We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more
Request an Inspection Copy
Cover

Homer: A Very Short Introduction

Barbara Graziosi

28 March 2019

ISBN: 9780199589944

144 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

The Iliad and the Odyssey are the cornerstones of Western literature, inspiring artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers throughout history. Barbara Graziosi introduces Homer's key works and discusses the main literary, historical, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homeric studies.

Share:

Description

The Iliad and the Odyssey are the cornerstones of Western literature, inspiring artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers throughout history. Barbara Graziosi introduces Homer's key works and discusses the main literary, historical, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homeric studies.

  • Offers a guide to the main literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homer's works
  • Analyses Homer's key poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, and considers their themes
  • Considers the reception of Homer's work, and its influences on literature, art, cinema, and theatre throughout history
  • Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over seven million copies sold worldwide
  • Originally published in hardback as Homer

About the Author(s)

Barbara Graziosi, Professor of Classics, Durham University

Professor Barbara Graziosi teaches classics at Durham University. She is the author of Inventing Homer (Cambridge University Press, 2002), and together with Johannes Haubold she wrote Homer: The Resonance of Epic (Duckworth, 2005), and completed a commentary on Iliad 6 for the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics (Cambridge University press, 2010). Together with Emily Greenwood she edited Homer in the Twentieth Century: Between World Literature and the Western Canon (Oxford University Press, 2007), and she co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies (2009), along with George Boys-Stones and Phiroze Vasunia.

Table of Contents

    Introduction
    1:Looking for Homer
    2:Textual clues
    3:Material clues
    4:The poet in the poems
    5:The wrath of Achilles
    6:A poem about Troy
    7:The tragedy of Hector
    8:The man of many turns
    9:Women and monsters
    10:An infernal journey
    References
    Further reading
    Index

Reviews

"The author has perfectly mastered the material under investigation and, even when speaking of allusions in the Homeric text to other myths, she does not generally force the interpretation in an attempt to establish improbable chronologies... it is easy to appreciate Graziosi's clarity of presentation and ability to offer precise and brief definitions... the book constitutes not only an accurate critical evaluation of Homeric studies for the benefit of scholars, but also a valuable and accessible introduction to the subject for non-specialist readers." - Carmine Pisano, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"An excellent, up-to-date, synthesis." - Lucia Marchini, Minerva

"Graziosi's stimulating account of that resonance in such a short, up-to-date and readable book makes this the perfect introduction to Homer." - Times Literary Supplement

"clear, beautifully written, enthusiasm-radiating volume" - Times Higher Education

Related Titles