BRISEIDE ΑΕΚΟΥΣ᾽(Α). A PROPOSITO D I HOM. IL. 1, 348

Based on the comparison with some parallel passages (Od. 2, 130; 20, 343, Hymn. Hom. Cer. 19 and 72, Sapph. fr. 94, 5 Voigt/Neri), in this contribution I suggest that ἀέκουσα, referring to Briseis in the famous scene of the abductio in the first book of the Iliad, can be interpreted as a sort of technical term to indicate the state of mind of a woman when she is removed from her family unit for (broadly speaking) nuptial purposes. The valorization of this textual detail allows us to fully appreciate the complexity of Briseis, in whose figure funerary and nuptial symbolism is inextricably linked. This is confirmed by the figurative tradition, where a similar ambiguity can be detected. In particular, I propose to recognize, in some of the visual transpositions of the abductio, the use of the funerary iconography of the farewell in order to represent the Homeric ἀέκουσα.