Paul Dean

Department: Classics and Ancient History
Discipline: Classics and Ancient History

Project Summary

Project title - The parode less travelled: Parôidia and the discourse of Homeric reception

Despite its claim to a space in one of the ancient world's most prestigious literary competitions, that is those of the Panathenaea in Athens, parôidia has only fragmentarily survived into our vision of Greek literary culture, and, as a result, has received little attention in scholarship. 

Dominated by parodic techniques, the form is above all obsessed with Homer, and it is this aspect in particular that I am studying. I aim to set parôidia's scanty remains into its broader cultural context, by considering how the form interacts with other areas of Homeric reception. As parôidia is of course also part and parcel of this context, my examination into its role into the discourse of Homeric reception cuts both ways, and so I shall also be considering its role in shaping the way the Greeks thought about Homer. 

As part of this project, I am also considering what precisely we mean when we talk of "parody" in the ancient world, and whether it is recognizably different to our own conceptions of the term. The project is made generously possible by a grant from the AHRC, for which I am remarkably grateful. 

Supervisory Team

Prof. Matthew Wright and Dr. Karen Ni-Mheallaigh

Wider Research Interests

Greek drama, particularly comedy

Lucian

iambos

Hellenistic poetry

Imperial Greek epic