Artificial word formation in the epic tradition: θοῦρος (‘fierce’) and the formula θούριδος ἀλκῆς

Abstract

AbstractThe Homeric adjectives θοῦρος and θοῦρις (gen. -ιδος) are normally glossed as ‘rushing, impetuous, furious’. While θοῦρις exclusively qualifies feminine nouns, no feminine form of θοῦρος is attested. What was the exact relationship between θοῦρος and θοῦρις? In this paper it is argued that θοῦρις is not the paradigmatic feminine of θοῦρος, but an artificial formation of epic Greek. It arose in the formula θούριδος ἀλκῆς due to the metrical constraints of epic hexameter, and subsequently ousted the original feminine of θοῦρος. In elaborating this scenario, I show that the basic meaning of θοῦρος and θοῦρις is ‘fierce’. Other instances of artificial change of inflection in the Homeric Kunstsprache are discussed, and it is argued that the mechanism underlying their creation is linguistic contamination.