Ulysses Return From The Trojan War Dated

[+ Avalon]

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25337041/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/odysseus-return-trojan-war-dated/#.W19gBdJKhD8

 

Fascinating how science can pinpoint these ancient dates. The Odyssey is not a myth.

[alkan]

Somewhat naively, I prefer to think that Homer made up the story, only relying on a very broad tradition of the most basic facts. If he is telling a true story, then how much of his account is someone else's work? Of course, there is some doubt that he is responsible for both the Iliad and the Odyssey because of stylistic inconsistencies, so perhaps one is original and the other is a reworking of an earlier account. In any case, a thought-provoking article for which much thanks, @Avalon.

[realeasymoney]

Fascinating.

 

From Wiki (yeah I know): "The Homeric Question—concerning by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed—continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion falls into two groups. One holds that most of the Iliad and (according to some) the Odyssey are the works of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the result of a process of working and re-working by many contributors, and that "Homer" is best seen as a label for an entire tradition."

 

The second hypothesis seems more likely to me. Oral poems retold and embellished for generations until finally written down in the 7th-8th centuries BC.

[alkan]

Yes, oral works in other cultures have been preserved in just that fashion so it is not inherently unlikely. But, while the Odyssey reads more like a collection of tales, the Iliad has a certain literary integrity (and it did found a strong literary tradition of epic poetry) to much of it, with exceptions like the catalogue of ships, that militates against the many authors scenario.

 

One of the intriguing clues to dating the Iliad is a reference to what may be writing. (When I was at school we translated it as "secret signs" but it is often now taken to be writing.) The point being of course could Homer's generation be aware of writing while itself not seeing the need for being able to write? And that is to assume that the art or science of writing did in fact disappear with the fall of Palace Culture. Of course, if Homer was referring to hieroglyphs, he as an outsider might easily perceive them as conveying meaning without being aware that they were a representation of a spoken language.

[+ Avalon]

I suppose no one believes that Homer is the offspring of the river god Meles and the nymph Kretheis?

 

http://www.theoi.com/Potamos/PotamosMeles.html

 

http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheKretheis.html

 

http://words.fromoldbooks.org/Brewer-DictionaryOfPhraseAndFable/m/melesigenes.html

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortes_Homericae

 

"But, while the Odyssey reads more like a collection of tales, ..."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemachy

Edited July 31, 2018 by Avalon

[samhexum]

The Trojan War

 

Every time I see that phrase I picture dueling armies having water balloon battles using condoms as balloons.

[+ Avalon]

Homer's birthday (month and date) is unknown. Dante's is not known either but it is known that he is a Gemini so his birthday is celebrated on 1 June. Virgil's birthday is 15 October.

 

Some think that Homer was born in Smyrna. There is Catholic saint Polycarp whose feast day was 26 January but has been moved to 23 February. So since 26 January is now open I think that date could be appropriated for Homer.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/T/T01/T01974_10.jpg

 

Painting by Thomas Lawrence

[samhexum]

Some think that Homer was born in Smyrna.

 

Georgia or Delaware?

[+ Avalon]

Georgia or Delaware?

 

:):):):)

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Apotheosis of Homer

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apotheosis_of_Homer_(Ingres)

 

Homer and his guide

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1825-1905)_-_Homer_and_his_Guide_(1874).jpg

Edited July 31, 2018 by Avalon

[+ ursalex]

An interesting take on the Odyssey is the book "An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic" by Daniel Mendelssohn. Published in 2017 it is an account of the author, a Classics professor at Bard, teaching a seminar on the Odyssey which included his elderly father as a student, and their Odyssey of coming to terms with their relationship including the son-author being gay. On many top enlists for 2017 and entertaining reading about both Odysseys.

[+ Avalon]

An interesting take on the Odyssey is the book "An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic" by Daniel Mendelssohn. Published in 2017 it is an account of the author, a Classics professor at Bard, teaching a seminar on the Odyssey which included his elderly father as a student, and their Odyssey of coming to terms with their relationship including the son-author being gay. On many top enlists for 2017 and entertaining reading about both Odysseys.

 

Thank-you for the recommendation!