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Homer (/ ˈ h oʊ m ər /; Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος [hómɛːros], Hómēros; 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.
- Ὅμηρος
- Homeric Greek
- Overview
- Early references
Homer is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two hugely influential epic poems of ancient Greece. If Homer did in fact compose the works, he is one of the greatest literary artists in the world, and, through these poems, he affected Western standards and ideas.
Was Homer a real person?
Scholars are uncertain whether he existed. If real, he is believed to have lived about the 9th or 8th century BCE and was a native of Ionia. A poet in the oral tradition, his works were likely transcribed by others. He is traditionally portrayed as blind, and some claim he was illiterate.
Did Homer write the Odyssey?
The authorship of the Odyssey and the Iliad is disputed. While some scholars believe Homer is solely responsible, others claim that the poems were retold and revised by numerous people. This theory has led to various explanations for the use of the word Homer. Some speculate that it was a term meaning wandering blind poet.
Homer (flourished 9th or 8th century bce?, Ionia? [now in Turkey]) presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Implicit references to Homer and quotations from the poems date to the middle of the 7th century bce. Archilochus, Alcman, Tyrtaeus, and Callinus in the 7th century and Sappho and others in the early 6th adapted Homeric phraseology and metre to their own purposes and rhythms. At the same time scenes from the epics became popular in works of art. The pseudo-Homeric “Hymn to Apollo of Delos,” probably of late 7th-century composition, claimed to be the work of “a blind man who dwells in rugged Chios,” a reference to a tradition about Homer himself. The idea that Homer had descendants known as “Homeridae,” and that they had taken over the preservation and propagation of his poetry, goes back at least to the early 6th century bce. Indeed, it was not long before a kind of Homeric scholarship began: Theagenes of Rhegium in southern Italy toward the end of the same century wrote the first of many allegorizing interpretations. By the 5th century biographical fictions were well under way; the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heracleitus of Ephesus made use of a trivial legend of Homer’s death—that it was caused by chagrin at not being able to solve some boys’ riddle about catching lice—and the concept of a contest of quotations between Homer and Hesiod (after Homer the most ancient of Greek poets) may have been initiated in the Sophistic tradition. The historian Herodotus assigned the formulation of Greek theology to Homer and Hesiod and claimed that they could have lived no more than 400 years before his own time, the 5th century bce. This should be contrasted with the superficial assumption, popular in many circles throughout antiquity, that Homer must have lived not much later than the Trojan War about which he sang.
The general belief that Homer was a native of Ionia (the central part of the western seaboard of Asia Minor) seems a reasonable conjecture for the poems themselves are in predominantly Ionic dialect. Although Smyrna and Chios early began competing for the honour (the poet Pindar, early in the 5th century bce, associated Homer with both), and others joined in, no authenticated local memory survived anywhere of someone who, oral poet or not, must have been remarkable in his time. The absence of hard facts puzzled but did not deter the Greeks; the fictions that had begun even before the 5th century bce were developed in the Alexandrian era in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce (when false scholarship as well as true abounded) into fantastic pseudobiographies, and these were further refined by derivative scholars under the Roman Empire. The longest to have survived purports to be by Herodotus himself; but it is quite devoid of objective truth.
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Sep 6, 2023 · Learn about the life and works of Homer, the Greek poet who wrote the epic stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Find out his birth date, location, style, and mystery of his identity. Explore his influence on Western culture and literature.
Jun 19, 2013 · Learn about Homer, the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the most influential works of Western literature. Explore his life, his poems, and his legacy in Greek and beyond.
Jan 22, 2020 · Homer is the name attached to the two epic poems of the Trojan War, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Learn about the possible origins, identity, and characteristics of the poet of the Trojan War, from his possible birthplace in the west coast of Turkey to his blindness and his role as a bard.
Homer is the author of the ancient Greek epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey", widely considered to be the first extant works of Western literature. Learn about his biography, writings, and major works, such as the Trojan War, the Trojan Cycle, and the Homeric Hymns.
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Learn about Homer, the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, who may or may not have existed in the 9th or 8th century BCE. Explore his poems, hymns, and influence on Western culture and literature.
