Homer, whose biography is of interest to many today, is the first poet of Ancient Greece, whose works have survived to this day. He is today considered one of the best European poets. However, there is no reliable information about Homer himself. Nevertheless, we will try to restore, at least in general terms, his biography, based on the available information.
What is the name of Homer talking about?
The name "Homer" first appears in the 7th century. BC e. It was then that Cullin of Ephesus called the creator of Thebes so. They tried to explain the meaning of this name back in antiquity. The following options were proposed: the “blind man” (Efor Kimsky), the “following” (Aristotle), the “hostage” (Hesychius). However, modern scholars believe that they are all as unconvincing as the suggestions of some scholars to ascribe to him the meaning of "accompanist" or "composer." Surely in its ionic form, this word is a real personal name.
Where does Homer come from?
The biography of this poet can only be recreated presumably. This even applies to Homer's birthplace, which is still unknown. Seven cities fought for the right to be considered his homeland: Chios, Smyrna, Salamis, Colophon, Argos, Rhodes, Athens. It is likely that the Odyssey and the Iliad were created on the Asia Minor coast of Greece, which was inhabited at that time by the Ionian tribes. And perhaps these poems were composed on some of the adjacent islands. The Homer dialect, however, does not provide any accurate information about which tribe Homer belonged to, whose biography remains a mystery. It is a combination of the Aeolian and Ionian dialects of ancient Greek. Some researchers suggest that it is one of the forms of the poetic koyne formed long before Homer.
Was Homer Blind?
Homer is an ancient Greek poet whose biography has been reconstructed by many, from ancient times to the present day. It is known that he is traditionally portrayed as blind. However, it is most likely that this idea of him is a reconstruction typical of the genre of ancient biography, and does not come from real facts about Homer. Since many legendary singers and soothsayers were blind (in particular, Tiresias), according to the logic of antiquity, which connected a poetic and prophetic gift, the assumption that Homer was blind seemed plausible.
Homer's years of life
Antique chronographs also diverge in determining the time when Homer lived. The writer, whose biography interests us, could create his works in different years. Some believe that he was a contemporary of the Trojan War, that is, he lived at the beginning of the 12th century. BC e. However, Herodotus claimed that Homer lived around the middle of the 9th century. BC e. Modern scholars are inclined to date his activity to the 8th or even 7th century BC. e. At the same time, Chios or another region of Ionia located on the coast of Asia Minor is indicated as the main place of life.
Homer's creativity
Homer in ancient times, in addition to the Odyssey and the Iliad, was attributed to the authorship of several other poems. Fragments of several of them have survived to this day. However, today it is believed that they were written by an author who lived later than Homer. This is the comic poem Margit, Homer Anthems, etc.
It is clear that Odyssey and the Iliad were written much later than the events described in these works. Nevertheless, their creation can be dated no earlier than the 6th century BC. e., when their existence was reliably recorded. Thus, the life of Homer can be attributed to the period from the 12th to the 7th century BC. e. However, the latest date is most likely.
The duel between Hesiod and Homer
What else can you tell about such a great poet as Homer? A biography for children usually omits this point, however, there is a legend about a poetic duel held between Hesiod and Homer. It was described in an essay created no later than the 3rd century. BC e. (and some researchers believe that much earlier). It is called the "Contest of Homer and Hesiod." It tells us that poets seemed to meet at the games in honor of Amphidem, held on about. Euboea. Here they read their best poems. The judge in the contest was King Paned. The victory was awarded to Hesiod, because he called for peace and agriculture, and not for battles and war. However, it was precisely on Homer's side that the audience was sympathetic.
The historicity of the Odyssey and the Iliad
In science in the mid-19th century, the prevailing opinion was that the Odyssey and the Iliad were non-historical works. However, he was denied the excavation of Heinrich Schliemann, which he conducted in Mycenae and on the hill of Gissarlyk in the 1870-80s. The sensational discoveries of this archaeologist proved that Mycenae, Troy and Achaean citadels existed in reality. Contemporaries of the German scientist were struck by the correspondence of his finds in the 4th tented tomb, located in Mycenae, to the descriptions made by Homer. Later, Egyptian and Hittite documents were discovered in which parallels with the events of the Trojan War are traced. Deciphering Mycenaean syllabic writing gave a lot of information about the duration of the poems. However, the data of Homer's works with available documentary and archaeological sources are correlated in a complex way and therefore cannot be used uncritically. The fact is that in traditions of this kind large distortions of historical information should arise.
