Appendix A. μήδεα and ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώc Within the framework of Homeric diction, the noun μήδεα can mean either ‘thoughts, schemes’ (as in Γ 202) or ‘genitals’ (as in σ 67). There are many typological parallels to such a semantic ambivalence in μήδεα. For example, Old High German gimaht may mean either ‘faculty’ or ‘genitals’. Notice too that the Greek word for ‘sexual coming of age’, ἥβη,… Read more
Appendix B. Dovetailing: Speculations on Mechanics and Origins Glyconics, among other Greek meters, ‘dovetail’ forward. [1] That is, the word-break at the end of one Glyconic can be skipped and transferred to the position after the first long/short (⏓) of a following Glyconic: regular pattern 1̄̆ 2̄̆ 3̄ 4̆ 5̆ 6̄ 7̆ 8̄̆||1̄̆ 2̄̆ 3̄ 4̆ 5̆ 6̄ 7̆ 8̄̆ … Read more
Selected Bibliography Albano-Leoni, F. 1968. “Su alcune corrispondenze formulari omerico-vediche.” Orientalia Suecana 17:137–154. Allen, A., and Frel, J. 1972. “A Date for Corinna.” Classical Journal 68:26–30. Allen, W. S. 1966. “Prosody and Prosodies in Greek.” Transactions of the Philological Society 1966:107–148. ———. 1967. “Correlations of Tone and Stress in Ancient Greek.” To Honor Roman… Read more
Vico’s Prescient Evolutionary Model for Homer Steven M. Berry Verisimilia namque vera inter et falsa sunt quasi media. “For indeed, probabilities [i.e., things that seem true] are midway, more or less, between true things and false things.” – Giambattista Vico, De nostri temporis Studiorum Ratione (1709) Tutte l’antiche storie profane hanno favolosi in princìpi. “All the profane stories of antiquity were… Read more
1. Prophet of Modern Oral-Evolutionary Theories In this essay, I shall be examining the cultural and historical theories of Giambattista Vico (1668–1744), as he applies them to Homer. I shall focus particularly on the daring arguments through which Vico constructs a detailed scientific answer to the so-called “Homeric Question.” He elaborates most fully upon this “revelation” in Book III of Principi di Scienza Nuova d’intorno alla comune… Read more
2. Vico’s Homeric Ékphrasis What, exactly, is Vico hoping to accomplish by including his perspective on the Homeric Question in his historical argument in the Scienza Nuova? At first blush, the subject of Homer does not fit that naturally within his greater forensic framework (cf. Aristotle’s ideal, as he expresses it in the opening of the Poetics, 1447a10: legômen … kata phusin, “let us discourse … in… Read more
Bibliography Primary Texts Allen, T. W., ed. 1969. Homeri Opera. 5 vols. Oxford. Campbell, D. A., ed. 1972. Greek Lyric Poetry. Glasgow. Dover, K. J., ed. 1971. Theocritus. Select Poems. Glasgow. Erbse, H., ed. 1969. Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem. 4 vols. Berlin. Evelyn-White, H. G., ed. 1970. Hesiod. The… Read more
Introduction The Mediterranean Sea connects Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More properly, the Mediterranean connects people in these regions who are in reasonable proximity to the coast (or have access to it via rivers) and who have the ability to travel by water. As soon as these conditions were met, cultural exchange began. This exchange took numerous forms. Among them were trade, colonization, invasion, and tourism. Read more
1. Early Greek Contact with Africa The earliest known contact between Greece and Africa occurred in the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth century BCE, when the Minoans began to trade with Egypt. The first narratives mentioning Greek contact with Africa are in the Homeric poems, which date to the eighth century BCE. The Homeric poems contain reflections of Bronze Age civilization, although the poems themselves are… Read more
2. Geographers and Ethnographers on Africa Interest in what lay beyond the boundaries of their own society led Greek geographers to conduct systematic explorations and produce maps. Fascination with the peoples who inhabited remote regions spawned the genre of ethnography (literally “writing about tribes”). For these geographers and ethnographers, Africa represented one of the most remote places on earth. 2.1 The Edges of the Earth … Read more
