Relative Chronology Within (an) Oral Tradition

Abstract

The glottochronometric work of Richard Janko has had a profound impact on the question of archaic Greek epic language and chronology. The assumptions, however, on which his method is based do not withstand scrutiny. This paper explores some systematic problems in Janko's analysis, and uses the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite as a specific example to illustrate the difficulty of ascribing linguistic variation among early Greek songs to chronology.