Hoekstra Arje. Homeric modifications of formulaic prototypes: studies in the development of Greek epic diction

Amsterdam, Noord-Hollandsche uitgevers maatschappij, 1965. — (Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde, nieuwe reeks, d. 71, no. 1).Hoekstra's purpose is to give a "historical style-morphology" of the Homeric diction. The unifying argument is that the evolution of the epic diction was not the long slow process envisioned by Milman Parry, but was instead a rapid process carried out by the later Ionian singers, with most of the variety and flexibility achieved in the last two generations before Homer. Chapter I is on the nature of the formula and its use as a criterion of stylistic development. Chapter II is on modification based on quantitative metathesis, Chapter III on initial digamma, Chapter IV on nu-movable, and Chapter V on modifications due to such phenomena as conjugation, declension, and splitting of formulas. There is an appendix on "The testimony of νεῶν, νεός, etc." and a sixth chapter on "The Limitations of the Method." Hoekstra's main argument is based on the following reasoning. The traditional formular structure of the epic hexameter must have undergone a certain amount of modification and "decomposition" under the pressure of new linguistic developments in Ionia: loss of digamma, introduction of nu-movable, and quantitative metathesis. The availability of nu-movable for making position and obviating hiatus, and the disappearance of digamma, would have had a considerable loosening effect on the diction, allowing new combinations of words and permutations of formulas. A highly advanced stage of this decomposition is found in the early post-Homeric period, i. e., Hesiod and the Homeric hymns.