Classical Studies 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Homeric Hymns, Narrative Poetry, Improvisation

• School: Western University
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: Classical Studies 2200
• Professor: Christopher Brown

Document Summary

Literary sources: the character of greek and latin: very different from english, inflected languages (ex. meaning and syntactical function are determined by word-forms, not word-order, extensive vocabularies, translation is a difficult and often inexact science. Literary sources: modes of survival: medieval transmission. The introduction of writing (the greek alphabet) The consolidation of ancient texts in the library of alexandria after 307 b. c. The preservation of greek and latin texts in mediaeval monasteries, etc. Ho(cid:373)er(cid:859)s od(cid:455)sse(cid:455: many mediaeval copies, a(cid:374) e(cid:454)te(cid:374)si(cid:448)e (cid:858)se(cid:272)o(cid:374)dar(cid:455)(cid:859) traditio(cid:374, popularity guarantees survival, not all texts were as fortunate as the odyssey, papyri. New texts continue to come to light. Papyrus texts shed light on old problems and create new ones: inscriptions. Set up by ancient communities throughout antiquity. Preserve a great deal of information, shedding valuable light on historical events, social history, religion: despite significant loss, a rich array of greek and latin literature survives: The homeric poems as epics: epic: the nature of the genre.