The Measure of Homer: The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey by Richard Hunter

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Measure of Homer: The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey by Richard Hunter Jonathan S. Burgess Richard Hunter. The Measure of Homer: The Ancient Reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. x, 254. $44.99. ISBN 978-1-108-42831-6. Referring to his recent monographs on Hesiod and Plato, Hunter describes this book as completing a "trilogy" on foundational literature. The author notes that he will not repeat himself on Hellenistic poetry or cover reception of Homer in drama, imperial epic, and philosophy of later antiquity. As this learned inquiry amply demonstrates, there remains much other material by which to "measure" the influence of Homeric poetry. In an often digressive and accumulative manner, the five chapters explore a number of different themes. Chapter 1, "Placing Homer," argues that the effect of Homer was geographically extensive and socially deep. Chapter 2, "Homer and the Divine," discusses ancient reaction to select Homeric passages featuring divinities. Chapter 3, "The Golden Verses," surveys the attention given to Odysseus' symposiastic address to the Phaeacians in Odyssey 9. Chapter 4, "Homer among the Scholars," discusses ancient critical explication of a number of Homeric passages. Chapter 5, "The Pleasures of Song," focuses on two key passages, the song of the Sirens in Odyssey 9 and the heroic song of Achilles in Iliad 9, with attention to divergent explication or utilization of them in antiquity. Despite the term "reception" in the subtitle, "heritage" might be the better word for this work's celebratory exploration of Homeric influence. Besides referring to a wide variety of literature that discussed Homeric poetry, Hunter also searches out everyday texts, often epigrams of the eastern Greek world, that seemingly reflect Homer. The point is that the implicit employment of Homer in even obscure texts especially affirms the reach of Homeric influence. At times Hunter's optimism that we are "invited" to perceive Homeric allusions may not convince. An early example is a "humble" epigram from Cappadocia (5–6); it is undoubtedly epicized, but a father grieving a dead son does not bring to my mind the parents of Hector watching their son being dragged in Iliad 22, despite the correlation of two common words. Though Hunter refers to the use of Homer in ancient education, this usually involved rote copying and memorization of the early parts of the Homeric epics; more socio-economic analysis would be required to demonstrate that Homer penetrated "all levels of society" in a specific and sophisticated manner. An interesting section in chapter 4 reveals that ancient scholars were actually quite alarmed at the attention given to humble characters and activities in the Odyssey. In many ways the book gathers strength as it explores the undoubted importance of Homer in antiquity. Hunter is particularly informative in his subtle yet dogged pursuit of the shifting employment of various themes, such as the snatching of a mortal to heaven or the song of the Sirens. Though the author excellently [End Page 113] explains the mechanics of ancient interpretation of Homer, not every reader will be as sympathetic to its methods and conclusions. For example, Hunter is rather accommodating with Longinus' biographical hypothesis that an aging Homer composed the Odyssey as an epilogue to the Iliad. The argument that Nestor's speech to Telemachus in Odyssey 3 ("the sufferings of the Greeks at Troy, the sacking of the city … , and then the νόστος") suggests the "shape of the Iliad followed by the Odyssey" is carefully worded yet misleading. Three of the four dead lamented by Nestor belong to cyclic traditions, not the Iliad, and in general the Odyssey looks back to non-Homeric episodes and famously avoids Iliadic material. But there is no doubt that readers will come away from this book much better informed about ancient responses to Homer, and this work should prove to be an impetus for further consideration of the extent of reception of the Homeric poetry in the ancient Greek world. Jonathan S. Burgess University of Toronto Copyright © 2019 The Classical Association of the Atlantic States, Inc.