Rediscovering Homer.

XXVII, 266 Seiten / p., Beilage Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langjährigem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - sehr guter Zustand / very good condition - Beilage / supplement: Rezension / review - The Iliad and the Odyssey - the enduring classics of archaic Greek epic tradition - are the first and greatest works in the Western canon. For generations, audiences, scholars, and schoolchildren have pored over their pages, and their stories have become a deeply embedded part of our collective cultural knowledge. But the origins of the most famous epics in all of Western poetry are shrouded in mystery: What was their purpose, and who was likely to read them? When were they written? Most importantly: Who was their author? -- One thing is certain: the legendary poet Homer, said to have created these epics, lived long before the use of writing. And as is the inherent nature of oral tradition, he, and the subsequent performers of his poems, would have created his tales afresh with each recital. Inevitably, oral epics pass from one generation to the next with subtle, accumulated alterations. For all of them, the moment of composition has to be the moment of writing. The author of the Iliad and the Odyssey cannot be Homer, though to this day we are still temped to use his name. -- In Rediscovering Homer, Andrew Dalby challenges this persistent error. It is too easy a mistake, he argues, and it is misleading because it helps us to make the usual assumption that their creator was male. In fact, we know nothing about the creator of these epics—not even the poet’s gender. Further, they show a certain style and a deep understanding of Greek gender conflict that is distinctly feminine. What if, argues Dalby, the author was a woman? -- On the road to this bold assertion, Dalby asks afresh what these epics have to offer to us. He explores the traditional story of Troy, of Paris and Helen, of Achilles and Agamemnon, and why the Iliad was created from it, and he investigates the gender issues and social concerns embedded in the Odyssey. He explores the circumstances in which epics from oral tradition are recorded in writing and considers what this must mean for the origin of these epics. Why, for instance, did someone decide, on both these occasions, not to create a poem orally and earn food and applause for it, but to write it? Why are they so much longer than anything a poet would create for an audience? Who was the patron who fed the poet and supplied the ink and goatskins that had to be covered with writing? -- The mysterious poet must surely have taken pride in the result . Why is there no record of the way in which the poet worked? Why are the poems themselves totally anonymous? What reaction was expected from their first readers? Finally, how are we to read, enjoy, and evaluate epic poetry of the distant past? -- Ultimately, the conclusion that the author of the Hiad and the Odyssey may have been female not only helps to elucidate the origin of both epics but also suggests why the Odyssey, created later, with greater maturity and freedom, dares to pose questions about human relationships that the Iliad and rival epics never do. The poet had begun to realize that because her work, almost uniquely, was recorded in writing, she was addressing a vast additional audience that could seldom be reached in public performances in a secluded society: an audience of women. -- Rediscovering Homer is a book for every reader and every potential reader of the Iliad and the Odyssey, for all who are interested in the origins ofWestern literature, and for all who are concerned with gender issues at the roots of literary creativity. It will shake loose your assumptions about these great works of poetry. It will lead you back to them with fresh eyes and an open mind.