Folk Tale, Fiction and Saga in the Homeric Epics

Folk Tale, Fiction, and Saga in the Homeric Epics is Rhys Carpenter’s classic exploration of the oral traditions behind the Iliad and the Odyssey. Delivered as part of the Sather Classical Lectures, this work interrogates the relationship between saga, folklore, and literary invention in Homeric poetry. Carpenter argues that the epics are not merely records of historical events, nor pure fabrications, but rather complex compositions where oral traditions—heroic saga, folk tales, fairy motifs, and narrative fiction—interweave to form the glittering fabric of Homer’s verse. By placing Homer alongside other oral traditions such as Norse sagas, the Song of Roland, and Beowulf, Carpenter demonstrates the shared mechanisms by which oral poets transformed inherited stories into powerful cultural myths.

Balancing archaeology, philology, and comparative folklore, Carpenter revisits perennial debates about the historicity of Troy, the oral transmission of heroic poetry, and the folkloric elements embedded in Homeric narrative. Chapters move from foundational questions of “literature without letters” to focused case studies, including the saga of Troy, the role of folktale motifs in the Iliad and Odyssey, and the enduring Bear’s Son myth. With wit and clarity, Carpenter shows how the seeming contradictions of Homeric epic dissolve when read as the creative fusion of oral genres, shaped both by memory and invention. This book remains a touchstone for students of classics, comparative literature, and mythology, illuminating the artistry and cultural power of one of the world’s foundational literary traditions.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1946.