This is the sixth and final volume of the major Commentary on Homer's Iliad now being prepared under the General Editorship of Professor G. S. Kirk. It discusses the last four books of the poem in detail, and its main purpose is to help readers to appreciate the poetic and narrative qualities of the work. There is no other study comparable to this in scale and detail in English. The introduction also discusses the structure and main themes of the poem, its relationship to the Odyssey, and the way in which the Homeric poems were interpreted in antiquity. The Greek text is not included. This volume contains a consolidated index of the Greek words in all six volumes.
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Editorial Reviews
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"...a welcome contribution to Homeric studies, and the series as a whole should remain a basic research tool well into the next century....remains a very useful book and an absolute 'must buy'...." S. Douglas Olson, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Book Description
The sixth and final volume of this major Commentary on Homer's Iliad. The introduction discusses the structure and main themes of the poem, its relationship to the Odyssey, and its interpretation in antiquity.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic scholarly commentary,
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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,
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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.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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absolute hapax, integral enjambment, metri gratia, tricolon crescendo, vulgate reading, one papyrus, first hemistich, ritual lament, second hemistich, early epic, ring composition, funeral games, city texts Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Kleine Schriften, Quintus of Smyrna, Mutilation of the Corpse, Telamonian Aias, Apollonius Rhodius, Letzte Gesang, History of Classical Scholarship, Homer's Ancient Readers, Allegorischen Deutung, Burial Customs, Homer the Theologian, Homeric Scholia, Language of Heroes, Iron Ages, Shield of Akhilleus, Asia Minor, Dio Chrys, Geometric Greece, Greek Metre, Eetion of Imbros, Gesammelte Schriften, Papers of the Liverpool Latin Seminar, Ptolemy of Ascalon, Ulysses Theme New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
absolute hapax, integral enjambment, metri gratia, tricolon crescendo, vulgate reading, one papyrus, first hemistich, ritual lament, second hemistich, early epic, ring composition, funeral games, city texts Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Kleine Schriften, Quintus of Smyrna, Mutilation of the Corpse, Telamonian Aias, Apollonius Rhodius, Letzte Gesang, History of Classical Scholarship, Homer's Ancient Readers, Allegorischen Deutung, Burial Customs, Homer the Theologian, Homeric Scholia, Language of Heroes, Iron Ages, Shield of Akhilleus, Asia Minor, Dio Chrys, Geometric Greece, Greek Metre, Eetion of Imbros, Gesammelte Schriften, Papers of the Liverpool Latin Seminar, Ptolemy of Ascalon, Ulysses Theme 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 66
books:
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100
books
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- Geometric Greece by J. N. Coldstream on 5 pages
- Geometric Greece: 900-700 BC by J.N. Coldstream on 5 pages
- Ulysses Theme by William Bedell Stanford on 4 pages
- The Homeric Hymns by Homer in Front Matter, page 278, and page 309
- Story of the Iliad by E. T. Owen in Front Matter, page 120, and page 121
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- Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic by Martin M. Winkler on 6 pages
- Written Voices, Spoken Signs: Tradition, Performance, and the Epic Text (Center for Hellenic Studies Colloquia) by Egbert J. Bakker on 6 pages
- Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic by Martin M. Winkler on 5 pages
- The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge Companions to Literature) by Robert Fowler on 5 pages
- The Iliad: Structure, Myth, and Meaning by Bruce Louden on 4 pages
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