Inventing Homer The Early Reception of Epic [Paperback]

Explores the ancient reception of the Homeric poems and its relation to modern approaches.How was the poet Homer imagined by ancient Greeks? This book looks at stories circulating between the sixth and fourth centuries BC about his birth, his name and place of origin, his date, the circumstances of his life, such as the story of his blindness, his relation to other poets and his heirs. The aim is to get closer to the ancient reception of the Homeric poems, and to look at it in relation to modern representations of Homer, ancient and modern conceptions of authorship, and the 'HomericQuestion'.How was the poet Homer imagined by ancient Greeks? This book looks at stories circulating between the sixth and fourth centuries BC about his birth, his name and place of origin, his date, the circumstances of his life, such as the story of his blindness, his relation to other poets and his heirs. The aim is to get closer to the ancient reception of the Homeric poems, and to look at it in relation to modern representations of Homer, ancient and modern conceptions of authorship, and the 'HomericQuestion'.How was the poet Homer imagined by ancient Greeks? This book looks at stories circulating between the sixth and fourth centuries BC about his birth, name and origin, blindness and his relationship to other poets and his descendants. The work studies the ancient reception of the Homeric poems, and looks at it in relation to modern representations of Homer, ancient and modern conceptions of authorship, and the Homeric Question .Frontispiece; Preface; List of abbreviations of editions and works of reference; Introduction; 1. The birth of Homer; 2. Homer's name and his place of origin; 3. The date of Homer; 4. Blindness, poverty and closeness to the gods; 5. Homer's relationship to other poets; 6. The heirs of Homer; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of passages; General index. Specialists in Homeric poems will find much to benefit from, and the rest of us are indebted to Graziosi forl#