Pastoral oikonomia

On the mountains, among other pre-Olympian gods – and especially Hermes – lived young Artemis, the girl hunter with thundering feet, bow and arrows, protector of the nymphs and nubile girls. In the Homeric cosmos of the late seventh to eighth century BC the gods were still closely associated with cattle: Zeus, for instance, famously transforms into a bull, Hermes is a cattle-thief, Apollo a cowherd, and so forth. In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Hermes’ song as to how the divine allotment took place is interrupted (at 436–8) by Apollo, who addresses him in the following manner: βουϕόνϵ, μηχανιῶτα, πονϵύμϵνϵ, δαιτὸς ἑταῖρϵ. Apostolos N. Athanassakis (2004) translates vividly as follows: ‘scheming cattle slayer, industrious comrade of the feast [daitos]’. While there is a certain consensus as to the dating of the epic poems within the range of the late seventh to eighth centuries bc, it remains of use to briefly refer to related elements of the pastoral practices during preceding periods (in particular, the Minoan of c. 2700–1450 bc, the Mycenaean of c. 1600–1100 BC and the so-called ‘dark ages’ of c. 1100–800 bc, namely the interim period that followed the palatial collapse). In fact, scholars have speculated, with caution, as to the peculiar nature of certain elements met in the Homeric epics by comparing possible similarities and differences in relation to earlier ages. After all, the part of the ‘economy’ that is ‘pastoral’ appears to enjoy some continuity of general practice across the ages, yet with varied intensity and significance.

While a commonplace assumption, it is misleading to suppose that, for instance, the earlier period of the bronze age Aegean was an example of ‘primitive pastoralism’, since ‘pastoralism’ was already highly administered and efficient. Marie-Louise B. Nosch writes: