Rhapsode

January 05, 2019

Look Up Every Unfamiliar Word You See

Richard Brookhiser used the word ‘rhapsode’ in his article A Rhapsode and a Question Mark:

The Greeks had a character called the rhapsode: a professional reciter of their greatest poetry, particularly Homer. Plato mocks rhapsodes in his dialogues, partly because he envies Homer, who was a better writer than he was. But he also maneuvers his rhapsodes into showing their essential shallowness: One declares that, since he tells of the Iliad’s battles, he must therefore be a great general.

Wikipedia on rhapsode.

From Wiktionary—rhapsode:

Noun

  1. One who performs the poetry of a poet for an audience; not a writer of poetry.
  2. The interpreter of a poem.

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Notes from John Williams.

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