Overview

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.

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9781316608883

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Reviews

'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

'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 '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

Author Information

Peter Gainsford received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1999, and has since taught at the University of Manchester, and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of several articles on Homeric narrative and linguistics, literary criticism, Dictys of Crete, and comparative mythology.

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