The Odyssey is a story of Bronze Age Greece seen through the eyes of the Dark Ages author, Homer. From historical sources, we see Bronze Age cities as obviously run by some kind of powerful hierarchy that can direct the efforts of their citizens and collect taxes and resources, but what we see in the Odyssey is a collection of chiefs of village forming a confederation of noble. Despite the grandeur of their palaces and their divine feats of heroism, in every way they represent a golden version of the Homeric chieftain who leads with the approval of the region in which he resides in an attempt to maintain and provide prosperity to his people. people.
Generally speaking, the role of a king in Homeric society is to protect and support the people of his region. In addition to owning considerable property from which many livestock and agricultural crops can be produced, this was a time when piracy was a normal phenomenon from which great wealth could be obtained and in turn had to be defended through himself and the village. Whenever a stranger appears in the Odyssey, his parents are often asked first for his name, where he came from, and if he is a mugger. For example, when Telemachus arrives at Pylos, he is asked this question and is not offended, but answers it directly (Odyssey. P.27 b.3), and we also see Odysseus during his account of his journey from Troy to the unhealthy and without it. He hesitantly describes the sacking of a city for the sake of plunder. This is the main role of the Homeric king, although he must also serve as the administrative head of the community, fulfilling the obligations that the maintenance of public order entails.
One thing to understand about kings in epic poems is that Homer is speaking of kings from a different era where great cities, multi-acre palaces, and royal kingdoms worthy of the name existed, while using the governmental and social structure of his own. Dark Ages, which means that the villages were the largest settlements, there were no palaces, and the most powerful man in Greece would be just another chieftain. Without a sizeable population to draw from for material resources and manpower, it is simply not possible to establish and maintain a hierarchical government led by a palace, and it severely limits the possible power one could have as “king.” A king may have the largest parcel of land, a slightly larger house, and more livestock, but without some accumulated wealth of resources and military power, the king is ruled by the authority of his people.
Thus, the Homeric kings were not all-powerful and we find many examples of this in the Homeric epics where we can see that a Homeric king is unable to command another man who is not his property. The only real ties we see are those that are created by family ties and honor-based relationships. In the Odyssey we see Agamemnon, who was seen as a king of higher status than the rest, talk about how difficult it was to convince Odysseus to go with him to Troy (Odyssey 296.24), and during the royal battle in Troy we see Agamemnon act irrationally towards Achilles, at which point Achilles decides that he will no longer follow Agamemnon’s orders and refuses to fight (Iliad 13-17.1).
The Homeric king is often the son of the previous king, but he does not follow a hereditary line out of necessity. A son will inherit his father’s material resources, which in itself gives him significant influence and the ability to organize attacks against other settlements and defend his own. In ancient Greece, status was most easily judged by the amount of wealth you had, because wealth was earned by being able to gather the funds and support to organize raids and loot other villages, and have the resources to defend your own village, and he feeds the warriors he uses for these actions.
In addition to this material wealth, a son also inherits his father’s relationships and ties. These relationships ensure you a support base of allies who may be willing to lend you resources should you try to organize a raid on another village, such as the attack on Troy, which brings together forces from all over Greece, including Nestor in Pylos and Ulysses of Ithaca. . , or help in the defense of their own properties. If a new king is found wanting and unable to support and defend his village, he will be replaced by a more suitable individual. In the Odyssey, Telemachus will be the next king of Ithaca in the absence of his father and the suitors think they will replace him until he demonstrates his skill as a leader when he makes an expedition to Pylos and Sparta. Upon successful completion of this expedition, the Ithaca consider him well, and with the wealth inherited from his father Odysseus, and the inherited relationships with Nestor of Pylos, Menelaus of Sparta, and many others at Ithaca (Odyssey 27.2, 39.4) he is fit to become and remain king. Without these connections, however, a ruler is severely weakened because he has no support and few resources to fulfill his role. Most of the Odyssey relies on Telemachus’ inability to repel evil suitors who are ruining his properties, and indeed Ithaca itself, due to its lack of available supporting allies (Odyssey 42.4).
Even with the support of others, a Homeric king is not the only voice of authority in a region. There is often a council of nobles and elders, to which the king can present ideas and ask for approval or help, which they can reject. When Telemachus summons the council of Ithaca and presents his speech, he is mostly yelled at and denied (Odyssey 15-20.2), while Alcinos, king of the Fecians, repeatedly petition his nobles and elders and they obey it immediately (Odyssey 159.13). Even among those who are not noble, a king must accept the voice of the majority, as Ulysses sees it when he urges his men to stay aboard the ship instead of going ashore one night to cook and recognizes that there is one, and they are many, and he cannot refuse them (Odyssey 154.12).
At that time in ancient Greece there were great nations, or at least larger peoples, that could constitute a threat to the Greek peoples and a vital role of these inherited relationships was the potential to create a temporary confederation between numerous peoples and regions for a mutual cause, or at least the opportunity to loot. In these situations, help is requested and may or may not be provided, as we can see from the account of the gathering of forces for the Trojan War (Odyssey 296.24). Here the kings have to work together, and a kind of relative status hierarchy may form, but there is still discussion, and indeed discussion, between the conglomerate kings. We see this several times in the Homeric poems, such as Agamemnon and Menelaus arguing after the end of the battle at Troy over the best course of action (Odyssey 28-29.3).
All of this comes together to enable a successful or failed king and village / region. Normally, a bad king is replaced by a more capable one with better connections, resources, and influence, but as we can see from Ithaca herself, in the Odyssey, all the suitors are trying to marry Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, in order to make themselves charge of some. of the power and connections of Ulysses and become the new king of Ithaca. Due to this lack of transition between kings, effectively causing a situation where there is no king, no loot from raids, and resources are being consumed without being properly refreshed and maintained, causing an overall decline in health and damage. Ithaca’s success, in addition to social and moral degradation with the absence of a dominant authority figure. Elsewhere in the prosperous communities we see councils in operation at Phaeacia (Odyssey 159.13), the magnificent house of Menelaus in Sparta (Odyssey 39.4), and a great religious festival and festival at Pylos (Odyssey 26.3).
The Iliad, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004)
The Odyssey, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998)