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The Mythological Background Of Homer: The Eternal Return Of Killing Dragons, Erwin Cook
The Mythological Background Of Homer: The Eternal Return Of Killing Dragons, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
Myth, according to a well known formulation by Walter Burkert, “is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective importance” (1979: 23). Andrew von Hendy, who declares Burkert’s definition the “gold standard” in classical studies, offers a Marxist reformulation, so that myth “is traditional narrative with a high degree of ideological saturation” (2002: 269, 277). This definition accords with the fact that muthos, the Greek word that most closely approximates myth, also designates “story” generally, and, as we might expect in an oral culture, “speech” (its meaning of “fiction” is post-Homeric). It also allows us to sidestep …
Kingship In The Mycenaean World And Its Reflections In The Oral Tradition [Review], Erwin Cook
Kingship In The Mycenaean World And Its Reflections In The Oral Tradition [Review], Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
Shear undertakes a detailed comparison of archaeological evidence from Mycenaean Greece, the surviving Linear B tablets, and the Homeric epics with the aim of showing that, contrary to the reigning scholarly consensus, Homer preserves a detailed and accurate portrait of the age he purports to describe. Indeed, Shear believes that both epics and much of Greek myth took shape during this period and reflect actual historical events (hence the reference to "oral tradition" rather than "Homer" in the title). Thus, because Pelops is the eponym of the Pcloponnesos, "he should logically belong to the early tradition that evolved soon after …
A Note On The Text Of Sextus Empiricus, Adv. Math. 7.131, Erwin Cook
A Note On The Text Of Sextus Empiricus, Adv. Math. 7.131, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
No abstract provided.
A Referential Commentary And Lexicon To Homer, Iliad Viii [Review], Erwin Cook
A Referential Commentary And Lexicon To Homer, Iliad Viii [Review], Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
A 14,305 page Iliad commentary? That is what we get if we multiply the pages Adrian Kelly lavishes on Book 8 with the poem’s dimensions. And, Book 8? This is never really explained, though I suspect the long scholarly tradition that the book strays from Homer’s typical compositional practices and standards is one reason. For Adrian Kelly’s stated objective is to recreate at least part of the rich network of associations available to the early auditors of epic, with the result that Book 8 is shown to be as traditional as any other.
Heroism, Suffering, And Change, Erwin Cook
Heroism, Suffering, And Change, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
Today I will address the issue of identity in the Odyssey. To do so I need to make a few general observations about the structure and content of the poem. It is immediately apparent that the Odyssey is organized by three narrative sequences: the story of Telemachus in Books 1-4, including his journey to Pylus and Sparta, the journey of Odysseus from Ogygia to Scheria in Books 5-12, and the return of Odysseus and his revenge on the suitors in Books 13-24. It is well recognized that Books 1-4 recount Telemachus’ coming of age, and that his journey plays a …
Myth And History In Ancient Greece: The Symbolic Creation Of A Colony [Review], Erwin Cook
Myth And History In Ancient Greece: The Symbolic Creation Of A Colony [Review], Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
Myth and History in Ancient Greece is certain to burnish Calame's (C.) reputation as one of the world's preeminent scholars of Greek mythology and cultural history. In certain respects, Myth and History can be seen as an outgrowth of and complement to C.'s earlier Le récit en Grèce ancienne: enonciations et représentations de poètes (and of a lengthy article in an anthology on approaches to myth). Both books are first and foremost concerned with methodology, and in both C. seeks to demonstrate how individual 'myths' are fundamentally shaped by the media and other contexts in which they are communicated. Myth …
The Returns Of Odysseus: Colonization And Ethnicity [Review], Erwin Cook
The Returns Of Odysseus: Colonization And Ethnicity [Review], Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
The Returns of Odysseus will be essential reading for specialists in Homer, early Greek history, and ancient ethnology. They and others willing to expend the time and energy necessary to read this densely argued and worded book will win a perspective on Greek (pre)colonization and its mythology unavailable from any other source. I myself required a full week for a careful reading, after which I noted to my surprise that I had taken over 50 pages of notes, many of which now belong to my permanent files. If, in what follows, I concentrate on some illustrative problems with Malkin's (M.) …
Homer, His Art And His World [Review], Erwin Cook
Homer, His Art And His World [Review], Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
First let me say what this book is not. Although the dust-jacket claims that the book includes "sections on the relevance of Homer to modern issues in literary criticism", it cannot be said to offer anything approaching a representative, let alone a comprehensive, survey of modern criticism, even as it is currently applied to Homer (H.). It does, in 34 pages, outline "the historical background to Homer and his poetry", but only for those who share the author's assumptions on the time, place, and circumstances of composition.
"Active" And "Passive" Heroics In The Odyssey, Erwin Cook
"Active" And "Passive" Heroics In The Odyssey, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
No abstract provided.
The Contemporary Relevance Of The Iliad, Erwin Cook
The Contemporary Relevance Of The Iliad, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
I initially balked at the request to talk about the contemporary relevance of Homeric poetry. I did so because I am of the camp that maintains great art does not need to be defended on these terms, which is to say its skill, beauty, and profundity give it all the relevance it needs to be of lasting relevance. But I do recognize that my justification, which also keeps me from studying ancient graffiti and medieval doorknockers, assumes that at some level of remove there are enduring qualities to these works that do indeed, and will always, give them contemporary relevance. …
Near Eastern Sources For The Palace Of Alkinoos, Erwin Cook
Near Eastern Sources For The Palace Of Alkinoos, Erwin Cook
Erwin F. Cook
The last quarter century of archaeological discoveries have significantly enriched and nuanced our understanding of interactions between the Greek world and the Levant during the Greek Archaic period (conventionally defined as 776-479 B.C.E.). They have also allowed us to construct an increasingly detailed model explaining the diffusion of knowledge from Mesopotamia to Greece at this time. In addition, advances in our understanding of oral cultures, and the role of oral narrative traditions within them have cast valuable new light on the ways in which the Homeric epics appropriate, adapt, and preserve cultural knowledge. The palace of Alkinoos, described in Book …