Homer and the Heroic Tradition (Norton Library

by Cedric H. Whitman

“A work of extraordinary distinction, one which is surely destined to be a permanent landmark in the long history of Homeric studies.” ―Whitney J. Oates, American Scholar What has been done in recent times in the fields of archaeology, linguistics, history, anthropology, and comparative oral literature, not to mention literary criticism itself, has put the whole Homeric problem in so new a light that now above all else the interested reader of Homer, whether he reads translations or the original, looks earnestly for a synoptic view, a framework by which he can shape his critical reactions within the bounds of rational and historical probability. What follows in the succeeding chapters is an attempt to formulate such a synoptic view, to bring together―for the first time, I believe―the results of modern specialized disciplines relating to Homeric studies and the kind of criticism which, twenty years ago, was called “New,” but which no, in modified forms, has become simply this era’s characteristic way of approaching such problems as imagery, action, and the poetic consciousness. ―Cedric H. Whitman, from the Preface

Genres: Classics, Mythology

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homer and the Heroic Tradition is an analysis of Homer's epic works as literature. Emphasis is on those elements we consider when thinking about literature: character development, structure, symbology, and its place in history. I'm reading books on Homer this fall while reading the new Peter Green translation of The Iliad, and I found Whitman's book enormously helpful. The discussion of symbols alone is fascinating. One doesn't focus on fire in the poetry until Whitman makes you aware of its significance. Why hadn't I considered the prevalence of horses in the Iliad before, the many references to a sea like horses or characters who tame and master them? My understanding the Greeks as originating from the horsemen of the European steppes northwest of the Caspian Sea didn't even help me connect this with the importance of the final deceit which carried the Greeks into Troy itself. There are chapters devoted to fate, to time, to Homeric character, and other topics which will enhance a reading of these epics. While most of it was to be expected in a critical analysis, what surprised me most was Whitman's explanation of the geometric structure of the Iliad. I'd never before known that sections of the poem refer to other sections in correspondingly equidistant ways, so that the opening of the Iliad corresponds emotionally to the end, the next section corresponds to the section next to the end, and so on until all correspondences meet in the middle. Further, each section is structured similarly within itself. No doubt this structure was an aid to memory for the ancient tellers who passed it down and down orally for all those generations before it was finally copied as some kind of permanent record.. Whitman's work is scholarly but remains readable and a useful companion to reading Homer..

[Dagazwind · Rating 3 out of 5]

There will come a day when scholars finally realize the Iliad isn't limited to the story of Achilles (with a few giving some attention to Hector and Helen while they're at it). But that day still seems so far away.
Other than this unavoidable downside, lots of food for thought here. A very useful book, as long as one remembers that the author is highly biased towards the descendant of Aeacus, which seems to cloud his judgement of a few occasions. Protagonist powers trump all, apparently.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cedric H. Whitman's Homer and the Heroic Tradition first struck me as a highly reasonable synthesis of Homeric scholarship as of the 1950s. But as I read further, I was startled by some highly unusual opinions. For one, he is very eager to show that Homer's works must have come out of Athens, rather than the usual view that they originated in the Ionian part of Asia Minor. This seems to be because he really wants to link the structure of the Iliad and the Odyssey with the geometric patterns of Attic pottery. This expands an argument I first encountered in John L. Myers's Who Were the Greeks?. To me, Whitman puts an unsupportable amount of weight on some flimsy evidence.

More compelling to me was his extension of the unitarian arguments of John A. Scott's The Unity of Homer and Samuel Bassett's The Poetry of Homer. Whitman is a very sensitive reader of Homer's poetry, and makes a lot of good points about how it works.

One advantage of the book for a reader who is interested in Homer but does not read Greek is that Whitman quotes the poetry only in English translation. As such, the book should be accessible to the general reader, though as I've tried to suggest, some of the views struck me as out of the mainstream.

[Liam Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read during September for my comps at Florida State.

[Dan Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Grief. This is the motherlode. If you enjoy epic poetry at all, find, purchase, and read this book.