WOLFIAN THEORY
\wˈʊlfi͡ən θˈi͡əɹi], \wˈʊlfiən θˈiəɹi], \w_ˈʊ_l_f_iə_n θ_ˈiə_ɹ_i]\
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A theory put out by Wolf in 1795 to the effect that the Iliad and Odyssey cannot be the works of one man, Homer, because writing was unknown at the time that these poems are said to have been composed. He supposes, therefore, that the Iliad and Odyssey consist of ballads or episodes, the work of different men, collected and arranged in a more or less consistent and homogeneous whole in the sixth century B.C. These ballads were preserved by the recitation of strolling minstrels.
By Daniel Lyons
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.