The Poets Homer and Hesiod

Brightspace Document

Who was Homer?

A monumental figure in Western literature whose epic poems (the Iliad and the Odyssey) supplied a kind of Bible for the ancient Greeks

What do the Iliad and the Odyssey signify in literature?

They mark the beginning of our Western literature and the high-point and constant reference-point in Western literature

What do we know about Homer?

• Was a bard

• Was blind

• Lived on the west coast of Asia Minor

• Was illiterate

If Homer was illiterate, how did his poetry get written down?

It was likely written down in around 750 B.C. for a local Greek chief or wealthy person who arranged for scribes to take dictation from Homer

What does the Iliad recount?

Not the whole Trojan War, but some dramatic events from the war’s last year prior to Troy’s fall centring on the Greek hero Achilles

What does the Odyssey recount?

The adventures of Odysseus on his ten-year-long journey home after the Trojan War

Together, how long are the Iliad and the Odyssey?

About 27,800 lines of verse

Who was Hesiod?

The author of two poems that survive for use: the Theogony and Works and Days

What do we know about Hesiod?

• Lived in central-mainland Greek region of Boeotia

• Middle-class farmer

• Likely composed poetry by writing (knew how to write)

What is the Theogony about?

It is an important source of Greek myths about the beginning of the world

What is Works and Days about?

It is a farming calendar with some embedded mythology, social comment, and ethical musings

Why is Hesiod’s work important?

It represented the indignant voice of the middle class and similar resentment would later fuel to political revolution of the Greek tyrants