The epic adventures of an unknown particle

Abstract

This paper, a mini-“Autour de ‘ταρ epique’,” is above all a contribution to the study of Homeric formulas and compositional technique. I give an overview and expand our understanding of the underappreciated Homeric particle ταρ (tar), whose Cuneiform Luvian cognate Calvert Watkins discovered over a decade ago and whose essential Greek-ness M. L. West accepts in his Teubner edition of the Iliad; demonstrate on linguistic and stylistic grounds that ταρ is part of the conjunction αὐτάρ (autar) but not of the semantically similar near-look-alike ἀτάρ (atar); and explain why this unstressed and almost unknown monosyllable is of unexpectedly wide interest, being not just a bit of Homeric and Indo-European linguistic trivia, but an important rhetorical device in the description of ancient Greek ritual.