Homeric Psychology and the Oral Epic Tradition

Bibliographic Data

ID4456441
AuthorsJoseph Russo, Bennett Simon
Year1968
Volume29
Issue4
Pages483
Publication date1968-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of Ideas (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5037 • E-ISSN: 1086-3222
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2708290
OpenAlexW2330506726
LanguageEN
Citations received12

is a convenient term to refer to the modes of representing mental states, both ordinary and unusual, in the Homeric poems. Current interest in Homeric psychology is primarily due to the impressive studies of Bruno Snell and E. R. Dodds, though other scholars have made important contributions over the years.2 These studies have for the most part concentrated on the task of establishing the characteristics peculiar to the Homeric portrayal of mental activity. What is still needed in work in this area is a more comprehensive framework in which to explain these characteristics. In the course of this paper we shall propose such a framework: a hypothesis that will explain the Homeric modes of representing mental life as a natural and proper concomitant of the way early epic poetry was composed and the role this poetry played in early Greek society. We believe that the most complete understanding of the Homeric conception of mind will be found in the study of the Iliad and the Odyssey as the end products of a long tradition of oral epic poetry. Hence, we should like to propose a preliminary integration of the Parry-Lord view of Homer3-in modified form-with the findings in Homeric psychology of such critics as Snell, Dodds, and H. Friinkel. Let us begin with the issue raised by Bruno Snell, whose writings o3n the Homeric conception of man and the Homeric vocabulary for

Art · EPIC · Epistemology · Literature · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Philosophy · Psychology

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