Since the advent of oral poetic approaches to Homeric epic and archaic Greek poetry nearly 100 years ago, we have come to appreciate the structure and meaning of the Iliad and Odyssey in new ways, especially in terms of how these epics might have been performed for ancient audiences long before they were written down.
This lecture explores the concept of “traditional referentiality,” a unique mode of invoking meaning with traditional language, as found in Homeric formulae. By examining two case studies of particularly “interformular” phrases ancient epic, both of which involve how power dynamics are presented among heroes and their helpers in epic, we can begin to see how the Iliad, Odyssey, and Homeric Hymns existed in a special relationship in tradition that requires us to revisit conventional models of quotation, allusion, and intertextuality typically applied to more securely written, literary corpora. At the same time, this approach allows us to better understand how these epics were eventually codified and came to exist as fixed, written texts.
Sponsored by the Department of Classics, the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Common Good, and The College of Arts and Letters.