Poetic, Royal, and Female Discourse: On the Physiology of Speech and Inspiration in Hesiod
Résumé
This article considers several related Hesiodic and Homeric passages that treat the categorically distinctive discourses attributed to poets, kings, and women. A complex system is uncovered that associates each type of speech with different substances, parts of the body, and ethical qualities. A hierarchic ranking is also perceived that situates poetic speech closer to that of the gods, female speech closer to that of animals, and royal speech ambiguously in-between.