Chorus and Ritual Up to now, my analysis of the chorus has been mainly morphological; I have described its internal organization and defined the positions and roles assigned to each of its participants. The relationship between choregos and chorus-members is at the heart of the ensemble. The function of the choregos is […]
Morphology of the Lyric Chorus {18|19} The first step in comprehending what unites the participants in the choral performance is to study the various elements that make up a female lyric chorus during the Archaic period. To understand not only the formal character, but also the dynamic aspect of this unity, I […]
Introduction The research presented here has its origins in the philological controversy carried on for the last hundred years concerning the poem generally known as the “first Partheneion” by Alcman; following tradition, the fragment is the first of the poems attributed to Alcman in the Poetae Melici Graeci edited by D.L. Page […]
Editor’s Foreword {v|vi} Building on the foundations of scholarship within the disciplines of philology, philosophy, history, and archaeology, this series spans the continuum of Greek traditions extending from the second millennium B.C.E. to the present, not just the Archaic and Classical periods. The aim is to enhance perspectives by applying various disciplines […]
Bibliography Andersen, Ø. 1976. “Some Thoughts on the Shield of Achilles.” Symbolae Osloenses 51:5-18. Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon: Poetic Problems in Homer’s Odyssey. Berkeley and Los Angeles. ———. 1991. “The Wedding Text in Homer’s Odyssey.” Arion (third series) 1:227-243. […]
Chapter 4. Homeric Responses [1] The Shield of Achilles: Ends of the Iliad and Beginnings of the Polis Homer critics have begun to interpret the resolution of the Iliad in Book 24, at the end of the epic, as a reflection of a new spirit that emerges from the heroic tradition […]
Chapter 3. Homeric Responses [1] Irreversible Mistakes and Homeric Clairvoyance In “oral poetry,” mistakes can and do happen in the process of composition-in-performance. Such mistakes, including major mistakes in narration, are documented in the fieldwork of Milman Parry and Albert Lord on South Slavic oral poetic traditions. [2] For a striking […]
Chapter 2. Homeric Responses [1] Homeric Rhapsodes and the Concept of Diachronic Skewing Throughout this book, I maintain that the traditions of rhapsodic performance are essential for understanding the evolution of Homeric composition. Such an understanding, however, is impeded by various assumptions about rhapsodes as performers of Homer. Here I challenge […]
Chapter 1. Homeric Responses [1] In Odyssey 8.72-83, the first song of Demodokos, we see a link between the oracular clairvoyance of Apollo and the poetic composition of Homer. Such a link, where the god’s prophecy is equated with the plot of the poet’s narrative, is relevant to the word “responses” in […]
Introduction. Homeric Responses Four Questions Question 1: About synchronic and diachronic perspectives The terms “synchronic” and “diachronic” stem from a distinction established by a pioneer in the field of linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure. [1] For Saussure, synchrony and diachrony designate respectively a current state of a language and a phase […]