Homer: Poet of the IliadHomer: Poet of the "Iliad" is the perfect companion both for readers deepening their appreciation of the poem and its form and for those encountering Homer's work for the first time. Mark Edwards combines the advantages of a general introduction and a detailed commentary to make the insights of recent Homeric scholarship accessible to students and general readers as well as to classicists. Since interpretation of the epic requires an understanding of the ancient oral tradition and its conventions, Edwards offers a comprehensive analysis of the poetics of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also discusses essential elements of Homeric society -- its religion, history, and social values -- to clarify the style and substance of the poetry. In the second half of the book, Edwards's scene-by-scene explication of ten major books of the Iliad leads the reader to a greater perception of Homer's mastery and manipulation of convention. |
Contents
The Scale and Structure of the Poems | 7 |
The Bard Oral Poetry and Our Present Text | 15 |
The Techniques of Oral Poetry | 21 |
Copyright | |
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Achilles action Aeneas Aeneid Agamem Agamemnon Ajax Alcinous Andromache anger Antilochus Aphrodite Apollo appear armor AtĂȘ Athena audience bard battle begins Book 16 Book 22 Book 9 Characteristics of Homeric characters Commentaries corpse dead Demodocus described Diomedes direct speech divine duel effect emotional epic episode example fate father Fenik fight final foreshadowing formulaic funeral Further Reading gifts gives Glaucus goddess gods Greek grief Hector Helen Hephaestus Hera hero hero's Hesiod Homeric Poetry honor horses human Iliad Book important killed king lament later Menelaus mighty mortal motif narrative Nestor Odysseus's Odyssey paradigm Paris Patroclus Patroclus's death Peleus perhaps Phaeacians Phoenix phrase plot poem poet poet's Poseidon present Priam reminder Sarpedon says scene shield ships simile singer soliloquy song spear story suitors supplication tale technique Telemachus tells Thetis thought tion Trojan War Trojans Troy type-scenes usual verse victory wife words wounded Zeus Zeus's