Desacato e degenerescência na trama central da Ilíada: um estudo sobre o sentido político do superlativo ekhthistos

Abstract

The four occurrences in the Iliad of ekhthistos, superlative of ekhthros, “hateful” or – as I prefer – “execrable”, are related to the motif of the royal authority’s crisis in the poem, particularly regarding Agamemnon and his pursuitof legitimation in his speeches, mostly through many references to Zeus. According to my interpretation, expressing loathing to slaughter in the warand to the contact with corpses, ekhthistos is used when a king exerts his characteristic function in the Indo-European societies of guardian of life and provider of the community’s living. Always the head of the Achaean army, Agamemnon acts both as its main commander and as the community’s protector, splitting up between the protection of life and the promotion of death.