Study Questions for Erich Auerbach, "Odysseus' Scar"

1. Comment on the style with which Auerbach opens his essay.
   
   
2. What 2 texts and episodes does Auerbach analyze?  What might be the significance of his choice?
   
   
3. What, for Auerbach, characterizes Homeric narration?  Biblical?
   
   
4. How does the style of Biblical narrative relate to the act of interpretation?
   
   
5. How does Biblical characterization differ from that in Homer?
   
   
6. How does the relationship between textual and extra-textual reality differ in Homer and the Bible?
   
   
7. What does Auerbach mean by the "horizontal" and "vertical" dimensions of Biblical narrative?
   
   
8. How does Auerbach summarize the different styles of Homeric and Biblical literature and what kinds of claims does he make based on his reading of their styles?
   
   

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