Homer greek when was he born

Although the Iliad focuses only on the last year of the war, it is an exceptionally lengthy account of the warfare. Odyssey is based on a Greek character Odysseus. This epic poem focuses on the ten year long journey Odysseus made from Troy to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. The events leading to the start and conclusion of the war are explained in detail.

The poetic story illustrates the dangerous adventures of Odysseus on his journey back home and also the ordeals his family goes through in Ithaca in his absence. The poem is written in 12, lines of dactylic hexameter. It has been translated into numerous modern languages of the world and continues to be read widely.

Sadly a lot of his other works are believed to be lost in time. It is certain that neither text was written down upon creation. By the eighth century BC written text had been almost entirely forgotten in Greece. Both The Iliad and The Odyssey conform to the diction of a purely oral and unwritten poetic speech that was used before the end of that century.

Indeed, some scholars believe the name "Homer" was actually a commonly used term for blind men who wandered the countryside reciting epic poetry. Although Homer has been credited with writing a number of other works, most notably the Homeric Hymns , the same uncertainty about authorship exists. It is assumed that much of the poet's work has been lost to time. National Poetry Month. Materials for Teachers Teach This Poem.

Poems for Kids. Poetry for Teens. Lesson Plans. Resources for Teachers. Academy of American Poets. For example, the Iliad voices admiration for the beauty and speed of horses, while the Odyssey shows no interest in these animals. The Iliad dismisses dogs as mere Homer. Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc. The strongest argument for separating the two poems is the chronology, or dating, of some of the facts in the pieces.

In the Iliad the Phoenicians are praised as skilled craftsmen working in metal, and as weavers of elaborate, much-prized garments. In contrast, Greek feelings toward the Phoenicians have undergone a drastic change in the Odyssey. Although they are still regarded as clever craftsmen, the Phoenicians are also described as "tricksters," reflecting the invasion of Phoenecian commerce into Greek markets in the seventh century B.

One thing, however, is certain: both epics were created without writing sources. Between the decline of Mycenaean and the emergence of classical Greek civilizations—which is to say, from the late twelfth to the mid-eighth century B. Therefore it could be concluded that the epics must have been created either before the end of the eighth century B.

It is this illiterate unable to read or write environment that explains the absence of all historical record of the author's two great epics. It is probable that Homer's name was applied to two individuals differing in style and artistic accomplishment, born perhaps as much as a century apart, but practicing the same traditional craft of oral composition and recitation to read out loud. Although each became known as "Homer," it may be as one ancient source says that "homros" was a word for a blind man and so came to be used generically to refer to the old and often sightless wandering reciters of heroic legends.

Thus there could have been many Homers. The two epics Homer is generally regarded as writing, however, have been as highly prized in modern as in ancient times for their vividness of expression, their keenness of personal characterization, and their lasting interest, whether in narration of action or in animated dramatic dialogue.

Later Greek times credited Homer with the composition of a group of comparatively short "hymns" songs of praise addressed to various gods, of which twenty-three have survived. With a closer look, however, only one or two of these, at most, can be the work of the poet of the two great epics. The epic "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice" has been preserved but adds nothing to Homer's reputation. The simple truth seems to be that the name Homer was not so much that of a single individual but an entire school of poets flourishing on the west coast of Asia Minor today, the area of Turkey.

Unfortunately, we will probably never know for sure, since during this period the art of writing had not been sufficiently developed by the Greeks to permit historical records to be compiled or literary compositions to be written down. Colum, Padraic. The Children's Homer. New York: Macmillan, Reprint, New York: Collier Books, Lorimer, Hilda Lockhart.