...epics in world literature, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as several hymns to the gods. The content, ideals, and style of his epics formed the basis of Greek education in the classical age of Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, and Aristotle and influenced the course of western literature for centuries to come. .......The Iliad and The Odyssey stand as two of the greatest works ever composed. They have influenced writers throughout the ages for the beauty and power of their imagery, for their character development, for the universality of their themes, and for their extraordinary stories. They take their place alongside the Bible, Sophocles’ Oedipus the Rex, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Tolstoy’s War and Peace as among the most popular and most highly praised literary works in history. Remarkably, Homer had no authors to imitate, no prototypical literature to guide him, for literature—indeed, civilization itself—was still in its infancy when he composed his works. He was the world's first great writer, a model for others to imitate. .......Scholars conjecture from scraps of evidence that Homer was a blind poet who may have been born on the island of Chios (also spelled in English as Khios) in the Aegean Sea; in Smyrna, a seaport in western Turkey; in Colophon, near Ephesus, Turkey; on Rhodes, an Aegean island; in Salamis, Cyprus; or in Athens or Argos on the Greek mainland. Because of the dearth of information about him, it is not possible...
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...From City of Pylos * Thetis – Achilles’ Mother, Sea God, Sea Nymph * Zeus * Hera – Wife of Zeus * Hephaestus – Son of Hera and Zeus, Sun God * Aphrodite – Sex Goddess of flower, candy * Aeneas – Hero of Troy * Ares – War God Summary: 1. The story is the Anger of Achilles and how it brings consequences to the Greeks. 2. Agamemnon abducts Chryseis. Chryses prays to Apollo. Apollo sends plague to Greeks. Achilles calls a meeting. 3. Chalcas tells everyone what is going on so everyone tells Agamemnon to give back Chryseis but he says okay if I do I get to choose whomever I want and he chooses Briseis. 4. Achilles is angered and tries to fight Agamemnon but his wife stops him from killing him because she knows he will regret it. 5. Nestor tells everyone to calm down. Thetis goes to Zeus for help. Zeus tries to sneak behind his wife but gets caught and Hephaestus says no fighting. Says what the Illiad is about. Not about Trojan War, talks about an event that happens in the 9th year of the war. The anger of Achilles. Death because of anger. Achilles vs. Agamemnon Says what the Illiad is about. Not about Trojan War, talks about an event that happens in the 9th year of the war. The anger of Achilles. Death because of anger. Achilles vs. Agamemnon Achilles Son of Peleus Patronymic (Memories of Father) Chryses prayer to Apollo: Reminding Apollo of all the good things he has done in the past. Kind...
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...before Homer, no texts from these earlier poets survived. Perhaps they were lost, or perhaps they were never written down‹Homer himself was probably on the cusp between the tradition of oral poetry and the new invention of written language. Texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey existed from at least the sixth century BC, and probably for a considerable span of time before that. These two great epic poems also had a life in performance: through the centuries, professional artists made their living by reciting Homer, performing the great epics for audiences that often know great parts of the poem by heart. It is impossible to pin down with any certainty when Homer lived. Eratosthenes gives the traditional date of 1184 BC for the end of the Trojan War, the semi-mythical event which forms the basis for the Iliad. The great Greek historian Herodotus put the date at 1250 BC. These dates were arrived at in a very approximate manner; Greek historians usually used genealogy and estimation when trying to find the dates for events in the distant past. But Greek historians were far less certain about the dates for Homer's life. Some said he was a contemporary of the...
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