Rediscovering Homer

Rediscovering Homer

"Rediscovering Homer" is a 2006 book by Andrew Dalby. It sets out the problems of origin, dating and authorship of the two ancient Greek epics, "Iliad" and "Odyssey", usually attributed to Homer. "Rediscovering Homer" originated as a development and expansion of two academic papers published in the 1990s in which Dalby argued that the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" must be seen as belonging to the same world as that of the early Greek lyric poets but to a less aristocratic genre. ["The Iliad, the Odyssey and their audiences" in "Classical quarterly" NS vol. 45 no. 2 (1995); "Homer's enemies: lyric and epic in the seventh century" in "Archaic Greece: new approaches and new evidence" ed. Nick Fisher and Hans van Wees (London: Duckworth, 1998).] This contradicted a widespread assumption that the epics come from an older stage of civilization and literature than the personal poetry of Archilochus, Sappho and others.

Returning to these themes, Dalby summarizes the contents and significance of the two epics and hypothesizes the transmission they probably followed, from oral invention and circulation to written versions.

He then spotlights the unknown poet who, long after the time of the traditional Homer, at last saw the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" recorded in writing. Dalby notes that "no early author describes or names the singer who saw these two poems written down. [An exception is the "Life of Homer" ascribed to Herodotus: in this evidently fictitious story Homer himself allows Thestorides of Phocaea to write down his poems.] We are given no sex and no name -- certainly not Homer, who is seen as a singer of the distant past." [Dalby, "Rediscovering Homer" quoted by Alberge, 2006.] Based on what we can judge of this poet's interests and on the circumstances in which oral poetry has been recorded elsewhere, "it is possible, and even probable, that this poet was a woman. As a working hypothesis, this helps to explain certain features in which these epics are better -- more subtle, more complex, more universal -- than most others." [Dalby, "Rediscovering Homer" quoted by Alberge, 2006.]

The idea is not new. Eustathius of Thessalonica recounted an ancient fiction in which both epics were composed by an Egyptian priestess, Phantasia; Samuel Butler, in "The Authoress of the Odyssey", attributed the "Odyssey" to a Sicilian woman of the 10th century BC, and Robert Graves in his novel "Homer's Daughter" made a similar proposal.

Even before the appearance of "Rediscovering Homer" the idea was dismissed as "far-fetched" by Anthony Snodgrass on the grounds that a woman would have been "bored out of her mind" when composing the "Iliad". [Reported by Alberge, 2006.] Reviewers, even when praising the book, have continued to be sceptical of this proposal:

Notes

Bibliography

*Harvard reference | Surname=Dalby | Given=Andrew | Authorlink=Andrew Dalby | Title=Rediscovering Homer | Publisher=Norton | Place=New York, London | Year=2006 | ISBN=0393057887
*Alberge, Dalya, " [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2251270.html Scholar takes Homer on new odyssey -- into womanhood] " in "The Times" (London), 1 July 2006.

Reviews

*Carr, Jonathan, " [http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=13207&m=A29&aa=1&eidos=A The elusive first poet(ess)] " in "Athens News" 3 November 2006, p. 29.
*Leigh, Matthew, "Line endings" in "Times Literary Supplement" (London) 18 May 2007, p. 4.
*Palaima, Tom, "A classical example of a man getting credit for what must have been a woman's work" in "Times Higher" (London) 12 January 2007, pp. 22-23.
*Pulleyn, Simon, "Siren songs from the wind-dark sea" in "Scotland on Sunday" 24 September 2006.
*Sutherland, John, "A Trojan horse for many courses" in "Financial Times: FT Magazine" 7 October 2006, p. 34.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Homer — This article is about the Greek poet Homer and the works attributed to him. For other meanings, see Homer (disambiguation). Homeric redirects here. For other uses, see Homeric (disambiguation). See also: English translations of Homer …   Wikipedia

  • Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus) — The Life of Homer mdash; its unknown author is referred to as Pseudo Herodotus mdash; is one among several ancient biographies of the Greek epic poet, Homer. It is distinguished from the others by the fact that it contains, in its first lines,… …   Wikipedia

  • Homère — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Homère (homonymie). Homère …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Andrew Dalby — (born Liverpool, 1947) is an English linguist, translator and historian who most often writes about food history.Dalby studied at the Bristol Grammar School, where he learned some Latin, French and Greek; then at the University of Cambridge.… …   Wikipedia

  • Homeridae — The Homeridae were a family, clan or professional lineage claiming descent from the legendary Greek epic poet Homer.The origin of the name seems obvious: in classical Greek the word should mean children of Homer . An analogous name, Asclepiadae …   Wikipedia

  • Aoidos — means singer in classical Greek. In modern Homeric scholarship aoidos is used by some as the technical term for a skilled oral epic poet in the tradition to which the Iliad and Odyssey are believed to belong. [Hence the English translators of… …   Wikipedia

  • Thestorides of Phocaea — was a legendary or semi legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed.Thestorides figures as a major character in the fictional Life of Homer fraudulently ascribed to Herodotus. According to this, when Homer… …   Wikipedia

  • Rhapsode — In classical Greece, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC and perhaps earlier, a rhapsode (ῥαψῳδός) was a professional performer of poetry, especially of epic poetry (notably the epics attributed to Homer) but also the wisdom and catalogue poetry …   Wikipedia

  • Mathias Murko — Matija Murko Matija Murko (dans ses publications françaises, Mathias Murko), (né le 10 Février 1861 à Drstelja, mort le 11 Février 1952 à Prague), chercheur originaire de Slovénie, fut spécialiste des traditions épiques serbo croates, surtout de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Matija Murko — (Mathias Murko dans ses publications françaises), né le 10 février 1861 à Drstelja et mort le 11 février 1952 à Prague, est un chercheur originaire de Slovénie, spécialiste des traditions épiques serbo croates, surtout de Bosnie Herzégovine. Son… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”