Transmission of the Homeric Text: Singers, Rhapsodes, Transcribers, Scribes and Editors

In my paper I seek to trace the long and varied processes by which the earliest Homeric epic poems gradually took shape in the mouths of singers as they were performed and reperformed, all the while increasing in complexity and scope. At some point the knowledge of writing came to have an impact on...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bird, Graeme D. (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Ed. Morcelliana 2020
In: Henoch
Year: 2020, Volume: 42, Issue: 2, Pages: 208-225
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Enoch / Homer ca. 8 BC. Jh. / Text history / Edition / Singer / Rhapsodies (Music)
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B Composition
B Multitextuality
B Oral
B Improvisation
B Performance
B Dictation
Description
Summary:In my paper I seek to trace the long and varied processes by which the earliest Homeric epic poems gradually took shape in the mouths of singers as they were performed and reperformed, all the while increasing in complexity and scope. At some point the knowledge of writing came to have an impact on the transmission, leading to multiple transcribed versions of parts of the “text.” Subsequently those whom we might call scholarly editors began their work of comparing and collating and commenting upon these differing versions, leading eventually to magnificent manuscripts such as the tenth-century Venetus A, containing as it does one version of the Homeric text along with copious marginal notes (scholia), which include discussions of variant readings and the reasons for preferring one over another. Modern editions frequently draw upon such manuscripts as a basis for their own printed texts.
ISSN:0393-6805
Contains:Enthalten in: Henoch