Oral communication about Homer. Homer - biography, information, personal life

BIOGRAPHY

HOMER (Homeros), Greek poet, according to ancient tradition, the author of the Iliad (Ilias) and the Odyssey (Odysseia), two great epics that open the history of European literature. We have no information about Homer’s life, and the surviving biographies and “biographical” notes are later in origin and are often intertwined with legend (traditional hysteria about Homer’s blindness, about the dispute between seven cities for the right to be his homeland). Since the 18th century in science there is a debate both regarding the authorship and the history of the creation of the Iliad and Odyssey, the so-called “Homeric question”, the beginning of which is everywhere accepted (although there were earlier mentions) of the publication in 1795 of the work of F. A. Wolf under the title Introduction to Homer (Prolegomena ad Homerum). Many scholars, called pluralists, argued that the Iliad and Odyssey in their present form are not the creations of Homer (many even believed that Homer did not exist at all), but were created in the 6th century. BC e., probably in Athens, when the songs of different authors passed down from generation to generation were collected and recorded. And the so-called Unitarians defended the compositional unity of the poem, and thereby the uniqueness of its author. New information about the ancient world, comparative studies of South Slavic folk epics and a detailed analysis of metrics and style provided sufficient arguments against the original version of the pluralists, but also complicated the view of the Unitarians. Historical, geographical and linguistic analysis of the Iliad and Odyssey made it possible to date them around the 8th century. BC e., although there are attempts to attribute them to the 9th or 7th century. BC. They were apparently built on the Asia Minor coast of Greece, inhabited by Ionian tribes, or on one of the adjacent islands. At present, there is no doubt that the Iliad and Odyssey were the result of long centuries of development of Greek epic poetry, and not at all its beginning. Different scholars have different assessments of how great the role of creative individuality was in the final design of these poems, but the prevailing opinion is that Homer is by no means just an empty (or collective) name. The question remains unresolved whether the Iliad and Odyssey were created by one poet or whether they are works of two different authors (which, according to many scientists, explains the differences in the vision of the world, poetic technique and language of both poems). This poet (or poets) was probably one of the Aeds who, at least from the Mycenaean era (XV-XII centuries BC), transmitted from generation to generation the memory of the mythical and heroic past. There was, however, not a proto-Iliad or a proto-Odyssey, but a certain set of established plots and a technique for composing and performing songs. It was these songs that became the material for the author (or authors) of both epics. What was new in Homer's work was the free processing of many epic traditions and the formation of a single whole with a carefully thought-out composition. Many modern scientists are of the opinion that this whole could only have been created in writing. The poet’s desire to give these voluminous works a certain coherence is clearly expressed (through the organization of the plot around one main core, the similar construction of the first and last songs, thanks to the parallels connecting individual songs, the recreation of previous events and the prediction of future ones). But most of all, the unity of the epic plan is evidenced by the logical, consistent development of the action and the integral images of the main characters. It seems plausible that Homer already used alphabetic writing, which, as we now know, the Greeks became acquainted with no later than the 8th century. BC. A relic of the traditional manner of creating such songs was the use, even in this new epic, of techniques characteristic of oral poetry. There are often repetitions and the so-called formulaic epic style. This style requires the use of complex epithets (“swift-footed,” “pink-fingered”), which are determined to a lesser extent by the properties of the person or object being described, and to a much greater extent by the metric properties of the epithet itself. We find here established expressions that make up a metrical whole (once a whole verse), representing typical situations in the description of battles, feasts, meetings, etc. These formulas were widely used by the Aeds and the first creators of written poetry (the same formula-verses appear, for example, in Hesiod). The language of the epics is also the fruit of the long development of pre-Homeric epic poetry. It does not correspond to any regional dialect or any stage in the development of the Greek language. The phonetically closest language to the Ionian dialect, Homer, exhibits many archaic forms reminiscent of the Greek language of the Mycenaean era (which became known to us thanks to the Linear B tablets). We often find side by side inflected forms that have never been used simultaneously in a living language. There are also many elements characteristic of the Aeolian dialect, the origin of which has not yet been clarified. The formulaic and archaic nature of the language is combined with the traditional meter of heroic poetry, which was the hexameter. In terms of content, Homer's poems also contain many motifs, plot lines, and myths gleaned from early poetry. In Homer one can hear echoes of Minoan culture and even trace connections with Hittite mythology. However, his main source of epic material was the Mycenaean period. It is during this era that his epic takes place. Living in the fourth century after the end of this period, which he strongly idealizes, Homer cannot be a source of historical information about political, public life , material culture or religion of the Mycenaean world. But in the political center of this society, Mycenae, objects identical to those described in the epic (mainly weapons and tools) were found, while some Mycenaean monuments present images, things and even scenes typical of the poetic reality of the epic. The events of the Trojan War, around which Homer unfolded the actions of both poems, were attributed to the Mycenaean era. He showed this war as an armed campaign of the Greeks (called Achaeans, Danaans, Argives) under the leadership of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon