1 Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey

Even casual readers of the Iliad and the Odyssey will have noted the constant presence of an expression associated with the communicative act: ἔπεα πτερόεντα (προσηύδα), ‘winged words’. Words are endowed with wings in both poems, and this association also applies to news, which ‘flies’. In the Iliad, how far away or ferocious a battle is has little impact on the spread of information, which flows successfully both among fellow warriors and between rival factions. In the Odyssey, the importance of news can be perceived from the very beginning of the poem: in light of the unsustainable situation caused by the suitors, Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is urged by Athena to undertake a journey in search of news of his father (the Telemachy).

Communicative effectiveness is taken for granted in the Homeric poems, and the formula ‘winged words’ is strong evidence of this, since it implies a very positive consideration of the process of communication. We can easily assume that the words of the speaker reach the receiver without having been modified (Durán López 1999, 10). However, all winged words cannot be labelled as news. An analysis of the word ἄγγελος and its derivatives can help us to understand what was considered ‘news’ by the members of the societies represented in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The lexicon could be, a priori, a very useful tool for differentiating between those primarily responsible for the effective dissemination of information in the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Greek language makes a clear distinction between the messenger and the herald in the terms ἄγγελος and κῆρυξ. The ἄγγελος would be the person in charge of transmitting news, whereas the κῆρυξ would be responsible, among other things, for conveying official messages.1 However, the difference is not always so evident in the Homeric poems,2 especially when we consider the fact that Homer refers to the heralds Talthybius, Eurybates and Idaeus as ἄγγελοι (cf. Hom., Il. 1.334 and Hom., Il. 7.274: κήρυκες Διὸς ἄγγελοι ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν).

Κήρυκες: heralds by profession

The herald is remarkably present in Homer’s poems. The term κῆρυξ occurs 87 times in total (43 in the Iliad and 44 in the Odyssey) and the poet attributes to this figure an essential feature to distinguish him from the ἄγγελος. Being a herald means practicing a profession:

(1) Hom., Od. 19.134–135

τῶ οὔτε ξείνων ἐμπάζομαι οὔθ’ ἱκετάων

οὔτε τι κηρύκων, οἳ δημιοεργοὶ ἔασιν·

Therefore, I pay no attention to strangers, nor to suppliants, nor yet to heralds, who are in the public service.3

The speaker is Penelope, who is explaining to Odysseus – disguised as a beggar – how much she misses her husband. The queen alludes to the heralds as δημιοεργοί (δημιουργοί), that is, as men who are in the public service. Previously, the swineherd Eumaeus had listed other trades under this term:

(2) Hom., Od. 17.382–385

τίς γὰρ δὴ ξεῖνον καλεῖ ἄλλοθεν αὐτὸς ἐπελθὼν

ἄλλον γ’, εἰ μὴ τῶν, οἳ δημιοεργοὶ ἔασι;

μάντιν ἢ ἰητῆρα κακῶν ἢ τέκτονα δούρων,

ἢ καὶ θέσπιν ἀοιδόν, ὅ κεν τέρπῃσιν ἀείδων.

For who goes visiting elsewhere so as to call in another stranger, unless he is one who works for the people, either a prophet, or a healer of sickness, or a skilled workman, or inspired singer, one who can give delight by his singing?

By referring to heralds also as δημιοεργοί, Penelope is highlighting their professional nature as individuals who were in public service. However, as we will show below, this official nature appears only in certain contexts.

Homeric heralds belong to a very specific social class: they are servants, θεράποντες,4 as is evident in the mentions of Talthybius and Eurybates, “who were heralds and hard-working henchmen to him (Agamemnon)”5 and Mulius, a herald from Dulichium, Amphinomus’ henchman.6 Moreover, with very few exceptions, the identity of the κήρυκες is well-known. In the Iliad, Talthybius, Eurybates, Odius and Thootes are the heralds of the Achaeans, whilst Idaeus is the herald of the Trojans. Eumedes (Dolon’s father), Periphas and Epytos (his father) are also mentioned. In the Odyssey, Peisenor and Medon are heralds in Ithaca, whereas Pontonous belongs to Alcinous’ house.

