Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Anne Amory [Parry]. "The Gates of Horn and Ivory." Yale Classical Studies. 20:3-57.

Imagines an oral traditional poet able to manipulate the smallest elements of formulaic diction to accord with anaesthetic design. Argues that the associations of horn with Odysseus and ivory with Penelope characterize the two types of dreams, the former powerful in its reality and the latter incorporeal and dangerous to believe. Homer develops the horn and ivory duality purposefully as a thematic line. An important revisionist paper which sees too much mechanism in Parry-Lord orthodoxy and attempts to define and illustrate a Homeric poetics.
Area: AG, SC, CP