against Troy and its allies. For the Greeks, the Trojan War was a historical fact dating back to the 14th-12th centuries. BC e. (according to Eratosthenes' calculations, Troy fell in 1184). The current state of knowledge allows us to assert that at least some elements of the Trojan epic are historical. As a result of the excavations begun by G. Schliemann, the ruins of a large city were discovered in the very place where, in accordance with the descriptions of Homer and local centuries-old tradition, Troy-Ilion should have lay, on a hill now called Hisarlik. It is only on the basis of Schliemann's discoveries that the ruins on the Hissarlik hill are called Troy. It is not entirely clear which of the successive layers should be identified with Homer's Troy. The poet could collect and perpetuate legends about the settlement on the coastal plain and rely on historical events, but he could also transfer heroic legends that originally belonged to another period to the ruins, the past of which he knew little about, and could also make them the scene of battles that took place on another land. The action of the Iliad takes place at the end of the ninth year of the siege of Troy (another name for the city of Ilios, Ilion, hence the title of the poem). Events play out over several dozen days. Pictures of the previous years of the war appear more than once in the speeches of the heroes, increasing the temporal length of the plot. Limiting the direct account of events to such a short period serves to make more vivid the events that decided both the outcome of the war and the fate of its protagonist. In accordance with the first sentence of the introduction, the Iliad is the story of the wrath of Achilles. Angered by the humiliating decision of the supreme leader Agamemnon, Achilles refuses further participation in the war. He returns to the battlefield only when his friend Patroclus is killed by Hector, the unbending defender of Troy, the eldest son of King Priam. Achilles reconciles with Agamemnon and, avenging his friend, kills Hector in a duel and dishonors his body. However, in the end he gives the body to Priam when the old king of Troy himself comes to the Greek camp, right into the tent of the killer of his sons. Priam and Achilles, enemies, look at each other without hatred, like people united by one fate that dooms all people to pain. Along with the plot of the wrath of Achilles, Homer described the four battles of Troy, devoting his attention to the actions of individual heroes. Homer also presented an overview of the Achaean and Trojan troops (the famous list of ships and the list of Trojans in the second canto - perhaps the earliest part of the epic) and ordered Helen to show Priam from the walls of Troy the most prominent Greek leaders. Both of these (as well as many other episodes) do not correspond to the tenth year of the struggle at Troy. However, like numerous reminiscences from the previous years of the war, statements and premonitions relating to future events, all this is aimed at one goal: combining the poem about the wrath of Achilles with the history of the capture of Ilion, which the author of the Iliad managed truly masterfully. If the main character of the Iliad is an invincible warrior who puts honor and glory above life, in the Odyssey the ideal changes fundamentally. Her hero, Odysseus, is distinguished primarily by his dexterity and ability to find a way out of any situation. Here we find ourselves in another world, no longer in the world of military exploits, but in the world of merchant travel, which characterizes the era of Greek colonization. The content of the Odyssey is the return of heroes from the Trojan War. The story begins in the tenth year of the protagonist's wanderings. Until now, Poseidon's anger did not allow the hero to return to his native Ithaca, where suitors reigned, vying for the hand of his wife Penelope. Odysseus's young son Telemachus leaves in search of news about his father. Meanwhile, Odysseus, by the will of the gods, sent on his journey by the nymph Calypso, who had until then kept him with her, reaches the semi-legendary country of the Phaeacians. There, in a long and unusually colorful narrative, he describes his adventures since sailing from Troy (among other things, a journey to the world of the dead). The Phaeacians take him to Ithaca. Disguised as a beggar, he returns to his palace, initiates Telemachus into the plan to destroy the suitors and, taking advantage of an archery competition, kills them. The legendary elements of the narrative of sea voyages, which existed for a long time in the folklore tradition, memories of ancient times and their customs, the “novelistic” motif of the husband returning home at the last moment when the house is in danger, as well as the interests and ideas of the era of colonization of Homer’s time were used to presentation and development of the Trojan myth. The Iliad and the Odyssey have many similarities both in composition and in ideological orientation. Characteristic features include the organization of the plot around a central image, the short duration of the story, the construction of the plot regardless of the chronological sequence of events, the dedication of sections of text proportional in volume to moments important for the development of the action, the contrast of successive scenes, the development of the plot by creating complex situations that obviously slow down the development actions, and then their brilliant resolution, the saturation of the first part of the action with episodic motives and the intensification of the main line at the end, the clash of the main opposing forces only at the end of the narrative (Achilles - Hector, Odysseus - the suitors), the use of apostrophe, comparisons. In his epic picture of the world, Homer recorded the most important moments of human existence, all the richness of reality in which man lives. An important element of this reality are the gods; they are constantly present in the world of people, influencing their actions and destinies. Although they are immortal, their behavior and experiences resemble people, and this likeness elevates and, as it were, sanctifies everything that is characteristic of man. The humanization of myths is a distinctive feature of Homer's epics: he emphasizes the importance of the experiences of an individual, arouses sympathy for suffering and weakness, awakens respect for work, does not accept cruelty and vindictiveness; exalts life and dramatizes death (glorifying, however, her sacrifice for the fatherland).

