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Books
- The Epic Rhapsode and His Craft: Homeric Performance in a Diachronic Perspective. Hellenic Studies Series 47, Harvard University Press,
(2011).
Abstract:
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.
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