The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The two Homeric poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, have long been considered masterpieces, and their influence on subsequent Greek and Western literature has been immense. An international team of experts discusses the poems, their background and composition, and subsequent reception to the present day. Each chapter features contemporary critical insights and closes with a guide to further reading on the topic. As A Creative Medium, Ancient Greek Tragedy Has Had An Extraordinarily Wide Influence: Many Of The Surviving Plays Are Still Part Of The Theatrical Repertoire, And Texts Like Agamemnon, Antigone, And Medea Have Had A Profound Effect On Western Culture. This Companion Is Not A Conventional Introductory Textbook But An Attempt, By Seven Distinguished Scholars, To Present The Familiar Corpus In The Context Of Modern Reading, Criticism, And Performance Of Greek Tragedy. There Are Three Main Emphases: On Tragedy As An Institution In The Civic Life Of Ancient Athens, On A Range Of Different Critical Interpretations Arising From Fresh Readings Of The Texts, And On Changing Patterns Of Reception, Adaptation, And Performance From Antiquity To The Present. Each Chapter Can Be Read Independently, But Each Is Linked With The Others, And Most Examples Are Drawn From The Same Selection Of Plays. Pt.1. Tragedy As An Institution : The Historical Context. 'deep Plays' : Theatre As Process In Greek Civic Life / Paul Cartledge -- A Show For Dionysus / P. E. Easterling -- The Audience Of Athenian Tragedy / Simon Goldhill -- The Pictorial Record / Oliver Taplin -- Pt.2. The Plays. The Sociology Of Athenian Tragedy / Edith Hall -- The Language Of Tragedy : Rhetoric And Communication / Simon Goldhill -- Form And Performance / P. E. Easterling -- Myth Into Muthos : The Shaping Of Tragic Plot / Peter Burian -- Pt.3. Reception. From Repertoire To Canon / P. E. Easterling -- Tragedy Adapted For Stages And Screens : The Renaissance To The Present / Peter Burian -- Tragedy In Performance : Nineteenth- And Twentieth-century Productions / Fiona Macintosh -- Modern Critical Approaches To Greek Tragedy / Simon Goldhill. Edited By P.e. Easterling. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 359-379) And Index. Pt. 1. The poems and their narrator. The Iliad : an unpredictable classic / Donald Lateiner ; The Odyssey and its explorations / Michael Silk ; The story-teller and his audience / Ruth Scodel -- pt. 2. The characters. The Gods in the Homeric epics / Emily Kearns ; Manhood and heroism / Michael Clarke ; Gender and Homeric epic / Nancy Felson and Laura Slatkin -- pt. 3. The poet's craft. Formulas, metre and type-scenes / Matthew Clark ; Similes and other likenesses / Richard Buxton ; The speeches / Jasper Griffin -- pt. 4. Text and context. Epic as genre / John Miles Foley ; The epic tradition in Greece / Ken Dowden ; Homer's society / Robin Osborne ; The Homeric question / Robert Fowler -- pt. 5. Homeric receptions. Homer and Greek literature / Richard Hunter ; Roman Homer / Joseph Farrell ; Homer and English epic / Penelope Wilson ; Homer and the Romantics / Timothy Webb ; Homer and Ulysses / Vanda Zajko ; Homer : the history of an idea / James I. Porter ; "Shards and suckers" : contemporary receptions of Homer / Lorna Hardwick ; Homer in English translation / George Steiner The Cambridge Companion to Homer is a guide to the essential aspects of Homeric criticism and scholarship, including the reception of the poems in ancient and modern times. Written by an international team of scholars, it is intended to be the first port of call for students at all levels, with introductions to important subjects and suggestions for further exploration. Alongside traditional topics like the Homeric Question, the divine apparatus of the poems, the formulae, the characters and the archaeological background, there are detailed discussions of similes, speeches, the poet as story-teller and the genre of epic both within Greece and worldwide. The reception chapters include assessments of ancient Greek and Roman readings as well as selected modern interpretations from the eighteenth century to the present day. Chapters on Homer in English translation and 'Homer' in the history of ideas round out the collection Ever since antiquity the two Homeric poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, have been considered to be masterpieces, and their influence on subsequent Greek and Western literature has been immense. In this volume an international team of scholars discusses the poems, their background and composition and, most originally, their subsequent reception down to the present day. Each chapter communicates the best of contemporary scholarship and offers new critical insights of its own, and closes with a guide to further reading on the topic. -- from back cover 0.pdf......Page 1 1......Page 21 2......Page 29 3......Page 49 4......Page 63 5......Page 75 6......Page 90 7......Page 107 8......Page 131 9......Page 153 10......Page 170 11......Page 183 12......Page 200 13......Page 218 14......Page 232 15......Page 245 16......Page 264 17......Page 282 18......Page 297 19......Page 321 20......Page 334 21......Page 354 22......Page 373 23......Page 386 24......Page 388 25......Page 425 9780521423519_index......Page 0 This book presents ancient Greek tragedy in the context of late-twentieth-century reading, criticism and performance. The twelve chapters, written by seven distinguished scholars, cover tragedy as an institution in the civic life of ancient Athens, a range of approaches to the surviving plays, and changing patterns of reception, adaptation and performance from antiquity to the present. This is a guide to the essential aspects of Homeric criticism and scholarship, including the reception of the poems in ancient and modern times. It is intended as a useful starter for students at all levels, with introductions to important subjects and suggestions for further exploration Seven distinguished scholars attempt to present the familiar corpus in the context of modern reading, criticism and performance of Greek tragedy. They examine changing patterns of reception and performance from antiquity to the present Edited By Robert Fowler. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 378-414) And Indexes.