Homer and the heroic tradition
“This book will become a primary document in Homeric scholarship in our day. . . . [It] is probably the first attempt made in modern times to integrate, within the covers of a single book, the most important recent discoveries in the fields of archaeology, linguistics, history, anthropology, comparative oral literature, and literary criticism as they relate to Homer. . . . [There is] a penetrating discussion of the imagery in the Iliad, particularly the overwhelming image of fire, the Homeric character and tradition, a superb analysis of Achilles (the first real tragic portrait in Western literature), fate, time, and the gods, a brief discussion of the Odyssey (the book centers primarily on the Iliad) and what is Whitman’s most original and startling contribution, a detailed analysis of the geometric design of the epic, with an outstanding analysis of its relationship to Geometric pottery and the Hellenic sense of form. This book is a masterpiece of reconstruction. . . . No review can possibly do this book justice. It is a masterpiece of scholarship, literary analysis, and original thought . . . the best book on Homer available today. It is a ‘must’ on the reading list of all those who profess an interest in great literature.”— John Rexine, Athene
Print Book, English, 1958
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1958