Description
| Product ID: | 9781108994101 |
| Product Form: | Paperback / softback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Title: | From Hittite to Homer |
| Subtitle: | The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic |
| Authors: | Author: Mary R. Bachvarova |
| Page Count: | 689 |
| Subjects: | Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Literary studies: poetry and poets, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Ancient (Classical) Greek |
| Description: | Select Guide Rating This book takes a bold new approach to the prehistory of Homeric epic. It argues that the Near Eastern influence on early Greek hexameter poetry primarily came from a single Syro-Anatolian tradition of oral narrative song, which included the Song of Gilgamesh and the Kumarbi Cycle, starting in the eleventh century BCE. This book provides a groundbreaking reassessment of the prehistory of Homeric epic. It argues that in the Early Iron Age bilingual poets transmitted to the Greeks a set of narrative traditions closely related to the one found at Bronze-Age Hattusa, the Hittite capital. Key drivers for Near Eastern influence on the developing Homeric tradition were the shared practices of supralocal festivals and venerating divinized ancestors, and a shared interest in creating narratives about a legendary past using a few specific storylines: theogonies, genealogies connecting local polities, long-distance travel, destruction of a famous city because it refuses to release captives, and trying to overcome death when confronted with the loss of a dear companion. Professor Bachvarova concludes by providing a fresh explanation of the origins and significance of the Greco-Anatolian legend of Troy, thereby offering a new solution to the long-debated question of the historicity of the Trojan War. |
| Imprint Name: | Cambridge University Press |
| Publisher Name: | Cambridge University Press |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2020-12-10 |