Homer: Poet of the Iliad

by Mark W. Edwards

Overview

Homer: 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 intorduction 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 traidtion 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, Edwardfs'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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801840166
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	02/01/1990
Series:	Greek Mythology Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.79(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark W. Edwards is professor of classics at Stanford University. He is the author of numerous articles on Homeric style.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Characteristics of Homeric Poetry
Chapter 1. The Bard, Oral Poetry, and Our Present Text
Chapter 2. Narrative: The Poet's Voice
Chapter 3. Language
Chapter 4. Meter and Formulae
Chapter 5. Word Order and Emphasis
Chapter 6. Story Patterns and Use of Myth
Chapter 7. Type-Scenes and Expansion
Chapter 8. Battle Scenes
Chapter 9. Description
Chapter 10. Speeches, Soliloquies, and Characterization
Chapter 11. Paradigms and Aphorisms
Chapter 12. Similes
Chapter 13. Metaphors
Chapter 14. Symbolism
Chapter 15. Sound
Chapter 16. Word Play and Significant Names
Chapter 17. gods, Fate, and Mortality
Chapter 18. Personification and Psychology
Chapter 19. Honor, Proper, Behavior, and Warfare
Chapter 20. History and Society
Part II. Commentaries
Chapter 21. Iliad Book 1
Chapter 22. Iliad Book 3
Chapter 23. Iliad Book 6
Chapter 24. Iliad Book 9
Chapter 25. Iliad Book 13
Chapter 26. Iliad Book 14
Chapter 27. Iliad Book 16
Chapter 29. Iliad Book 22
Chapter 30. Iliad Book 24
Afterword: The World-view of Homer
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Edwards makes reading Homer exciting and meaningful. He's alert to every aspect of his subject, including the problem of translations. His book is an indispensable companion for anyone keen on drawing from this great source of wisdom and delight.
—Christian Science Monitor

From the Publisher

Edwards makes reading Homer exciting and meaningful. He's alert to every aspect of his subject, including the problem of translations. His book is an indispensable companion for anyone keen on drawing from this great source of wisdom and delight.

Christian Science Monitor

Like many recent books on the Iliad , this one attempts to introduce Homer to the uninitiated while also engaging the Greek scholar. Edwards's approach is stimulating: a detailed discussion of Homeric poetics in the first half prepares the reader for a lengthy commentary of ten out of 24 books. Such structure shows how meaning may be embedded in form, but too often the author's tabulations remain inert. Similarly, his commentary, though lively, at times fails to push criticism beyond identification of story patterns, type-scenes, and variations thereon. This book guides us through many of the poems structures but not to its greatness. Stephen Scully, Classical Studies Dept., Boston Univ.

Library Journal