Nagy covers both Homeric reception and transmission in the period prior to the Panathenaic / classical period (i.e. before "Homer" became an Athenian property). As this period ends with the time of the "Peisistratian rescension" (which Nagy would not accept as such, but which effectively corresponds to the establishment of the Koine Homer in an Athenian context) it involves a far more mutable text and claims for identity than the later period covered in Homer the Classic. In particular, Nagy argues for the impact of a pan-Hellenic, growing out of an Ionic, Homeric identity. Integral to the treatment is the use of ritual / cultic evidence (the relevance of which becomes greater the further back we are considering the function of the epic).

Both books are well worth reading. ( )