IMPOSSIBLE KNOWLEDGE? MYTHICAL SEERS IN THE ILIAD

Abstract

“That is why the far-shooter brought anguish upon us and will bring yet more.” (Il. 1.96). In the dramatic opening scenes of the Iliad, Calchas, described by Bremmer (1993: 152) as the “model of the archaic Greek seer par excellence”, explains to the assembled Greeks the cause of Apollo’s anger and prescribes the way to avert it. Recent evaluations of the scene have grappled with the question of Calchas’ knowledge: how does this interpreter of the birds arrive at what appears to be a remarkable insight into the mind of a god? This question was once dismissed as futile by Stockinger (1959: 16), but has since been re-examined. Calchas’ behaviour has been explained as a remnant of Hittite divination by Högemann and Oettinger (2008), as evidence for the belief in an innate, intuitive ability operating in certain seers by Flower (2008) and Di Sacco Franco (2000), or as a statement of the obvious by Trampedach (2008: 208-214), and a sign of collusion with Achilles by Latacz (1998: 96 and 2000: 57) and Taplin (1992: 54).

Homer’s seers appear unusual both in practice and description when compared to historical seers. This paper explores the peculiarities of the former as they are presented in the Iliad, paying particular attention to the depiction of Calchas in the first book. Without falling prey to the documentary fallacy, I argue that we should not expect Calchas, along with the other seers in the poem, to behave in ways which correspond to the seers of later—or even earlier—historical sources. Homer’s seers are, ultimately, complex poetic creations; they belong to the realm of the unreal.