In ancient times, other works were also attributed to Homer, including 33 hymns. The War of Mice and Frogs, Margita. The Greeks spoke of Homer simply: "Poet." Many people knew the Iliad and Odyssey, at least partially, by heart. School education began with these poems. We see the inspiration inspired by them in all ancient art and literature. The images of Homer's heroes became models of how to act, lines from Homer's poems became aphorisms, phrases came into general use, situations acquired symbolic meaning. (However, philosophers, in particular Xenophanes and Plato, accused Homer of instilling false ideas about the gods in the Greeks). Homer's poems were also considered a treasury of all kinds of knowledge, even historical and geographical. This view was held in the Hellenistic era by Crates of Mallus; it was disputed by Eratosthenes. In Alexandria, studies of Homer's texts gave rise to philology as the science of literature (Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace). Roman literature began with the translation of the Odyssey into Latin. The Iliad and Odyssey served as models for Roman epic. Simultaneously with the decline in knowledge of the Greek language, Homer ceased to be read in the West (c. 4th century AD), but he was constantly read and commented on in Byzantium. In Western Europe, Homer has become popular again since the time of Petrarch; its first edition was published in 1488. The great works of European epic are created under the influence of Homer.

Homer- legendary ancient Greek poet-storyteller, creator of the epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. Both poems are based on legends and myths about the Trojan War, which is one of the most striking episodes in the history of Ancient Greece. It is clear, however, that the Iliad and Odyssey were created much later than the events described in them, but earlier than the 6th century BC. e., when their existence was reliably recorded. The chronological period in which modern science localizes the life of Homer is approximately the 8th century BC. e. According to Herodotus, Homer lived 400 years before him. Approximately half of the ancient Greek literary papyri found are passages from Homer.

Biography of Homer

Nothing is known for certain about the life and personality of Homer. He lived as a wandering poor man, earning his living by singing songs. Homer's birthplace is unknown. In ancient tradition, seven cities argued for the right to be called his homeland: Rhodes, Argos, Athens, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis. These seven argued the most stubbornly; but other cities also considered themselves the birthplace of Homer - even Rome and Babylon.

Seven cities argue about Grandfather Homer -

In them he begged for alms at every door.

