Cyclic epic has long suffered in comparison to the Iliad and the Odyssey. In antiquity Aristotle in the Poetics criticized the lack of unity in non-Homeric epic (ch. 23), and Callimachus, echoed by Horace, stated that he hated the ‘‘Cyclic’’ poet (Epigram 28 in Pfeiffer 1953). It is clear that as the Homeric poems became more celebrated other, nonHomeric, epic was neglected. The Iliad and Odyssey were featured at the Panathenaic festival and later became canonical texts at the very center of educational and booktrade circles. The very creation of the Epic Cycle resulted from marginalization of non-Homeric epic, as did the later epitomizing of it by Proclus and others. The Epic Cycle apparently organized epic in terms of mythological chronology for ease of reading; the summary of Proclus removed the need to read the verse itself by providing just the bare facts of their content. Early hexameter poems remained of interest to scholars of antiquity, but their disagreements and confusion about non-Homeric epic is itself indicative of a general lack of knowledge of them. The failure of early epics to survive is the result of this marginalization of non-canonical epic.
Modern scholarship has usually been heavily influenced by the negative view of the Cycle in the ancient world. But the criteria for criticism of Cyclic epic by Aristotle, which focuses on unity of form, is open to reconsideration (Scaife 1995). No longer valid are the fundamental assumptions of Hellenistic scholars such as Aristarchus, who celebrated Homeric poetry by contrasting it to Cyclic verse (Severyns 1928). A textual focus devoid of accurate historical knowledge or any understanding of oral traditions led to the portrayal of Homer as the fountainhead of all epic, and for the Archaic age this picture is very misleading and in a sense inverts the situation. Today an oralist approach has demonstrated conclusively that Homeric poetry is derived from long traditions of oral composition; it is most probable that the mythological traditions that led to the Cycle poems are also pre-Homeric. Certainly the Iliad and Odyssey display extensive knowledge of the material that was narrated in the Cycle (see Chapter 21, by Edwards and Chapter 22, by Slatkin). In fundamental ways non-Homeric epic and the Homeric poems share the same language, compositional techniques, typological scenes, and mythological traditions.
Yet it is still valid to see an essential distinction between the Homeric and the Cyclic (stressed in Griffin 1977), just as there is a difference of style between Homeric and Hesiodic verse (see Chapter 23, by Nelson). Fragments of early Greek epic seem to display an entirely different pace from the Homeric norm. An example can be seen by comparing the brief account of the death of Astyanax in the Little Iliad (fr. 21.3-4 in Bernabe 1987; fr. 20.3-4 in Davies 1988) with the meditative foreboding of his coming fate in Books 6, 22, and 24 of the Iliad. The difference cannot just be attributed to the aesthetic failings of Cyclic verse, however. It appears that the Cycle poems relied on third-person narrative, whereas direct speech by characters is prominent in the Homeric poems. The Cycle poems covered multiple episodes; in contrast the Iliad and Odyssey expansively focused on a limited amount of narrative. Aristotle (Poetics, ch. 23) complained that the non-Homeric epic covered too vast a span of narrative material, but epic must have often needed to do this in order to give a comprehensive sense of a story in its entirety. As a result the Cyclic and Homeric styles are necessarily dissimilar (though portions of Homeric verse may have been quite Cyclic in nature). Even as we celebrate the felicities of poetic expression in the Iliad and Odyssey, it is necessary to recognize and accept the existence of very different narrative strategies. It is probable that Cyclic poetry, which could quickly cover many action-packed adventures, was very satisfying to an early audience.
It is also apparent that the Cycle epics had cultural functions that went beyond the expression of narrative. Greek myth can be too fantastic for the taste of some, but it obviously served the needs of the ancient Greeks in a variety of ways. To the extent that early epic narrated such myth in verse form, it must have been of great value in its time. There are many indications that the Cycle poems served the interests of contained geographical areas. Many of the differences between Cyclic and Homeric epic can be explained by their status as local and Panhellenic poetry respectively (Nagy 1990c: 70-9). Details of great local relevance in Cyclic epic would have been suppressed by the Iliad and Odyssey in their attempt to appeal to a wider audience of the Greek world.
Since the early 1990s, it has been increasingly felt that the Cycle epics, whatever their date and literary value, result from authentic oral traditions. There has been a growing appreciation of the rich resources of the Cyclic and non-Homeric epic traditions, and a greater willingness to appreciate their poetic strategies and cultural functions. Certainly much of this interest has been spurred by new editions of early epic, which have provided scholars with informative and accurate tools with which to do research in the area. But scholars have also abandoned a schematic approach that portrayed the Cycle poems as simply the derivative satellites of the Iliad and Odyssey (see Scaife 1995 and Holmberg 1998). The question of how Cyclic epic relates to local concerns is often explored (e. g., Aloni 1986: 51-67; Burgess 2002), as is how Cyclic poetry is intertextually connected with other poetic traditions (e. g., Burgess 1996; J. Marks 2002 and 2003; West 2002). Neoanalyst arguments about the influence of Cyclic traditions on the Homeric poems continue to be made (e. g., Dowden 1996; West 2003b). For speculation on the performance of Cyclic poetry, see Burgess 2004. In general the Cycle poems are usually seen less as isolated fixed texts and more like fluid traditions, and accordingly the relative extent of multiformity for Cyclic and Homeric poetry can be a topic of intense speculation (cf. Finkelberg 2000; Nagy 2001b).
The Epic Cycle and fragments of early non-Homeric epic have always had a certain antiquarian importance, in the sense that they often constitute the earliest evidence for mythological material. Beyond appreciating their testimony for myth, however, we can through them better comprehend the variety of narrative and cultural functions of early Greek epic. The Iliad and Odyssey came from oral poetic and mythological traditions, and early non-Homeric poetry may help us comprehend these traditions in a more sophisticated manner. Because so many poems were lost and surviving information about them is often incomplete or conflicting, the conclusions to reach are not always clear. But what we know is of great value, and investigation of non-canonical early Greek epic should continue to be profitable.
World History
