The World of Odysseus

Are the Iliad and the Odyssey just charming poetic fantasies? Or do they give a more or less accurate picture of the Mycenaean period, the early Dark Age or Homer's own era? Do archaeological discoveries like Schliemann's excavations at Troy bear out Homer's account of the Trojan War?
These great questions have generated decades of discussion, but they have seldom been considered with Sir Moses Finley's unique combination of clarity, penetrating intelligence and complete lack of prejudice. Drawing on a deep understanding of oral poetry and an unrivalled knowledge of early Greece, he offers a totally fresh analysis of Homer's depiction of kinship and community, Helen and Hector, morals and values, Paris, Priam and the gods. When The World of Odysseus was published to great acclaim in 1954, it at once aroused controversy. This second edition confirms the central claims he advanced so brilliantly in the first publication.
(on the back cover)