "stirred up" the heart in their breasts (i~; pdr&o,
11 Cf. the exchange between Telemachus and Athena-Mentes in 1.301-18: after
the guest announces that he wishes to return "to the ship" (~i't viVa,1.303) Telemachus
bids him to stay long enough to have a bath and receive a guest gift before "returning
to the ship" (ini vi~x K{in, 1.311).
9.283-86
12 Read in this light, Odysseus' detailed lie to Polyphemus in Od.
that Poseidon wrecked his ship on the rocks may be part of the hero's overall strategy
to extract guest gifts from his "host." Odysseus is explicit in articulating his desire
for gifts to his men, the monster, and his audience of Phaeacians: see 9.172-76, 227-30,
and 266-71.
13 Cf. II. 23.744-45: the prize for the winner of the foot race in the funeral
games for Patroclus is a silver crater which had originally been presented by the
Phoenicians to a man named Thoas. The passage does not specify that this particular
Thoas is the Aetolian, son of Andraimon. It is appropriate, however, that a fast
runner be recognized with a bowl which originally belonged to "Swifty."

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

149

vi o~ri0Eotv 5ptvE, II. 2.142; cf. Od. 14.499 0; E(paez',pzpo

60F'tov vt
8'1n etra O6a;q)and drove them to rush toward the ships in flight,
with their heels (via; En'
2.150;
kicking up the dust
%
_eoioeovro, II.
of
vi
Part
the
humor
of
cf. Od. 14.501 PI 6
di
a;).
Odysseus'
~ietv
tale lies in the incongruity between the image of a deserter which
Thoas unknowingly projects, an image based on expectations raised
by the type-scene context, and the reality of his selfless commitment
to help his comrades in instantaneous and unquestioning obedience
to his commander. Like Thoas, the Iliadic Odysseus displays unique
loyalty to the Trojan cause, dashing off without a second thought
for his own comfort. The fact that Thoas runs off without protection
within such perilous proximity to the enemy makes his gesture even
more altruistic than that of Odysseus: Odysseus sacrificed his comfort,
but Thoas jeopardized his very safety.
With these ambiguities in mind, it is interesting to reconsider
Thoas' gesture of dropping his cloak. In his tale to the swineherd,
the beggar explains that he had thoughtlessly forgotten to bring
his cloak on that cold and rainy night. He had nothing but a waistcloth and shield to protect him from the elements. His comrades,
by contrast, were not only wearing chitons and cloaks, they also
curled their shoulders beneath their shields as they slept. It is clear
from this description that, in severe weather, a shield can serve
double duty as an additional cloak." If a shield can double as a
cloak, it occurs to us that a cloak may also double as a shield. Such
an improvisation may have been commonplace, especially for
warriors in rural areas. Pausanias, for example, describing a battle
in Messenia, reports that the soldiers who lacked shields protected
themselves with goatskins and sheepskins. The mountaineers of
Arcadia relied on hides of wolves and bears.'s The interchangeability of shield and overcoat is attested, furthermore, in Odyssey
14. At the end of the beggar's tale, Eumaeus literally "arms
himself"(6tnXtero, 14.526) for his night watch at the sties.16 As he

14In II. 10.152, for example, Diomedes' men sleep, using their shields as pillows. Archilochus' playful epigram on the multiple functions which his spear can
serve (Arch. 2D) may likewise be based on a tradition of soldiers' innovative applications of their equipment.
15 Cf. Paus. 4.11.3 0dpaic
yp
oot 8B in6pouv
T i~ doanid EyTXvoix
1XCaoroq,
c poPdTyo,oli8 KaiOp
7EptEI 4PXTVTO
KatRdXtoira
TOUT(OV,
aiytvviOcaKaq
Kai
0phov &pxPara
v 'ApicadOv XiCOVrEKa
oi 6pEtVOi
tF&pmWv.
16 For the use of
"arm oneself," see II. 8.55, Od. 24.495. Cf.
6rnkUF0at meaning
xnototv Evt&Etvointv r6,rlyvin II. 10.254, 272.

