The Uses of Vase-Depictions in Homeric Studies

Abstract

Homeric critics often rely on external evidence dating to a much later period than the Iliad and Odyssey (e.g., the scholia). Nevertheless, there is an important body of material, the ancient paintings of epic scenes, that literary critics have not utilized to its full potential,2 and these depictions often include labels that provide our earliest written evidence for some aspects of Homeric myth. Ancient art, of course, has received proper attention from art historians and archaeologists, many of whose valuable works will be cited below, but the concerns of these scholars are often different from those of the Homerist. The aim of the present article is to explore some of the opportunities offered to Homeric Studies by the use of painted versions of epic scenes. For instance, I shall consider the prospect that Archaic paintings can provide new information and thereby enrich the explication of scenes in the Iliad and Odyssey, can confirm literary interpretations of the poems, and can even preserve some very early epic scenes that have not survived in written versions.

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