Homeric epic and its reception : interpretive essays

240 Pages·2016·1.29 MB·English

by  Schein

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HOMERIC EPIC AND ITS RECEPTION
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Homeric Epic and its
Reception
Interpretive Essays
SETH L. SCHEIN
1
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3
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To Sherry and Daniel
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Preface
THIS volume is addressed primarily to scholars and students of
ancient Greek literature, in particular those specializing in Homeric
epic and its reception. I hope that it will also be of interest to those
who read Homer in translation and to students of other literatures,
andwiththatinmindIhavetranslatedalltheGreekinthemaintext
ofthetwelvechaptersandalmostalltheGreekinthefootnotes.
These chapters were written over a period of 45 years, during
which I have accumulated many personal and professional debts.
I acknowledge those who helped with individual essays in notes
placedatthe endofeachchapter,andIalsowouldliketothankthe
two anonymous readers for Oxford University Press for their con-
structive criticism and helpful suggestions. More generally I would
liketoacknowledgetheteachingofCharlesKahnandHowardPorter,
with whom I first studied the Iliad and Odyssey in Greek as an
undergraduate and graduate student at Columbia University, and of
Bruno Snell, with whom I studied ‘the Homeric language’ as a
graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, when he
was Sather Professor of Classical Literature. I also was privileged to
know and at one point work with Ioannis Kakridis, Professor of
Ancient Greek Philology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
whose scholarship and personal example were inspiring. He intro-
ducedmetotheworkofmanyoutstandingEuropeanHomeristsand,
in some cases, to the scholars themselves, and mainly through him
I came to feel that I was part of a larger community of Homerists
frommanycountriesandspanningmultiplegenerations.
OvertheyearsIhavebenefitedfromtheideas,interpretations,and
encouragementoffriendsandcolleaguestoonumeroustomentionor
even to remember. I would, though, like to thank David Bouvier,
PascaleBrillet-Dubois,GeorgDanek,NancyFelson,KatherineCallen
King, Maria Serena Mirto, Sheila Murnaghan, Alex Purves, and
Laura Slatkin for their scholarship, support, friendship, and conver-
sationovertheyearsonHomericepicanditsreception.Iwouldalso
like to thank Zoë Stachel for drafting the Indexes. I also am grateful
to the many students with whom I read and discussed Homer at
Columbia University, the State University of New York, College
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viii Preface
at Purchase, Queens College and the Graduate School of the City
UniversityofNewYork,andtheUniversityofCaliforniaatDavis,at
Santa Cruz, and at Berkeley. I benefited greatly from the libraries at
theseinstitutionsandthelibrarianswhohelpedtomakemyscholarly
workpossible.
I would like to thank the editors at Oxford University Press for
their expertise and professionalism. Hilary O’Shea and Charlotte
Loveridgewelcomedandencouragedmywork;AnnieRoseprepared
thebookforproduction;KizzyTaylor-RichelieuandEmmaSlaughter
were the Production Editors, who kept things on course and on
schedule.
I am especially grateful to Heather Watson for her salutary copy-
editing,whichimprovedthisbookbymakingitmoreaccurate,clear,
andconsistent.Workingwithherhasbeenenjoyableandinstructive.
I would also like to thank Tom Chandler for his alert and beneficial
proofreading.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Albert Schein and
Sylvia OrlikoffSchein,forthecopiesoftheSamuelButlertranslation
oftheIliadandtheAndrewLangandSamuelH.Butchertranslationof
the Odyssey that I read as a child and for their later encouragement
ofmywork.
I happily dedicate this book to my wife, Sherry Crandon, and our
son,DanielSchein.
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Acknowledgements and Details
of Original Publication
Chapter1. ‘TheDeathofSimoeisios:Iliad4.473–489’,lightlyrevised
version of an article originally published in Eranos 74 (1976), 1–5;
reprintedwiththekindpermissionoftheBoardofEditorsofEranos.
Chapter 2. ‘The Horses of Achilles in Book 17 of the Iliad’, lightly
revised version of a chapter originally published in M. Reichel and
A.Rengakos(eds.),EPEAPTEROENTA:BeiträgezurHomerforschung.
FestschriftfürWOLFGANGKULLMANNzum75.Geburtstag(Franz
Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart, 2002), 193–205; reprinted with the kind
permissionoftheFranzSteinerVerlag.
Chapter 3. ‘Odysseus and Polyphemos in the Odyssey’, revised and
expanded version of an article originally published inGreek, Roman
and Byzantine Studies 11 (1970), 73–83; reprinted with the kind
permissionoftheEditorofGreek,RomanandByzantineStudies.
Chapter 4. ‘Mythological Allusion in the Odyssey: Herakles and the
Bow of Odysseus’, lightly revised version of a chapter originally
published in F. Montanari and P. Ascheri (eds.), Omero tremila
anni dopo (Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura: Rome, 2002), 185–201;
reprinted with the kind permission of the Editors and of Edizioni di
StoriaeLetteratura.
Chapter 5. ‘Divine and Human in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite’,
revised and expanded version of a chapter originally published in
R. Bouchon, P. Brillet-Dubois, and N. Le Meur-Weissman (eds.),
HymnesdelaGrèceantique:Approcheslittérairesethistoriques(Maison
del’OrientetdelaMéditerranée:Lyon,2012),295–312;reprintedwith
thekindpermissionofLaMaisondel’OrientetdelaMéditerranée.
Chapter 6. ‘Homeric Intertextuality: Two Examples’, lightly revised
version of a chapter originally published in J. N. Kazazis and
A.Rengakos(eds.),Euphrosyne:StudiesinAncientEpicanditsLegacy
inHonorof Demetrios N.Maronitis (Franz Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart,
1999), 349–56; reprinted with the kind permission of the Franz
SteinerVerlag.