Homer
~ 1000 BC
 |
| HOMER RECITING HIS POEMS |
Virtually everything known about Homer, a blind minstrel who is credited with composing the
Iliad and the
Odyssey,
the two greatest epic poems of the ancient world, is legendary. He is thought to have lived
about 1000
B.
C. There are many striking
aspects to these two epic poems that raise them far above any other literature of the day. First, they were said to be composed
nearly 400 years before the first version of them was known to be committed to writing. The Greek alphabet was not in common use
until hundreds of years after they were first committed to memory. The poems are nearly 25,000 lines in total, but they were
written in such beautiful and harmonious language that minstrels throughout Greece committed the entire composition to memory
and traveled throughout the Greek world reciting them. By time of our first records of genuine history, it is likely that almost
every Greek in every village and colony throughout the Greek speaking world, was at least passing familiar with them. Along with
the common worship of the Greek Gods, these epic poems bound the far flung Greek culture together, and were prized above all other
cultural achievements. It is impossible to overstate the importance of these poems in the development of the Greek Character.
Although little is actually known of Homer's life, there is no more important contributor to Greek art and culture than this
wandering blind Minstrel.
| by |
| Odyssey for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church |
| Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes by James Baldwin |
Other Resources
| Story Links | Book Links |
|---|
| Blind Poet in |
The Story of the Greeks by H. A. Guerber |
| Homer in |
Back Matter by books/horne/artists/_back.html |
| Homer, The Great Story Teller in |
Old World Hero Stories by Eva March Tappan |
