Homer
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Homer (born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.[1]
Variants
- Homer (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 39, 45, 56, 116, 121, 141, 167, 175, 205, 218, 260, 276, 285, 286, 291, 309, 318, 331, 391, 416.)
- /ˈhoʊmər/;
- Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος [hómɛːros], Hómēros;
His works
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War.
The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy.
The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic.[2][3]
Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally.[4]
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor.[6] To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν, tēn Helláda pepaídeuken).[7][8] In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets;[9] in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets".[10] From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.[11]
It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC.[5] Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey.
Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.[6]
Ancient biographical traditions
Some ancient claims about Homer were established early and repeated often. They include that Homer was blind (taking as self-referential a passage describing the blind bard Demodocus),[7][8] that he resided at Chios, that he was the son of the river Meles and the nymph Critheïs, that he was a wandering bard, that he composed a varying list of other works (the "Homerica"), that he died either in Ios or after failing to solve a riddle set by fishermen, and various explanations for the name "Homer" (Ὅμηρος : Hómēros).[9] Another tradition from the days of the Roman emperor Hadrian says Epicaste (daughter of Nestor) and Telemachus (son of Odysseus) were the parents of Homer.[10][11]
The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod.[1][12][13]
In the early fourth century BC Alcidamas composed a fictional account of a poetry contest at Chalcis with both Homer and Hesiod. Homer was expected to win, and answered all of Hesiod's questions and puzzles with ease. Then, each of the poets was invited to recite the best passage from their work. Hesiod selected the beginning of Works and Days: "When the Pleiades born of Atlas ... all in due season". Homer chose a description of Greek warriors in formation, facing the foe, taken from the Iliad. Though the crowd acclaimed Homer victor, the judge awarded Hesiod the prize; the poet who praised husbandry, he said, was greater than the one who told tales of battles and slaughter.[14]
External links
References
- ↑ "Learn about Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ↑ Hose, Martin; Schenker, David (2015). A Companion to Greek Literature. John Wiley & Sons. p. 445. ISBN 978-1118885956.
- ↑ Miller, D. Gary (2013). Ancient Greek Dialects and Early Authors: Introduction to the Dialect Mixture in Homer, with Notes on Lyric and Herodotus. Walter de Gruyter. p. 351. ISBN 978-1614512950.
- ↑ Ahl, Frederick; Roisman, Hanna (1996). The Odyssey Re-formed. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801483356.
- ↑ Croally, Neil; Hyde, Roy (2011). Classical Literature: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 978-1136736629.
- ↑ Wilson, Nigel (2013). Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Routledge. p. 366. ISBN 978-1136788000.; Romilly, Jacqueline de (1985). A Short History of Greek Literature. University of Chicago Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0226143125. ; Graziosi, Barbara (2002). Inventing Homer: The Early Reception of Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0521809665.
- ↑ Graziosi, Barbara (2002). Inventing Homer: The Early Reception of Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0521809665.
- ↑ Odyssey, 8:64ff.
- ↑ Graziosi, Barbara (2002). Inventing Homer: The Early Reception of Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0521809665.
- ↑ "Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica" (Contest of Homer and Hesiod)
- ↑ Parke, Herbert William (1967). Greek Oracles. pp. 136–137 citing the Certamen, 12.
- ↑ Kelly, Adrian D. (2012). "Biographies of Homer". The Homer Encyclopedia. doi:10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0243. ISBN 978-1405177689.
- ↑ Lefkowitz, Mary R. (2013). The Lives of the Greek Poets. A&C Black. pp. 14–30. ISBN 978-1472503077.
- ↑ West, M. L. Theogony & Works and Days. Oxford University Press. p. xx.