Homer

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at two great poems, written by Homer, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," which are considered to be two of the greatest epic poems ever written. The paper also examines the notion that there was more than one author of these poems, and addresses the "Homeric Question," as it has become known. The author examines the poems in detail, and posses several questions as to how they were written, and whether or not they were written, at all. Several commentaries written about these poems are examined in detail, in order to support the notion that perhaps, they were plays, whose details were handed down orally to the people of the time, and the real authors, were the actors and performers themselves.

From the Paper:

"For example, certain noun-epithet phrases such as "swift-footed Achilles" reoccur with startling frequency throughout the Iliad. (Lord 73) Book Nine begins with a meeting of the Greek camp. As they frequently are, the leaders are addressed by their customary names, referring to their birth. Diomedes, for instance, is "Son of Tydeus" and Agamemnon is the "son of Atreus." (Translation of Fitzgerald 205-206) There is no immediate need to refer to the parentage of these characters within the context of the tale. Parry's theory suggests that this is done, not out of any literary attempt to recall that Agamemnon comes from a cursed line, for instance, but rather because it "flows" within the context of the speaker's meter and because it provides a "handle" for the teller to remember the speaker. Diomedes, unlike Agamemnon, comes from a royal but innocuous line yet is no less referred to by this customary reference to his parentage than is his leader. Of course, the two men come from a paternal society that is dependent upon the birth one has inherited by one's father. This may be the reason that such epitaphs became common tropes within the characteristics of oral transmissions of epic poetry. But simply because it is the larger, societal reason for this phenomenon does not mean that it is why these particular phrases are arising in these particular contexts."

More papers on Homer:

• Analytical Essay # 86631 : "Homer's "The Odyssey" "
• Analytical Essay # 131082 : "Homer as One of the First Great Storytellers"
• Analytical Essay # 5022 : "The Language of Homer in the Character Odysseus"
• Comparison Essay # 71204 : "The Iliad": Homer and Weil"

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