The Sardonic Smile: Nonverbal Behavior in Homeric Epic

In Sardonic Smile, Donald Lateiner examines every major variety of Homeric nonverbal behavior, especially those found in the Odyssey. Noting differences from modern gestures and attending to variation that results from gender, age, and status, Lateiner explores the silent language and what goes without saying among the heroes Odysseus, Telemakhos, and Penelope–but also the savage Kyklops, the suitors, and the servants. No previous work has thoroughly analyzed nonverbal behavior in Homeric epic. Gesture and posture, conscious and unconscious manipulation of space and time, and involuntary leakage, such as twitching and shivering, can intensify and underline–or contradict and ironize–the speech of characters and hexameter narrative.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book for 1995.