The 'Homeric question' -- Dictation theories and Pre-Hellenic literacy -- Dictation theories and Archaic Art -- The technology of writing -- The Euboian connection -- Archaic inscriptions before 650 bc -- Early Homeric scholarship and editions -- Rhapsodic performance in pre-classical Greece -- Homer the rhapsode -- Hesiod the rhapsode -- Rhapsodic performance in high-classical Athens -- The rhapsode in classical Athens -- The rhapsode in performance -- Rhapsodic performance in the late classical and post-classical periods -- The performance of drama and epic in late-classical Athens -- The performance of Homer after IV bc -- Aristotle on performance -- Rhapsodic "hypokrisis" and Aristotelian "lexis" -- The Aristotelian "tekhnē" of "hypokrisis".
Summary:
The Epic Rhapsode and His Craft studies Homeric performance from archaic to Roman imperial times. It argues that oracular utterance, dramatic acting, and rhetorical delivery powerfully elucidate the practice of epic rhapsodes. Attention to the ways in which these performance domains informed each other over time reveals a shifting dynamic of competition and emulation among rhapsodes, actors, and orators that shaped their texts and their crafts. A diachronic analysis of this web of influences illuminates fundamental aspects of Homeric poetry: its inspiration and composition, the notional fixity of its poetic tradition, and the performance-driven textual fixation and writing of the Homeric poems. It also shows that rhapsodic practice is best understood as an evolving combination of revelation, interpretation, recitation, and dramatic delivery.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.