The Homeric Question

There are several features that characterize the Homeric worldview. The Greeks were in self-governing cities called poleis, or city-states, that held them extremely apart creating controversy and competition. Regardless of their differences, they all allied and viewed foreigners as “barbarians”; they viewed themselves as the center of the world whereas the rest of world was considered uncivilized. Nonetheless, through the great stories of Homer written in heroic verses, or rhythm, we are able to expand our understanding on the Homeric worldview in religion. For instance, In the Iliad, the gods served as divine umpires, which means they watched the actions, commented, and could had enforced rules, but had no significant role on a human’s course of life.

The film “October Sky” is a motion picture consisting of Homer Hickam’s journey. His journey is composed of various setbacks and advancements. A perfect analogy of his journey can be put into this simple saying: two steps forward one step back. This analogy collaborates perfectly with Homer’s journey due to all of the challenges he faced throughout his journey. Homer’s journey to success contains various challenges and advancements which all playan important role in the outcome.

Therefore, we can clearly say that Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, strictly follows the oral tradition as we know it and has reached us today in a physical format, as close as possible to the original poem. The oral technique has not been disrupted in any way. Despite it being in a written form, the devices and compositional techniques originally used by the poet has been respected and are vividly present all throughout the poem. However, in no way does the fact that the poem is a transition from an oral poetry to a written form affected its literary

Homer referenced other Greek myths. Odyssseus went to converse with the spirits in the Underworld and many of them were from other Greek myths. I have always enjoyed mythology, Greecian in particular, and reading references to characters like Hercules, Oedipus, Epicaste, Minos, Theseus and Cassandra made the book easier to connect to. Since I recognized quite a few of the characters from that scene it also was easier to follow.

The Odyssey is a folk epic poem that picks up at the end of another folk epic poem titled The Iliad. Homer, who is said to be a blind poet, has been credited with writing both of these works, however it is believed that the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey were told verbally for many centuries and Homer happened to be the one who took the opportunity to write them down. Due to it being written centuries ago, The Odyssey uses classical diction that seems odd in modern-day language. The diction used in The Odyssey presents a laudatory tone throughout the poem.

“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.”

The poems themselves are both the same and different in a plethora of areas, all helping to highlight the similarities and differences of their central characters. Both begin by invoking the Muse, a goddess of inspiration and creativity, for assistance in properly telling each separate story. Both include the word ‘sing’ in the opening lines, a testament to the fact that when these great stories were first told they were told orally, written down centuries after they were first brought into creation. “...Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son…” (Homer’s The Iliad, line 1). “Sing to me of the man…” (Homer’s The Odyssey, line 1). However, there is a distinct difference in the tone of the poems, The Iliad seeming more masculine and The Odyssey apparently

Before the Odyssey is explained, there is much historical information about Ancient Greece to cover. To begin, the time period that Odyssey is a part of is known as “Homeric society.” Homeric society is a concoction of diverging assortments in various points in history. Because the setting is a combination of different times from several coteries, the story includes many ideas and values particular to each one. In the 8th century BC, the Mediterranean saw a growth in population after the “dark age,” thus leading to the menagerie that the Ancient Greeks partook in. Moving forward, there is much evidence that suggests that epics were created between 750 and 650 B.C.E. These stories were set in Mycenaean Greece around the 12th century B.C.E, also known as the Bronze Age.

