French Literature Reviews - 2026

Y. Rinon, Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic
Comparative and World Literature

Yoav Rinon, Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008. 220 pages.

ISBN 9780472116638.

$65.00.

Review by Robert J. Rabel (University of Kentucky) in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.07.41.

Publisher's overview:

Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic interprets both of Homer's epics as demonstrating a sense of "the Tragic." While this view of human experience and society is customarily linked with Greek tragedy rather than epic, Rinon uses close readings of the texts to argue persuasively that both The Iliad and The Odyssey present a view of pathos interwoven with the knowledge that it is unavoidable and inexplicable.

Using Aristotle's Poetics as a guide to defining eutuchia and dystuchia, Rinon analyzes specific sections of the epics. He touches on the Cyclops episode and its use of Bakhtinian "heteroglossia," on the use of Hephaestus' creativity in both epics in the emergence of tragic signification, and on Demodocus' songs in book 8 of The Odyssey as seen through André Gide's mise en abîme. Other detailed readings examine individual themes and characters in the poems, including the image of the dog, the speeches in the ninth book of The Iliad, and numerous minor characters.

Yoav Rinon's integration of classical philology, narratology, and post-colonial studies makes Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic a widely interdisciplinary book, one that will appeal to both specialists and undergraduates in comparative literature, philosophy, and classical studies.

The author:

Yoav Rinon is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of General and Comparative Literature and the Department of Classics at The Hebrew University. His previous books include Sadian Reflections (2005) and Aristotle's Poetics: Translation, Notes and Commentary (in Hebrew, 2003).

Table of contents:

A tragic pattern in the Iliad: missed kairos, misunderstandings, and missing the dead

Painful remembrance of things past: passive suffering, agonizing recognitions, and doleful memories in the Odyssey

The pivotal scene and the tragic: heteroglossia, focalization, and colonialism in Odyssey 9

Hector in flight: the absurd and the tragic in the Iliad

Mise en abyme and the tragic: metaphysical recognition in the three songs of Demodocus

Tragic Hephaestus: the humanized god in the Iliad and the Odyssey

The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the dual model of the tragic.

The study of Homeric epic has long been central to the Western literary canon, often serving as a foundation for discussions on narrative structure and the human condition. While the genre of Greek tragedy is frequently associated with the exploration of pathos and the inevitability of suffering, Homer and the Dual Model of the Tragic considers how such concerns are embedded within the Homeric poems. By examining specific episodes and character dynamics, the work situates the epics within a discourse on the tragic.

The analysis incorporates diverse theoretical perspectives, including narratology and Bakhtinian concepts of heteroglossia, to interpret the texts. By focusing on elements such as the role of Hephaestus, the songs of Demodocus, and the speeches within the epics, the author discusses a dual model of the tragic, utilizing Aristotelian terminology to define character experiences. Readers interested in the intersection of classical philology and contemporary literary theory may find this examination of the Homeric corpus relevant to their studies.