Details

Subject(s)

• Homer—Iliad [Browse]
• Epic poetry, Greek—History and criticism [Browse]

Series

Wisconsin studies in classics [More in this series]

Summary note

Homer's Iliad is often considered a poem of blunt truthfulness, his characters' motivation pleasingly simple. A closer look, however, reveals a complex interplay of characters who engage in an awful lot of lies. Beginning with Achilles, who hatches a secret plot to destroy his own people, Mark Buchan traces motifs of deception and betrayal throughout the poem. Homer's heroes offer bluster, their passion linked to and explained by their lack of authenticity. Buchan reads Homer's characters between the lies, showing how the plot is structured looking at individual denial and what cannot be said. Book jacket.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Action note

Committed to retain in perpetuity — ReCAP Shared Collection (HUL)

Contents

• Introduction: Riddles of identity in the Iliad
• The tragedy of Achilles: the Iliad as a poem of betrayal
• Comedy and class struggle
• The politics of poetry
• The poetry of politics
• Couples: the Iliad on intimacy
• Flirtations
• The afterlife of homer
• Conclusion: how to sum up the Iliad in a riddle.

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Other title(s)

Project Muse UPCC books

ISBN

• 9780299286347 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 0299286347 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 9780299286330 (e-book)
• 0299286339 (e-book)

LCCN

^^2011047343

OCLC

761853012

RCP

H - S

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