The Tale of Meleager in the Iliad

I employ narratology and oral theory in a close reading of Phoenix's tale of the Kalydonian hero Meleager in Book 9 of the Iliad to clarify the function of this embedded narrative within the Homeric epic. Phoenix compares Achilles to Meleager, and the crux of the analogy--angry withdrawal from battle--has tempted some in the past to suppose that a pre-Homeric epic about an angry Meleager was the source for the Iliad's angry Achilles. But since most ancient narratives about Meleager do not feature withdrawal from battle, today Homerists more commonly conclude that Phoenix invents Meleager's withdrawal in order to pursue this analogy. Though I essentially subscribe to this conclusion, analysis of the poetics of Phoenix's narrative have often been misguided. In this essay I explore the traditionality of Phoenix's story and its narratological construction in the Homeric epic. The main goal is to better calibrate the significance of the Iliad's version of the story of Meleager. The issue is relevant to how the Iliad employs material from outside its narrative boundaries, including the Epic Cycle. Though not as famous as the labors of Heracles, the Trojan War, or the return of Odysseus, the myth about Meleager was popular in antiquity. That is not surprising, since his story often featured the hunt of a monstrous animal and intra-family violence. Sometimes there was a love interest, the famous huntress Atalanta. The story could be variously narrated, and some versions of the myth are incompatible. Homerists have long explored how the version told by Phoenix in Iliad 9 corresponds to or deviates from alternative versions. Before we address that issue, it would be helpful to examine basic elements of the tale of Meleager in order to explore their causal connections and thematic significance.