Editing Beowulf (section)

===Classical sources===

Attempts to find [[Classics|classical]] or [[Late Latin]] influence or analogue in ''Beowulf'' are almost exclusively linked with [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'' or [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''. In 1926, [[Albert Stanburrough Cook|Albert S. Cook]] suggested a Homeric connection due to equivalent formulas, [[metonymy|metonymies]], and analogous voyages.{{sfn|Cook|1926}} In 1930, James A. Work supported the Homeric influence, stating that the encounter between Beowulf and [[Unferð|Unferth]] was parallel to the encounter between Odysseus and [[Euryalus (Phaeacian)|Euryalus]] in Books 7–8 of the ''Odyssey,'' even to the point of both characters giving the hero the same gift of a sword upon being proven wrong in their initial assessment of the hero's prowess. This theory of Homer's influence on ''Beowulf'' remained very prevalent in the 1920s, but started to die out in the following decade when a handful of critics stated that the two works were merely "comparative literature",{{sfn|Andersson|1998|p=138}} although Greek was known in late 7th century England: [[Bede]] states that [[Theodore of Tarsus]], a Greek, was appointed [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 668, and he taught Greek. Several English scholars and churchmen are described by Bede as being fluent in Greek due to being taught by him; Bede claims to be fluent in Greek himself.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bede |author-link=Bede |title=[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People|Ecclesiastical History]] |at=V.24}}</ref>

[[Frederick Klaeber]], among others, argued for a connection between ''Beowulf'' and [[Virgil]] near the start of the 20th century, claiming that the very act of writing a secular epic in a Germanic world represents Virgilian influence. Virgil was seen as the pinnacle of Latin literature, and Latin was the dominant literary language of England at the time, therefore making Virgilian influence highly likely.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |last=Haber |first=Tom Burns |title=A Comparative Study of the Beowulf and the Aeneid |location=Princeton, N.J. |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1931}}</ref> Similarly, in 1971, [[Alistair Campbell (academic)|Alistair Campbell]] stated that the [[apologue]] technique used in ''Beowulf'' is so rare in epic poetry aside from Virgil that the poet who composed ''Beowulf'' could not have written the poem in such a manner without first coming across [[Virgil]]'s writings.{{sfn|Andersson|1998|pp=140–41}}