[[▲Narratives]] [[poetics]] [[motif-song-as-weave]] --- ## Biblio [[nagy-g2015-07-03]]§6-7 Greek & Indic > [[hackney]]: When the bard begins one of his tales in the -Odyssey-, he asks the Muse to pick up a story thread: the poet “weaves” his tale as he goes along, creating a beautiful tapestry of the glorious deeds of heroes. Did you know our word text comes from the Latin word to weave? Think textiles. Epic poets in ancient Greece were all men, but weaving was decidedly women’s work. How can the acts of weaving and poetic composition be so connected? We have to wonder if the songs of women ever played a role in the creation of these epics. There are some tantalizing passages to consider. The first time we ever see Helen in the -Iliad-, she is “working at a great web of purple linen, on which she was embroidering the struggles between Trojans and Achaeans.” Ares had made them fight for her sake. I expect Helen’s version of the story would be much different than Homer’s. https://uh.edu/engines/epi2696.htm