Early Greek Hexameter Poetry

This book provides an introduction to all genres of early hexameter poetry, introducing readers to extant and fragmentary works.

Peter Gainsford (Edited by)

9781316608883, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2016

159 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 0.7 cm, 0.24 kg

'The overall standard of the book is very high, the language clear, the discussion balanced, and the ratio between theory and examples from various passages of early Greek hexameter poetry is apt. Especially useful are the sections about the criteria usually put forward in order to take a stance in matters of authorship or dating, and their limits, as well as those on linguistics and on the relationships between poems. The account of why epic poets retained some Aeolic formulae is very clear.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This is the first book to give an introduction to all genres of early Greek hexameter poetry; not only heroic legend and the origins of the gods, but also wisdom literature, genealogy, oracles, and epigraphy. It introduces both apprentice and expert readers to the extant poems and to the fragments of some lost poems. Some useful tools can be found here which do not exist anywhere else: a list of all known early hexameter inscriptions; a catalogue of evidence for 'cropping and splicing' of poems in ancient editions; an index of the editions of over a hundred fragmentary poets and poems. This book offers the most up-to-date research on literary criticism and literary form, mythology and genre, language and metre, and performance and music.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. The Poems: 1. The Hesiodic works and days
2. The Hesiodic theogony
3. The Hesiodic catalogue of women
4. The Hesiodic shield
5. The Homeric hymns
6. The epic cycle
7. Oracle collectors (chresmologoi)
8. Epigraphy
Part II. Genre: 9. Large-scale: overarching topics and themes
10. Medium-scale: sub-themes and major structural features
11. Small-scale: tropes and stylistic features
Part III. Tradition and Legend: 12. Unrecorded traditions
13. Hexameter and the formula
14. Pre history of the epic tradition
Part IV. Performance: 15. Musical instruments
16. Rhythm
17. Pitch and melody
18. Performance context
Part V. Fragments: 19. Introduction to fragments
20. Examples of fragments
21. How to approach a fragmentary text
22. Vestigial fragments
Part VI. Relationship between Poems: 23. Modern scholarship: neoanalysis and other 'systemic' interpretations
24. Ancient transmission: cropping and splicing
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Ancient religions & mythologies [HRKP], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Poetry [DC]