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Homeric Poetics

from Part I - Homeric Song and Text

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2020

Edited by
Corinne Ondine Pache
Edited in association with
Casey Dué ,
Susan Lupack  and
Robert Lamberton
Corinne Ondine Pache
Affiliation:
Trinity University, San Antonio
Casey Dué
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Susan Lupack
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Robert Lamberton
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
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Summary

Starting from the demonstration by Milman Parry and Albert Lord that a complex traditional system developed over centuries for the composition in performance of epic song by deeply experienced poets is the engine of Homeric poetry, this essay describes the way that meaning is generated and can be identified within such a system. In all of the elements of the poem, from the smallest compositional unit (the line and its components) to the largest (the overall song consisting of many scroll-length songs each of which consists of concatenated themes), the experienced interpreter must grasp both its horizontal and vertical aspects ‒ in other words, an element’s place within the hierarchy of the whole as well as what differentiates any given element from its likes elsewhere in the tradition.

Keywords

masteryoral poeticsoriginalitycomplex systems
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Guide to Homer , pp. 21 - 35
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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