The Measure of Homer
The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Homer was the greatest and most influential Greek poet: this book explores his influence on all subsequent literature and culture.

Richard Hunter (Author)

9781108428316, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 April 2018

264 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.9 x 0.8 cm, 0.51 kg

'H. convincingly demonstrates how greatly modern interpretations of perennially popular Homeric scenes (such as Odysseus among the Sirens or Achilles and his lyre) can be enriched by engaging with ancient readers as diverse as Horace, Dio Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria and Sextus Empiricus along the way.' Anna Stelow, Religious Studies Review

Homer was the greatest and most influential Greek poet. In this book, Richard Hunter explores central themes in the poems' reception in antiquity, paying particular attention to Homer's importance in shaping ancient culture. Subjects include the geographical and educational breadth of Homeric reception, the literary and theological influence of Homer's depiction of the gods, Homeric poetry and sympotic culture, scholarly and rhetorical approaches to Homer, Homer in the satires of Plutarch and Lucian, and how Homer shaped ideas about the power of music and song. This is a major and innovative contribution to the study of the dominant literary force in Greek culture and of the Greek literary engagement with the past. Through the study of their influence and reception, this book also sheds rich light on the Homeric poems themselves. All Greek and Latin are translated.

1. Placing Homer
2. Homer and the divine
3. The Golden Verses
4. Homer among the scholars
5. The pleasures of song.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary theory [DSA], Literature: history & criticism [DS], Poetry by individual poets [DCF], Poetry [DC]