The Homeric Narrator is a detailed analysis of the ways in which the narrator in the Iliad and the Odyssey makes his presence noticeable. It begins with the more subtle — summary, explanation, changes of point of view and so on — and progresses to the few examples of outright narrative self-consciousness that appear in the epics. Richardson's approach is fairly light on theory, and what theory he does use is explained in the introduction. His analysis is illustrated with extensive quotation from and comparison with other narratives, ranging from the Icelandic sagas to The French Lieutenant's Woman but with the Russian novelists featuring most prominently. All the quotations from Homer are given both in Greek and in translation and no knowledge of critical work on the poems is assumed, so The Homeric Narrator is accessible to the non-specialist.

October 1993

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