The Verb Tense in Homeric Poetry

Abstract

In any enunciation the temporal definition of a state of affairs does not occur only by the use of a verbal tense, but also by the relation of a verbal tense with all the others and their relation with the enunciation moment. In the Homeric poetry the enunciation context coincides with

he composition before an audience. This and the so called enargeia result in a specific use of verbal tenses in epic narrative framework. Based on that feature this paper aims to trace the verbal structure on the narrative framework used in androktasiai-scenes in Iliad XI in order to understand whether or not the singer chooses a tense because of his special relation with his audience and how this tense is employed.