The Ionian Epsilon Tradition: Homer's Finishing Touch

By Ward Blonde

This book describes the Ionian Epsilon Tradition, the last and youngest oral tradition in the series of five Homeric oral traditions that Ward Blond? distinguishes after an analysis of the Iliad. This book also sheds light on a theory about how the Iliad became fixed.

The Ionian Epsilon Tradition appears in the Iliad merely as a finishing layer over an existing framework. Only here and there does the Iliad contain a passage that contains almost no characteristics of the older oral traditions. Still, of all five oral traditions, the Ionian Epsilon Tradition is best documented and yields 104 different oral characteristics. The content of those oral characteristics shows that the Ionian Epsilon Tradition originated in aristocratic circles that practiced the guest-friendship at the end of the Dark Ages. In the Odyssey this oral tradition is more prominent.

Blond?'s analysis shows that not one, but at least four bards improvised the final verses of the Iliad through alternate improvisation: the Achilleus Bard, the Narrative Bard, the War Bard, and the God Bard. These bards had separate specialties, including the older oral traditions, but also special roles, such as the Early Dramatic Role and the Achilleus Role. Homer's finishing touch symbolizes the Ionian Epsilon Tradition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BW2SL6H4
• ISBN13: 9798379056872
• Release Date: December 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"