THE IDEA OF FRIENDSHIP AND ENMITY IN THE “CYCLIC CORPUS”:FEATURES AND SPECIFICITY OF SEMANTICS

Vitalii E. Turenko

Email: vitali_turenko@knu.ua,

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0572-9119

Doctor of Science (Philosophy), Senior Researcher,

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/StudLing2025.26.121-132

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ABSTRACT

This article examines the concepts of friendship (philia, philotes, hetairos) and enmity (echthos, eris, neikos) in the fragments of the cyclic epic as key semantic categories of archaic Greek culture. The author argues that these notions serve both as narrative motifs and as conceptual tools that articulate social structure and legitimize knowledge, memory, and authority in heroic and pre-Socratic philosophical discourse. Friendship is presented as a multidimensional phenomenon, spanning from heroic hetairia (martial companionship) to pedagogical mentorship. It may even serve as an instrument of rhetorical manipulation or a mask for latent hostility. Particular attention is given to the figure of Kreophylos, who serves as a link between Homeric heritage and later philosophical traditions through the concept of philia.

The analysis of the fragments reveals the ambivalence of social proximity in archaic thought: kinship, friendship, and hospitality possess both constructive and destructive potential. The cyclic corpus exhibits a dynamic shift from authentic philia to deceptive surrounding enmity, clearly traceable in the mythological variations concerning Medea, Pythagoras, Homer, and his successors. The author demonstrates that the cyclic corpus establishes a unique semantic interplay between friendship and enmity that retains cultural significance in later phases of ancient philosophical thought або, для більш формального академічного стилю: in subsequent stages of ancient philosophical discourse

In conclusion, the article demonstrates that the notion of friendship in the cyclic corpus transcends the private emotional sphere, emerging as an essential tool of cultural transmission, epistemological continuity, and normative legitimation of knowledge. Through the lens of philia, the author traces moral topos and the genealogy of intellectual communities of the time, in which friendship functions as a structural condition of philosophical communication, the preservation of poetic canon, and the formation of an archaic model of truth.

Keywords: cyclic epic, friendship, enmity, philia, Greek archaic period, early Greek literature, semantics.

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