(English epigram)

According to ancient tradition, it was customary to imagine Homer as a blind wandering singer-aed. Why blind? After all, nothing is known for certain about this fact. He was considered blind, following the traditions of the ancient period. At that time, many famous soothsayers and poets were blind, and the Greeks saw a certain connection in this.

Who are the Aed singers, of whom Homer was one? The Aeds passed on their songs from generation to generation, supplemented or changed ancient songs, and composed new ones based on their model. For songs, generations of Aeds developed a measured long verse - hexameter, a poetic language rich in ancient phrases and words, a set of ready-made expressions for describing frequently repeated actions. Such songs were very similar to our epics. Like epics, they were also long: an hour of singing or so, so that the listeners would not get bored. If necessary, the singer could always stretch and compress his story - for example, add details - how a hero, arming himself for battle, first puts on leggings, then a shell, then a helmet, takes a sword, then a spear, then a shield, and from which ancestor he got it this sword belongs to him, and what craftsman made this shield.

For the first time, instead of short songs, Homer created two large epic poems: the Iliad about the Trojan War and the Odyssey about the hero’s return journeys.

“The Iliad” and “Odyssey” are very long poems, more than three hundred pages each. It is not easy to move from writing short epics to writing long, coherent epics. There were two ways to go here. One is easier: the episodes could be presented in a row, connecting the end of one with the beginning of another, from the very abduction of Elena to the return of all the heroes. The other way is more difficult: it was possible to take one episode and, expanding it with details, fit into it everything that was poetically interesting in the entire Trojan War.

And Homer chose the hard way. For each poem, he chose only one episode from the ten-year war and ten-year wanderings. In the Iliad, this is Achilles’ anger at Agamemnon and its cruel consequences: the death of Patroclus and Achilles’ revenge on Hector. All other episodes of the Trojan War are included in passing mentions in the speeches of the characters. In the Odyssey, these are the last two transitions on the hero’s voyage: from the island of Calypso to the island of the Phaeacians and from the island of the Phaeacians to his native Ithaca, and there is a meeting with his son, reprisal with Penelope’s suitors and reconciliation. All previous episodes of Odysseus’s wanderings are contained in his story about himself at a feast among the Phaeacians. And behind all this - sometimes in a lengthy description, sometimes in the course of a story, sometimes in a quick comparison - there is a whole encyclopedia of pictures of folk life - the work of a blacksmith and a plowman, a national assembly and a court, a battle and a house, utensils and weapons, athletic competitions and children's games .

In science mid-19th centuries, the prevailing opinion was that the Iliad and Odyssey were unhistorical. However, Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Mycenae and on the Hissarlik hill showed that this was not true. Later, Egyptian and Hittite documents were discovered, which reveal certain parallels with the events of the legendary Trojan War.

The ancient Greeks considered the Iliad and Odyssey a symbol of justice, wisdom and spirituality. Greek children learned to read from them, people performed them at holidays, and began and completed the learning process with them. The influence of Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" on the ancient Greeks is compared with the Bible - for the Jews.

It was these poems that brought Homer worldwide fame. Back in the 3rd century BC. began to translate famous poems - the Roman poet Livy Andronicus translated the Odyssey into Latin. In the 15th century, a translation first appeared in Italian, and in the 18th century - in German? English and Russian languages.

In addition to the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer is also credited with the authorship of the so-called “Homeric hymns” and the comic poem “Margate”. However, they were not included in his literary heritage, like many other works attributed to him.

Homer's death occurred on the island of Ios in the Cyclades archipelago.

Homer's duel with Hesiod

There is a legend about the poetic duel between Homer and Hesiod, described in the work “The Contest of Homer and Hesiod,” created no later than the 3rd century. BC e. Allegedly, on the island of Euboea, at games in honor of the deceased Amphidemus, the poets met and each read their best poems. How did this fight end? This is the intrigue.

This is how the description of this competition came to us:

The instigator of the competition was Hesiod. To make it easier to win, he challenged Homer to write not heroic, but instructive poems:

O hymn-singer Homer, overshadowed by wisdom from above,

Say, what is the best fate in the world for mortals?