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150

RICKM. NEWTON

dresses, he follows the sequence of an arming scene, but with some

rustic variations. In traditional arming accounts, the warrior dons
his gear in the order of 1) sword, 2) shield, 3) helmet, and 4) spear.17
As Eumaeus dresses for his watch, he begins by slinging his sword
over his stout shoulders and ends by picking up his sharp-pointed
spear. His second item, however, is not a shield. Instead, "he put
on his cloak." The cloak is described as "very thick, defender against
E'Xaivavaicooa
the winds"
'
idia nucKvilv,
lEE&VEyov,
(0pi S
14.529). Similar epithets emphasizing thickness describe the shields

of warriors.1 In step three, where we expect the warrior to don his

helmet, Eumaeus puts on the shaggy skin of a large, well-fed wild

Xet' aiyb;
goat (&v56
ioEYdloto,14.530), its bristling
t'9PE(Po
vTlv reminiscent of
the plume of a horse-hair helmet.19
hairs comically
It is clear from this "arming" of Eumaeus, which presents yet
another variation of a type-scene, that a cloak can indeed serve
double duty as a shield. The implications of this ambiguity are
significant for our understanding and appreciation of the Thoas
story. In setting aside his cloak and heading for the ships, Thoas'
those of a
actions paradoxically-and
humorously-resemble
we recall,
in
Book
earlier
moments
14,
Only
shield-dropper.
he
that
saved his
to
the
swineherd
had
boasted
himself
Odysseus
life during the raid on the Egyptians by dropping his armor and
weapons and supplicating the king: "At once I took my wellwrought helmet from my head, my shield from my shoulders, and
I tossed my spear from my hand" (azriK'
n Kpazbq Ki)~lvv
p
' i~Kpakov
/ Kca
iEKoo XItp6;,
Y6pV
(iL0otv, 60
oCTtKog
EU'31Ktov ?E0T'Ka
14.276-277). Note especially Odysseus' employment of the compound
verb U9noziOrl?tto describe his "setting down" of his shield. His
account of Thoas is identical: a9nb 6 Xaivav 8~zo potvtlK6o00av
(14.500). In Iliad 2.183, by contrast, we find the compound verb

17This sequence is observed in the elaborate arming scenes in II. 3.330-38 (Paris),
11.17-46 (Agamemnon), 16.130-39 (Patroclus), and 19.369-88 (Achilles). See G. S.
Kirk, The "Iliad:" A Commentary, I: Books 1-4 (Cambridge 1985) 313-15; J. I.
Armstrong, "The Arming-Motif in the Iliad," AJP 79 (1958) 337-54; Fenik (above,
note 3) 78-79; and R. S. Shannon, The Arms of Achilles and Homeric Compositional
Technique (Mnemosyne Supplement 36, Leiden 1975). The sequence of sword-shieldhelmet is observed in the abbreviated arming scene in Il. 10.255-259. The sequence
of shield-helmet-spear is observed in the abbreviated accounts in Il. 14.370-74, 15.479-82
and Od. 22.122-25.
Is Cf. Il. 3.335, 15.479, 16.136, 19.373 and Od. 22.122.
19 For descriptions of nodding horse-hair plumes, cf. Il. 3.336-37, 11.41-42,
15.480-81, 16.137-38, 19.380-83 and Od. 22.123-24.

