The shade of Homer : a study in modern Greek poetry

In exploring the significance of Homer for the poetry of Modern Greece, Dr. Ricks is tackling a theme that has implications for the study of poetic influence in general. He takes the work of Sikelianos, Cavafy and Seferis and subjects a selection of poems that deal with specifically Homeric themes to a careful scrutiny. All Greek is translated, modern poets from outside Greece find their way into the discussion, and the reader has no need to be a specialist in Greek to find this study absorbing and instructive. In exploring the significance of Homer for the poetry of modern Greece - benign shade or looming shadow? - Dr Ricks is tackling a theme that has implications for the study of poetic influence in general. In this 1989 book, he takes the work of Sikelianos, Cavafy and Seferis and subjects a selection of poems to a careful scrutiny. These poems are not imitations of Homer but fresh engagements with Homeric themes, and comparison of the modern versions with the original is found to be illuminating for the poets' methods of composition. Dr Ricks does not lose sight of the larger significance of his subject, and modern poets from outside Greece - Eliot and Pound, in particular - find their way into the discussion. All Greek is translated and the reader has no need to be a specialist in modern or in ancient Greek to find this study absorbing and instructive CONTENTS......Page 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 7 PREFACE......Page 8 Introduction : Homer and the modern Greek poets......Page 14 1 Kalvos and Solomos......Page 32 2 Archaism and kleftism......Page 49 3 Palamas......Page 61 4 The Homeric inheritance......Page 70 5 Greek romanticism comes of age......Page 78 6 Beyond Homer......Page 88 7 Modes of misquotation......Page 98 8 Ancient days......Page 104 9 Homer into history......Page 127 10 Scholia......Page 132 11 Ulysses/Disseas......Page 138 12 Homer and the poetic vocation......Page 148 13 Beyond the folk tradition......Page 160 14 Spirit and letter in "The King of Asine"......Page 171 Reflections......Page 186 FURTHER READING......Page 194 REFERENCES......Page 196 INDEX......Page 202 In exploring the significance of Homer for the poetry of modern Greece Dr Ricks is tackling a theme that has implications for the study of poetic influence in general. In this 1989 book he takes the work of Sikelianos, Cavafy and Seferis and subjects a selection of poems that deal with specifically Homeric themes to a careful scrutiny. If modern Greece has an intellectual Founding Father it is without doubt Adamandios Korais (Coray) (1748-1833), a textual scholar of international renown and a liberal ideologue with a deep influence on the attitudes of independent Greece. David Ricks. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 181-188.