160153 VO Homer and Mycenaean (2009S)

First I will give an introduction into the Mycenaean (Linear B) dialect of Ancient Greek based on principles of historical linguistics and comparative philology; afterwards, I will discuss the question if Homeric epics continue and reflect former Mycenaean epics, i.e., epics composed still in the Mycenaean period (2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC) and in the Mycenaean dialect of Ancient Greek, which is a claim now made by various prominent scholars, some of whom now even subscribe to the view that the Iliad was after all some kind of history book indeed.