• Repeating the Unrepeated: Allusions to Homeric Hapax Legomena in Archaic and Classical Greek Poetry

    Author(s):
    Thomas J. Nelson (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Group(s):
    Ancient Greece & Rome
    Subject(s):
    Classics, Greek literature, Greek poetry, Epic poetry, Greek, Poetry, Drama, Greek drama (Tragedy), Greek drama (Comedy)
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/1fft-vz52
    Abstract:
    In this paper, I investigate the repetition of Homeric hapax legomena in archaic and classical Greek poetry. Scholars frequently assume that fine-grained engagement with Homeric rarities is a distinctive feature of the Hellenistic period, but I reveal the significant precedent for this phenomenon in earlier poetry. Proceeding through comedy, tragedy and lyric, I explore a range of case studies which demonstrate the extremely sophisticated appropriation of Homeric unica in the pre-Hellenistic world. I argue that this evidence requires us to reconsider the extent of allusion in archaic and classical Greece and to rewrite traditional narratives of literary history.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book chapter     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.1163/9789004466661_007
    Publisher:
    BRILL
    Pub. Date:
    2021-9-14
    Book Title:
    Repetition, Communication, and Meaning in the Ancient World
    Author/Editor:
    Beck, D.
    Page Range:
    119 - 157
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    8 months ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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