Homer on Poetry and the Poetry of Homer

Abstract ‘We pedants know better. ‘ These leaden and ironic words form part of E. Housman ‘s attempt to show that textual scholarship and literary criticism are two very different, or even incompatible, skills. The immediate issue was Matthew Arnold ‘s translation of Iliad 24, line 506. As it happens, Housman was wrong on that point, and Arnold right; and this should give us pause over the larger question. In fact the spring of scholarship cannot and has not run on uncontaminated by the scum and garbage of criticism. So in 1981 we can expect more and more scholars, for good or ill, to consider Homer as a poet rather than a corpus vile of lays or motifs or formulae. Now it would not be surprising if, as a serious poet, Homer reflected on the nature and purpose of his work; and such reflections have indeed left their mark upon it. They make too a proper basis for the study of his poetry; for just as scholars have, as best they can, to learn to be critics, so critics have to learn what the poets they read can teach them about poetry. There have been good discussions of Homer ‘s poetics in recent years; and what I have to say owes much to them. If I venture to return to the topic, it is because I believe that there are still worthwhile conclusions to be drawn from it about Homer ‘s poetry. In particular, I shall consider one question which is a challenge to any who think of the Iliad as a significant whole, that is whether Book 24 is its true ending and a fitting conclusion.