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A Homeric Catalogue of Shapes

The Iliad and Odyssey Seen Differently

Charlayn von Solms author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:14th Nov '19

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

A Homeric Catalogue of Shapes cover

A study that looks at how the oral composition of the Homeric epics can be expressed through sculptural assemblage.

In the popular imagination, Homer as author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, epitomises poetic genius. So, when scholars proposed that the Homeric epics were not the unique creation of an individual author, but instead reflected a traditional compositional system developed by generations of singer-poets, swathes of assumptions about the poems and their 'author' were swept aside and called into question. Much had to be re-evaluated through a new lens. The creative process described by scholars for the Homeric epics shares many key attributes with the modern visual art-forms of collage and its less familiar variant: sculptural assemblage. A Homeric Catalogue of Shapes describes a series of twelve sculptures that together function as an abstract portrait of Homer: not a depiction of him as an individual, but as a compositional system. The technique by which the artworks were produced reflects the poetic method that scholars termed oral-formulaic. In both of these creative processes the artwork is constructed from pre-existing elements: such as phrases, characters, and plot-lines in the epics; and objects, fragmented items, and borrowed forms in the sculptures. The artist/author presents a largely unknown characterisation of Homeric poetics in a manner that emphasizes the extent and complexity of this Homer’s artistry.

The book is wide-ranging and thoroughly researched, and displays a strong grasp of the history of Homeric scholarship ... Solms has melded two disparate topics well, and interdisciplinary work like this certainly enriches the field. * The Classical Review *
This is a work which uses an original approach between essay and catalogue, and is fascinating in its transposition of Homeric art onto the language of contemporary sculpture. * Anabases *

ISBN: 9781350039582

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 468g

240 pages