Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1

Autores
De Almeida Semedo, Rafael
Año de publicación
2023
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
documento de conferencia
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Drawing on the narratological concept of characterization, this paper addresses the portrayal of Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, in Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, Book 1 (ca. 3 AD). This late antique epic is a 14-Book iteration in dactylic hexameter of the events that take place between the Iliad and the Odyssey, such as the death of Achilles, the Trojan horse, and the sack of Troy. After the death of Hector in the Iliad, a series of surrogates appear in the Posthomerica to substitute him as the bulwark of Priam’s army, all of which eventually die. In Book 1, the Amazonomachy, Penthesilea fills this temporary role, assuming the position of a protagonist who arrives to lift the Trojan spirits and lead them back into the fight, but who is then killed by Achilles in combat towards the end of the chapter. I aim to assess the strategies of the Quintean narrator in presenting the first protagonist of his epic, balancing the characterization of her beauty and her martial prowess as a female warrior. I also address the importance of Penthesilea, whose telling name can be interpreted as “the one who brings sorrow (to the people?)”, for the narrative structure of the poem in three levels: a) in Book 1, the Amazonomachy; b) in Books 1-5, the Achilleid; and c) in Books 1-14, the poem as a whole.
Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación
Materia
Letras
Epic poem
Narrative structure
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/182458

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spelling Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1De Almeida Semedo, RafaelLetrasEpic poemNarrative structureDrawing on the narratological concept of characterization, this paper addresses the portrayal of Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, in Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, Book 1 (ca. 3 AD). This late antique epic is a 14-Book iteration in dactylic hexameter of the events that take place between the Iliad and the Odyssey, such as the death of Achilles, the Trojan horse, and the sack of Troy. After the death of Hector in the Iliad, a series of surrogates appear in the Posthomerica to substitute him as the bulwark of Priam’s army, all of which eventually die. In Book 1, the Amazonomachy, Penthesilea fills this temporary role, assuming the position of a protagonist who arrives to lift the Trojan spirits and lead them back into the fight, but who is then killed by Achilles in combat towards the end of the chapter. I aim to assess the strategies of the Quintean narrator in presenting the first protagonist of his epic, balancing the characterization of her beauty and her martial prowess as a female warrior. I also address the importance of Penthesilea, whose telling name can be interpreted as “the one who brings sorrow (to the people?)”, for the narrative structure of the poem in three levels: a) in Book 1, the Amazonomachy; b) in Books 1-5, the Achilleid; and c) in Books 1-14, the poem as a whole.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación2023info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObjectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionObjeto de conferenciahttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794info:ar-repo/semantics/documentoDeConferenciaapplication/pdfhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/182458enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://congresos.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/coloquiointernacionalceh/9ciceh/actas/ponencia-240429101256181072/@@display-file/file/De Almeida.pdfinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2250-7388info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:49:47Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/182458Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:49:48.195SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
title Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
spellingShingle Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
De Almeida Semedo, Rafael
Letras
Epic poem
Narrative structure
title_short Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
title_full Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
title_fullStr Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
title_full_unstemmed Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
title_sort Bringer of Sorrow: the characterization of Penthesilea in Quintus' Posthomerica 1
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv De Almeida Semedo, Rafael
author De Almeida Semedo, Rafael
author_facet De Almeida Semedo, Rafael
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Letras
Epic poem
Narrative structure
topic Letras
Epic poem
Narrative structure
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Drawing on the narratological concept of characterization, this paper addresses the portrayal of Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, in Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, Book 1 (ca. 3 AD). This late antique epic is a 14-Book iteration in dactylic hexameter of the events that take place between the Iliad and the Odyssey, such as the death of Achilles, the Trojan horse, and the sack of Troy. After the death of Hector in the Iliad, a series of surrogates appear in the Posthomerica to substitute him as the bulwark of Priam’s army, all of which eventually die. In Book 1, the Amazonomachy, Penthesilea fills this temporary role, assuming the position of a protagonist who arrives to lift the Trojan spirits and lead them back into the fight, but who is then killed by Achilles in combat towards the end of the chapter. I aim to assess the strategies of the Quintean narrator in presenting the first protagonist of his epic, balancing the characterization of her beauty and her martial prowess as a female warrior. I also address the importance of Penthesilea, whose telling name can be interpreted as “the one who brings sorrow (to the people?)”, for the narrative structure of the poem in three levels: a) in Book 1, the Amazonomachy; b) in Books 1-5, the Achilleid; and c) in Books 1-14, the poem as a whole.
Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación
description Drawing on the narratological concept of characterization, this paper addresses the portrayal of Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, in Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, Book 1 (ca. 3 AD). This late antique epic is a 14-Book iteration in dactylic hexameter of the events that take place between the Iliad and the Odyssey, such as the death of Achilles, the Trojan horse, and the sack of Troy. After the death of Hector in the Iliad, a series of surrogates appear in the Posthomerica to substitute him as the bulwark of Priam’s army, all of which eventually die. In Book 1, the Amazonomachy, Penthesilea fills this temporary role, assuming the position of a protagonist who arrives to lift the Trojan spirits and lead them back into the fight, but who is then killed by Achilles in combat towards the end of the chapter. I aim to assess the strategies of the Quintean narrator in presenting the first protagonist of his epic, balancing the characterization of her beauty and her martial prowess as a female warrior. I also address the importance of Penthesilea, whose telling name can be interpreted as “the one who brings sorrow (to the people?)”, for the narrative structure of the poem in three levels: a) in Book 1, the Amazonomachy; b) in Books 1-5, the Achilleid; and c) in Books 1-14, the poem as a whole.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
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