Homeric problems and bibliographical challenges, Part 2: More on the performances of rhapsodes at the festival of the Panathenaia

Abstract

This post, dated 2018.11.30, picks up from where I left off in Classical Inquiries 2018.11.22. Here again I am dealing with problems I have encountered in figuring out the historical circumstances of Homeric performances by professional reciters called rhapsōidoi ‘rhapsodes’ at the seasonally recurring festival of the Panathenaia in Athens. As before, my starting point centers on what I have already formulated in a set of twin books entitled Homer the Classic (2009|2008) and Homer the Preclassic (2010|2009). And, as also before, I am faced with bibliographical challenges: how to develop further formulations without getting bogged down in secondary bibliography.