Audiobook3 hours
Homer: A Very Short Introduction
Written by Barbara Graziosi
Narrated by Anne Flosnik
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Homer's mythological tales of war and homecoming, The Iliad and The Odyssey, are widely considered to be two of the most influential works in the history of western literature. Yet their author, "the greatest poet that ever lived," is something of a mystery. By the sixth century BCE, Homer had already become a mythical figure, and today debate continues as to whether he ever existed.
In this Very Short Introduction Barbara Graziosi considers Homer's famous works and their impact on readers throughout the centuries. She shows how The Iliad and The Odyssey benefit from a tradition of reading that spans well over two millennia, stemming from ancient scholars at the library of Alexandria, in the third and second centuries BCE, who wrote some of the first commentaries on the Homeric epics. Summaries of these scholars' notes made their way into the margins of Byzantine manuscripts; from Byzantium the annotated manuscripts traveled to Italy; and the ancient notes finally appeared in the first printed editions of Homer. Along the way, Homer's works have inspired artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers. Exploring the main literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homer's narratives, Graziosi analyzes the enduring appeal of Homer and his iconic works.
In this Very Short Introduction Barbara Graziosi considers Homer's famous works and their impact on readers throughout the centuries. She shows how The Iliad and The Odyssey benefit from a tradition of reading that spans well over two millennia, stemming from ancient scholars at the library of Alexandria, in the third and second centuries BCE, who wrote some of the first commentaries on the Homeric epics. Summaries of these scholars' notes made their way into the margins of Byzantine manuscripts; from Byzantium the annotated manuscripts traveled to Italy; and the ancient notes finally appeared in the first printed editions of Homer. Along the way, Homer's works have inspired artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers. Exploring the main literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homer's narratives, Graziosi analyzes the enduring appeal of Homer and his iconic works.
Author
Barbara Graziosi
Barbara Graziosi is Professor of Classics at Durham and Director, for the Arts and Humanities, of the Institute of Advanced Study. She has published widely on classical literature and its reception, and regularly contributes to radio and TV programmes on the arts.
Related to Homer
Related audiobooks
Ovid: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Augustine: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Poetry: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Short Story: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Émile Zola: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Myth: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Socrates: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classics: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Goethe: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Descartes: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Poetry: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blasphemy: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Testament as Literature: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Comparative Literature: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decadence: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Superstition: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christianity: A Very Short Introduction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Ancient History For You
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Greek Mythology: An Elaborate Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Harems, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History Is Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Epic of Gilgamesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hekate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Occulted History: Do the Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of the Dead: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt’s Famous Funerary Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Egyptian Myths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roman History 101: From Republic to Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Past Mistakes: How We Misinterpret History and Why it Matters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plutarch's Lives: Volume 1 of 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caesar: Life of a Colossus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Jesus: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chariots of the Gods Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Homer
Rating: 3.9565217391304346 out of 5 stars
4/5
23 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5¿Quién fue Homero? ¿Qué hace tan importante su obra? ¿Por qué la seguimos leyendo? Son algunas de las cuestiones que Graziosi responde en esta obra que puede ser una buena puerta de entrada para la Iliada y la Odisea, la cuestión homérica. Incluso, si ya se conocen ambas obras, arroja alguna información útil para nuevas lecturas de los dos poemas.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic, sophisticated brief overview, containing many great insights. The reading is also good. (There is one spot where the reader accidentally says “Oedipus” for “Odysseus,” but this is a very minor slip.)