This chapter aims to convince Homerists and their fellow travelers in classical studies that they will find this entire book of value and to persuade those with interests in comparative literature, ethnography, folkloristics, and linguistic anthropology that they should at least read Part I. The chapter reviews the precedents for and goals of this study, defends the choice of the phrases “the Iliad poet” and “the Odyssey poet,” explains the comparative methods used, provides a bibliographical survey of the modern oral poetries investigated in the book, defines a simile, and summarizes the contents of each chapter.
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods: A User's Guide for Paleontologists
