HOMER

(Greek Poet)

Quick Facts About Homer

OCCUPATION: Poet BIRTH DATE: 800 BCE DEATH DATE: 701 BCE PLACE OF BIRTH: Greece PLACE OF DEATH: Greece FULL NAME: Homer

The Greek poet Homer was born sometime

between the 8th and 12th centuries BC, possibly somewhere on the coast of Asia Minor. He was called the blind poet. He is famous for the epic poems The Iliad

and The
Odyssey, which have had an enormous effect on Western culture, but very little is known about their alleged author.

The Iliad and The Odyssey

Homer's two epic poems have become archetypal road maps in world mythology. The stories provide an important insight into early human society, and illustrate, in some aspects, how little has changed. Even if The Iliad itself seems unfamiliar, the story of the siege of Troy, the Trojan War and Paris kidnapping of Helen, the worlds most beautiful woman, are all familiar characters or scenarios. Some scholars insist that Homer was personally familiar with the plain of Troy, due to the geographical accuracy in the poem.

Short Summary of Iliad

The Iliad is an epic about one incident in the Trojan War. At the beginning, the leader of the invading Greek army, Agamemnon, takes for himself the captive woman with whom his best warrior, Achilles, has been living. Achilles responds by withdrawing from fighting and praying to Zeus to let the other side (Trojans) win for a while so that his own side will see how badly it needs him. Zeus agrees, and for the next few days the Trojans gain the upper hand to the extent of invading the Greek camp. Finally Achilles' best friend, Patroclus, is so moved by the sight of their companions coming in wounded that he persuades Achilles to let him fight in Achilles' place, wearing Achilles' armor. Achilles consents, and Patroclus is killed by the Trojan leader, Hector, who takes the armor off him and puts it on. Achilles now forgets his quarrel with Agamemnon and rushes back into battle as soon as new armor can be made for him--and despite being warned twice that he is fated to die soon or next after Hector. He kills Hector and then refuses to let his body be buried until Hector's aged father, King Priam of Troy, comes to Achilles at night and offers ransom. Achilles accepts and gives up the body for Priam to take back to Troy. "Thus they buried Hector, tamer of horses.

Short Summary of Odyssey

Book 1
The first book informs the reader of the imprisonment of Odysseus on Calypso's island, Ogygia, in the tenth year after the Trojan War. It also describes the insolence of the young nobles in Ithaca (led by Antinous and Eurymachus) who, in the absence of Odysseus, live off his wealth and woo his wife, Penelope. After the invocation to the Muses, with which the Odyssey opens, a council of the gods is summoned, during which Zeus decides that Odysseus shall return home safely and Athena shows herself to be the champion of Odysseus. The goddess visits Telemachus, son of Odysseus, in disguise, gives him courage to rebuke the suitors, and persuades him to seek news of his father by sailing to the mainland. The suitors retire to their homes and Telemachus goes to bed.

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