Homer and the education system, imitating Homer
The system of ancient Greek education, formed at the end of the classical era, was based on the study of the work of Homer. His poems were memorized in whole or in part, recitations were arranged on their themes, etc. Later, Rome borrowed this system. Here since the 1st century AD e. Homer took the place of Virgil. Large hexametric poems were created in the post-classical era in the dialect of the ancient Greek author, as well as as a competition or in imitation of the Odyssey and the Iliad. As you can see, many were interested in the work and biography of Homer. A summary of his works formed the basis of many creations of authors who lived in Ancient Rome. Among them, one can note the “Argonautics” written by Apollonius of Rhodes, the work of Nonn Panopolitan “The Adventures of Dionysus” and Quintus of Smyrnsky “Post-Homer Events”. Recognizing the virtues of Homer, other poets of ancient Greece refrained from creating a large epic form. They believed that perfect perfection can be achieved only in a small work.
Homer's influence on the literature of different countries
In ancient Roman literature, the first surviving work (albeit fragmentary) was the translation of Odyssey. He made it Greek Livy Andronic. Note that the main work of literature of Ancient Rome - Virgil's Aeneid - in the first six books is an imitation of the Odyssey, and in the last six - the Iliad. In almost all the creations of antiquity, one can see the influence of poems created by Homer.
Biography and creativity he was also interested in the Byzantines. Homer has been carefully studied in this country. To date, dozens of Byzantine manuscripts of his poems have been discovered. For works of antiquity this is unprecedented. Moreover, the Byzantine scholars created commentaries and scholia on Homer, compiled and rewrote his poems. Seven volumes are occupied by the commentary of Archbishop Eustathius on them. Greek manuscripts in the last years of the Byzantine Empire, and then after its collapse, fell to the West. Thus, Homer was rediscovered by the Renaissance.
A short biography of this poet created by us leaves many questions unresolved. All of them together constitute the Homeric question. How did different researchers decide it? Let's figure it out.
Homer question
Homer question is still relevant. This is a set of problems that relate to the authorship of the Odyssey and the Iliad, as well as to the personality of their creator. Many pluralist scholars believed that these poems were not in the present form the works of Homer, which many thought was not existent at all. Their creation is attributed to the 6th century BC. e. These scholars believe that poems were most likely created in Athens, when songs of different authors, transmitted from generation to generation, were put together and recorded in writing. The Unitaries, on the contrary, defended the compositional unity of Homer's creations, and hence the uniqueness of their creator.
Homer's Poems
The epic poems of this ancient Greek author are brilliant, priceless works of art. Over the centuries, they do not lose their deep meaning and relevance. The plots of both the one and the other poem are taken from the multifaceted and extensive cycle of legends devoted to the Trojan War. Odyssey and the Iliad display only small episodes from this cycle. We briefly characterize these works, completing our story about such a great man as Homer. The poet, whose brief biography was examined by us, created truly unique works.
The Iliad
It talks about the events of the 10th year of the Trojan War. The poem ends with the death and burial of the main Trojan warrior Hector. The ancient Greek poet Homer, whose brief biography is presented above, does not tell about further events of the war.
War is the main thread of this poem, the main element of its characters. One of the features of the work is that the battle is depicted mainly not as bloody battles of the masses, but as a battle of individual heroes who demonstrate exceptional strength, courage, skill and stamina. Among the fights, one can single out the key duel of Achilles and Hector. Martial arts of Diomedes, Agamemnon and Menelaus are described with less heroism and expressiveness. The habits, traditions, moral aspects of life, morality and life of the ancient Greeks are very clearly depicted in the Iliad.
"Odyssey"
We can say that this work is more complex than the Iliad. In it we find many features that are still being studied from the point of view of literature. This epic poem mainly refers to the return of Odyssey to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War.
In conclusion, we note that the works of Homer are a treasury of the wisdom of the people of Ancient Greece. What other facts might be interesting about a person like Homer? A short biography for children and adults often contains information that he was an oral narrator, that is, did not own a letter. However, despite this, his poems are distinguished by high skill and poetic technique, they reveal unity. The Odyssey and the Iliad have distinctive features, one of which is the epic style. The sustained tone of the narrative, unhurried thoroughness, complete objectivity of the image, unhurried development of the plot - these are the characteristic features of the works that Homer created. A short biography of this poet, we hope, aroused your interest in his work.