Abstract

The representation of twins in Indo-European texts is of special significance, and throughout various texts the myths are depicted following a common structure. Building upon Douglas Frame’s work regarding the Indo-European Twin Myth and Gregory Nagy’s work regarding Homer’s Iliad, I suggest that there is a new development upon the twin myth structure found in the Iliad. The common traits in the twin myth structure involve twins having different fathers; one twin has a mortal father and is a warrior, the other twin has an immortal father and is a healer. When the warrior twin perishes, the healer twin uses their craft to resurrect the fallen twin.  In my research, I propose that these twin myths always depict a yearning for immortality, and through examination of the chariot race in Book 23 of the Iliad illustrate a way in which Homer proposes one can attain immortality. Homer has used the common traits in the structure of the twin myth to suggest a comparable bond between generations in which one generation is able to resurrect past generations. In Homer’s account a young generation is able to resurrect past generations; with younger generations being similar to the healer twin resurrecting their warrior sibling. Homer’s account of the twin myth, however, doesn’t imply a physical resurrection of past generations. Instead, younger generations resurrect the mind (noos) of past generations and, by combining it with their corpus, give the minds of the deceased new life. In one word, my research suggests that Homer, using the structure of the Indo-European Twin Myth, has presented a possible method of attaining immortality where one’s mind does not necessarily perish with their body.