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Gregory Nagy, Greek Mythology & Poetics
Acknowledgments
Foreword, pp. vii–ix
Introduction, pp. 1–5
Part I: The Hellenization of Indo-European Poetics
Chapter 1. Homer and Comparative Mythology, pp. 7–17 Chapter 2. Formula and Meter: The Oral Poetics of Homer, pp. 18–35 Chapter 3. Hesiod and the Poetics of Pan-Hellenism, pp. 36–82 Part II: The Hellenization of Indo-European Myth and Ritual
Chapter 4. Patroklos, Concepts of Afterlife, and the Indic Triple Fire, pp. 85–121 Chapter 5. The Death of Sarpedon and the Question of Homeric Uniqueness, pp. 122–142 Chapter 6. The King and the Hearth: Six Studies of Sacral Vocabulary Relating to the Fireplace, pp. 143–180 Chapter 7. Thunder and the Birth of Humankind, pp. 181–201 Chapter 8. Sêma and Nóēsis: The Hero's Tomb and the "Reading" of Symbols in Homer and Hesiod, pp. 202–222 Chapter 9. Phaethon, Sappho's Phaon, and the White Rock of Leukas: "Reading" the Symbols of Greek Lyric, pp. 223–262 Chapter 10. On the Death of Actaeon, pp. 263–265 Part III: The Hellenization of Indo-European Social Ideology
Chapter 11. Poetry and the Ideology of the Polis, pp. 269–275 Chapter 12. Mythical Foundations of Greek Society and the Concept of the City-State, pp. 276–293 Chapter 13. Unattainable Wishes: The Restricted Range of an Idiom in Epic Diction, pp. 294–301 Bibliography, pp. 303–327
Acknowledgments
I thank the Classics Department of Harvard University for the allocation of a subsidy that has helped make this book more affordable. At an early stage of the project, Lenore Savage, with her expertise at the keyboard, navigated through vast stretches of unwieldy text. The final printed version was achieved by Gary Bisbee, master compositor and scholar.
I wish to record my deep gratitude to all those who gave me advice at various stages in the evolution of this book. Special thanks go to Victor Bers, Deborah Boedeker, Martha Cowan, Gregory Crane, Olga Davidson, Marian Demos, Scott Ettinger, Thomas J. Figueira, Douglas Frame, John Hamilton, Leonard Muellner, Biaise Nagy, Joseph Nagy, Jogesh Panda, Dan Petegorsky, Dale Sinos, Laura Slatkin, Roger Travis, Brent Vine, Calvert Watkins, Michael Witzel.
I offer special thanks to John Peradotto, editor of Arethusa. It was he who provided the original occasions for the essays rewritten as Chapters 4 and 8 in this book.
Finally, I dedicate this book to my genial daughter, Antónia, whose radiant company has been for me a priceless treasure.