Prestige and Interest: Feasting and the King at Mycenaean Pylos

by Dimitri Nakassis

Hesperia, Volume 81, Issue 1
Page(s): 1-30
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.81.1.0001
Year: 2012
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ABSTRACT:

In this article the author examines the politics of Mycenaean feasting through an analysis of three Linear B texts from the “Palace of Nestor” at Pylos that concern regional landholdings and contributions to a feast. Consideration of scribal practices, the political situation in Late Bronze Age Messenia, and historical parallels suggests that these tablets relate to the king of Pylos (the wanax) in his official and personal capacities. The scribal alternation between the title of the wanax and his name can consequently be seen as an effort to manipulate the dichotomy between his official and personal roles in order to emphasize his generosity.