Spectators and Spectacle in Quintus’ Posthomerica

Irene J.F De Jong

doi:10.1163/1568525x-bja10121

Abstract

Abstract Quintus’ literary reputation is on the rise, in the wake of a general reappreciation of late antique literature. In my article I discuss Quintus’ use of embedded focalization: when we look at events through the eyes of one of the characters. Quintus uses this narrative device both in the same way as Homer, but also in original new ways. One such new way is the serial use of embedded focalization at the moment of arrival of a champion. The ample use of embedded focalization can be added to the list of stylistic features which contribute to the well-known visual aesthetics of late antique poetry, such as ekphrasis, miniaturization, enumeration, and the juxtaposition of episodic scenes. But I also argue that Quintus through the ubiquitous presence of spectators frames the action of his story as a spectacle, a race or gladiatorial show, which gods and characters and hence his narratees, watch as if sitting in an amphitheatre or circus.

Highlights

Quintus of Smyrna – Homer – embedded focalization – narratology – late antique poetry – characterization – similes – divine audience – theatricality – gladiator
In my article I discuss Quintus’ use of embedded focalization: when we look at events through the eyes of one of the characters
The ample use of embedded focalization can be added to the list of stylistic features which contribute to the well-known visual aesthetics of late antique poetry, such as ekphrasis, miniaturization, enumeration, and the juxtaposition of episodic scenes

Summary

The Divine Audience

By and large the divine audience in the Posthomerica works the same way as in the Iliad: gods watch in admiration (e.g. Ajax swimming for his life after being shipwrecked by Athena: 14.552-553) or with delight (e.g. the Greeks being routed by Eurymachus and Aeneas: 11.178-179), and sometimes offer support (e.g. Zeus in 10.47-52).[18]. There is someone in their midst urging them to the task―you would think it was a god, so great is the exploit he has in mind.” In his commentary, Bär shows how Quintus here combines two Iliadic intertexts: the speech by Thoas who notes the return of Hector to battle after having been severely wounded (15.286-299) and a collective tis-speech like 4.81-85.33 I would like to draw attention to Quintus’ subtle use of focalization. This concerns the repeated use of embedded focalization (or, as I call it, serial embedded focalization), by both individuals and collectives, at the moment of the arrival of a champion, a hero or heroine who is a new arrival to Troy coming in order to support either Greeks or Trojans This technique of serial embedded focalization, for which there is no Homeric parallel,[36] is employed by Quintus in connection with Penthesilea, Memnon, Eurypylus, Neoptolemus, and Philoctetes. What constitutes Quintus’ originality is their combination into one cumulative series, which―in no uncertain way―hammers home Neoptolemus’ resemblance to his father Achilles, and functions as a technique of characterization

Assimilated Similes

From Spectators to Spectacle