Variations sémantiques autour de la mer, d’Homère à Eschyle

Overview & Synopsis

In this study of lexical semantics in the Aeschylus’ tragedies, we describe the phraseologic units which include some words referring to the ‘sea’ (especially the adjectives ἅλιος, ἐνάλιος, θαλάσσιος, πόντιος, ὑπερπόντιος and πελάγιος). We try to understand, on the one hand, how and why the sequences used by Homer change and, on the other hand, how and why another units, not found in the epic corpora, are used in Aeschylus’ tragedies. Afterwards, we propose to explain how work the synonymous links between these words. Thus, we approach the meaning as a global product of the utterance, analyzing the syntactic, lexical and enunciative levels. Finally, the poetic brilliance of Aeschylus, who reinvents consistently homeric legacy, can be observed through this study.