Böcker i Routledge Library Editions: Homer-serien

First published in 1958, this book aims to describe Greek art and poetry within this ambiguous period of ancient history (often referred to as the Greek `Dark Ages¿), and to explore the possibilities of learning about Mycenaean civilisation from its own documents and not only from archaeology. Because they record Mycenaean civilisation in Mycenaean terminology, while Homer was writing in Ionian Greek at the beginning of the polis civilisation, the Homeric epics show how much in Homer is in fact Mycenaean.

The books in this set help to situate this immense artistic achievement in its historical and cultural context, considering issues such as the relationship between the Homeric epics and the Mycenaean civilisation which preceded them, the importance of Homer for the flowering of Greek tragedy, and the reception of Homer during and after the Enlightenment.