Homer and the Origins of Literature Who was Homer? Why and how were his poems written down?

Essential Ideas Who Was Homer? What is the Homeric Question? Homer and the Origins of Writing The Man Who Overcame Death Why Is This Important?

Who Was Homer? We know nothing for certain about Homer His work shows a knowledge of the Greek World and Near East Later tradition has him born in Asia Minor Stories circulate about him in the Greek world saying he was blind and told “all the best stories.”

Homer is credited with having composed two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey The Iliad is set over the course of several weeks, during the ninth year of the Trojan War. Its principle theme is “The Wrath of Achilles.” But the texts are really the culmination of a long tradition going back years before the 8 th century. The Odyssey narrates the return of Odysseus to his home after 20 years. It is filled with folktales.

What was Homer’s world like? Homer and oral composers like him probably sang their songs to the social elite at banquets and athletic events. His audiences were probably mostly male We do not know when or where poems as long as the Odyssey and Iliad may have been presented

Map of the Mediterranean Look online at a map of the Mediterranean, preferably during Homer’s time. Think about why knowing this layout matters.

Why are these maps significant? The Greeks were colonizing as early as the 9 th century Trade and exchange of ideas with other cultures existed long before Homer If Homer was from Chios, the way stories written about him after his death claim, then he lived in a place that was just a few miles away from another culture and language

Most Scholars Now Agree on the Following... Homer did exist He was an oral poet He was illiterate

But how did Scholars Even Come To Agree On These Three Things? It all begins with what is known as the “Homeric Question”. How did the poems originate? Could a bunch of short poems have been put together to make a longer poem? Some scholars felt that the work was too long to have been composed without writing. We have 16,000 lines of the Iliad and 12,000 lines of the Odyssey In Ancient Greece, writing was invented around the time of Homer.

The Homeric Question By the 1920’s, scholars had come up with two basic answers to the Homeric Question Option #1 Many “Homers” singing tales which later became a coherent whole (Analysts) Option #2 One single, very gifted individual was responsible for both poems (Unitarians)

The Guslar and His Gusle In the 1930’s a scholar named Milman Parry changed the Homeric Question debate by studying oral poets in what is now the former Yugoslavia. A guslar is essentially a modern version of Homer, who has been trained in the traditional themes and narratives and in the use of formulas; he can compose an original poem using a very flexible poetic pattern and sing the song in accompaniment to his gusle, a stringed instrument.

The Song Is In A Constant State of Change Even when sung by the same singer over and over, the same poem will have slightly different elements The art of singing does not call just upon memory, the poet constantly shapes and recreates traditional stories

What did Parry prove by looking at oral tradition? It is possible for illiterate, oral poets to compose very long poems without the help of writing. The poems contained “essential ideas” rather than rigid plots. He suggested that what we are really looking at is an oral Homeric tradition, which acknowledged a generations old-tradition of verse-making that was the collective inheritance of many poets in Ancient Greece.

What does Milman Parry suggest? The poems were not pasted together composites of shorter poems like the Analysts claimed Nor were they the long, free-standing poems like the Unitarians claimed The stories can be adapted to the time and place of performance – if the poet performs for a famous king, then the poem is about his ancestors The poem never is performed exactly the same – each performance is different

Some things to know about ancient Greek epic Epos = song Epic Distance = the world the poet is creating is distant, or different from his or her own This is why heroes of past times are always better than today’s humans If you want to understand what is going on in Homer, you need to lose your reality expectation -- rivers and horses will speak, so suspend your disbelief.

The Man Who Overcame Death Homer’s story is part of a larger epic tradition, which incorporates elements from other cultures in the Near East along with uniquely Greek elements Thus, there are motifs of the traveling sailor and the conflict between life and death.

Odysseus conquers death The enemies of Odysseus are allies of death Sleep, the brother of death Narcosis-a stupor Darkness Forgetfulness Eternal life & death (if it means loss of new experiences) Look for scenes of rebirth in the Odyssey “Never forget me, for I gave you life.” Nausicaa to Odysseus

Homer’s Other Questions and Themes Who am I? How do I fit into humankind? What is my role in life? What is my relationship to other humans? Life triumphs over death Ordered world wins out over disordered Simple revenge Right over wrong