Homer's answer was grim:

The best fate for mortals is not to be born at all,

And for the one who is born, he quickly goes to the underworld.

Hesiod asked again:

Tell me, please, about one more thing, God-equal Homer:

Is there any delight in the world for us mortals?

Homer's answer was cheerful:

The best things in life are at a full table, in bliss and in peace

Raise the ringing bowls and listen to cheerful songs.

Hesiod reduced the question from two verses to one:

Say in short words, what should we pray to the immortals?

Homer did the same:

A strong body and a cheerful spirit: isn’t this what happiness is?

Hesiod seized on the last word:

What do we, short-lived people, call happiness?

Homer replied:

Life without adversity, pleasure without pain and death without suffering.

Seeing that Homer composed instructive poems no worse than he, Hesiod decided to defeat his opponent by cunning. He began to sing mysterious or downright meaningless lines, and Homer had to pick them up and unravel all the incomprehensibility as he went. Hesiod began:

Sing us a song, O Muse, but sing not an ordinary song:

Do not talk in it about what happened, what is and what will happen.

Homer immediately responded:

It is true: they will never rush in a chariot race.

Mortal people, celebrating the memory of the immortal Zeus.

Hesiod began describing some strange feast:

They sat down to eat plenty of the fleet-footed horses...

Homer chimed in:

...the fleet-footed horses were allowed to graze peacefully: they had fought enough.

Hesiod continued:

So they feasted all day long, without eating anything...

Homer chimed in:

...eating nothing of his own good: but Agamemnon gave them everything.

Hesiod continued:

Afterwards they poured libations and drank the sea...

Homer got out of the situation here too:

...the sea They began to plow their ship sideways.

Then Hesiod saw that you couldn’t take Homer even with riddles. There was only one thing left: for everyone to sing in front of the judges the part of their poem that they consider to be the best. Homer sang about the battle:

Shield with shield, bump with bump, man with man

Closed tightly; helmets touched with light plaques,

Swaying on the warriors: so the Argives, condensed, stood;

The spears snaked, menacingly shaken by the brave hands;

They rushed straight towards the Trojans, blazing to fight...

The battlefield was blackened all around menacingly from spears,

Long, deadly, frequent, like a forest; eyes were blinded

With a copper radiance from the convex helmets, sparkling immeasurably,

Armor, once again understood, and radiant round shields

Warriors converging on battle...

And Hesiod sang about sowing:

The eternal law of the immortals orders people to work:

Do what I say while getting the job done!

Only in the east will the Pleiades begin to rise like seven stars,

Hurry up to reap; If they start to come in, get to work sowing.

Whether the soil is wet or dry - plow, without knowing a break,

The dawn rises early so that the fields grow lush.

Cover the seed with soil. For mortals order and precision

The most useful thing in life, and the most harmful thing, is disorder.

So the flooded ears of corn in the field will bend to the ground -

If only the Olympian wished to grant a good outcome!…

The people applauded Homer. However, the judges, after consulting, announced: “The winner is Hesiod.” Why? “Because Homer glorifies war, and Hesiod - peaceful labor, Homer teaches murder and destruction, Hesiod - creation and justice. Who is more worthy? Everyone had to agree with this. Hesiod received the award.

HOMER(Latin Homer, Greek Omiros), ancient Greek poet. To date, there is no convincing evidence of the reality of the historical figure of Homer. According to ancient tradition, it was customary to imagine Homer as a blind wandering singer-aed; seven cities argued for the honor of being called his homeland. He was probably from Smyrna (Asia Minor), or from the island of Chios. It can be assumed that Homer lived around the 8th century BC.

Homer is credited with authoring two of the greatest works of ancient Greek literature - the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". In ancient times, Homer was recognized as the author of other works: the poem "Batrachomachia" and the collection of "Homeric hymns." Modern science assigns only the Iliad and the Odyssey to Homer, and there is an opinion that these poems were created by different poets and at different historical times. Even in ancient times, the “Homeric question” arose, which is now understood as a set of problems related to the origin and development of the ancient Greek epic, including the relationship between folklore and literary creativity itself.