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

151

adtnodh6o to describe the "casting aside" of Odysseus' cloak: &dr6

86i
dhaE.Rather than "toss" his cloak, Thoas "sets it down."
TheX,alvav
suggestion presents itself that the Aetolian is treating his garment
more as a piece of his battle-gear than as an item of clothing.
It may be instructive
at this point to consider briefly
Archilochus' famous shield-dropping epigram.20 In Arch. 6D, the
poet claims that he "left behind" his shield beside a bush. The verb
KaXklUtov suggests that he set the shield down rather than tossed
it.21 The Saean who retrieved it, furthermore, "revels" in it (&da9i6t
as if it were some kind of trophy.22
Rhv XEaiWvtI;
0y,Erat),
in
Iliad
is described as revelling in the armor
Hector
17.473
Similarly,
of Achilles which he stripped from the corpse of Patroclus and now
wears on his shoulders (alrb6
6)jiyOLc
~bXov
&dy6Eoty
tV
ral AiaKi8ao).
It may be significant that, in the Thoas story, the beggar revels in
the cloak which the Aetolian left behind: 'b 8vi
KEivo0 /
5'
'iwaxt
Od.
The
adverb
14.501-502.23
cEirlv
&dotaoiwa, "in an
dvo5taoaion;,
makes it clear that the beggar warms his shoulders in
embrace,"
Thoas' cloak, in much the same way as Hector revels in the armor
of Achilles. Archilochus' epigram dismisses the incident with the
assertion that he will soon acquire another shield equally good
(Fgaxt; Ktiroo0latoi KaKio). In similar fashion, Eumaeus responds
to the beggar that, although there is no surplus of cloaks for the
guest to wear beyond this one night, Telemachus will surely
provide him with one in town. Both cloaks and shields are to be
had in abundance, and fine ones at that-but elsewhere and later,
not here and now. Finally, Archilochus refers to his lost shield as a
"blameless piece of equipment" (Evtro;&dpgpyrov),and it is at least
curious that Eumaeus praises the beggar's tale with a similar, perhaps
cognate, epithet: alvo; gu641)v.24
20 For insightful studies of the fragments of Archilochus and their relation to
the Odyssey, see J. Russo, "The Inner Man in Archilochus and the Odyssey," GRBS
15 (1974) 139-52 and B. Seidensticker, "Archilochus and Odysseus," GRBS 19 (1978)
5-22.
21Cf. II. 21.17-18: Achilles leaves his spear propped against the tamarisks
(MIrtEV
... KCEKXtLEvov).
22
Cf. Hdt. 5.95: after Alcaeus saved his life by dropping his shield in rapid
flight, the victorious Athenians displayed it as a trophy in the Temple of Athena at
Sigeum.
23 For a similar description of soldiers who "don" their shields like articles of
cf. II. 14. 371-72 d~roi6q (wat aptoxat Evtonpat i Eytotrat / aoda~&~vot.
clothing,
24
For a discussion of the etymology of &apywOvand an argument that it is not
see A. A. Parry, Blameless Aegisthus: A Study of
cognate with oipgOpoqor
wgohpgroq,
'Ag6ugovand Other Homeric Epithets (Leiden 1978) 71-93.

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152

RICKM. NEWTON

It is particularly strange that, despite the cleverness of the tale,

Eumaeus is not duped-as is Thoas-into parting with his cloak.
Earlier it was suggested that Thoas, his name synonymous with
speed, was particularly gullible and therefore a likely target for
such a prank. A review of the Iliadic scenes in which Thoas is prominent,
however, indicates just the opposite. In 15.281-283 it is Thoas, "best
by far of the Aetolians, skilled with the javelin but steadfast in
battle" (AitoXhv ox' ~iptoTo;, EIto(yTlREvo; aKOVtl, /
6'
TtRv
and urges6~ao6,
them to
cv ora6i,), who rallies the Achaean leaders
remain and face the raging Hector while the troops retreat to the
ships.25 In 7.168 Thoas is among the brave Achaeans who volunteer
to face Hector.26 In 4.535 Thoas attempts to remove the armor from
an enemy he has just slain at sword point. But after the Thracians
surround him in an invincible mass and force him from the body,
Thoas gives way staggering backward from the corpse (xaoa
iEvo;
nEXEJiX071). He never turns his back to the enemy.27 In 13.216,
Poseidon likens his voice to that of Thoas, son of Andraimon, in
order to inspire the Achaeans into battle.28 Idomeneus responds to
the voice, "Thoas, in the past you have been steadfast (eLvE61ltog,
3.229) and you urge on anyone else whom you see shrinking from
the fight." Despite the swiftness implied by his name, therefore,
Thoas is one of the least likely Achaeans to take flight. The
accomplishment of Odysseus in the story he tells Eumaeus is thus
all the more impressive. It is funny because it is napa&
The wily Ithacan induced the steadfast Thoas-of allupoao~iav.
people-to
take to his heels and dash off to the ships, in ironic imitation of a
shield-dropper.
Not so Eumaeus. As he has already warned his ragged guest
on more than one occasion (14.122-132, 361-389), this swineherd is
nobody's fool. Rather than surrender his own cloak, he ceremoniously
dons it as if it were the shield of a warrior about to enter the fray.
Odysseus' story was clever, after all, indeed too clever. In response
25 Note that, in this scene, Thoas' name appears in a situation which divides
the men into two groups: those who remain and those who run to the ships. The
prank in Od. 14 presents the same scenario.
26The other volunteers are Agamemnon, the two Aiantes, Diomedes, Idomeneus,
Meriones, Eurypylus, and Odysseus.
27 The same tenacity in the face of the foe (and the same phrase,
Thoas is in
is exhibited only by Ajax in 5.626 and by Hector 13.148. xaood6Evoq
nEKEgiXqOlT)
heroic
company.
truly 28
Similarly, in the beggar's tale to the swineherd, Thoas responds to an invisible voice.

