In a number of passages in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homer introduces theomachoi, i.e. “those who battle with the gods”, or hoi proteroi – “the earlier ones”. This generation of heroes precedes the generation of the heroes of the Trojan war and differs from them by, e.g., possessing certain supernatural capacities and by encountering fantastic monsters. This essay discusses the appearances and the function of the theomachoi in the Homeric poems. It is argued that Homer’s consistent use of such tales creates a net of parallelisms between the proteroi and the heroes of the Trojan war, which prompts the reader’s deeper reflection on the latter’s choices and actions.

A Polish translation of Book 10 of Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, whose climactic part treats the deaths of Paris and Oenone. This foreshadows the first Polish translation of the whole of Quintus’ poem since the rendering by Jacek Idzi Przybylski published in Cracow in 1815.