The Best of the Achaeans Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry

This book is about how to read Homer--both the Iliad and the Odyssey--and various related forms of Greekpoetry in the archaic period, most notably the Hesiodic Theogony and Works and Days and the Homeric Hymns, especially the Apollo, the Demeter, and the Aphrodite. Other related poetic forms include the praise poetry ofPindar and the blame poetry of Archilochus. The readings are infused with references to non-canonical traditionsas well, especially women's laments and the earliest attested versions of Aesop's fables.