Homer and the Sacred CityThe importance of the polis in Homeric literature is most evident in the Iliad, a poem concerned in large measure with the holy city of Troy. Stephen Scully here deepens our understanding of both the poetic and the social significance of the city in Homer through a close analysis of the poem's formulaic language. Drawing on scholarship in literary studies, archaeology, and comparative religion, Scully demonstrates that it is the urban setting of the Iliad, as well as the collision of the individual fates of its characters, which generates its most profound tragic themes. |
Contents
The Sacred Polis | 16 |
The Walled Polis | 41 |
The People of the Polis | 54 |
Copyright | |
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Achaeans Achilles agora Anatolia Ancient Apollo appears astu Athena beginning body Book building built called catalogues century Chapter citadel city wall city-state city's Comparative considered construction context cult Culture death defense defined describes destroyed divine Early earth epic epithets equally evidence example expressed father fight formulaic gates goddess gods Greece Greek Hektor hero hieros Hittite holy Homer human Hymn Iliad Ilios Ionian Ithaca king land later London meaning mentioned Messenia mortal Mycenaean narrative nature occur Odyssey oikos once Origins palace Paris perhaps period phrase plain poem poleis polis political Priam protecting reference Religion sacred says scene settlements similar Smyrna social Society space speech stand story suggests Sumerian temple Thebes tion tower tradition Trojans Troy Troy's urban women York Zeus