The use of messengers (1)

Text
A prominent feature of epic narrative as it appears in Homer, at Ugarit, in the Hurro-Hittite tradition, and in Mesopotamia is the use of intermediaries to convey orders or news to an absent person, or to summon him or her to the presence of the original speaker. In many cases the whole message is repeated verbatim, being given first in a speech of the sender to the messenger and then again in the latter’s speech to the recipient. In some texts the passage may appear more than twice. In Enūma eliš a substantial suite of lines is repeated four times - first it is a piece of narrative, then a message to Anšar, then a communication entrusted by Anšar to his vizier Kakka, and finally Kakka’s recital to Lahmu and Lahamu. The Agamemnon’s dream in Iliad (2.11-15) is treated as a messenger sequence, with Zeus’ words to the Dream being relayed by it to Agamemnon, passes before us a third time when he reports it to his councillors.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Homer, Iliad 2.11-15

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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