Mycenaean Textile Memories in Homeric Terminology

The present paper aims at investigating continuity and disruption between Mycenaean and Homeric Greek in the field of technical terminology pertaining to the textile craft. The objective of the work is a reconsideration of the main verbs (ὑφαίνω, τολυπεύω, ῥάπτω, ἐπικλώθω), bearing the notion of "to weave", into these two phases of the Greek language. Surprisingly we can also highlight the semantic shift – in the reason of the different chronology and contexts of use – which characterises the textile terminology. We know, indeed, that the use of the terminology of work (particularly of the manual labour) in relation with the terminology for intellectual activities (planning, ideation, writing, playing music etc.) can be considered a topos in many Indo-European traditions. Following this path of reasoning, most of the terms in the Linear B tablets drawn for manufacturing crafts (such as carpentry or weaving) assume in the Homeric epics a metaphorical meaning.