Hesiod and Homer are two extremely important philosophers who impact the rest of the philosophers and their opinions to this day. After going into depth and focusing on these two philosophers, I noticed a good amount of interesting similarities in their mythologies along with a couple of differences. As both of these men are known for their creations of very popular stories (The Iliad and The Odyssey for Homer and Theogony for Hesiod) through divine inspiration, a common theme in both of their mythologies is how important honor is to the gods and how consequences will follow if justice isn’t served. These philosophers have distinct differences in their beliefs as well. While Hesiod focuses on the creation and beginning of all things,

Before comparing the actual stories of The Aeneid and The Iliad, one must consider the remarkable success that the two respective stories have received since their origins in ancient Greece and Rome. Homer, author of The Iliad and its famous counterpart The Odyssey, is a legendary figure in history. Some question his actual existence and prefer to regard his two most famous works as stories of oral tradition that were constructed and refined with thousands of retellings by numerous poets over time. Others see Homer as a real man who entertained guests with his witty, complex stories and later had scribes write down his famous words. It will be assumed throughout this paper that Homer did exist for the sake of simplicity. On the other hand,

Greek mythology has had a considerable influence on Western civilization, which fell heir of much of Greek culture. ("Greek Mythology | Gods, Stories, & History") It is the heart of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins of their own practices.("Greek Mythology | Gods, Stories, & History") Greek mythology had become fully developed by about the 700s BC, and two classic collections of myths, the Iliad and the Odyssey, by the poet Homer appeared at around that time. Homer wrote the Iliad, generally known as an epic poem that told a story based on heroism, fate and death.

In the historical novel A Human Comedy by William Saroyan, the main character, Homer went through an emotional journey throughout the events of this novel. He deals with the hard facts of life through his new job, and circumstances he’s never experienced before, and he remembers there is good in the world too, watching his younger brother enjoy early childhood as he did. I will explain how Homer went through an emotional journey in this novel. It’s mentioned he dealt with the hard facts of life, he did this due to his job as a telegraph messenger, he delivers messages informing families their sons, husbands or brothers have died. “She cried a little, but only inside, because long ago she had decided she didn't like crying because if you ever started to cry it seemed as if there was so much to cry about you

The relation of The Odyssey to modern life accounts for its continued appeal. The story of Odysseus’ journey can in many ways relate to the typical life of humans today. The story is life, but mythologized. For example, missing a loved one is something that often occurs today. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ mother dies because she misses her son too much. Her story is told while Odysseus sees her in Hades. Second, individuals intervene in the matters of others. Other people provide their input of a problem today, while in the epic poem it was the gods. This intervening of the gods was a large part of the story. For example, if it wasn’t for Athena “erasing” the memories of the suitor’s deaths to their families, then the families would have attempted to assassinate Telemakhos and his father. Also, Odysseus’ journey would have been incredibly shorter if it weren’t for Poseidon intervening after Polyphemos prayed to him to make Odysseus’ journey longer. One of The Odyssey’s universal qualities is the relation of it to life today.

Homer was a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, these epics were the first of their kind of literature to surface and created an entirely different genre. Homer set the scene for other writers that were influenced by his works by showing what the criteria of the proper epic poem was. Homer influenced poets such as Virgil. Virgil constructed the epic The Aeneid taking one of the characters from Homer’s Iliad. All authors of the Medieval and Renaissance eras so in a way Homer influenced authors who didn’t even read his works. The Aeneid set examples for other pieces of literature as The Iliad did for it. Epic poetry from the its introduction to modern day reflected the society of its time period, those characteristic were implemented into the epics to be relatable and a little more realistic and not complete fiction. These stories of epic heroes had impacts on the people of their time as well as the literature. The poems were impactful to people of the time by giving warriors motivation to go into battle with the ideas of being as strong and as fearsome as the epic heroes in the poem presented to them by the scopes and other storytellers. The poems throughout history impacted the people of the time and the future of literature and gave new ideas to new uprising

The ancient Greeks and Romans contributed to western civilization in many different forms of literature and architecture. Both of these cultures produced a variety of literary works which are still studied today. One of the biggest contributions to literature was from the author known as Homer. Homer was known for two of ancient Greece’s most epic poems, The lliad and The Odyssey. Both of these poems have had a profound impact on western literature and continue to influence teachers and authors today. “The lliad and The Odyssey have provided not only seeds but fertilizer for almost all the other arts and sciences in