Analysis of a Poetic Language

The "Lexikon des frühgriechischen Epos" is concerned with the oldest texts of Greek literature. These are in the main the Homeric epics (Iliad and Odyssey), the poems of Hesiod, and the so-called Homeric Hymns. These first texts of European literature were all composed in hexameters and stand on the threshold between oral and written composition.

The epic language is a poetic language which developed over a long time, containing archaisms and modernisms in a dialect mixture. On the one hand Homer’s poetry marks the culmination of the long oral-poetic tradition, on the other it decisively shaped the development of western literature. A thorough investigation of the Homeric language is a basic prerequisite of European literary studies.

The Lexikon lists all words and names appearing in the above-mentioned texts, together with all their instances (except some indeclinables). Articles usually contain sections on etymology, metrics, ancient explanations, and modern secondary literature, while analysis of meaning occupies the central position.

The long-term project was founded in 1944 by the classical philologist Bruno Snell. Since 1980 it has been administered by the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. The prospected conclusion of the Lexikon is 2010 with completion of the fourth volume.