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''Rediscovering Homer'' is a 2006 book by
Andrew Dalby Andrew Dalby, (born 1947 in Liverpool) is an English linguist, translator and historian who has written articles and several books on a wide range of topics including food history, language, and Classical texts. Education and early career ...
. It sets out the problems of origin, dating and authorship of the two ancient Greek epics, ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' and ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'', usually attributed to
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
. ''Rediscovering Homer'' originated as a development and expansion of two academic papers published in the 1990s in which Dalby argued that the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' must be seen as belonging to the same world as that of the early Greek lyric poets but to a less aristocratic genre. This contradicted a widespread assumption that the epics come from an older stage of civilization and literature than the personal poetry of
Archilochus Archilochus (; ''Arkhílokhos''; 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Iambus (genre) , iambic poet of the Archaic Greece, Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the earliest ...
,
Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...
and others. Returning to these themes, Dalby summarizes the contents and significance of the two epics and hypothesizes the transmission they probably followed, from oral invention and circulation to written versions. He then spotlights the unknown poet who, long after the time of the traditional
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
, at last saw the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' and ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' recorded in writing. Dalby notes that "no early author describes or names the singer who saw these two poems written down. We are given no sex and no name -- certainly not Homer, who is seen as a singer of the distant past."Dalby, ''Rediscovering Homer'' quoted by Alberge, 2006. Based on what we can judge of this poet's interests and on the circumstances in which oral poetry has been recorded elsewhere, "it is possible, and even probable, that this poet was a woman. As a working hypothesis, this helps to explain certain features in which these epics are better -- more subtle, more complex, more universal -- than most others." The idea is not new.
Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...
recounted an ancient fiction in which both epics were composed by an Egyptian priestess, Phantasia; Samuel Butler, in '' The Authoress of the Odyssey'', attributed the ''Odyssey'' to a Sicilian woman between 1150 and 1050 BC; and
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
in his novel '' Homer's Daughter'' made a similar proposal. Even before the appearance of ''Rediscovering Homer'' the idea was dismissed as "far-fetched" by Anthony Snodgrass on the grounds that a woman would have been "bored out of her mind" when composing the ''Iliad''.Reported by Alberge, 2006. Reviewers, even when praising the book, have continued to be sceptical of this proposal:


Notes


Bibliography

* *Alberge, Dalya,
Scholar takes Homer on new odyssey -- into womanhood
in ''The Times'' (London), 1 July 2006.


Reviews

*Carr, Jonathan,
The elusive first poet(ess)
in ''Athens News'' 3 November 2006, p. 29. *Leigh, Matthew, "Line endings" in ''Times Literary Supplement'' (London) 18 May 2007, p. 4. * Palaima, Tom, "A classical example of a man getting credit for what must have been a woman's work" in ''Times Higher'' (London) 12 January 2007, pp. 22–23. *Pulleyn, Simon, "Siren songs from the wind-dark sea" in ''Scotland on Sunday'' 24 September 2006. * Sutherland, John, "A Trojan horse for many courses" in ''Financial Times: FT Magazine'' 7 October 2006, p. 34. {{Iliad navbox 2006 non-fiction books Biographies of Homer Homeric scholarship