A Companion to Homer.

Macmillan, London, 1970. Reprint 1st ed.1962. XXIX,595p. ills. Cloth wrps. Nice copy. 'This volume falls into two parts, literary and then archaeological. An introductory chapter by the late J.A.K. Thomson on Homer and his influence is Victorian in its literary approach but useful for its brief survey of Homeric echoes in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. There follow three chapters by Sir Maurice Bowra: two short ones on metre and style, and a long one on composition. (...) 'Composition' takes a broad look at the plot and construction of both poems, and is one of the most interesting chapters of the whole volume. (...) The next chapter, on the language of Homer, is by L.R. Palmer, and is a short book in itself. (...) Intended as a Homeric supplement to an Attic grammar, it goes somewhat farther than that, perhaps to the detriment of clarity. (...) The second main part opens with a geographical survey by N.G.L. Hammond - a thorough piece of work which goes well beyond the immediate reference of Homer. Helen Thomas and the editor (Stubbings) follow with a chapter on Homeric lands and peoples which I found clear and useful, except perhaps in its treatment of the antiquity of the Catalogue of Ships itself (...). The pages on the rediscovery of the Homeric world (...) are among the most useful in the book, especially in the surveys of Troy, Mycenae, Ithaca, and Pylos. (...) The chapters on social culture are less satisfactory. (...) Most of us can learn from the new venture. If it omits much that some would expect to find, it also contains much that will be of value to all.' (G.S. KIRK in The Classical Review (New Series), 1963, pp.133-36).