The time of creation of poems. History of the text

Biographical information about Homer given by ancient authors is contradictory and implausible. “Seven cities, arguing, are called the homeland of Homer: Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Pylos, Argos, Ithaca, Athens,” says one Greek epigram (in fact, the list of these cities was more extensive). Regarding the life of Homer, ancient scholars gave various dates, starting from the 12th century. BC e. (after the Trojan War) and ending with the 7th century. BC e.; There was a widespread legend about a poetic competition between Homer and Hesiod. Most researchers believe that Homer's poems were created in Asia Minor, in Ionia in the 8th century. BC e. based on mythological tales of the Trojan War. There is late ancient evidence of the final edition of their texts under the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus in the mid-6th century. BC e., when their performance was included in the festivities of the Great Panathenaia.

In ancient times, Homer was credited with the comic poems "Margit" and "The War of Mice and Frogs", a cycle of works about the Trojan War and the return of heroes to Greece: "Cypria", "Ethiopida", "The Little Iliad", "The Capture of Ilion", "Returns" ( so-called "cyclical poems", only small fragments have survived). Under the name "Homeric Hymns" there was a collection of 33 hymns to the gods. During the Hellenistic era, philologists of the Library of Alexandria Aristarchus of Samothrace, Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium did a great deal of work collecting and clarifying the manuscripts of Homer’s poems (they also divided each poem into 24 cantos according to the number of letters of the Greek alphabet). The sophist Zoilus (4th century BC), nicknamed “the scourge of Homer” for his critical statements, became a household name. Xenon and Hellanicus, so-called. “dividing”, expressed the idea that Homer may have owned only one “Iliad”; they, however, did not doubt either the reality of Homer or the fact that each of the poems had its own author.

Homeric question

The question of the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey was raised in 1795 by the German scientist F. A. Wolf in the preface to the publication of the Greek text of the poems. Wolf considered it impossible to create a large epic in an unwritten period, believing that the tales created by various aeds were written down in Athens under Peisistratus. Scientists were divided into “analysts”, followers of Wolf’s theory (German scientists K. Lachmann, A. Kirchhoff with his theory of “small epics”; G. Herman and the English historian J. Groth with their “theory of the main core”, in Russia it was shared by F . F. Zelinsky), and “unitarians”, supporters of the strict unity of the epic (Homer translator I. G. Foss and philologist G. V. Nich, F. Schiller, I. V. Goethe, Hegel in Germany, N. I. Gnedich , V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin in Russia).

Homeric poems and epics

In the 19th century The Iliad and Odyssey were compared with the epics of the Slavs, skaldic poetry, Finnish and German epics. In the 1930s The American classical philologist Milman Parry, comparing Homer's poems with the living epic tradition that still existed at that time among the peoples of Yugoslavia, discovered in Homer's poems a reflection of the poetic technique of folk singers. The poetic formulas they created from stable combinations and epithets (the “swift-footed” Achilles, the “shepherd of nations” Agamemnon, the “many-minded” Odysseus, the “sweet-tongued” Nestor) enabled the narrator to “improvise” perform epic songs consisting of many thousands of verses.

The Iliad and Odyssey belong entirely to the centuries-old epic tradition, but this does not mean that oral creativity is anonymous. “Before Homer, we cannot name anyone’s poem of this kind, although, of course, there were many poets” (Aristotle). Aristotle saw the main difference between the Iliad and the Odyssey from all other epic works in the fact that Homer does not unfold his narrative gradually, but builds it around one event - the basis of the poems is the dramatic unity of action. Another feature that Aristotle also drew attention to: the character of the hero is revealed not by the author’s descriptions, but by the speeches uttered by the hero himself.

Language of poems

The language of Homer's poems - exclusively poetic, "supra-dialectal" - was never identical to living spoken language. It consisted of a combination of Aeolian (Boeotia, Thessaly, the island of Lesbos) and Ionian (Attica, island Greece, the coast of Asia Minor) dialect features with the preservation of the archaic system of earlier eras. The songs of the Iliad and Odyssey were metrically shaped by the hexameter, a poetic meter rooted in Indo-European epic, in which each verse consists of six feet with a regular alternation of long and short syllables. The unusual poetic language of the epic was emphasized by the timeless nature of events and the greatness of the images of the heroic past.

