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… 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… 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,… 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. 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… 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… 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… Read more
3. Greek Colonization Before Alexander In addition to trade and exploration, the Greeks encountered Africa through colonization. As early as 800 BCE, there were Greek settlements outside Greece. Asia Minor was the focus on the earliest Greek colonization, followed by Sicily and southern Italy. Settlements in northern… Read more
4. Imperialism: The Persians and Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was not the first foreign ruler to seize power in Egypt. From 760–656 BCE, Egypt was ruled by the twenty-fifth Dynasty and those kings came from the Kingdom of Kush in Nubia. [1]… Read more
5. Imperialism: Rome Rome’s involvement with Africa began with a conflict over power in Sicily. The island lay between Italy and Africa and became the catalyst for Rome’s first conflict with the North African city of Carthage, which was a growing naval power in the third century… Read more
