5. Aristarchean Questions: Emerging Certainties about the Finality of Homer’s Text* 5§1 The New Companion to Homer, edited by Ian Morris and Barry Powell (1997), is bad company, for the most part. [1] Such is the opinion of Richard Janko in his review of this book, which had been meant to replace A Companion to Homer, edited… Read more
4. Editing the Homeric Text: Different Methods, Ancient and Modern* 4§1 Martin West published in 2001 a book that supplements his 1998/2000 edition of the Homeric Iliad. [1] It serves as a vehicle for explaining (1) his overall editorial stance and (2) the differences between his edition and those of his predecessors. My essay here concentrates on… Read more
3. Editing the Homeric Text: West’s Iliad* 3§1 Martin West’s edition of the Homeric Iliad (volume 1 / 1998; volume 2 / 2000) is not, and cannot be, the last word. Still, it serves its purpose in presenting a reconstruction of what one man deems to be the definitive text. The question remains, though: how do you define what exactly is definitive… Read more
2. The Homeric Text and Problems of Multiformity* 2§1 The multiformity of Homeric poetry is a sign of its prehistory as oral traditional poetry. This insight stems from the work of Milman Parry [1] and Albert Lord. [2] Multiformity, according to Lord, is a basic feature of oral traditional poetry. [… Read more
1. The Quest for a Definitive Text of Homer: Evidence from the Homeric Scholia and Beyond* 1§1 As of this writing, Homeric scholarship has not yet succeeded in achieving a definitive text of either the Iliad or the Odyssey. Ideally, such a text would encompass the full historical reality of the Homeric textual tradition as it evolved through time, from the pre-Classical… Read more
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] I§1 The Homer of Homer’s Text and Language is a… Read more
Acknowledgments I offer my warmest thanks to Ryan Hackney, Casey Dué, and Christopher Dadian, to whom I am grateful for all their help in editing the final version of my text. I am also very grateful to Joycelyn Peyton, who created the index. I dedicate this book to my students, who inspire my research. Cover illustration: close-up from the Venetus A showing the first five verses… Read more
Bibliography Ahrens, H. L. “Das alkmanische partheneion des papyrus,” Philologus 27, 1868, pp. 241–285 and 577–629. Allen, T. W. (et al.). The Homeric Hymns, Oxford 21936. Aloni, A. L’aedo e i tiranni: Ricerche sull’ Inno omerico ad Apollo, Roma 1989. Arrigoni, G. “Donne e sport nel mondo greco: Religione e società,” in G. Arrigoni… Read more
Conclusion {263|264} After defining the essential semantic features of the participants in choral performances by women, an examination of their morphology clarified the relations that unite the members of this type of lyric group. The hierarchical relations uniting each of the chorus-members to the choregos (male or female) is doubled in the ties of equality that link these same chorus-members. These relationships were realized in the activity… Read more
The Function of the Lyric Chorus {206|207} The analysis of the female lyric chorus as to internal structure and connections to ritual and cult has shown it to play a frequent role in paying homage to deities. But above all it seems to have provided a vehicle for the intervention of gods into the human sphere, in conformity with the attributions of the divinity in question. The… Read more
