Mario BaierNeun Leben des Homer

Rezension

[...] Baier makes the Lives accessible to a wider range of German readers. With his discussion of the textual transmission and editorial issues related to the Lives, Baier also offers useful material for scholarly research.

About this book deutschenglish

For the first time ever, this book offers a c o m p l e t e translation of all preserved ancient Homer biographies from ancient Greek to German. Each translated section is directly followed by a detailed explanation. A systematized summary provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the – partially very detailed – findings that could be gained from the commentary.

Research usually investigated and investigates the ancient Homer biographies to their h i s t o r i c a l l y realistic content and as such consistently declines them to be a source for the reconstruction of a "realistic" person of Homer. They do not include any verifiable facts but mostly anecdotally fictions and assumptions with regard to the legendary poet, whose first roots have been detectable since the 6th century B.C. at the latest.

In contrast hereto, the book carves out the biographies' value as literary and i n t e l l e c t u a l l y h i s t o r i c a l sources. We do not learn from them who Homer was but how the ancients imagined Homer. The book attaches particular importance to the identification of the original drafts and the disclosure of the motives that resulted to such contradictory information as regards naming, home, lifetime – even the question which works by Homer are even "genuine" – within the different presentations.

In the commentary, the author shows a variety of own translations of further Greek and Latin quotes. Where reasonable, such quotes are substantiated in detail. This enables even non classical philologists to review the argumentation case by case on the basis of the original sources.

Ihr Werk im Verlag Dr. Kovač

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