Homer Book

I teach Homer's epics in my humanities classes, so I read this book for useful information and interpretation. It delivered. A chapter on how Homer's poems came into existence, another on the poems' historical validity, and then 50 pages each on the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ends with a short piece on how the poem was interpreted in the ancient world. Great for course prep.

Powell's ideas about the epics are neither nutty nor obvious. For the most part, he breaks them down book-by-book, and his standard approach is to summarize, remind you of relevant information from other parts of the book, compare/contrast with the myths of other cultures, offer archeological evidence for this or that, and comment on the tone of the piece ("this is supposed to be funny," "this reminds us that the war is far from won"). I raised my eyebrows occasionally while reading, but I'm sure everybody's interpretations of Homer are idiosyncratic. At least Powell actually interprets, and he knows a lot, so that helps.

Another strength of the book is Powell takes archeology and geography very seriously, so he can tell us when Homer is describing an actual place very well, and likewise he can tell us when some details seem off, or Homer might be referring to this or that place, or this scene is set in a fairyland. The book has several maps and photographs, many of which were taken by Powell himself. He actually has been to all these places.

Like a lot of contemporary classicists, Powell wholeheartedly accepts the Parry thesis (Homer's epics are oral compositions and that much of what's in them is purely formulaic and "traditional," meaning that "Homer" is usually adding things for convenience, not to advance any ideas or stimulate responses) and yet he still interprets the poems as if somebody composed them with intentions. So Powell still writes about "Homer" without telling us who he thinks Homer was, though he pretty much implies that Homer lived in the 8th century BC and may have received a lot of this material but still put it together his own way and for his own purposes. He probably wasn't the guy who wrote the poems down but he may have been the guy who dictated them.

Powell also includes a lot of useful information about ancient literature and the history of alphabets, and it's all interesting if you're the kind of person who finds that stuff interesting.