Greek Mythology and Poetics / Gregory Nagy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nagy, Gregory, author.

Series:

Myth and Poetics Series

Myth and Poetics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology in literature.

Mythology, Greek, in literature.

Greek poetry--History and criticism.

Greek poetry.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 363 p. )

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Gregory Nagy here provides a far-reaching assessment of the relationship between myth and ritual in ancient Greek society. Nagy illuminates in particular the forces of interaction and change that transformed the Indo-European linguistic and cultural heritage into distinctly Greek social institutions between the eighth and the fifth centuries B.C. Included in the volume are thirteen of Nagy's major essays-all extensively revised for book publication-on various aspects of the Hellenization of Indo-European poetics, myth and ritual, and social ideology.The primary aim of this book is to examine the Greek language as a reflection of society, with special attention to its function as a vehicle for transmitting mythology and poetics. Nagy's emphasis on the language of the Greeks, and on its comparison with the testimony of related Indo-European languages such as Latin, Indic, and Hittite, reflects his long-standing interest in Indo-European linguistics. The individual chapters examine the development of Hellenic poetics in the traditions of Homer and Hesiod; the Hellenization of Indo-European myths and rituals, including myths of the afterlife, rituals of fire, and symbols in the Greek lyric; and the Hellenization of Indo-European social ideology, with reference to such cultural institutions as the concept of the city-state.A path-breaking application of the principles of social anthropology, comparative mythology, historical linguistics, and oral poetry theory to the study of classics, Greek Mythology and Poetics will be an invaluable resource for classicists and other scholars of linguistics and literary theory.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. The Hellenization of Indo-European Poetics

1. Homer and Comparative Mythology

2. Formula and Meter: The Oral Poetics of Homer

3. Hesiod and the Poetics of Pan-Hellenism

Part II. The Hellenization of Indo-European Myth and Ritual

4. Patroklos, Concepts of Afterlife, and the Indic Triple Fire

5. The Death of Sarpedon and the Question of Homeric Uniqueness

6. The King and the Hearth: Six Studies of Sacral Vocabulary Relating to the Fireplace

7. Thunder and the Birth of Humankind

8. Sêma and Nóēsis: The Hero's Tomb and the "Reading" of Symbols in Homer and Hesiod

9. Phaethon, Sappho's Phaon, and the White Rock of Leukas: "Reading" the Symbols of Greek Lyric

10. On the Death of Actaeon

PART III. The Hellenization of Indo-European Social Ideology

11. Poetry and the Ideology of the Polis: The Symbolism of Apportioning Meat

12. Mythical Foundations of Greek Society and the Concept of the City-State

13. Unattainable Wishes: The Restricted Range of an Idiom in Epic Diction

Bibliography

General Index

Index of Scholars

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-327) and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Apr 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501732027

1501732021

OCLC:

1132221364