June 11, 2026The Classical Review0 citationsOpen Access
THE TECHNOLOGY OF TRADITION AND BIOLOGY OF NARRATIVE: NEW ANALOGIES FOR THE STUDY OF HOMER AND EPIC - Chiara Bozzone, Homer’s Living Language. Formularity, Dialect, and Creativity in Oral-Traditional Poetry. Pp. xviii + 273, b/w & colour figs, b/w & colour ills, colour map. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. Cased, £89. ISBN: 978-1-316-51241-8. - Joel P. Christensen, Storylife. On Epic, Narrative, and Living Things. Pp. xii + 234, ills. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2025. Cased, £20, US30. ISBN: 978-0-300-26923-9.
The analysis aims to understand how technology and biology influence narratives in epic poetry, particularly focusing on Homer.
Literary analysis of Homeric texts
Comparison of narrative techniques across cultures
Exploration of the intersection between technology and oral traditions
Identified connections between oral-formulaic composition and biological processes
Demonstrated how narrative shapes cultural identity and historical understanding
Highlighted the role of dialect in enhancing the richness of epic storytelling
Abstract
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.