Abstract
Semantic analyses of the words ἔσχατα ("furthest edge") and πεῖραρ ("boundary" or "bond") in Homeric formulae reveal distinctive understandings of marginal space. Whereas ἔσχατα frequently denotes isolated space, where a character might be approaching or protected from surrounding danger, πεῖραρ demonstrates a thematic association between the edges of the earth, the divinely appointed ὀλέθρου/νίκης πείρατα ("boundaries of destruction/victory") and death. The intratextual networks built by these words suggest a traditionally referential relationship with mental "schemas" shared by the audience. Their potential to communicate multifaceted, unspoken ideas indicates the depth and antiquity of anxiety connected to marginal spaces in Greek thought.
Semantic analyses of the words ἔσχατα ("furthest edge") and πεῖραρ("boundary" or "bond") in Homeric formulae reveal distinctive understandings of marginal space. Liminality has become a familiar term in classical scholarship, particularly where dread-inspiring landscapes are involved. It is frequently noted in analyses of epic and tragedy in particular that the liminality of an event's setting is significant to its interpretation. The word πεῖραρ is a particularly complex indicator of edge-space. Its uses are extremely varied, describing both physical and conceptual limits, and as a result commentators have disagreed on how it should be understood or translated. The formula ὀλέθρου πείρατα, which can be provisionally translated as "boundaries", "bonds", or "limits of destruction", appears in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The chapter encourages further philological exploration into edge-spaces and the individual, contextual treatment of scenes set in landscapes of dread.