Milan-Heude, Johan <br/><br/>
Erotic Taming in Archaic Poetry 

 -  2023.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 49 
<br/><br/> From an IE root *demh2-, to submit by force, Greek knows multiple forms, identified as a whole and related to the δάμνημι family, to tame. The construction and the complements of the verb inform us on the parties involved in the relationship, along with their ambiguities, places and means of action (e.g. φιλότης, bed). Its diathesis allocates roles: the middle voice is fitting for supreme erotic forces (desire and its deities), while active voice creates a displacement allowing a kind of disengagement, requested or not. Participial suffixes are also meaningfully distributed: (ὑπο)δμηθεῖσα involves a definitive taming, that brings order within a given heroic or cosmic narrative, while δαμείς applies to dominant figures, who happen to be only temporarily or seemingly tamed: the use of δαμείς thus implies a positive connotation. Lastly, the verb is used in a gendered manner to refer to various forms of violence: to a man, it denotes a warrior and heroic domination, to a woman, its meaning is erotic. Sexual desire is one face of domination.