Homer and archeology

Sensational discoveries of G. Schliemann in the 1870-80s. proved that Troy, Mycenae and the Achaean citadels are not a myth, but a reality. Schliemann's contemporaries were struck by the literal correspondence of a number of his findings in the fourth shaft tomb in Mycenae with the descriptions of Homer. The impression was so strong that the era of Homer became associated for a long time with the heyday of Achaean Greece in the 14th-13th centuries. BC e. The poems, however, also contain numerous archaeologically attested features of the culture of the "heroic age", such as mention of iron tools and weapons or the custom of cremation of the dead.

A comparison of the evidence of the Homeric epic with archaeological data confirms the conclusions of many researchers that in its final edition it was formed in the 8th century. BC e., and many researchers consider the “Catalog of Ships” (Iliad, 2nd Canto) to be the oldest part of the epic. Obviously, the poems were not created at the same time: “The Iliad” reflects ideas about the person of the “heroic period”; “The Odyssey” stands, as it were, at the turn of another era - the time of the Great Greek colonization, when the boundaries of the world mastered by Greek culture expanded.

Homer in antiquity

For people of antiquity, Homer's poems were a symbol of Hellenic unity and heroism, a source of wisdom and knowledge of all aspects of life - from military art to practical morality. Homer, along with Hesiod, was considered the creator of a comprehensive and orderly mythological picture of the universe: the poets “compiled genealogies of the gods for the Hellenes, provided the names of the gods with epithets, divided virtues and occupations among them, and drew their images” (Herodotus). According to Strabo, Homer was the only poet of antiquity who knew almost everything about the ecumene, the peoples inhabiting it, their origin, way of life and culture. Thucydides, Pausanias, and Plutarch used Homer’s data as authentic and trustworthy. The father of tragedy, Aeschylus, called his dramas “crumbs from the great feasts of Homer.”

Greek children learned to read from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer was quoted, commented on, and explained allegorically. The Pythagorean philosophers called on the Pythagorean philosophers to correct souls by reading selected passages from Homer’s poems. Plutarch reports that Alexander the Great always carried a copy of the Iliad with him, which he kept under his pillow along with a dagger.

Translations of Homer

In the 3rd century. BC e. The Roman poet Livy Andronicus translated the Odyssey into Latin. In medieval Europe, Homer was known only through quotations and references from Latin writers and Aristotle; Homer's poetic glory was eclipsed by the glory of Virgil. Only at the end of the 15th century. The first translations of Homer into Italian appeared (A. Poliziano and others). An event in European culture of the 18th century. There were translations of Homer into English by A. Pop and into German by I. G. Voss. For the first time, fragments of the Iliad were translated into Russian into twenty-syllable syllabics - the so-called. Alexandrian - verse by M.V. Lomonosov. At the end of the 18th century. E. Kostrov translated the first six songs of the Iliad (1787) in iambic; Prose translations of the Iliad by P. Ekimov and the Odyssey by P. Sokolov were published. The titanic work of creating the Russian hexameter and adequately reproducing Homer’s figurative system was done by N. I. Gnedich, whose translation of the Iliad (1829) still remains unsurpassed in the accuracy of philological reading and historical interpretation. The translation of “The Odyssey” by V. A. Zhukovsky (1842-49) is distinguished by the highest artistic skill. In the 20th century "The Iliad" and "Odyssey" were translated by V.V. Veresaev.

Homer is a famous ancient Greek poet, whose work not only served as a model for all ancient creators - he is considered the progenitor of European literature. Many representatives of modern generations associate ancient culture with his name, and acquaintance with world literature usually begins with the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, which belonged to (or were attributed to) this legendary author. Homer is the first ancient Greek poet whose creative legacy has survived to this day, and about half of the ancient Greek papyri of literary content discovered to date are fragments of his works.

