The Homeric Problem

A detailed Summary of The Homeric Problem


In this essay I want to talk about Homer, the author of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey", and the question of whether he truly existed. There are many views about Homer's existence that have emerged throughout the years. I will explain the different sides of this argument by presenting the two most popular theories to this question.

The first theory is the same view the world had before 1795. Most scholars agree that there was one Homer. The second theory argues that there was not one Homer but actually there were many men who composed the works that have been accredited to Homer.

Let's go back to the first theory. As early as 400 B.C.E, the Greeks and the Romans were convinced that Homer was a single man and that he wrote the works that carry his name. The Greeks even studied the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" in their schools and regarded these works as masterpieces to the Greek language. The existence of Homer was never questioned since there was evidence that showed that the name of Homer was widely known by the 6th and 5th century B.C.E. but for many people this is not enough evidence. Scholars who insists that there wa


The second most popular theory about Homer's existence is that there were several men who actually composed the poems and the name Homer was later attached to the works. The strongest point in this theory that Homer was not a single man is that the original "Odyssey" ended in book XXIII, line 269. Theorists believe that the rest of the book XXIII and all of book XXIV were added at a later time by different authors. Even though this is the strongest point, it is not the base of this theory. The entire theory is based on the differences between the "Iliad", the "Odyssey". The first argument is that the works are apparently from different social settings. Theorists also point to the great difference in vocabulary between the two epics. In the "Odyssey" there seem to be several minor dialect changes which become more pronounced in book XXIV. It should also be noted that both early and late Greek were used which suggests that the epics were written over an extended period of time while the language had time to evolve. There also exist many plot differences in both epics. A good example is the "Iliad", the seawall should have b

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Approximate Word count = 767
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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