The Shield of Homer Narrative Structure in the Illiad

Stanley explores the arrangement of the poem's books, all unified by theme and structure, showing how this allowed for artistically satisfying and practically feasible recitation over a period of three or four days. Taking structural emphasis as a guide to poetic discourse, the author argues that the Iliad is not a poem of "might"-as opposed to the Odyssean celebration of "guile"-but that in advocating social and personal reconciliation the poem offers a profound indictment of a warring heroic society.
Originally published in 1993.
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