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

153

to this "blameless tale" the swineherd-himself

providing the
punch line to the story-clings all the more tenaciously to his gear
and elevates his shaggy xailva to the status of a shield, now modified
by the hapax, "defender against the winds." Odysseus may have
succeeded in tricking the steadfast Thoas, but he cannot outsmart
this keeper of pigs. In the end, Odysseus himself is duped: he has
told a perfectly good story and received nothing in exchange. But
the hero is not disappointed. On the contrary, he takes delight
witnessing the loyalty of this servant who has faithfully guarded
the master's livestock holdings for some twenty years: "Odysseus
rejoiced (yXaipE8' 'OS)TooEi;, 14.526) to see him taking such good
care of the property in the owner's absence." What Eumaeus has
accomplished is no small feat, and he sets out for his night watch
looking like a rustic version of an Achaean at Troy.
The suggestion that the rustically-armed swineherd is stepping
out for a military night watch sheds light on another feature of
Book 14 which has puzzled scholars and commentators. It has long
been observed that the description of the elaborate sties which
Eumaeus has built in Odysseus' absence (14.5-22) bears a resemblance
to the account of Priam's palace in 6.244-249. The parallels have
been interpreted as either deliberate and therefore "parodic" in tone
and intent, or as unavoidable "inconcinnities" resulting from the
awkwardness of the poet's applying the limited heroic diction of
epic to non-heroic situations.29 I suggest that the effect of this
protracted "mock-epic" portrayal of the swineherd may not be so
much to parody either the figure of Eumaeus or the heroic tradition
as to suggest to the audience, in an entertaining and non-threatening
manner, that heroic actions occur every day, not only on the battlefield. For in validating the house as a worthwhile goal for a returning
hero, the Odyssey presents many domestic figures and their
activities as ultimately noble. This epic validation of a humble
swineherd is presented in a context which is not lacking in humor,
to be sure. But the smile provoked in the audience by this noble
portrayal of the lowliest of domestic servants may not be an end in
itself. It may be the means to the ultimate end of presenting a novel
29See D. B. Munro, Homer's
"Odyssey," Books XIII-XXIV (Oxford 1901) 20-21,
who terms the description of the sties "almost a parody of the description of Priam's palace." In arming for his night watch over the pigs in their palatial sties,
Eumaeus exhibits mock-heroic behavior. Reece (above, note 1), in general, does
not find parody in the Eumaeus scenes but attributes the textual inconcinnities
(the application of heroic diction to non-heroic settings) to the limitations of
conventional epic diction.

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154

RICKM. NEWTON

idea to an audience steeped in the conservative values and diction

of epic tradition. The light tone and parodic flavor of the
"heroization" of Eumaeus reflect a wily and "Odyssean" approach
to the new heroics espoused by this poem. In "heroizing" those
individuals who invest their energies in the preservation of the
household, the Odyssey heroizes Odysseus himself, the "untypical
hero."30 Eumaeus' elaborate sties indicate that he takes his domestic
duty as seriously as the Achaean warriors take their military mission.
Indeed, the siege of Troy which endured for ten years overseas is
now matched in gravity by the suitors' siege on Odysseus' house.
But Eumaeus' heroic measures, unlike those of his Trojan analogues,
have resulted in the preservation of his garrison. For unlike Thoas,
who was tricked into a momentary and uncharacteristic action
resembling flight, Eumaeus has never wavered from commitment
to his mission.
What is particularly noteworthy about the Thoas story and its
context is that, within the short span of well under 100 verses, so
many type-scenes and stock themes have been invoked and inverted
that we may safely classify the episode as a tour deforce: (1) Thoas,
among the most steadfast of the Achaeans, is tricked into what
appears to be an automatic act of running away; (2) in heading for
the ships and setting down his cloak, Thoas gives the appearance
of a deserting shield-dropper, when he is actually performing the
heroic and perhaps foolishly altruistic act of running without cover
in a dangerous enemy zone; (3) the Odysseus of the tale, who
retrieves the cloak through a non-heroic deception, revels in his
prize as if he were a courageous and vaunting victor who routed
his foe; (4) contrary to the story-teller's (and the external audience's)
expectation, Eumaeus demonstrates that he is even more tenacious
of his equipment than the normally steadfast Thoas; the swineherd
"fails" the test and does not act on the suggestion of the tale by
relinquishing his cloak; in donning the heavy coat, he sends his
guest a signal, "Go and run for your own coat;" (5) contrary to the
expectations of both external audience and Odysseus-as-beggar,
the teller of the tale is not disappointed by the swineherd's apparent lack of generosity; instead, both Odysseus and, we may assume,
the external audience "rejoice"in the sight of the swineherd heroically
arming for his watch at the sties, the very sties which he had built
years ago as a mini-version of Troy to remind himself that his duty
30 See W. B. Stanford, The Ulysses Theme:A Study in the Adaptabilityof a Traditional
Hero (2nd ed., Ann Arbor 1978) 66-80.

