The festival of the Panathenaia, held in Athens every summer to
celebrate the birthday of the city's goddess, Athena, was the
setting for performances of the Homeric "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by
professional reciters or "rhapsodes." The works of Plato are our
main surviving source of information about these performances.
Through his references, a crucial phase in the history of the
Homeric tradition can be reconstructed. Through Plato's eyes, the
"staging" of Homer in classical Athens can once again become a
virtual reality.
This book examines the overall testimony of Plato as an expert
about the cultural legacy of these Homeric performances. Plato's
fine ear for language--in this case the technical language of
high-class artisans like rhapsodes--picks up on a variety of
authentic expressions that echo the talk of rhapsodes as they once
practiced their art.
Highlighted among the works of Plato are the "Ion," the
"Timaeus," and the "Critias." Some experts who study the "Timaeus"
have suggested that Plato must have intended this masterpiece,
described by his characters as a "humnos," to be a tribute to
Athena. The metaphor of weaving, implicit in humnos and explicit in
the peplos or robe that was offered to the goddess at the
Panathenaia, applies also to Homeric poetry: it too was pictured as
a "humnos," destined for eternal re-weaving on the festive occasion
of Athena's eternally self-renewing birthday.
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