This study of thegooior personal laments in Homer´sIliadon e and for all articulates the poetic techniques regulating this type of speech. Oral theory, narratology, semiotics, rhethorical analysis are deftly applied to explore the ways personal laments develop principal epic themes and unravel narrative threads weaving the thematical texture of the entireIliad(and beyond).

Christos Tsagalis is a lecturer in Classics at the University of Athens, Greece.