Homer's People - Epic Poetry and Social Formation

This is the first study to examine in detail the role and character of Homers people (Greek laoi) in Homeric storytelling, arguing that Homeric poetry is crucially concerned with the people as a basis for communal life. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey are read as sustained meditations on the processes involved in protecting and destroying the people. The investigation draws on a wide range of approaches from formulaic analysis to the study of early performance contexts.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. Laoi in early Greek hexameter poetry; 2. Homer's people; 3. Laos epic in performance; Appendix A. Epic formulae; Appendix B. Ritual formulae.

Summary

The first study to examine the role and character of Homer's people in Homeric story-telling, arguing that Homeric poetry is crucially concerned with the people as a basis for communal life. The Iliad and The Odyssey are read as meditations on the processes involved in protecting and destroying the people.

Product details

• Authors: Johannes Haubold
• Assisted by: P. E. Easterling (Editor), M. K. Hopkins (Editor)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.02.2011
• EAN: 9780521770095
• ISBN: 978-0-521-77009-5
• No. of pages: 258
• Dimensions: 145 mm x 222 mm x 19 mm
• Weight: 499 g
• Series: Cambridge Classical Studies
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies