Summary

“Red Meat: What Difference did Stesichoros Make?” This section, and the novel, begin with a quote from writer Gertrude Stein that refers to “words doing as they want to do and as they have to do” (3).

The actual introduction begins this way, referring to the ancient Greek poet Stesichoros: “He came after Homer and before Gertrude Stein, a difficult interval for a poet” (3). It describes how Stesichoros developed the art of writing poetry: where Homer repeated the same poetic description of a god or a character every time that that god or character appeared, Stesichoros used different descriptions. He was, narration suggests, a great innovator in the poetic use of adjectives, going on to suggest that by innovating in the way he did, “Stesichoros released being” (5). Narration refers to the legend of how Stesichoros was blinded by Helen of Troy (which, narration also suggests...