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26+ Works 1,693 Members 9 Reviews 1 Favorited

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Works by G. S. Kirk

The Nature of Greek Myths (1974) 447 copies
The Songs of Homer (1962) 43 copies

Associated Works

The Odyssey (0750) — Introduction, some editions — 52,694 copies
The Iliad (0750) — Introduction, some editions — 39,682 copies
The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: I - Greek Literature (1985) — Contributor, some editions — 60 copies
Antiquities: Postwar French Thought, Volume III (2001) — Contributor — 38 copies
Homer : Tradition and invention (1978) — Contributor — 2 copies

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Reviews

The classic reference to the presocratic philosophers. Students and scholars begin with Kirk and Raven.
 
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georgee53 | 6 other reviews | Dec 23, 2015 |
A composite work on philosophers who preceded Socrates. Not nearly as engaging as Jonathan Barnes' wonderfully written book, it still gives a further account of the great minds in Ancient Greece.
 
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JVioland | 6 other reviews | Jul 14, 2014 |
Spends too much time trash talking the systems of deeper thinkers and better writers, but still makes some good points about the variety of possible origins and functions ("narrative, operative or validatory, and speculative or explanatory") of myth, its nuance, arguments for the localized social meaning of many mythic stories, but also generally a seriousness of purpose, a recurrence of themes, and a connection to a radically different concept of time than the historical/chronological.

 
Flagged
CSRodgers | May 3, 2014 |
Not rated; when Kirk says this is meant to be read by the serious student, who has a copy of the Oxford Classic Text of the Iliad (the ancient Greek text) open at the same time, he is not kidding. Totally useless to the casual student of classics whose command of ancient Greek is, shall we say, negligible. :( Also, the introduction has the unmistakable flavor of grudgewank, that tang and savor, although I'm not conversant in '80's classics academia, so I can't identify what is provoking the crazy.

(Oh. He's the Regius Professor of Classics at Cambridge. All is explained! Okay, not really, but it amuses the hell out of me to pretend that all Regius Professors are mad.)
… (more)
 
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cricketbats | Mar 30, 2013 |

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Works
26
Also by
7
Members
1,693
Popularity
#15,169
Rating
4.0
Reviews
9
ISBNs
62
Languages
8
Favorited
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