Graziosi Barbara - Homer: a very short introduction

Praise for the hardback, Homer

The perfect introduction to Homer.

Times Literary Supplement

Homer has flourished through millennia of cultural receptions, ending up (as Nietzsche noted) more like an aesthetic judgment than an historical fact. Barbara Graziosi in this highly readable, svelte volume offers a lucid and learned introduction that is characteristically attuned to key moments in the afterlife of the Iliad and Odyssey. Not only do we get a sensitive and fresh survey of the poems themselves and their ancient contexts (including roots in oral tradition, relationships with Near Eastern literature, and the evidence for a Trojan War). She also renews our awareness of the later impact of this earliest Greek literature, from Vergil to Primo Levi. Rich in detailed readings and packed with hints for further exploration, Graziosis book provides the most up-to-date and reliable guide to the appreciation of two eternally relevant epics.

Richard P. Martin, Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek Professor in Classics, Stanford University

Authoritative, lucid, contemporary and exciting. Nobody writes for the public about Homer better than Barbara Graziosi.

Edith Hall, Professor of Classics, Kings College London

This book rewards the general reader with a lively introduction to Homeric poetryand to the artistic world in which this poetry originally came to life. Throughout her forceful exposition, the author does not hesitate to track her own critical views on the lasting value of reading Homer in our own time.

Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature, Harvard University, and Director of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies