The Genealogy of the Muses: An Internal Reconstruction of Archaic Greek Metapoetics

This article puts forward a novel approach to the history of poetic forms in Archaic Greece. By investigating the evolution of the “diegetic frames” involving the figure of the Muse(s), it seeks to trace mutual influences between different genres (Homeric epic, catalogue poetry, the Homeric Hymns, early choral lyric) and, in the case of the Iliad and Hesiod’s Theogony, to identify distinct strata in the composition of one text. This genealogical analysis of the invocation of the Muses demonstrates that choral lyric had a significant impact on the evolving forms of hexameter poetry.