Thalmann (2011) states that heralds are blessed with the gift of ubiquity. In the public sphere, they often behave as town criers.7 On the contrary, during wartime they summon the hosts to the assembly (Hom., Il. 2.50, 2.437, 9.10, 11.685 and Hom., Od. 2.6), demand silence (Hom., Il. 2.97, 2.280 or 18.503) and place the sceptre in the hands of the man who is going to speak (Hom., Il. 18.502, 23.567 and Hom., Od. 2.38). Heralds also oversee the lots (Hom., Il. 7.183), act as jurors (Hom., Il. 7.275–278), command warriors to attack (Hom., Il. 2.442) and order men on guard to stay alert (Hom., Il. 8.517). They also receive and act as guides to visitors (Hom., Od. 4.301 and 13.64), accompany those who go on embassies (Hom., Il. 9.170 and 24.282 and Hom., Od. 9.90, 10.59, 10.102 and 19.244) and deliver word-for-word messages, especially when it comes to passing on orders from others (Hom., Il. 4.190 or 12.342) or negotiating with the enemy, as in this passage:

(3) Hom., Il. 7.383–397

(…) αὐτὰρ ὃ τοῖσι

στὰς ἐν μέσσοισιν μετεφώνεεν ἠπύτα κῆρυξ·

Ἀτρεΐδη τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν

ἠνώγει Πρίαμός τε καὶ ἄλλοι Τρῶες ἀγαυοὶ

εἰπεῖν, αἴ κέ περ ὔμμι φίλον καὶ ἡδὺ γένοιτο,

μῦθον Ἀλεξάνδροιο, τοῦ εἵνεκα νεῖκος ὄρωρε·

κτήματα μὲν ὅσ’ Ἀλέξανδρος κοίλῃς ἐνὶ νηυσὶν

ἠγάγετο Τροίηνδ’· ὡς πρὶν ὤφελλ’ ἀπολέσθαι·

πάντ’ ἐθέλει δόμεναι καὶ οἴκοθεν ἄλλ’ ἐπιθεῖναι·

κουριδίην δ’ ἄλοχον Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο

οὔ φησιν δώσειν· ἦ μὴν Τρῶές γε κέλονται.

καὶ δὲ τόδ’ ἠνώγεον εἰπεῖν ἔπος αἴ κ’ ἐθέλητε

παύσασθαι πολέμοιο δυσηχέος εἰς ὅ κε νεκροὺς

κήομεν· ὕστερον αὖτε μαχησόμεθ’ εἰς ὅ κε δαίμων

ἄμμε διακρίνῃ, δώῃ δ’ ἑτέροισί γε νίκην.

The herald with the great voice took his stand in their midst, and spoke to them: ‘Son of Atreus, and you other great men of all the Achaeans, Priam and the rest of the haughty Trojans have bidden me give you, if this message be found to your pleasure and liking, the word of Alexander, for whose sake this strife has arisen. All those possessions that Alexander carried in his hollow ships to Troy, and I wish that he had perished before then, he is willing to give all back, and to add to these from his own goods. But the very wedded wife of glorious Menelaus he says that he will not give, though the Trojans would have him do it. They told me to give you this message also, if you are willing; to stop the sorrowful fighting until we can burn the bodies of our dead. We shall fight again afterwards, until the divinity chooses between us, and gives victory to one or the other.’8

The herald Idaeus is the man to pass Priam’s message on to the Atreides.9 Just beforehand (Hom., Il. 7.345–378), the Trojans were assembled and Antenor had suggested that the Atreides turn Helen over to end the fight. Alexander objected, but proposed handing over his wealth. Priam then ordered the herald to voice his son’s proposal to the Achaeans as well as his request that the combat cease until the bodies had been burned. The obedient Idaeus did as he was ordered. This scene also shows that loyalty10 is one of the characteristics that best defines the Homeric κήρυκες, since it highlights the credit they enjoy from those who hold the authority and the trust that they place in them.