The Concept of Productive Ambiguity with Some Examples from Iliad 2

ABRITTA, ALEJANDRO

CLASSICA

Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Clássicos

Año: 2022 vol. 35 p. 1 - 16

0103-4316

Thegoal of this paper is to introduce and elucidate the concept of ?productiveambiguity? for the study of Homeric poetry and other literary texts. After theintroduction, I present a theoretical elucidation of the concept, starting froma general notion of ambiguity and identifying three features of productiveambiguity: its irresolvable character (no alternative can be ruled out ontextual or linguistic grounds), its persistence (both alternatives areappropriate to the context and contribute to the interpretation of the text),and its productivity (the ambiguity itself contributes to the interpretation ofthe text). In the third section, I analyze four passages from Iliad 2:2.73, 285, 340-349, and 807, studying in each the source of the ambiguity anddemonstrating that it fulfills the three features to be considered productive.