Books by Margalit Finkelberg
In The Gatekeeper: Narrative Voice in Plato’s Dialogues Margalit Finkelberg offers the first narr... more In The Gatekeeper: Narrative Voice in Plato’s Dialogues Margalit Finkelberg offers the first narratological analysis of all of Plato’s transmitted dialogues. The book explores the dialogues as works of literary fiction, giving special emphasis to the issue of narrative perspective.
Papers by Margalit Finkelberg
Yearbook of Ancient Greek Epic, 2024
This article discusses the issue of applicability of Milman Parry’s principles of economy
and ex... more This article discusses the issue of applicability of Milman Parry’s principles of economy
and extension to Homer and other epic traditions. By addressing the objections
raised by scholars in various fields, it argues that the presence of formulae is in itself
not enough for either proving or disproving a given text’s orality. Only economy and
extension embodied in the systems of formulae can serve as such a proof. Application
of this criterion to various epic traditions shows that, although economy and extension
cannot be considered universal indices of orality, they do fulfil this function in Homer
and early Greek epic.
Homer’s Moving Pictures: Audio-Visual Aspects of the Scar Episode (Od. 19.386-504) (proof), 2023
Although it is a matter of common knowledge that the cultural context in which the Homeric poems ... more Although it is a matter of common knowledge that the cultural context in which the Homeric poems were communicated both before and after their fixation in writing was one of public performance, more often than not the reception of Homer's narrative by the audience is addressed in scholarly literature in terms of the experience of a reader. It seems, however, that no interpretation of Homer's narrative would be adequate if it neglects the fact that the ancient audience experienced a live performance which resulted in a form of enactive narration resembling the visual juxtaposition of scenes in modern cinema.
J. Price, M. Finkelberg, Y. Shachar, (eds.). Rome: An Empire of Many Nations. Cambridge 2021
Roman Reception of the Trojan War margalit finkelberg Roman reception of Greek cultural tradition... more Roman Reception of the Trojan War margalit finkelberg Roman reception of Greek cultural tradition was anything but passive or straightforward. After the first wave of translations and adaptations that took place in the third and second centuries BCE, remaking and rethinking Greek sources became the normal practice. This gradually led to their replacement by new literary production cast in the Latin language. Homer was superseded by Vergil; Hesiod by Ovid and Vergil again; Sappho, Pindar, and Callimachus by Catullus and Horace; Sophocles and Euripides by Seneca, and so on. Still, even when approached against this background, Roman reception of Homer is a special case. On the one hand, it is highly symptomatic that the Odyssia, the translation of the Homeric Odyssey by Livius Andronicus (third century BCE), was the first literary epic to appear in Latin. On the other hand, at approximately the same time or perhaps even earlier, 1 the Romans, who aspired to acquire a prestigious past by securing a place within Greek heroic tradition, started to identify themselves as descendants of the defeated Trojans. This identification became especially prominent in the middle of the first century BCE, with the rise to power of Caesar and Augustus, who claimed to descend from Aeneas through his son Iulus. The silver denarius of Caesar showing Aeneas leaving Troy, minted in 47/46 BCE, is emblematic in this respect. Aeneas carries his father Anchises on his left shoulder and holds in his right hand the Palladium, the statue of armed Athena from the city of Troy. This was the first time when Aeneas replaced Romulus on a Roman coin. This also signalled the beginning of a new era in the reception of the Trojan War.
Trends in Classics, 2020
Although Homer refers to the art of poetry in terms closely similar to those used by oral traditi... more Although Homer refers to the art of poetry in terms closely similar to those used by oral traditional poets interviewed by Parry and Lord, his own poems do not follow the poetics of a point-by-point narrative succession that they themselves proclaim. This is not yet to say that in ancient Greece there were no epic poems for which such traditional poetics would effectively account. The poems of the Epic Cycle, whose incompatibility with the narrative strategies of the Homeric epics was highlighted as early as Aristotle, are one such example. The fact that, although he repeatedly refers to the practice of traditional poetry, Homer is silent on the matter of his own poetic practice which differs markedly from it, raises the question of whether the Iliad and the Odyssey can be considered traditional poems in the proper sense of the word.
