This book concerns the way we read--or rather, imagine we are listening
to--ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Through clear and penetrating
analysis Mark Edwards shows how an understanding of the effects of word
order and meter is vital for appreciating the meaning of classical
poetry, composed for listening audiences.
The first of four chapters examines Homer's emphasis of certain words by
their positioning; a passage from the Iliad is analyzed, and a poem of
Tennyson illustrates English parallels. The second considers Homer's
techniques of disguising the break in the narrative when changing a
scene's location or characters, to maintain his audience's attention. In
the third we learn, partly through an English translation matching the
rhythm, how Aeschylus chose and adapted meters to arouse listeners'
emotions. The final chapter examines how Latin poets, particularly
Propertius, infused their language with ambiguities and multiple
meanings. An appendix examines the use of classical meters by
twentieth-century American and English poets.
Based on the author's Martin Classical Lectures at Oberlin College in
1998, this book will enrich the appreciation of classicists and their
students for the immense possibilities of the languages they read,
translate, and teach. Since the Greek and Latin quotations are
translated into English, it will also be welcomed by non-classicists as
an aid to understanding the enormous influence of ancient Greek and
Latin poetry on modern Western literature.