{"product_id":"homers-traditional-art-john-miles-foley-9780271028101","title":"Homer's Traditional Art","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn recent decades, the evidence for an oral epic tradition in ancient Greece has grown enormously along with our ever-increasing awareness of worldwide oral traditions. John Foley here examines the artistic implications that oral tradition holds for the understanding of the \u003ci\u003eIliad\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e in order to establish a context for their original performance and modern-day reception.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHomer's Traditional Art\u003c\/i\u003e, Foley addresses three crucially interlocking areas that lead us to a fuller appreciation of the Homeric poems. He first explores the reality of Homer as their actual author, examining historical and comparative evidence to propose that \"Homer\" is a legendary and anthropomorphic figure rather than a real-life author. He next presents the poetic tradition as a specialized and highly resonant language bristling with idiomatic implication. Finally, he looks at Homer's overall artistic achievement, showing that it is best evaluated via a poetics aimed specifically at works that emerge from oral tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, Foley offers new perspectives on such topics as characterization and personal interaction in the epics, the nature of Penelope's heroism, the implications of feasting and lament, and the problematic ending of the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e. His comparative references to the South Slavic oral epic open up new vistas on Homer's language, narrative patterning, and identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHomer's Traditional Art \u003c\/i\u003erepresents a disentangling of the interwoven strands of orality, textuality, and verbal art. It shows how we can learn to appreciate how Homer's art succeeds not in spite of the oral tradition in which it was composed but rather through its unique agency.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Miles Foley\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0271028106\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780271028101\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penn State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/15\/1999\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.24lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.85d","brand":"John Miles Foley","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43946379804927,"sku":"9780271028101","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_58dd0ea3-5643-44ac-a892-ce0eea329e1e.jpg?v=1681512817","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/homers-traditional-art-john-miles-foley-9780271028101","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}