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dee9401's review against another edition
4.0
A valuable read that helps to show that even while all the technical bickering on the Homeric question is bursting around us, there is still a fundamental reason why we keep returning to the Iliad and the Odyssey: they are epic stories that appeal to the heart and mind. I thoroughly enjoyed Griifin including the original text along with translations, plus the added bonus of extracts from various scholia. I had my Greek dictionary and (tired) memory on hand to try to read the text before turning to the translation. Total Classics Geek fun!
As another reviewer mentioned, the text could be slow to slog through. It read like a dense academic paper at times and I had to reread several passages as my mind wandered. At other times, the work kept me rapt and my slow pace was my enjoying a fine meal not a dull conversation. I didn't always agree with his interpretations but he made a good argument throughout. I will keep this well marked up book on my Homer shelf for a long time.
As another reviewer mentioned, the text could be slow to slog through. It read like a dense academic paper at times and I had to reread several passages as my mind wandered. At other times, the work kept me rapt and my slow pace was my enjoying a fine meal not a dull conversation. I didn't always agree with his interpretations but he made a good argument throughout. I will keep this well marked up book on my Homer shelf for a long time.
graywacke's review against another edition
3.0
Jasper is very interested in the formality and hierarchy within Homer's plays. He see the Iliad, which he finds the better song, as tragedy of heroism, where characters suffer and die because of choices forced on them in order to maintain their heroic role. The Odyssey is more a story, where Odysseus in particular stretches the heroic ideal.
Well that's the simplified summary. I liked where Griffin took his arguments. I didn't like that he promised "to explain and justify" a statement by Matthew Arnold that Homer is great "in the noble and profound application of ideas to life.". I think he promised a lot there and delivered only a little. Actually my biggest complaint here is that Griffin, limited to 80 pages, never really boiled it down. He really makes a handful of points, but never makes the case that these are the handful of points one should make in 80 pages or less. But than how much can he do in 80 pages?
Well that's the simplified summary. I liked where Griffin took his arguments. I didn't like that he promised "to explain and justify" a statement by Matthew Arnold that Homer is great "in the noble and profound application of ideas to life.". I think he promised a lot there and delivered only a little. Actually my biggest complaint here is that Griffin, limited to 80 pages, never really boiled it down. He really makes a handful of points, but never makes the case that these are the handful of points one should make in 80 pages or less. But than how much can he do in 80 pages?
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