Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

J.A. Davison. "Lite rature and Literacy in Ancient Greece." Phoenix, 16:141-56, 219-33.

Part I considers the implications of the coming of literacy from historical, social, and literary points of view. Sees the Homeric poems as written down either by the (oral) poet himself or by an amanuensis, while Hesiod is portrayed in part as a literate craftsman. Notes, however, in the later section that even in Hesiodic times the "public" nature of the poetry remained paramount; performance before an audience remained a cruc ial part of the process.
Area: AG