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gmark - Re: Review by Richard Carrier of Dennis MacDonald's 'The Homeric Epics and the Gosp

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Subject: Kata Markon

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  • From: "Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>
  • To: "Kata Markon" <gmark AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Review by Richard Carrier of Dennis MacDonald's 'The Homeric Epics and the Gosp
  • Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 00:12:25 -0700

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2000 2:57 PM
Subject: [gmark] Review by Richard Carrier of Dennis MacDonald's 'The Homeric Epics and the Gosp

A lengthy and decidedly favorable review of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark by Richard Carrier may be found at the following link.

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/homerandmark.html

I have printed this out and will review it carefully since I find this intriguing but am skeptical.  For now, I would just like to discuss the following:

MacDonald begins by describing what scholars of antiquity take for granted: anyone who learned to write Greek in the ancient world learned from Homer.  Homer was the textbook.  Students were taught to imitate Homer, even when writing on other subjects, or to rewrite passages of Homer in prose, using different vocabulary.  Thus, we can know for certain that the author of Mark's Gospel was thoroughly familiar with the works of Homer

We cannot know for certain that the author of Mark was "thoroughly familiar with the works of Homer."  I have doubts that acquiring Koine competence in the eastern Mediterranean by someone like the Markan author included a classical Attic Greek "textbook."  It is also difficult for me to envision Mark, on the basis of his Koine grammar and style, having rewritten Homeric prose in Attic.  The Author of Hebrews, perhaps (Apollos?) but not Mark.

 

Having said this, I will withold further judgement until I read this review and decide if I want to get the book.

 

Jack

 

 




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