>Generally? I think it was Voltaire who called
>Shakespeare an amiable barbarian, which, if what >I read
is correct, is the opinion (perhaps less
>strongly stated) of many French critics. I >imagine
lots of Greeks prefer Homer, as well.
This is
not the opinion of modern French critics. As well,
Tolstoy thought King Lear sucked; yet you could make the
case that he was far more influenced by Shakespeare
than he ever let on. As for Homer--that's assuming
there was a Homer (which the modern tendency is to
accept there was but that he was collecting the tales of
the past and then was further refined by his
aesthetic descendants). Shakespeare's preeminence is pretty
much accepted in western culture and to some degree in
asian as well--witness his huge influence on both
Japanese literature and film. The most prominent Chinese
writer of the 20th century, Lu Xun, was well read in
Shakespeare and it shows. I could go on but enough for
now....
Nathan Freeburg