The Homeric Epics and the Chinese Book of Songs: Foundational Texts Compared

Editor:
Fritz-Heiner Mutschler

Publisher:
Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Publication date:
2018

Abstract:

The Homeric epics and the Book of Songs are not just the fountainheads of the Western and Chinese literary traditions; for centuries they played a central role in education and communal life, and thus exercised a lasting influence on both civilizations. This volume presents the first systematic comparison of the two corpora. Part One analyzes their genesis and their reception, while Part Two discusses their characteristics as poetic creations. The book brings together Chinese and Western sinologists and classicists, and so promotes significant interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue. Though the contributors rank among the leading experts in their fields, the essays here are accessible not only to their peers, but also to the interested ‘general reader’, and so to all those who seek a deeper understanding of Chinese and Western civilizations, their common human basis and their characteristic differences.

Table of Contents:

Introduction 

PART I. THE HISTORY OF THE TEXTS AND OF THEIR RECEPTION

A. Coming into Being
1. The Formation of the Homeric Epics
Margalit FINKELBERG

2. The Formation of the Classic of Poetry
Martin KERN

3. Comparing the Comings into Being
of Homeric Epic and the Shijing
Alexander BEECROFT

B. “Philological” Reception
1. Homeric Scholarship in its Formative Stages 
Barbara GRAZIOSI

2. Odes Scholarship in its Formative Stage
Achim MITTAG

3. The Beginning of Scholarship in Homeric Epic and the Odes: a Comparison
GAO Fengfeng / LIU Chun

C. Cultural Role
1. Homer in Greek Culture from the Archaic to the Hellenistic Period
Glenn W. MOST

2. Cultural Roles of the Book of Songs: Inherited Language, Education, and the Problem of Composition
David SCHABERG

3. Canon, Citation and Pedagogy: the Homeric Epics and the Book of Poetry
 ZHANG Longxi 



PART II. THE TEXTS AS POETRY

A. Form and Structure
1. Iliad and Odyssey: Homer’s Epic Narratives
Fritz-Heiner MUTSCHLER / Ernst A. SCHMIDT

2. The Shijing: The Collection of Three Hundred
CHEN Zhi / Nick M. WILLIAMS

3. Comparing Form and Structure in Homer and the Shijing
ZHANG Wei

B. Contents
1. Iliad and Odyssey: Story, Concerns, Scenes
Øivind ANDERSEN

2. Recurrent Concerns and Typical Scenes in the Book of Songs
Wai-yee LI

3. The Contents of the Homeric Epics and the Shijing: Comparative Remarks
Fritz-Heiner MUTSCHLER

4. “Heroes” and “Gods” in Homer and the Classic of Poetry
Andrew H. PLAKS

C. Values
1. Homeric Values and the Virtues of Kingship
Douglas CAIRNS

2. The Values of the Book of Songs and the Virtues of Leaders
 Yiqun ZHOU

3. Values Compared: Homer and the Book of Songs
 HUANG Yang / YAN Shaoxiang

Looking Backward and Forward
 Fritz-Heiner MUTSCHLER