Books by Christos Tsagalis

This book offers a new edition and comprehensive commentary of the extant fragments of genealogical and antiquarian epic dating to the archaic period (8th-6th cent. BC). By means of a detailed study of the multifaceted material pertaining to the remains of archaic Greek epic other than Homer, Hesiod, and the Homeric Hymns, it provides readers with a critical reassessment of the ancient evidence, allows access to new material hitherto unnoticed or scattered in various journals after the publication of the three standard editions now available to us, and offers a full-scale commentary of the extant fragments. This book fills a gap in the study of archaic Greek poetry, since it offers a guiding tool for the further exploration of Greek epic tradition in the archaic period and beyond.

Fourth-century Attic grave epigrams reflect a transitional phase in the evolution of the genre of epigram. They testify to a shift of interest towards social issues such as the family, the deceased's age and profession. In a turbulent period of restlessness and uncertainty that followed the devastating Peloponnesian war, the commemoration of the departed in private monuments became an effective mechanism of displaying publicly a new set of social concerns. It is within these contexts that special emphasis has been put on the composition of sepulchral epigrams, their gradual autonomization and sophistication. This book explores this decisive phase in the evolution of the epigram by reconstructing as many ancient contexts as possible on the one hand, and studying sepulchral epigrams as a poetic art on the other.

Den poetischen Techniken der Klagerede in Homers Ilias wird hier erstmals eine eigene Untersuchung gewidmet. Die Klagerede ist, wie diese Arbeit nachweist, eine eigene Untergattung, die in der Ilias aus der Gattung der Grabrede hervorgegangen ist. Oralitatsforschung, Narratologie, Semiotik und rhetorische Analyse werden geschickt genutzt um zu untersuchen, auf welche Weise die personlichen Klagen grundlegende ethische Themen entwickeln und Erzahlfaden entwirren, die in das thematische Geflecht der ganzen Ilias (und ihres weiteren Zusammenhangs) eingesponnen sind: Achills Zorn, der Tod von Patroklos und Hektor, Achills Trauer und sein bevorstehender Tod, die Vorahnung von Trojas Zerstorung. Ausgezeichnet mit dem "e;Annual Award in Classics"e; (2007) der Akademievon Athen.

Exploring the functions of space in the Iliad, Christos Tsagalis shows how active spatial representation in similes and descriptive passages influences characterization and narrative action. He also analyzes Homeric modes of visual memory, implicit knowledge, and mnemonic formats in order to better understand descriptive and ekphrastic passages.

Tsagalis argues that just as the discarded text of a palimpsest still carries traces of its previous writing, so the Homeric tradition unfolds its awareness of alternate versions as it reveals signs of their erasure.