Bibliography about the Homeric text

[huilen]

I just want to get the big picture, the main questions and positions, about how the text was written and transmitted. Would you recommend to me some bibliography? I have those books in mind, but I don't know if they are accessible for novice:

Homer's Text and Language (Traditions) by Gregory Nagy
http://www.amazon.com/Homers-Text-Langu ... 486&sr=8-1

Homeric Questions by Gregory Nagy
http://www.amazon.com/Homeric-Questions ... 536&sr=8-5

Homer the Classic by Gregory Nagy
http://www.amazon.com/Homer-Classic-Hel ... 639&sr=8-3

[Qimmik]

Huilen, Gregory Nagy's books are probably not for someone at your level. They are highly technical, and much of his perspective is well outside the mainstream (although he knows a lot and his views deserve serious consideration). This book by Mark Edwards, although focused on the Iliad more than the Odyssey, would probably be more useful to you as a general introduction:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0801840163/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Also, the editions of separate books of the Odyssey in the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics series generally have more or less up-to-date discussion of the topics you're interested in (there are also editions of various books of the Iliad in this series):

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... cs+odyssey

I think you would do well to read some up-to-date discussions of these topics. Many of the questions you have been asking suggest that you could benefit from reading up about the origins of the Homeric poems. The books I've recommended won't necessarily answer all your questions--some of them are simply unanswerable in the present state of our knowledge, and they're likely to remain that way--but some reading on the background and history of the Homeric poems will allow you to put many of the puzzles you encounter in perspective. I tried to do that briefly in my post on reading the Homeric poems, but the books I've recommended are written by people who really know something about the subject-matter.

incidentally, Pharr, published in 1920, is definitely not up to date. While Pharr may still be a good introductory text, it isn't an exaggeration to say that a revolution in Homeric studies occurred in the 1920s, and and there have been a number of other earth-shattering developments in Homeric studies that have occurred since then. You would really benefit from learning about some of these developments. (That does not mean that everything published before 1921 is worthless, though.)

[huilen]

Thank you very much Qimmik. Just as well you mention that post, because somehow I must overlooked it (just now I've searched and found it: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=61561). Your summaries are always very useful for me, so I will start by reading your post.

This book by Mark Edwards, although focused on the Iliad more than the Odyssey, would probably be more useful to you as a general introduction:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0801840163/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Also, the editions of separate books of the Odyssey in the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics series generally have more or less up-to-date discussion of the topics you're interested in (there are also editions of various books of the Iliad in this series):

Perfect, I will order the book of Mark Edwards and the first Cambridge Book.