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Barry B. Powell

Homer 2nd Edition

by Barry B. Powell (Author)

4.8 6 ratings

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This concise book is a complete and contemporary introduction to Homer and his two master-works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It explains the “Homeric Question,” illuminating its current status, and critiques the literary qualities of the Iliad and the Odyssey, analyzing and contrasting their plotting, narrative technique, and characterization.

Provides historical background and literary readings of The Iliad and The Odyssey
New to the second edition: a section on Homer’s reception in ancient Greece; a chapter on Homer and archaeology; additional maps; an updated bibliography; a glossary of key terms; and information on the oral composition of the poems
Text is updated throughout
Assumes no prior knowledge of Greek

ISBN-10

1405153253
ISBN-13

978-1405153256
Edition

2nd
Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell
Publication date

April 30, 2007
Language

English
Dimensions

6.1 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches
Print length

258 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Remains the substantial and erudite introduction that it was on first printing. Powell writes with confidence, elegance, and a brisk tone, which means that the book, though aimed at an audience of specialists and non-specialists alike, is still a pleasure for the professional Homerist to read. Powell's book does a superb job of covering a wide range of relevant material, while remaining an entertaining and engaging walk through the state of the art of Homeric scholarship at the opening of the twenty-first century.” New England Classical Journal

Praise for the first edition:

“Powell admirably wrestles an almost impossible amount of material into a coherent presentation for his target audience ... It is well written in a clear and accessible style. Honest in his aims, Powell admirably introduces the genius and challenge of the Homeric works.”
Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“The book has a refreshingly personal touch ... Powell succeeds very well in making Homer’s poetry and Homeric problems appealing to his intended readers.”
Classical Bulletin

“Powell offers an impressive introduction to Homer, focusing on the epic texts for which he is known, the Iliad and the Odyssey … Highly recommended.”
Library Journal

“…this is a useful book as it introduces a wide range of topics with clarity…will certainly inspire readers to pursue the further study of Homer.”
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, February 2008

Book Description

This concise book is a complete and contemporary introduction to Homer and his two master-works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It explains the "Homeric Question," illuminating its current status, and critiques the literary qualities of the Iliad and the Odyssey, analyzing and contrasting their plotting, narrative technique, and characterization. Updated throughout, the second edition includes a new section on Homer's reception in ancient Greece; a new chapter on Homer and archaeology; additional maps; an updated bibliography; a glossary of key terms; and new information on the oral composition of the poems. Assuming no prior knowledge of Greek, the author supplies all the background information necessary to understand the poems, making this an ideal resource for those coming to the field for the first time.

From the Inside Flap

This concise book is a complete and contemporary introduction to Homer and his two master works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It explains the “Homeric Question,” illuminating its current status, and critiques the literary qualities of the Iliad and the Odyssey, analyzing and contrasting their plotting, narrative technique, and characterization.

Updated throughout, this second edition includes a new section on Homer’s reception in ancient Greece; a new chapter on Homer and archaeology; additional maps; an updated bibliography; a glossary of names and key terms; and new information on the oral composition of the poems.

Assuming no prior knowledge of Greek, the author supplies all the background information necessary to understand the poems, making this an ideal resource for those coming to the field for the first time.

From the Back Cover

This concise book is a complete and contemporary introduction to Homer and his two master works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It explains the “Homeric Question,” illuminating its current status, and critiques the literary qualities of the Iliad and the Odyssey, analyzing and contrasting their plotting, narrative technique, and characterization.

Updated throughout, this second edition includes a new section on Homer’s reception in ancient Greece; a new chapter on Homer and archaeology; additional maps; an updated bibliography; a glossary of names and key terms; and new information on the oral composition of the poems.

Assuming no prior knowledge of Greek, the author supplies all the background information necessary to understand the poems, making this an ideal resource for those coming to the field for the first time.

About the Author

Barry B. Powell is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His previous publications include Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet (1991), A Short Introduction to Classical Myth (2001), Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature (2002), Classical Myth (fourth edition, 2004), and The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society (with Ian Morris, 2005).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley-Blackwell; 2nd edition (April 30, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1405153253
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1405153256
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,575,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,762 in Epic Poetry (Books)
- #3,151 in Ancient History (Books)
- #4,400 in Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 6 ratings

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Barry B. Powell

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Barry B. Powell was born in Sacramento, CA, in 1942. He studied at Berkeley and Harvard and taught for 34 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is Bascom-Halls Professor of Classics Emeritus. He is celebrated for his argument tying the creation of the Greek alphabet to the recording of the Homeric Poems, but is also well known for his textbooks on Greek myth and Greek history and his work on the history of writing. He has published translations of the ILIAD, the ODYSSEY, the AENEID, and the poems of HESIOD. He has published original poetry, many fictional works, including an academic mystery A LAND OF SLAVES, a memoir RAMSES REBORN, and the illustrated TALES OF THE TROJAN WAR.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

6 global ratings

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moose/squirrel

If you read Homer, you need to read Powell

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 19, 2012

I've taught the Iliad a number of times, and Powell's is easily the most readable, concise, and informative introduction to Homer that I've come across.

Powell knows what's important to a basic understanding of how the Iliad and Odyssey were created, why we think so, what Homer can tell us about history (mainly that of his own time), and why many modern readers find the two poems tough sledding (Homer actively avoids suspense, for example). Powell gets right to the point every time.

He also summarizes both epics in ways that make the sometimes elusive themes stand out clearly. Anyone reading either poem will benefit immensely from this book.

In fact, if you've *never* read Homer, you might want to read Powell's "Homer" just because it's likely to whet your appetite for both the Iliad and the Odyssey. (May I recommend Robert Fitzgerald's translations? Or, if you prefer prose, Martin Hammond's Iliad,. And Ian Johnston's verse rendering of the Iliad, with notes, is downloadable online for nothing! Thanks Ian!)

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

finaleyes

Superb Philology

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2011

I found this book via Google Books. This is the first time I've ever ordered a book by going that route, but in this case, it seemed very well worth owning. Just the preface and the first several pages of "Part I: Background" made the book useful to me for some research I'm doing on Vico, who claimed in the 18th century that writing came into existence at the same time as speech, as evidenced by Homer. This book pretty effectively disputes that notion.

I'm giving the book a five-star rating based on the amount of text I've read so far. I may update later, but it has already proved itself incredibly useful.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Farseem Mohammedy

concise introduction

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2004

This book is a precise and concise beautiful introduction to the poetry, the text, the philological issues, the history and the 'Homer-question' of the Illiad and the Odyssey. By 'concise' I mean up to the point that satisfies a non-specialist reader without burdening too much details. This book serves the purposes of a specialist reader and an outsider as well with good bibliography. However the philological problem may not have been introduced at the beginning, on the contrary the section on "Readers' Homer" may have been the choice for the first section. However that may be the author's choice as he is an experienced professor. The classroom experience must have been the reason for this. I myself has been on the look for just this type of introduction on Homer.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jonathan A. Gottschall

The best thing going

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2007

Powell is a leading Homer scholar and this is simply the best single book to read alongside the Iliad and Odyssey and attain a round sense of the Homeric poems, Homeric scholarship, and the socio-historical milieu that produced them. It is appropriate for undergraduates and I assign it in my courses on Homer.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ernie

A collection of easy to digest, common sense observations

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

There's no substitute for the enjoyment of reading the real thing, but this book was short and to the point about the many unanswerable Homeric Questions of who Homer might have been, where and when and why he composed his epics and the extent of their possible/probable historical content. It added to my appreciation without attempting to be any sort of alternative. I am not a student, I really do read Homer because I want to, not because I have to.

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