Rediscovering Homer: Inside the Origins of the Epic
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.73 (540 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0393330192 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Both good and original--but that which is original is not good" according to Daniel Gunter. In "Rediscovering Homer," Andrew Dalby asserts that the epics attributed to Homer "are better--more subtle, more complex, more universal--than most others" because they were (he contends) written by a woman.This assertion clearly rests on Dalby's belief that w. Why you might want to read this study This is no book of an afternoon. It challenges even a hell educated reader, indeed its roots are such that they are deeper than many PhD's in literature are capable of delving.Three clearly different segments, notes, a guide to other readings, and a bibliograp. Back to Troy This is very interesting book that discusses how the Iliad and the Odyssey came to be composed written down and preserved for posterity. An interesting sideline was whether or not Homer was a man or a woman.The starting point for scholarship is the Iliad which
Andrew Dalby is an historian and linguist with a long-standing interest in oral literature. He has written about food, wine, and pleasure in the ancient world. . He lives in France
While Dalby, a historian and linguist, excels in his discussion of the transformation from oral to written poetry and of the single-author theory for the Iliad and the Odyssey, his case for Homer's sex is discursive and full of speculation. The strongest chapter, "The Iliad and History," is a thrilling account of the evidence in support of an actual Trojan War, much of it built on Joachim Latacz's Troy and Homer. Most fascinating of all is Dalby's elegant elucidation of the Iliad's "Catalogue of Ships" passage, whose formulaic language contains time signatures of both Bronze Age Greece (the period when Troy was sacked) and of t
"Dalby's book and his bibliography provide a superb introduction to the debate surrounding these poems."Lisa Montanarelli, San Francisco Chronicle Scholar Andrew Dalby delves into the world that first heard the Odyssey and the Iliad, asking new questions about the poet named Homer. Dalby asks why and how the two great epics crossed the frontier from song to writing while finding new approaches to the personality of Homer and showing how the earliest evidence has been misread. Rediscovering Homer follows the growth of the legend of Troy from a kernel of historical truth into an unforgettable story that a succession of singers re-created for generations of audiences. He makes a powerful case that both poems are the work of a single poet, but it is his conclusion that will surprise even serious cl