Homer
(8th Century BCE)
Timothy H. Wilson
Embedded Files
Ulysses on Calypso's Island (1830)Ditlev BlunckMuseumsberg Flensburg
Homer is, in a sense, the father of all Western literature. His epics formed the basis of educated Greek culture for hundreds of years during its classical period. The material of his epics formed the basis of the bulk of the Greek Tragedies that were produced during the high point of their cultural achievement. His cultural authority meant that he was the figure that the first philosophers attacked as they lobbed the first volleys of the "Quarrel of Philosophy and Poetry". Finally, his influence on the subsequent tradition of narrative literature, and epic in particular, is immeasurable. We cannot imagine a Virgil, a Dante, or a Milton without the Homeric shoulders that they stand on.
As a result of his literary preeminence, both of his extant epics are on my list of the List of 101 Greatest Books of the Western Canon.
Course Materials
Course Materials
An introduction to Homer's works, including discussions of: why one should study Homer, the mythical background behind the Iliad and the Odyssey, the "Homeric Question", and the characteristics of Homer's genre: epic.
Homer's Iliad: Poem of War and Death
A series of five lectures on Homer's Iliad, focusing on the inter-related themes of war and death. The lectures cover: honour (time) and glory (kleos), Mycenaean warfare, the distinction between gods and mortals, fate, and Homer's epic similes. It is argued that the ultimate significance of Homer's poem is the way it sheds light on the human condition and the meaning we can find in finite human existence. Lectures are part of the undergraduate course: "War in Literature" (Winter 2022)
Homer's Odyssey: Time and the Human Experience
An introduction to Homer's outstanding epic, The Odyssey. The notes begin with a discussion of the "epic cycle" surrounding the Trojan War. Next the notes cover the first four books of the epic, often referred to as the "Telemachy", and the theme of xenia raised there. The notes then discuss our first encounter with Odysseus on the isle of Calypso, where he refuses her offer of immortality. The depictions of Odysseus (Ulysses) by Dante and Tennyson are contrasted with that of Homer. The depiction of the gods, the "deathless ones", in Homer and its connection with the treatment of the human condition is then discussed. Odysseus' arrival at the isle of the Phaeacians and his recounting of his journeys is then discussed. Focus is placed on the discussion of his descent to the underworld. His arrival in Ithaca and the recognition scenes with Telemachus, his dog Argos, Penelope and finally with his father Laertes are discussed. Lectures are part of the undergraduate course, "Time and History in Literature" (Fall 2024)
Homer's Odyssey: The Ancient Literary Representation of Time
An introduction to ancient Greek literature and thought, as well as to Homer's epic, as part of the undergraduate course: "Time and History in Literature" (Winter 2021).
Online Texts
Online Texts
Achilles slaying Penthesilea. Detail from an amphora, 530-525 BCE. Photo courtesy the Trustees of the British Museum
The Iliad of Homer (by Samuel Butler at Project Gutenberg)
The Odyssey of Homer (by Samuel Butler at Project Gutenberg)
External Links
External Links
Ransom of Hector, black-figure vase, 520-510 BCE He spoke, and sorrow for his own fatherWelled up in Achilles. He took Priam's handAnd gently pushed the old man away.The two of them remembered. Priam,Huddled in grief at Achilles' feet, criedAnd moaned softly for his man-slaying Hector. And Achilles cried for his father and Patroclus. The sound filled the room. (24.544-51)
Homer's Iliad (A basic introduction)
The Iliad (Wikipedia page)
The Odyssey (Wikipedia page)
The Iliad (commentary by translator Herbert Jordan)
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