Reviewed by Christopher Francese, Dickinson College
(email@example.com) This book is a new and valuable contribution
to the understanding of catalogues of proper names in epic, a
subject that has exercised scholars since antiquity and drawn
considerable interest in recent years. The big catalogues
(Homer's ships, Vergil's Latin allies) are not the focus here.
Kyriakidis deals mainly with the smaller ones (of warriors,
rivers, and places) that are ubiquitous in classical epic. His
central insight is that in poetic catalogues of names it is the
density of names, the number of names per line over a span of
lines, that matters most in the literary effect. Just count the
names per line--a simple idea, but one that yields important
dividends in the hands of such a sensitive and skilled reader as
Kyriakidis. His watchwords are density, pacing, and tempo. An
accumulation of names means a swift pace, and little emphasis on
each one. Wider spacing of names gives each name more breathing
space and emphasis. Epic poets,