Homer and the Epic Cycle: Recovering the Oral Traditional Relationship

How can the ancient relationship between Homer and the Epic Cycle be recovered? Using findings from the most significant research in the field, Andrew Porter questions many ancient and modern assumptions and offers alternative perspectives better aligned with ancient epic performance realities and modern epic studies. Porter’s volume addresses a number of related issues: the misrepresentation of Cyclic (and Homeric) epic by Aristotle and his inheritors; the role of the epic singer, patron/collector, and scribe/poet in the formation of memorialized songs; the relevance of shared patterns and devices and of other traditional connections between ancient epics; and the distinct fates of Homeric and Cyclic epic. Homer and the Epic Cycle: Recovering the Oral Traditional Relationship provides new answers to an age-old problem.