
Homer the Rhetorician
Eustathios of Thessalonike on the Composition of the Iliad
Baukje van den Berg(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 7. July 2022
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-19-286543-4 (ISBN)
Description
Homer the Rhetorician is the first monograph study devoted to the monumental Commentary on the Iliad by Eustathios of Thessalonike, one of the most renowned orators and teachers of the Byzantine twelfth century. Homeric poetry was a fixture in the Byzantine educational curriculum and enjoyed special popularity under the Komnenian emperors. For Eustathios, Homer was the supreme paradigm of eloquence and wisdom. Writing for an audience of aspiring or practising prose writers, he explains in his commentary what it is that makes Homer's composition so successful in rhetorical terms. This study explores the exemplary qualities that Eustathios recognizes in the poet as author and the Iliad as rhetorical masterpiece. In this way, it advances our understanding of the rhetorical thought of a leading intellectual and the role of a cultural authority as respected as Homer in one of the most fertile periods in Byzantine literary history.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
567 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-286543-4 (9780192865434)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2022
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€62.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2022
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€62.99
Available for download
Person
Baukje van den Berg is Assistant Professor of Byzantine Studies at Central European University (Vienna). She obtained a PhD in Ancient Greek Literature from the University of Amsterdam in 2016, held postdoctoral positions at the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and was a fellow at Dumbarton Oaks in 2020. Her main research interests are Byzantine scholarship, Byzantine education, and the role of ancient literature in Byzantine culture.
Content
Introduction
1: The Proem to the Commentary on the Iliad: Eustathios' Hermeneutic Programme
2: The Skilful Composition of the Iliad
3: The Plausible Composition of the Iliad
4: The Gods and the Composition of the Iliad
Epilogue
Appendix I The Proem to the Commentary on the Iliad
Appendix II Eustathios on Homeric Similes
Appendix III Eustathios on Invocations of the Muses
1: The Proem to the Commentary on the Iliad: Eustathios' Hermeneutic Programme
2: The Skilful Composition of the Iliad
3: The Plausible Composition of the Iliad
4: The Gods and the Composition of the Iliad
Epilogue
Appendix I The Proem to the Commentary on the Iliad
Appendix II Eustathios on Homeric Similes
Appendix III Eustathios on Invocations of the Muses