Homer's People: Epic Poetry and Social Formation

Johannes Haubold

doi:10.1017/CBO9781107297975

This book examines the role and character of Homer's people, laoi, in Homeric story-telling, arguing that Homeric poetry is crucially concerned with the people as a basis for communal life. Both The Iliad and The Odyssey are read as sustained meditations on the processes involved in protecting and destroying the people. The investigation draws on a wide range of approaches from formulaic analysis to the study of early performance contexts. From a close reading of the Homeric epics, Homer's people emerge as a community without effective social structures. When this is viewed from the perspective of Homeric performances in the polis, a contrast between Homer's laoi and the founding people of ritual emerges. While the former typically perish, the survival of the latter is secured by the establishment of successful institutions.

Review of the hardback:‘… a very good book that breaks much new ground.’

Source: Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Homer's People

Epic Poetry and Social Formation

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Preface
pp ix-xii

Abbreviations
pp xiii-xvi

Introduction Between the omnipresent hero and the absent polis
pp 1-13

1 - Laoi in early Greek hexameter poetry
pp 14-46

2 - Homer's people
pp 47-144

3 - Laos epic in performance
pp 145-196

Appendix A - Epic formulae
pp 197-201

Appendix B - Ritual formulae
pp 202-202

Bibliography
pp 203-217

General index
pp 218-224

Index of passages cited
pp 225-240

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Epic Poetry and Social Formation

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