Homer’s Moving Pictures: Audio-Visual Aspects of the Scar Episode (Odyssey 19.386–504)

Although it is a matter of common knowledge that the cultural context in which the Homeric poems were communicated both before and after their fixation in writing was one of public performance, more often than not the reception of Homer’s narrative by the audience is addressed in scholarly literature in terms of the experience of a reader. It seems, however, that no interpretation of Homer’s narrative would be adequate if it neglects the fact that the ancient audience experienced a live performance which resulted in a form of enactive narration resembling the visual juxtaposition of scenes in modern cinema.