Homer
Ancient Greek poet credited with the Iliad and Odyssey.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Homer was an ancient Greek poet traditionally credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. He was highly revered in ancient Greek society and is considered one of the most influential authors in history, though his identity and existence remain debated by scholars.
- born
- Possibly c. 8th century BC
- died
- Traditionally on Ios
- field
- Poetry
- nationality
- Ancient Greek (possibly from Ionia, Chios, or Smyrna)
- known_for
- Authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Lore & Background
The Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War, while the Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, a literary language showing a mixture of Ionic and Aeolic dialect features, and most researchers believe they were originally transmitted orally. In antiquity, many other works were attributed to Homer, including the Homeric Hymns and the Batrachomyomachia, but these claims are not considered authentic today.
Reader's Guide
The Homeric poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. Plato stated that Homer 'has educated Greece,' and in Dante's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as 'Poet sovereign.' Alexander Pope acknowledged Homer as the 'greatest of poets.' From antiquity to the present day, the epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film. The study of Homer is one of the oldest topics in scholarship, dating back to antiquity, with early commentators debating his treatment of the gods and later allegorists defending him. The Homeric Question—concerning the authorship and composition of the poems—continues to be debated, with scholars generally regarding the two poems as works of separate authors. The poems were composed around the late eighth or early seventh century BC.
Did You Know?
- The Iliad and Odyssey are in Homeric Greek, a literary language with Ionic and Aeolic dialect features.
- Most researchers believe the poems were originally transmitted orally.
- Ancient biographies often depicted Homer as blind, but modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
- The Homeric Question debates whether a single author wrote both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσινοἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι." — Homer "Along the shore of the loud-roaring sea." — Homer "Note: Ezra Pound referred to this Homeric phrase as a "magnificent onomatopoeia, as of the rush of the waves on the sea-beach and their recession", and described it as "untranslatable" (in Literary Essays, p. 250)." — Homer "Ὅς κε θεοῖς ἐπιπείθηται μάλα τ' ἔκλυον αὐτοῦ." — Homer
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