The Life and Works of Homer

Homer, even though some sources say he did not exist, was by most accounts an
Ancient Greek poet who composed two famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Little information is known about Homer because he lived in a time when things
were not yet written down. Also, since little was known about Homer, some sources
seemed to even think that the most two famous works Homer is credited with
composing, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were not written by one person. However,
most sources give him the title of the “father of poetry”, seem to believe he was
a real person, and support the idea that he actually composed these two famous
epics.
By comparing archaeological findings as well as evidence in various poems
said to be written by Homer, it is thought that Homer could have been lived
anywhere from 800 BC to 1200 BC. Homer may have been born in the following
cities: Athens, Argos, Chios, Colophon, Rhodes, Salamis, or Smyrna. It is
believed by some that he either lived near the Aegean Sea or on the island of
Khios. Most sources seem to agree that Homer came from somewhere in Ionia. It is
thought by many that Homer was an older person. Many sources also seem to support
the idea that Homer was very poor. Homer may have been blind, also. Yet, it
seems that most sources seem to agree that if Homer had been blind, he could not
have been blind his whole life because the wording of Homer’s poems included
things a seeing person could only understand.
Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, seem to have similarities with the
time of the Trojan War. The Trojan War was fought between a city named Troy and
Greece. Due to the similarities it is believed that these two epics were composed
during or not long after this war. Archaeologists have also uncovered in the
ruins of Troy and ancient Greece things that appeared to be the same as Homer
described in his epics. The Iliad and the Odyssey, as with other epic poems of
this time, were not written down but instead were recited or sung before
audiences. It was a tradition of this time for people called bards to recite
orally poems. Many scholars believe Homer was one of these bards and had the
skill to remember long epics.
Homer’s Iliad seemed to take place during the Trojan War. Apparently
through the years there had always been conflict between the city of Troy and the
Greeks. Achilles, a Greek hero, would no longer fight in the Trojan War because
he had a conflict with his commander in chief, Agamemnon. After Achilles left the
Trojan War, the Greeks had many losses to the Trojans. The Iliad further tells of
Agamemnon asking for Achilles to re-join in the war effort. Achilles refuses
basically because his mother told him that he would live a long life if he
returned home and did not fight. Later, Achilles’ best friend is killed by the
Trojans, and Achilles re-joins the war to basically seek revenge. Achilles then
kills Hector, the man who killed his best friend as a matter of revenge. Then,
Achilles brings Hector’s body to Hector’s dad, the Trojan King. This epic poem
talked of about fifty-three days of the last year of the Trojan War. It is
thought by many that the Iliad was the first of the two epics.
Homer’s Odyssey seemed to be about Odysseus making his way to Ithaca after
the Trojan War. It is basically told in two parts composed of twenty-four books.
The first twelve books tell of his years of traveling and of the problems he
encounters along his way. This part occurs mostly while at sea. Some of the
characters and places Odysseus and his crew met with along their journey home
were: Circe, the Underworld, the Sirens, Scylla, and the Cyclops. During this
trip home, Odysseus always used his ability to be clever to help himself out of
dangerous and tricky situations. The second part of the poem or the last twelve
books tell of the return home of Odysseus to the island of Ithaca. This part
occurred on land. These books tell of the circumstances Odysseus faces when he
returns home. Upon returning home, Odysseus had to take care of problems at home
which had occurred during his time of absence. Some of these problems included:
Odysseus winning back his wife as suitors had been trying to marry her in his
absence, and the revenge of Odysseus on these suitors. The Odyssey is often
referred to by many scholars as the first novel. Besides telling about the
travels, problems, and survival of Odysseus, it also gives a good glimpse of what
life was like in Greece during this time.
As was stated earlier, even though most people seem to believe the Iliad and
the Odyssey were composed by Homer, some scholars through the years have continued
to question that Homer was the actual composer of the two epics. This has become
known as the Homeric Question. One person who questioned this issue was Friedrich
August Wolf. He stated there was nothing archaeologists have shown to prove the
Greeks knew how to write during Homer’s time. Furthermore, without the ability to
write, Wolf believed that the epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, could not have
been simply remembered by Homer due to their great lengths. Wolf instead seemed
to believe that the Iliad and the Odyssey epics were a bunch of short songs
written by several poets. Wolf and the people who believed like he did were known
as analysts. However, there was another group called the unitarians. This group
believed that the Iliad and the Odyssey were written by one or two poets, not by
many. In the 1930’s, Milman Parry studied bards in Yugoslavia to research how
oral poetry was created. He found that the bards were often not able to read or
write. However, they had the ability to compose long poems orally. Parry found
that these bards did not memorize the poems, but instead kept the same plot. Each
time the poem was recited it was different, but kept the same basic idea and used
a lot of the same phrases. These bards, as in the bards of Homer’s time, used
traditional phrases in the reciting of their poems. The ability of a bard to
recite these poems was partially due to this use of repeated phrasing. Some
scholars called this traditional phrasing or repeated phrasing a formula for
remembering and reciting lengthy epics. The bards would tell of happenings in
history or of real people, but would include short phrases used in many poems
during that time. Of course, as their poems were retold the poems were changed
little by little, but the basic plot and traditional phrasing was kept in each
retelling. Parry saw that the Iliad and the Odyssey shared a lot of the same use
of the traditional phrases. Parry then began to believe that Homer was a bard who
could not read or write. Parry also believed that Homer, late in his life,
recited the poems to someone who could write. Even though it may not be possible
for the Homeric Question to be answered, it seems many will continue to try.
Besides being credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homer was
also given credit for composing the Homeric Hymns. The Homeric Hymns consist of
several poems written about the ancient Greek gods.
Finally, no matter which side of the Homeric Question you lean toward, the
Iliad and the Odyssey were eventually written down and became great classics. The
Iliad and the Odyssey became parts of religious festivals, textbooks for Greek
children, and even became a basis for the religious beliefs of the Greek people.
Greek poets and playwrights, such as Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristotle, were
influenced by Homer’s epics. In Greece, Homer’s two epics were well-known by
those studying literature, military leaders, political leaders, and the general
population. Homer and these two epics also had a great influence on Roman
authors. It is thought that Homer and Iliad and the Odyssey were also used as
inspiration for Western literature.