Quote:
Originally Posted by Latinandgreek
The Iliad was born of a loooooong tradition of oral poetry. So long, in fact, that certain phrases used by Homer (such as 'immortal fame') can be found in Indian epic literature as well. Stock phrases are often re-used in certain phrases, as are epithets. The original Greek did not rhyme, rather it was written in dactylic hexameter which followed a specific pattern; often the stock phrases were used to keep the hexameter flowing as well. I'm probably not doing a great job of explaining this, am I? There are some great books on the subject of Indo-European poetics; I warmly recommend "How to Kill a Dragon" by Calvert Watkins.
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Thanks, that's interesting. It sounds like they popped in those stock phrases like a chant. If the audience was used to it the effect should be the same as how rhyme helps rhythm in English poetry. It's an interesting idea which, come to think of it, is still used.
I know how in modern poetry (it's almost all lyrical poetry so it's hard to compare) but in modern poetry the meaning is in the voice of the poet (or singer) more than in the written words but listening to Homer in the original Greek doesn't work without knowing the language, nor is there any way of knowing how the ancients presented.
I once followed along in the text while listening to an audio tape of Ezra Pound reading his Cantos and it really illuminated the poet's meaning. This long poem is probably the same. I recently heard a rendition of "The Times They Are a'Changing" that was far different than the older Peter, Paul and Mary version, almost a different poem, and the ancients must have experienced different presentations of the Iliad the same.
I'm always stopping to puzzle over things. The thread is a big help in sorting it out.