The Arms of Achilles and Homeric Compositional Technique PDF
Preview The Arms of Achilles and Homeric Compositional Technique
THE ARMS OF ACHILLES AND HOMERIC COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUE MNEMOSYNE BIBLIOTHECA CLASSICA BATAVA COLLEGERUNT W. DEN BOER • W. J. VERDENIUS • R. E. H. WESTENDORF BOERMA BIBLIOTHECAE FASCICULOS EDENDOS CURA VIT W. J. VERDENIUS, HOMERUSLAAN 53, ZEIST SUPPLEMENTUM TRICESIMUM SEXTUM RICHARD STOLL SHANNON, III THE ARMS OF ACHILLES AND HOMERIC COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUE LUGDUNI BATAVORUM E. J. BRILL MCMLXXV THE ARMS OF ACHILLES AND HOMERIC COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUE BY RICHARD STOLL SHANNON, III LUGDUNI BATAVORUM E. J. BRILL MCMLXXV ISBN 90 04 04249 0 Copyright 1975 by E. /. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands All rights reser11ed, No part of this book may be reproduced or lran1lated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means witho11I wrillen permission from the publisher PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS My particular thanks to Professor John Finley and Professor Gregory Nagy, and to my wife, Ann, for their help, encouragement, and patience during the preparation of this thesis. Tatsachlich sei Beethoven in seiner Mittelzeit weit subjektivistischer, um nicht zu sagen: weit 'personlicher' gewesen als zuletzt; weit mehr sei er damals bedacht gewesen, alles Konventionelle, Formel- und Flos- kelhafte, wovon die Musik ja voll sei, vom personlichen Ausdruck ver- zehren zu lassen, es in die subjektive Dynamik einzuschmelzen. Das Verhaltnis des spa.ten Beethoven, etwa in den fiinf letzten Klaviersonaten zum Konventionellen sei bei aller Einmaligkeit und selbst Ungeheuer- lichkeit der Formensprache ein ganz anderes, viel lasslicheres und ge- neigteres. Unberiihrt, unverwandelt vom Subjektiven trete die Kon- vention im Spatwerk afters hervor, in einer Kahlheit oder, man moge sagen, Ausgeblasenheit, Ich-Verlassenheit, welche nun wieder schaurig- majestatischer wirke als jedes personliche Wagnis. In diesen Gebilden, sagte der Redner, gingen das Subjektive und die Konvention ein neues Verhaltnis ein, bestimmt vom Tode ...... . Thomas Mann, Doktor Faustus As a matter of fact, Beethoven had been far more "subjective," not to say far more "personal," in his middle period than in his last, had been far more bent on taking all the flourishes, formulas, and conven- tions, of which music is certainly full, and consuming them in the per- sonal expression, melting them into the subjective dynamic. The relation of the later Beethoven to the conventional, say in the last five piano sonatas, is, despite all the uniqueness and even uncanniness of the formal language, quite different, much more complaisant and easy-going. Un- touched, untransformed by the subjective, convention often appeared in the late works, in a baldness, one might say exhaustiveness, an a- bandonment of self, with an effect more majestic and awful than any reckless plunge into the personal. In these forms, said the speaker, the subjective and conventional assumed a new relationship, conditioned by death. Translation by H. T. Lowe-Porter CONTENTS Foreword ....... . XI I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . I II. Patterned Episodes and Achilles' Armor. 20 III. Achilles' Ash Spear . . . . . . . . . 3r IV. Conclusion: Homeric Compositional Techniques 87 Bibliography 98 Index ... IOI
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