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CLOAKAND SHIELDIN ODYSSEY14

155

in maintaining the home front for his absent master was every bit
as important as that of the soldiers who crossed the Aegean.
Finally, by reading the Thoas story as a comic conflation of stock
themes and type-scenes in the oral tradition, we gain insight into
Eumaeus' problematic classification of the tale as an atvo;;daigCWv.
In her exhaustive study of the Homeric epithet &'iwCv, Anne
Amory Parry finds the application of this adjective to the noun avo;
"most curious" in that it presents "an unprecedented extension of
She finds the meaning of the epithet so
meaning in &iwgiCv."''31
anomalous in this context that she concludes that the passage is "a
relatively late addition to the story of Odysseus." "'AgjijCv is ...
used as a general term of commendation, not incomprehensibly,
but certainly more imprecisely than in any other one of the
passages which we have examined." Elsewhere in the epic tradition,
Parry finds, the adjective &tijgiCVcarries "overtones of 'brave,
the connotation of 'brave,' 'spirited,'
valiant'." "'
Agu ov may possess
as "heroic
'steadfast in battle'." She interprets
&ogjCV
,6yo;
of
the
the
But
these
are
characteristics
beggar's
precisely
speech."
tale. First, as an atvo;, the account is not a "tale" but an exercise in
"praise." The noun aivo; occurs twice in the Iliad and one other
time in the Odyssey. In each instance, it means "praise" and is closely
associated with the conferring of a gift or prize. In Iliad 23.652 Nestor
nostalgically recites a catalogue of the athletic feats he accomplished
as a youth (Eitd aVvov
inKX1E).This lengthy exercise in self-praise
nawv'
is inspired by the gift of a special cup which Achilles confers on the
aged Achaean who is no longer able to compete in the funeral
games. Similarly, in II. 23.795, Antilochus' praise of swift-footed
tot RXEo; Eiplcejorataivo;)
Achilles as an invincible runner (o5
half-talent of gold from the
is rewarded by the gift of an extraptv
object of the flattery, Achilles himself. In Odyssey 21.110,
Telemachus, presiding over the contest of the bow, announces to
the suitors that the winner shall take the prize of Penelope, a woman
whose praises need no singing (ti
rg Xpi
aivou;). Likewise
in 14.508, the beggar has just delivered anintrpo;
aivo; of Odysseus which
is not only an exercise in self-praise (i.e. a laudation of Odysseus
by Odysseus, along the lines of Nestor's self-encomium in II. 23)
but also a bid for the prize of a cloak. But the praise is also a&'g[.t0v
in the sense which, according to Parry, it carries elsewhere in
Homer. If we recall parallel scenes in the epic tradition in which
31 For the quotations cited here from this study, see above, note 24, pp. 60, 80-81,
and 101.

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156

RICKM. NEWTON

steadfastness in battle and the temptation to drop shields in flight

for it portrays not only
are at issue, this atvo; is indeed
"victim" as
more ajngCiov,
significantly-his
Odysseus but also-and
surprisingly "noble, brave, and steadfast in battle." The impact of
the story carries over into how we interpret the subsequent behavior
of Eumaeus. In donning his humble gear, this swineherd now
appears to both us and Odysseus as anything but lowly. Preparing
himself for his night watch, he emerges from his hut wearing his
trophies and looking very much like a hero engaged in a clearly
heroic undertaking. Just as the external audience of the poem knows
throughout Book 14 that the beggar is really a hero in disguise, so
too we now see the lowly swineherd in a light which confers on
him a profound, if not readily visible, nobility. Looks are truly
deceiving in this little story, and Eumaeus walks out a winner, truly
"praise which befits a hero."32
deserving alvo;
dagi~Cv,
RICKM. NEWTON

KentState University

32

A preliminary version of this paper was presented in spring 1996 at the

annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, held in
Nashville, Tennessee. I express my thanks to the editor of CJ and the anonymous
referees who made many valuable suggestions for the improvement of this paper.

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