The essays in this collection addresses questions of intense interest in Homeric studies today: the questions of performance and poet-audience interaction, especially as depicted in idealized performances within the Iliad and the Odyssey; the ways in which epic incorporates material of diverse genres, such as women's laments, blame poetry, or folk tales; how the ideological balance of epic can change and be influenced by 'alternative ideologies' introduced through the incorporation of new material; the implications of the continuity of tradition for etymological studies; and how the traditional nature of epic affects textual criticism. The essays differ in focus and method, but all share one fundamental approach to Homer: an understanding of the Homeric tradition as a poetic system that expresses and preserves what is culturally important and a view of the Homeric epics as instances of a cultural tradition which they attempt to explore through the epics themselves and through the comparative, anthropological, and linguistic evidence they bring to bear on these texts. A unique collection that explores Homeric poetry through a variety of tools and approaches—linguistics, philology, cultural anthropology, sociology, textual criticism, and archeology—this volume will be of interest to all scholars and students of oral poetry and Classical literature.
| ISBN: | 9780847694242 |
| Publication date: | 13th May 1999 |
| Author: | Gregory Nagy, Brian W Breed |
| Publisher: | Rowman & Littlefield |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 264 pages |
| Series: | Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches |
| Genres: |
Poetry |