Research Catalog

Title

Allegories of the Odyssey / John Tzetzes ; translated by Adam J. Goldwyn and Dimitra Kokkini.

Author

Tzetzes, John, active 12th century

Publication

• Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019.
• ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Hunger, Herbert, 1914-2000
• Goldwyn, Adam J.
• Kokkini, Dimitra

Description

xxiv, 347 pages; 21 cm.

Summary

• "Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were central to the educational system of Byzantium, yet the religion and culture of the Homeric epics--even the ancient Greek language itself--had become almost unrecognizable to Byzantine Greek readers coming to the texts nearly two millennia later. The scholar, poet, and teacher John Tzetzes (ca. 1110-1180) joined the extensive tradition of interpreting Homer by producing his Allegories of the Iliad, dedicated to the foreign-born empress Eirene. Tzetzes later composed the Allegories of the Odyssey, a more advanced verse commentary, to explain Odysseus's journey and the pagan gods and marvels he encountered. Through historical allegory, the gods become ancient kings deified by the pagan poet; through astrological interpretation, they become planets whose positions and movements affect human life; through moral allegory Athena represents wisdom, Aphrodite desire. This edition presents the first translation of the Allegories of the Odyssey into any language."--
• "The Allegories of the Odyssey by John Tzetzes is a twelfth-century commentary on Homer's Odyssey in fifteen-syllable verse. Though the Allegories of the Odyssey can be read as a stand-alone work in its own right, it is preferable to regard it as the successor work to his Allegories of the Iliad."--Introduction, page vii.

Series Statement

Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; DOML 56

Uniform Title

Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; 56.

Subject

• Homer
• Homer > Appreciation > Byzantine Empire
• Homer > Criticism and interpretation
• Tzetzes, John, active 12th century
• Odyssey (Homer)
• Epic poetry, Greek > History and criticism
• Art appreciation
• Epic poetry, Greek
• Byzantine Empire

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Note

• The Greek text is in the edition prepared by Herbert Hunger and published in the Byzantinische Zeitschrift, volumes 48 (1955) and 49 (1956)--Page 285.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-339) and index.

Language (note)

• Text in Greek with English translation on facing pages; introduction and notes in English.

Contents

Introduction -- Allegories of the Odyssey -- Abbreviations -- Note on the text -- Notes to the text -- Notes to the translation.

Call Number

JFD 20-1696

ISBN

• 9780674238374
• 0674238370

LCCN

2019007467

OCLC

1090000977

Author

Tzetzes, John, active 12th century, author.

Title

Allegories of the Odyssey / John Tzetzes ; translated by Adam J. Goldwyn and Dimitra Kokkini.

Publisher

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019.

Copyright Date

©2019

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; DOML 56

Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; 56.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-339) and index.

Language

Text in Greek with English translation on facing pages; introduction and notes in English.

Added Author

Hunger, Herbert, 1914-2000, editor.

Goldwyn, Adam J., translator.

Kokkini, Dimitra, translator.

Container of (expression): Tzetzes, John, active 12th century. Allegories of the Odyssey. English (Goldwyn and Kokkini)

Container of (expression): Tzetzes, John, active 12th century. Allegories of the Odyssey. Greek (Hunger)

Research Call Number

JFD 20-1696