3. The Technology of Writing Favoring a very early, ninth-century BC origin and writing of Homeric poetry, [1] Ruijgh 1995 defended the view of a commensurately early derivation of the Greek alphabet ca. 1000 BC. [2] Hence, he pronounced the rightly famous argumentum ex silentio by Carpenter 1933 of no probatory value, because early writing substrates were perishable (wood, papyrus, and parchment)… Read more
2. Dictation Theories and Archaic Art Even as recently as 2001, when he published his Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad, M. L. West remained guarded and somewhat vague in his speculations about the circumstances that accompanied the (first) writing of the Iliad. On a few matters he had forcefully stated his opinion: “[f]ixity could come only when a text was written down”; “[a]pparently each epic was… Read more
1. Dictation Theories and Pre-Hellenic Literacy 1.1 Statement of the Problem The enduring fascination of the Homeric poems attests to their undeniable artistic integrity. These are not haphazard products, cobbled together unredacted by one or more editors from independently preexisting songs. The architecture of their themes and plot construction evince sophisticated long-distance correspondences that I would not hesitate to label prolepses and analepses. The patent artistic… Read more
Introduction This book studies the performance of Homeric poetry in Greece from the archaic period to Hellenistic and Roman imperial times. I focus on the rhapsode—on the changing nature of his training and recitation. My underlying claim is that a diachronic understanding [1] of this professional and his craft is possible only when he is seen in his archaic cultural connection to… Read more
Key to the Books of the Iliad and the Odyssey Α Iliad 1Β Iliad 2Γ Iliad 3Δ Iliad 4Ε Iliad 5Ζ Iliad 6Η Iliad 7Θ Iliad 8Ι Iliad 9Κ Iliad 10Λ Iliad 11Μ Iliad 12Ν Iliad 13Ξ Iliad 14Ο Iliad 15Π Iliad 16Ρ Iliad 17Σ Iliad 18Τ Iliad 19Υ Iliad 20Φ Iliad 21Χ Iliad 22Ψ Iliad 23Ω Iliad 24 … Read more
Acknowledgments Parentibus carissimis José Miguel et María Agustina Like Homeric poetry, this book has benefited from the hands of many masters. It is a pleasure to acknowledge here the debts I have incurred while writing it. I am grateful to the departments of Classical Studies at Harvard University, the University of Oregon, and Duke University, and to the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington D.C., where… Read more
III.1 Introduction §1. A number of similarities and differences between Attic drama and other parts of our corpus has naturally given rise to research questions and approaches that both converge and diverge. Tragedy and comedy share with Homeric epic and Pindaric song their poetic form and an original performative and ritual context. Dating from the fifth century BCE, these texts are close in time to the work of Pindar as… Read more
II.5 Particles and Anaphoric Reference: A discourse perspective on particles with third-person pronouns §1. In ancient Greek, pronouns and particles have a special relationship: the two are often found together and intrinsically connected. They are not only frequently adjacent, but they work together to guide the discourse, and may even form a single unit. II.2 demonstrates how the Homeric and Pindaric performers produce their discourse piecemeal, each piece adding a… Read more
II.4 Discourse Memory: The negotiation of shared knowledge §1. In the present chapter I discuss language that refers to the level of interaction not overtly, but through indirect means. This language is not self-referential, but rather marks the relation of the performer to the content in a manner that reveals his expectations about the knowledge of the audience. We are concerned here with the dimension of shared experience, shared knowledge,… Read more
II.3 Moves: Particles at discourse transitions §1. The present chapter builds directly on chapter II.2 and presupposes knowledge of its main points; our understanding of discourse acts is summarized in II.2.1.2. Greek particles reflect the production of discourse in cognitively manageable units – discourse acts – which are the building blocks of epic and lyric compositions. The analysis in II.2 reveals how a performer or author produces his work in… Read more
