Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Richard Janko. Homer, Hesiod, and the Hymns: Diachronic Development in Epic Diction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Attempts a quantification of language and phraseology with respect to archaism and innovation, based upon the frequency of occurrence of the digamma, alternative morphs, and regional linguistic developments, in order to ascertain approximate relative dates and sequences of composition for the Homeric and Hesiodic canons. Arguing that "consistent treatement of several features" in a work is a "chronological indicator," he suggests that the texts in question "were fixed at the time when each was composed" (191).
Area: AG