Studies
in Antiquity
Homer And:
Including the Odyssey
E
Bruce Brooks and Keith L Yoder
First,
there were the bards, singing their hero tales in return for supper and a night's
lodging, up and down the isles and towns of Ionia.
Then
came the poet we may agree to call Homer, who drew on those tales, and added new
material of his own, to make a poem which he himself called the Menis: The Rage
of Achilles. It had a single story line: an insult to Achilles, its resolution,
and its conclusion in Achilles' slaying of Hector. It omitted many traditional
tales (high school students who think they are going to read about the Trojan
Horse are invariably disappointed), but it did give a version of the war, and
posterity has called it the Iliad. To that poem were later added several scenes
and episodes, to further embroider the basic story. The final version was regularly
performed at Athens. It became Greece's textbook of itself, sold in bookstores
and annotated by schoolmasters.
Somewhere
along the line, there appeared a feminine counterpart to the Iliad. It picked
up not on the Iliad heroes, but on resourceful Odysseus and his fantastic adventures
as he finally returns to his faithful wife Penelope. It never achieved the national
status of the Iliad (only war can unify a nation), but it was became part of the
Homeric repertoire. The two poems influenced each other, becoming more compatible
as time passed: for one thing, the Odyssey became more violent, to more closely
counterpart the older poem..
This literary
history needs to be dug out of hints embedded in the two present texts. The performance
aspect, in particular, when adequately considered, creates a new basis for the
understanding of the poems. There are also insights based on a new type of stylistic
analysis, which shows more subtly how the speeches of the characters relate to
each other.
Thus did these two poems
eventually become the Iliad and Odyssey which we now have. Which is better: the
bitter anger and grand conclusion of the one, or the touching sentiment and subtle
satire of the other? Or maybe both? This book gives a closer opportunity for seeing
what each adds to the other, and how they function together as the abiding heritage
of one ancient people, and of the wider world.
Front
Matter
Cover
Halftitle,
with Advisors, 1-2
Title
Page and Verso, 3-4
Dedication,
5-6
Preface,
7-8
Contents,
9-10
1. Prolegomena, 11-20
Before
and After Homer, 21-22
Performance
Length
2. *Demodocus, 23-28 (Odyssey 8)
3. Agamemnon,
29-37 (Iliad 11)
4. *The Trojan War, 38-40 (Iliad 3-4)
Early
Survivals
5.*The
Ships, 41-43 (Iliad 2)
6. Helen,
44-45 (Iliad 20)
7. Aeneas,
46-47
Inherited
Personalities
8. *Diomedes, 48-50 (Iliad 5)
9. *Odysseus, 51-52
10.
Nestor,
53-54
Several
Late Passages
11.
Phoinix, 55 (Iliad 9)
12.
Thersites, 56-57 (Iliad 2)
13.
Dolon, 58-59 (Iliad 10)
The
Major Peace Additions
14.
The Shield of Achilles, 60-61 (Iliad 18)
15.
The Burial of Hector, 62-64 (Iliad 23-24)
16.
Adjustments, 66-68 (Iliad 11, 13, 16)
Last
Lines
17.
The Athenians, 69-72
Homer's
Own Work, 73-74
Basic
Structure
18.
*The Quarrel, 75-79 (Iliad 1)
19.*The
Menis, 80-81
20.*The
Greek Wall, 82-83 (Iliad 7, 12, 16)
Leftover
Characters
21.
Menelaos,
84-85 (Iliad 17)
22.
Hector,
86-87 (Iliad 15)
23.
Andromache,
88-89 (Iliad 6, 22, 24)
Sources
of Inconsistency
24.
Aias, 90-91
25.
Nastes, 92-93 (Iliad 2, 21)
26.
*Melanippos, 94-96
The
Formulas
27.Epithets,
97-98 (Odyssey 1)
28.Rosy-Fingered
Dawn, 99-106 (Iliad 1, 24, Odyssey)
29.
Exploits, 107-108
Homer's
Artistry
30.
Closure, 109-110
The
Odyssey, 111-112
A
New Beginning
31.The
Moral Universe, 113 (Odyssey 1)
Layout
32.
*Polis and Parlor, 114-115
33.
*Telemachus, 116-119 (Odyssey 1-4.15, 22)
Phaiakia
34.
*Calypso, 120-121 (Odyssey 5)
35.
*Athena, 122-123 (Odyssey 1, 5, 14)
36.
*Euryalos, 124-125 (Odyssey 5)
37.
Nausicaa, 126-127 (Odyssey 6-8)
Four
Adventures
38.
*The Cyclops, 128-130 (Odyssey 9)
39.
*Circe, 131-132 (Odyssey 10)
40.*Hades,
133-134 (Odyssey 11)
41.*Thrinakia,
135-136 (Odyssey 12)
Plotting
in Ithaka
42.
*Eumaios, 137-138 (Odyssey 14)
43.
Argos, 139
(Odyssey 18)
44.
*Eurycleia, 140-141 (Odyssey 19)
The
Crisis Nears
45.
*Theoclymenos, 142-143 (Odyssey 15, 17, 20)
46.The
Contest of the Bow, 144-145 (Odyssey 21)
Last
Questions
47.The
Death of the Suitors, 146-147 (Odyssey 22)
48.
*Recognition by Penelope, 148-152 (Odyssey 23)
49. *The
Meadow of Asphodel, 153-154 (Odyssey 24)
50.Father
and Son, 155-156 (Odyssey 24)
A
New Ending
51.Amity,
157-158 (Odyssey 24)
Retrospect,
159-150
52.
Epilegomena, 161-166
End Matter (167-168)
Summary, 169
Chronology, 170-171
Maps, 172-173
Interpolations in the Iliad, 174
Interpolations in the Odyssey, 175
Works Cited, 176-186
Passages Discussed, 187-189
Subject Index, 190-192
*Uses
the BIRD stylistic difference test which was introduced in the Prolegomena
Contact The
Editors / Exit to Excursions
Page