In A. Rengakos, P. J. Finglass, B. Zimmermann (eds.). More than Homer Knew: Studies on Homer and his Ancient Commentators. In Honor of Franco Montanari, 2020
The Dream Simile in Iliad 22 and Aristarchus' Formula τῇ κατασκευῇ εὐτελεῖς The Iliad simile desc... more The Dream Simile in Iliad 22 and Aristarchus' Formula τῇ κατασκευῇ εὐτελεῖς The Iliad simile describing Achilles' futile pursuit of Hector around the walls of Troy is the only dream simile in the Homeric poems. It runs as follows: ὡς δ' ἐν ὀνείρῳ οὐ δύναται φεύγοντα διώκειν· οὔτ' ἄρ' ὁ τὸν δύναται ὑποφεύγειν οὔθ' ὁ διώκειν· ὣς ὁ τὸν οὐ δύνατο μάρψαι ποσίν, οὐδ' ὃς ἀλύξαι (Il. 22. 199-201) As in a dream a man is not able to follow one who runs away, nor can the runner escape, nor the other pursue him, so he could not run him down in his speed, nor the other get clear. (Tr. R. Lattimore) Although closer to the original than most translations, Lattimore's text is still a considerable improvement on it. A plain rendering of the Greek of the passage would probably look as follows: 'As in a dream [one] is not able to pursue one who runs from him, / nor is he therefore able to run from him, nor he to pursue, / so he was not able to catch up with him, nor he to flee'. Aristarchus condemned the passage in unambiguous terms: Schol. A on Il. 199-201a. ἀθετοῦνται στίχοι τρεῖς, ὅτι καὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ καὶ τῷ νοήματι εὐτε-λεῖς. 'Three verses are athetized, for they are inferior in both their kataskeuē and their thought'. The text that follows makes it clear that the 'thought' (noēma) the comment addresses is the alleged contradiction with an earlier simile triggered by the same event, which explicitly emphasizes Achilles' superiority as a runner (Il. 22.157-166). This is paraphrased in the T scholia as follows (note that Aristarchus 'infe-rior in kataskeuē' is replaced here by 'weakness of expression'): Schol. T on Il. 22.199-201 ἀθετοῦνται οἱ τρεῖς διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς φράσεως, καὶ ὅτι ὑπεκλύ-ουσι τὴν ποδώκειαν Ἀχιλλέως. The three [verses] are athetized on account of their weakness of expression and because they undermine Achilles' swiftness of foot. The modern commentators usually focus on the second part of Aristarchus' comment , the one that addresses the 'thought' of the passage, correctly pointing out that there is nothing unusual in two similes describing two different aspects of
In: In Georgios K. Giannakis, Emilio Crespo, Panagiotis Filos (eds.). Studies in Ancient Greek D... more In: In Georgios K. Giannakis, Emilio Crespo, Panagiotis Filos (eds.). Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects. From Central Greece to the Black Sea. Berlin and Boston: de Gruyter 2018, 447-456.
In: F.-H. Mutschler (ed.). Singing the World. The Homeric Epics and the Chinese Book of Songs C... more In: F.-H. Mutschler (ed.). Singing the World. The Homeric Epics and the Chinese Book of Songs Compared. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, 15-38.
In The Winnowing Oar – New Perspectives in Homeric Studies. Studies in Honor of Antonios Rengakos... more In The Winnowing Oar – New Perspectives in Homeric Studies. Studies in Honor of Antonios Rengakos. Ed. Christos Tsagalis and Andreas Markantonatos.
Berlin: De Gruyter 2017
Glotta 66 (1988) 127-134.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Until recently it has generally been taken for granted that cultural contacts between the Aegean ... more Until recently it has generally been taken for granted that cultural contacts between the Aegean and the Near East invariably proceeded in one direction, from East to West. It seems, however, that recent archaeological discoveries are about to change this picture. As these discoveries demonstrate, with the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization some Bronze Age populations of Greece migrated to the Levant and settled along the Mediterranean coast from Tarsos in the north to Ashkelon in the south, eventually to be assimilated into the native population. This fact suggests a much more complex network of relations between the Aegean and the Near East than the simple one-sided cultural dependence which has usually been postulated. Rather than automatically treating the Aegean as a passive recipient of influences coming from the East, we should also take into account that it could well have exerted its own influence on its eastern partners. This paper is a case study intended as a contribution to this debate. Until recently it has generally been taken for granted that cultural contacts between the Bronze and Early Iron Age Aegean on the one hand and the Near East on the other invariably proceeded in one direction, from East to West. It seems, however, that recent archaeological discoveries are about to change this picture. As these discoveries demonstrate, rather than automatically treating Bronze Age Aegean civilization as a passive recipient of influences coming from the East, we should also take into account that this civilization could well have exerted its own influence on its eastern partners. Take for example the wall paintings executed in the typical Minoan fresco technique discovered in Tel Kabri in the western Galilee and Tell el-Dab'a in the eastern Delta. The fact that these fres-coes display the characteristically Minoan technique of fresco painting (which is also true of the Alalakh frescoes in northern Syria excavated in the 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley) has led scholars to the conclusion that they were painted by Minoan artists invited by eastern rulers to decorate their palaces in their local style which then enjoyed wide international prestige. The Linear A inscriptions found at the Canaanite sites of Tel Haror and Tel Lachish are
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Books by Margalit Finkelberg
Papers by Margalit Finkelberg
and extension to Homer and other epic traditions. By addressing the objections
raised by scholars in various fields, it argues that the presence of formulae is in itself
not enough for either proving or disproving a given text’s orality. Only economy and
extension embodied in the systems of formulae can serve as such a proof. Application
of this criterion to various epic traditions shows that, although economy and extension
cannot be considered universal indices of orality, they do fulfil this function in Homer
and early Greek epic.
Berlin: De Gruyter 2017
and extension to Homer and other epic traditions. By addressing the objections
raised by scholars in various fields, it argues that the presence of formulae is in itself
not enough for either proving or disproving a given text’s orality. Only economy and
extension embodied in the systems of formulae can serve as such a proof. Application
of this criterion to various epic traditions shows that, although economy and extension
cannot be considered universal indices of orality, they do fulfil this function in Homer
and early Greek epic.
Berlin: De Gruyter 2017