Homeric Thumos: The Early History of Gender, Emotion, and Politics

Abstract

Although most political theories imply some view of the role of emotion in political life, some are hostile to emotion; and no general treatment of the emotional has yet been written in normative political theory. The theoretical study of political emotion should begin with the history of ancient Greek thumos as understood by Homer, who wrote free of the philosophical elevation of reason. Recent theorists have understood thumos as the angry and manly defense of one's own honor, family, and country. In Homer's Iliad, thumos motivates both men and women, participates in deliberation, and suggests not one disposition or emotion, but many emotions. The typical readings of ancient thumos neglect these elements in Homer, and fail to investigate the relationship between political regime and emotion. Employing recent studies of emotion, I articulate the mutual effect of political organization, morality, and emotional character focusing particularly on the story of Achilles.

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