Invites you to a presentation by:

Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine;

Fellow, Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies

In Archaic Greece (8th-6th century BC), literature had a social function, and was thought of in the framework of a performative context, that engaged the performers (singers, "rhapsodes") and the audience. Any literary production is situated in the nexus of constant contact with a tradition that is perpetually regenerated. This tradition, even though crystallized in modern times with names like Homer or Sappho, was polyphonic and rich with voices that remain unnamed. Recent scholarship has reshaped our view of early Greek poetry after placing in focus the issue of orality, and its role in the performance and transmission of the poetic production of the archaic age. This presentation will focus on examples from the Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns and Sappho to illustrate how oral traditional repertoire and folk songs have played a paramount role in shaping the grand epic story-telling, fascinating today as it was back then.

The lecture will be in English. Reception will follow