This is the second volume in the major six-volume commentary on the Iliad now being prepared under Professor Kirk's direction. The volume consists of four introductory essays followed by the commentary itself (the Greek text is not included). This project is the first large-scale commentary on the Iliad for nearly 100 years, and takes special account of language, style, and thematic structure while examining the complex social and cultural background of Homer's epic.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more |
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
'The two great contributions of this volume are on the one hand the account of the Catalogues in Book Two, and on the other the close and rewarding attention which is paid to questions of rhythm. Again and again Kirk brings out effects ... created by the variation of rhythm ... It is in this area that I have learnt most from this commentary, and I regard it as a major advance of the sort which, once made, must be followed by all subsequent Homerists ... All those who read Homer will find new and illuminating observations both of fine detail and on a larger scale. The complete commentary will be a valuable possession.' Jasper Griffin, The Times Literary Supplement
'[Professor Kirk] demonstrates and assesses the poet's individual skill in composition, tacitly correcting the extreme Parryist view that Homer merely manipulated pre-existing formulas. This is highly original. The section of the Introduction devoted to it ... offers the best analysis of the mechanics of Homeric poetry that this reviewer has read.' M. M. Willcock, Journal of Hellenic Studies
'Kirk's chief merit as an expositor is his awareness of the subtlest nuances of poetic technique ... The introduction and commentary as a whole form an excellent companion to Books 1-4.' J. T. Booker, JACT Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'[Professor Kirk] demonstrates and assesses the poet's individual skill in composition, tacitly correcting the extreme Parryist view that Homer merely manipulated pre-existing formulas. This is highly original. The section of the Introduction devoted to it ... offers the best analysis of the mechanics of Homeric poetry that this reviewer has read.' M. M. Willcock, Journal of Hellenic Studies
'Kirk's chief merit as an expositor is his awareness of the subtlest nuances of poetic technique ... The introduction and commentary as a whole form an excellent companion to Books 1-4.' J. T. Booker, JACT Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
The second volume of the major six-volume commentary on the Iliad. Special attention is given to language, style and thematic structure in four introductory essays which are followed by the commentary itself.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic scholarly commentary,
By
This review is from: The Iliad: A Commentary: Volume 1, Books 1-4 (Hardcover)
This six-volume commentary on the Iliad is fantastic and indispensable. The other reviewer, Markos, has completely missed the point; this is not a commentary intended for first-time readers of Homer (Cambridge Green and Yellow commentaries tend more in that direction) nor for those reading the epic in translation. Instead, it is an introduction to many topics of scholarly debate that surround the poem, keyed to the parts of the text where that information is most relevant.
While I am disappointed that the book is not currently available on Amazon, it is a reference work and, as such, is probably mostly bought only by libraries. It is very well done, however, and should not be missed by any serious scholars of the Classics.
4 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
too wordy, not enough focus on the Greek,
By
This review is from: The Iliad: A Commentary: Volume 1, Books 1-4 (Paperback)
I was disappointed. A good commentary needs to be complete but cannot be too wordy. Get to the point and allow us to get back to reading the text. Kirk's commentary is obviously meant for people who read Homer in the Greek, but he does not devote enough attention to the Greek text. Instead he sort of rambles on about the plot, what he things speakers have in mind, stylistic considerations that are not clear. Here's an example. You tell me if (a) this helps you understand the Iliad any better (b) you even know what the heck Kirk is talking about (b) "Until now the speech has been undramatic and routinely cumulative in expression, with conventional verse-structure and moderate enjambment. The present graphic and hypothetical calculation, set out in a single long and progressively-enjambed sentence and brought to an epigrammatic climax in 128, noticeably elevates the style." Okay. Difficult Greek cruxes are often ignored by Kirk. Older commentaries like Anthon's (published in 1847!) and Draper's marvelous recent book manage to be both more consise AND give you more helpful information. Unfortunatley, these books do not cover the entire Iliad. A good, complete, detailed modern commentary on the Iliad has yet to be written. This book certainly is not that.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
This initial chapter is concerned with the religious background of the Iliad: with the ways in which the Olympian pantheon might have developed, and with what aspects of it might be due to Homer himself or the oral heroic tradition on which he drew; with the degree of artificiality and poetic elaboration or suppression consequently to be expected, and the possible awareness of that among his audiences; and especially with the assumptions that might underlie the connexions between men and gods through sacrifice and prayer. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rising threefolder, integral enjambment, progressive enjambment, formular elements, rhapsodic elaboration, formular language, monumental composer, central caesura, main caesura, bucolic diaeresis, vulgate reading, second hemistich, sixth city, poetical tradition, typical motif, mass combat, ancient variant, internal punctuation, vel sim, formal duel, first hemistich, individual contests, ancient critics Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Trojan War, Bronze Age, Near Eastern, External Evidence, Besika Bay, Achaean Catalogue, Asia Minor, Ptolemaic Papyri, Bryn Mawr, Entretiens Hardt, Geometric Greece, Mortal Hero, Payne Knight New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This initial chapter is concerned with the religious background of the Iliad: with the ways in which the Olympian pantheon might have developed, and with what aspects of it might be due to Homer himself or the oral heroic tradition on which he drew; with the degree of artificiality and poetic elaboration or suppression consequently to be expected, and the possible awareness of that among his audiences; and especially with the assumptions that might underlie the connexions between men and gods through sacrifice and prayer. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rising threefolder, integral enjambment, progressive enjambment, formular elements, rhapsodic elaboration, formular language, monumental composer, central caesura, main caesura, bucolic diaeresis, vulgate reading, second hemistich, sixth city, poetical tradition, typical motif, mass combat, ancient variant, internal punctuation, vel sim, formal duel, first hemistich, individual contests, ancient critics Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Trojan War, Bronze Age, Near Eastern, External Evidence, Besika Bay, Achaean Catalogue, Asia Minor, Ptolemaic Papyri, Bryn Mawr, Entretiens Hardt, Geometric Greece, Mortal Hero, Payne Knight New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 34
books:
See all 34 books this book cites
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- Works and Days (Oxford University Press academic monograph reprints) by Hesiod on 4 pages
- Iliad and Odyssey by Homer on 4 pages
- Geometric Greece by J. N. Coldstream on 4 pages
- Geometric Greece: 900-700 BC by J.N. Coldstream on 4 pages
- Greek Religion and Society by P. E. Easterling on page 2, and page 14
See all 34 books this book cites
- Written Voices, Spoken Signs: Tradition, Performance, and the Epic Text (Center for Hellenic Studies Colloquia) by Egbert J. Bakker on 6 pages
- Sanctified Violence in Homeric Society: Oath-Making Rituals in the Iliad by Margo Kitts on 6 pages
- Epic Interactions: Perspectives on Homer, Virgil, and the Epic Tradition Presented to Jasper Griffin by Former Pupils by M. J. Clarke on 5 pages
- Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic by Martin M. Winkler on 5 pages
- Troy between Greece and Rome: Local Tradition and Imperial Power by Andrew Erskine on 4 pages
See all 100 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
