What kind of poetry did homer write

Rather than take a defensive or apologetic position, the contemporary scholar insists that the burden of proof be on those who deny the existence of Homer. To date, this position has not been successfully challenged.

While little if anything is known of Homer's life, his works are an everlasting tribute to him. For thousands of years, the Iliad and the Odyssey have been the standards by which poets of all languages have measured themselves.

Homer is unsurpassed in his understanding of human nature in all its aspects, for his keen observation of the world in which people live, for his essential sanity and good taste, and for his superb control of all the technical devices of his medium. The Greeks, or Achaians, that Homer writes about in the Iliad were not people of a unified nation.

Instead, areas of the Balkan Peninsula, now known as Greece, were made up of many small kingdoms, populated by ethnically-related peoples, from B. Scholarship generally dates the composition of the Iliad at about B. At that time, Homer would have been writing about the Mycenaeans, a people who lived in Greece four to five hundred years earlier, although the picture he paints in the epic shows aspects of society from all of the periods between and B. They formed what were essentially small farming communities organized around a predominant family.

In the Iliad , each of the great warrior heroes is the head, and therefore the king of each of these communities. According to legend, and evidenced by some archaeological finds, the most powerful of these communities was Mycenae, ruled by Agamemnon.

These rulers were known as basileis , and they acted as kings, generals, and judges. The noble families in each kingdom were the aristoi , who advised the basileis through a council called the boule. Ordinary soldiers were known as the laos , but they too had a voice and could vote in the agora , or public forum, on decisions that involved them.

In the Iliad , the Greek characters act as a kind of state. Agamemnon is the basileis ; the other individual rulers act as the aristoi. The common soldiers, or laos , are best typified by Thersites, who speaks up at the boule , or assembly, in Book II. Originally, the Mycenaeans were sea raiders. Their power and progress came as a result of conquest, usually carried out by groups organized from several kingdoms.

The goal of these raids was to acquire goods, raw materials, and slaves. The slaves were usually women, because the Mycenaean custom was to kill all the men of a conquered state and capture the women and children.

Political decisions within the Mycenaean State were made through assemblies. Typically, these assemblies were made up of the powerful men within a particular state. However, for more far-reaching and important matters involving war and raids, an assembly of the leaders of a group of states would be arranged.

Such major decisions were made through discussion and debate. At the same time the Mycenaeans came to power in Greece, a related kingdom, Troy, developed near the northern coast of Asia Minor modern-day Turkey.

Archaeologists date the original city at the Troy site as early as B. Historian and writer Daisy Dunn goes in search of the poet of the Trojan War, exploring who Homer was and whether he ever actually existed. Marble bust of Homer. Roman copy of a Hellenistic original of the 2nd BC. Daisy Dunn, historian and writer 22 January Herbert Draper — , Ulysses and the Sirens , Ferens Art Gallery. Etching showing an allegorical scene from the title page of an edition of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Homer is standing in the centre and reciting poetry. Apollo, the god of poetry, is listening on the right. After Jan Goeree. Around Map of the Aegean showing some of the places where Homer was said to have come from.

These include Smyrna and Colophon on the west coast of what is now Turkey, and the islands of Ios and Chios. The earliest coin to feature Homer dates to the fourth century BC and comes from Ios. Marble bust of Homer, which depicts him as blind.

Athenian red-figure storage jar amphora showing a bard reciting or singing poetry. About — BC. This Etruscan painting from a tomb shows the Judgement of Paris. At the left, Paris awaits the three goddesses. Aphrodite, last of the three, lifts her dress to show a flash of leg. On the right, Helen is approached by three women bringing jewellery and perfume. About BC. The lion gate at Mycenae. Mycenae was one of the most important settlements in Greece during the Bronze Age.

Photo by Andreas Trepte, www. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Both of these techniques helped him to remember each poem. Iliad is also believed to be the first oral epic poem, which means that Homer was the first of his kind. He paved the way for a style of literature that used the hexameter verse, was expressive and historically descriptive.

The first printed copies were published in in Florence, Italy. Since then, Iliad and Odyssey have continued to inspire the world as a style of literature that spurred the growth of formal, descriptive, dramatic and artistic language. Author bio: As a freelance writer, Melanie Foster shares valuable information about higher education for students and faculty alike.

In addition to regularly contributing articles to www. Please leave any questions or comments for her below. This post was written by a lovely contributor. If you would like to write for the Adventures in Technical Translation blog or participate in one of our ongoing series, please visit the Contributions page for more information.

You can also check out the awesome contributions already published on our blog. I believe Homer had a special ability. Because I believe it is possible to remember extremely long passages.

Lore and folklore have told me that my mom, still alive but now in a nursing home in Southern California, at three years old would remember a page poem after hearing it only once! Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

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