Mythologizing PerformanceBuilding on numerous original close readings of works by Homer, Hesiod, and other ancient Greek poets, Richard P. Martin articulates a broad and precise poetics of archaic Greek verse. The ancient Greek hexameter poetry of such works as the Iliad and the Odyssey differ from most modern verbal art because it was composed for live, face to face performance, often in a competitive setting, before an audience well versed in mythological and ritual lore.