Pre-Homeric Semantics

Abstract

One frequently encounters the word "friend" in Homer. All the dictionaries say that this word, which is purely social, does not mean "friend" but "comrade." The original means companion, comrade-in-arms, associate. Thus, it says that Nestor is "lining up his friends" (i.e., his army).1 Idomeneus promises Agamemnon to remain his "friend," although in meaning he is an "ally."2 In the Odyssey Antinous says: "Give me a fast ship and twelve friends,"3 where the meaning is "friends," of course, not "comrades-in arms." The term has even more nuances in the scene of selecting a companion for Diomedes: Agamemnon suggests that Diomedes select a friend for himself for the imminent attack.