This 1989 book explores the significance of Homer for the poetry of modern Greece.

Introduction: Homer and the modern Greek poets; Part I. Homer in the New Greece: The Spirit and the Letter: 1. Kalvos and Solomos; 2. Archaism and kleftism; 3. Palamas; Part II. Sikelianos: 4. The Homeric inheritance; 5. Greek romanticism comes of age; 6. Beyond Homer; Part III. Cavafy: 7. Modes of misquotation; 8. Ancient days; 9. Homer into history; Part IV. Seferis: 10. Scholia; 11. Ulysses/Disseas; 12. Homer and the poetic vocation; 13. Beyond the folk tradition; 14. Spirit and letter in 'The King of Asine'; Reflections; Further reading; References; Index.