Biography Of Ancient Greek Poet Homer

Homer is one of the greatest epic poets and his legendary status was well established by the time of Classical Athens. He composed two major works, the Iliad and the Odyssey; which were originally in oral form before it was later converted to a written format. Though there were other works that were attributed to him but were disputed. Homer acts as a major source of information for the Greeks and their gods. Homer is the earliest poet in Western culture whose works have survived.

Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, first started as an oral storytelling tradition dating from about 1100 BC, after the Trojan war.

Homer is one of the greatest storytellers of the world, whose two stories, the Iliad and the Odyssey are the bedrock of western literature. Within his stories, he presents the values of the Greeks through its characters, their actions, and the situations present in throughout the two epics. Odysseus in both stories was a soldier, a king, a father, an adventurer, etc. Homer’s Odysseus as an individual encompasses some of the common aspects found in the Greek identity. Although Greeks would not unify under one political power until Phillip and Alexander, all Greeks shared a common culture, with heroes that represent their values and ideals. Homer through his epics presents a bible for pagans and shows this through Odysseus presents the value

Homer, the son of Telemachus and Epikaste, was a Greek poet and court singer born sometime between the 12th and 8th century B.C. There is no certainty of his birth place, but it is believed that he was born somewhere on the Asia Minor coast. The language he uses in his poetry suggests that he may have been native to what is known today as Turkey. His is believed to be the originator of Europe’s first known literature, yet very little is actually known about him and what little information we do have was derived from scrupulously studying his works (softschools.com). Some would debate that he never really existed and that his works were just stories passed down orally through folk tales from generation to generation, but it is apparent that his poetry ended up setting the common values that preserved the Greek’s own ideas about themselves, provided the foundation for the model of heroism, and seemed to portray the Greek gods as always being less clever than their mortal contemporaries (pbs.org).

“The Odyssey” depicted Odysseus’ journey back from the Trojan War, which was the story portrayed in The Illiad, to his homeland. It is believed that Homer is not the only author of the epic poems. "The story was memorized and recited by poets and minstrels during a period of several centuries when Greece had no written language." (Russell 151) Around 800 B.C. Homer put the story down in writing. According to Russell the stories are "... about the passions and follies of human beings and for this reason it seems in many ways to be as modern as the current dramas we see on television.”

In the book, and also you said that people are not 100% sure that Homer himself existed, and if the Trojan war really happened. Even tough in nineteenth Heinrich Schliemann proved that Troy existed, but he said Trojan War might have happened, and also didn’t prove that Homer was a real person. Since Homer wrote it after a long time when the Trojan War happened, does that mean that he collected all the legends and myths about Iliad and Odyssey, or he just made the whole story himself? In book it said that Aphrodite has promised a most beautiful woman for Paris, but why she promised him? And why she sides with him.

Greek poetry before Homer was all composed orally; therefore it is assumed that Homer’s works are the first written works of art (Joachim Latacz, page 15). Scholars who have spent extensive time researching the origin of Homer’s work cannot verify a specific time the Iliad and the Odyssey were written (Latacz, 24). Many who have tried, usually run into a dead end, but it seems most have came to the conclusion that the poems were produced in the late eighteenth century (Latacz , 59).

The Iliad and the Odyssey are believed to be written down around 800-700 BC. Before then, the stories were told orally. The poem the Iliad tells the story of Achilles, his anger, and his slaying of the Trojan Hero Hector. The poem the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus, and his decade long journey back home after spending ten years in the Trojan war that lasted a decade. Though the events of the Iliad took place during the Greek Bronze age, the culture portrayed is mirrored after the Dark Ages.

Homer’s two tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are both incredibly well known and widely taught across the world and at many different levels of education. Some call Homer the “greatest poet to ever live” and although this can be disputed his works truly speak for themselves and have braved the test of time quite well. This paper will cover who/whom Homer is as a person, or persons, and the time period of his writings, the truths versus the dramatizations of the Iliad and Odyssey, how the author’s perspective and writings portray ancient Greek culture, along with how the two of them interact with our culture today.

Most believe that Homer was a man, however other think that he was a group of individuals, and an even smaller group believe that Homer was a woman. His birthdate is also debated frequently. His birth date ranges from 750 BCE to 1200 BCE. Greek historian Herodotus, commonly referred to as “the father of history”, places Homer’s birth date at 850 BCE. The location of Homer’s birth is also disputed. Possible contenders are Ionia, Smyrna, the coast of Asia Minor, or the island of Chois. Most of Homer’s aspects are derived from his works. For example, Homer is thought to be blind based on a blind poet named Demodokos which was interpreted as Homer referencing his own life, leaving many to believe Homer was blind as well. These references are the only outlook into Homer’s

We had to annotate the Odyssey to understand it on a deeper level. We were supposed to annotate for thematic topics, epic conventions, and figurative language; all while thinking critically. The expectations were to annotate using critical thinking skills. I think that was the hard part for most people because it is a lot easier to just read on a surface level and not try to understand why things were mentioned or happened the way they did. Most stories have a moral and sometimes it is difficult to notice so it is easier not to try to figure it out. It is more stress-free to not do research for symbolism, origin, or microcosms and accept things as they are. Mr. Ortiz

Homer wrote one of the first adventure stories known as The Odyssey. The story is written in the form of an epic poem and has over 12,000 lines. It was written around 2,000 years ago, but there is only speculation on when the actual story takes place. These are well known facts, but most readers do not notice how the work exemplifies epic heroes, the use of language, or the use of foreshadowing.

Homer is a poet that was born sometime between the 12th and 8th century B.C. in Asia Minor. He wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey.Very little is known about Homer as this Biography states“Although very little

In the case of Homer, the fact remains that almost every discussion of the content and milieu of the poems

      The Iliad is a story of rages of Achilles and the War of Troy. Thanks to the techniques of the author, Homer, The Iliad is very colorful, romantic, and it makes the readers imagine the ancient Greeks and their times of war. Homer is believed to be the author of epics other than the Iliad, although their authorship remains uncertain. Historian believes that Homer probably lived in the eighth century, B.C.1 (Discovering World History). However, there are very few things that we know about him. Some historians think Homer's birthplace may have been on an island on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, or perhaps in a city on the nearby coast, but they don't have evidence to