2022/03/01 by Thomas J. Nelson · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Chemistry · #Classical Antiquity Studies #Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods
paper · pdf · doi:10.1353/apa.2022.0007
openalex publication_date 2022/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
In this paper, I argue that the traditional narrative of Iphigenia's sacrifice lies allusively behind the opening scenes of the Iliad (1.8-487). Scholars have long suspected that this episode is evoked in Agamemnon's scathing rebuke of Calchas (1.105-8), but I contend that this is only one moment in a far more sustained allusive dialogue: both the debate over Chryseis and her eventual return to her father replay and rework the sacrifice story. The Iliad begins by recalling the start of the whole Trojan war.