Joachim Latacz

Sowohl in ihren Einzelkomponenten wie auch als Struktureinheit ist die Ilias nach wie vor nicht tief genug erschlossen. Auf der Grundlage neuer Erkenntnisse und Methoden werden Entstehungsweise und Autorschaft, Sprache und Stil, Struktur, innere Kohärenz, Zeitbezug, Intention, Ursache der anhaltenden Faszination und zahlreiche weitere Fragen heute wieder intensiv neu diskutiert. Der Autor – als Homer-Forscher seit mehr als 50 Jahren international anerkannt, u.a. als Herausgeber des großen ‘Basler Homer-Kommentars (BK)’ – hat in den letzten zwanzig Jahren zu den genannten und weiteren Themen in zahlreichen Publikationen klärend und weiterführend Stellung bezogen – sowohl in streng wissenschaftlicher als auch in zusammenfassend essayistischer Form. Der vorliegende Band vereinigt 36 dieser weit verstreut erschienenen Arbeiten zu einem systematisch gegliederten Ganzen. Lehrende wie Lernende an Universitäten und Gymnasien, aber auch interessierte Laien finden hier nicht nur Aufklärung, sondern auch vielfältige Anregungen zu eigenem Weiterforschen und Weiterfragen.

The Basle complete commentary on Homer s Iliad is widely used internationally, both in research and teaching. The second, revised edition of the commentary on Book 1 (vol. 1, 2002) having been out of print for some months, a third revised edition is now available."

In this book Joachim Latacz turns the spotlight of modern research on the much-debated question of whether the wealthy city of Troy described by Homer in the Iliad was a poetic fiction or a memory of historical reality. Earlier excavations at the hill of Hisarlik, in Turkey, on the Dardanelles, brought no answer, but in 1988 a new archaeological enterprise, under the direction of Manfred Korfmann, led to a radical shift in understanding. Latacz, one of Korfmann's closest collaborators, traces the course of these excavations, and the renewed investigation of the imperial Hittite archives they have inspired. As he demonstrates, it is now clear that the background against which the plot of the Iliad is acted out is the historical reality of the thirteenth century BC. The Troy story as a whole must have arisen in this period, and we can detect traces of it in Homer's great poem.

Since Ameis-Hentze-Cauer (1868-1913) no comprehensive, scholarly commentary of Homer's Iliad has been published in German. In the meantime considerable progress has been made in many traditional areas of Homeric studies (language, realia, structure etc.). In addition, generally acknowledged new fields such as narratology have been systematically studied. Furthermore, the knowledge of the Mycenaean language (Linear B) and oral poetry provide completely new possibilities of textual constitution and analysis. Using the old Ameis-Hentze-Cauer as a starting point, the new commentary reflects the current scholarship on Homer in a comprehensive way. As a new standard work, the "Basel Commentary" of the Iliad has received considerable recognition among scholars worldwide. The fresh concept in terms of content and form serves the needs of different groups of users. The commentary primarily aims at students and academic teachers (at schools and universities), not only of Classics but also of cultural and literary studies as well as of humanities in general. The original plan to proceed from book to book was abandoned. With respect to the current preferences in schools and universities the six most important books will be available until 2009 at the latest: 3 (teichoscopia, truce, single-combat between Menelaus and Paris), 6 (the episode of Diomedes and Glaucus, Hector in Troy), 9 (overtures to the angry Achilles), 19 (Achilles' reconciliation and return to battle), 22 (Hector's death) and 24 (Hector's body is returned to Priam by Achilles). The authors of the volumes to be published until 2009 are the following: Book 3: Dr. Martha Krieter-Spiro Book 6: Dr. Magdalene Stoevesandt Book 9: Prof. Dr. Joachim Latacz Book 19: Dr. Marina Coray Book 22: Prof. Dr. Robert Plath Book 24: lic. phil. Claude Brugger.