There are no reliable, historically confirmed data about the personality of Homer, his life path, and they were unknown even in antiquity. In antiquity, 9 biographies of Homer were created, and all of them were based on legends. Not only the years of his life are unknown, but also his century. According to Herodotus, this was the 9th century. BC e. Scientists of our time call approximately the 8th century. (or 7th century) BC e. There is no exact information about the place of birth of the great poet. It is believed that he lived in one of the areas of Ionia. Legend has it that as many as seven cities - Athens, Rhodes, Smyrna, Colophon, Argon, Salamis, Chios - challenged each other for the honor of calling themselves the birthplace of Homer.

According to tradition, the great poet is portrayed as a blind old man, but scientists are of the opinion that this is the influence of the ideas of the ancient Greeks, a feature of the biographical genre. The Greeks saw the relationship between poetic talent and prophetic gift in the example of many famous personalities who were deprived of sight, and believed that Homer belonged to this glorious cohort. In addition, in the Odyssey there is such a character as the blind singer Demodocus, who was identified with the author of the work himself.

From the biography of Homer there is such an episode as a poetic competition with Hesiod on the island of Euboea. Poets read their best works at games organized in memory of the deceased Amphidemus. The victory, according to the will of the judge, went to Hesiod, since he glorified the peaceful life and work of farmers, but legend says that the public sympathized more with Homer.

Like everything else in Homer’s biography, it is not known for certain whether the famous poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” belonged to his pen. In science since the 18th century. there is the so-called Homeric question - this is the name of the controversy surrounding the authorship and history of writing legendary works. Be that as it may, it was they who brought the author fame for all time and entered the treasury of world literature. Both poems are based on legends and myths about the Trojan War, i.e. about the military actions of the Achaean Greeks against the inhabitants of the Asia Minor city, and represent a heroic epic - a large-scale canvas, the characters of which are both historical characters and heroes of myths.

The ancient Greeks considered these poems sacred, solemnly performed them on public holidays, they began and completed the learning process with them, seeing in them a treasury of a wide variety of knowledge, lessons of wisdom, beauty, justice and other virtues, and their author was revered almost as deity. According to the great Plato, Greece owes its spiritual development to Homer. The poetics of this master of words had a huge influence on the work of not only ancient authors, but also recognized classics of European literature living many centuries later.

There are so-called Homeric hymns, which in ancient times were attributed to the great blind man, but neither they nor other works of which Homer was called the author belong to his creative heritage.

According to Herodotus and Pausanias, death overtook Homer on the island of Ios (Cyclades archipelago).

The Greek poet Homer was born approximately between the 12th and 18th centuries BC. He is famous for the epic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", which had a huge influence on the European literary tradition. What else is known about Homer as their alleged author - read on.

Homeric question

Homer's biography still remains a mystery, since the real facts from his life are unknown. Some scholars believe it was one person; others think that these iconic works were created by a whole group of poets.

The literary style of Homer, whoever he was, falls more into the category of a poet-storyteller, as opposed to the image of a lyric poet, for example, like Virgil or Shakespeare. These stories have repetitive elements, almost like a song's chorus, which may suggest a musical component. However, Homer's works are designated as epic rather than lyric poetry.

It was also not possible to determine the exact place where Homer was born, although scientists are still trying. It has long been said that seven cities claimed to be the poet’s hometown: Smyrna, Ithaca, Colophon, Argos, Pylos, Athens, Chios. But scientists are getting closer to the opinion that Homer was from Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) or lived near Chios, an island in the eastern Aegean Sea.

All this speculation about who he was eventually led to what is now known as the "Homeric question": did Homer really exist at all? This is considered one of the greatest literary mysteries today. But while these authorship issues may never be resolved, the poet Homer - fictional or real - is still revered for his epic and influential works of poetry around the world: the Iliad and the Odyssey.

In fact, with such a colossal lack of information, almost every aspect of Homer's biography originates from his works. For example, the fact that Homer was blind - this statement is based solely on the character of the Odyssey, a blind singer-storyteller named Demodocus.

Famous poems of Homer

The Iliad and Odyssey can be called the basis of all modern literature, and the poet himself is its forefather. These poems represent spirituality, wisdom, justice and courage. For many, Homer's works became the very first books - children in Ancient Greece were often taught to read from them. Translations of these poems into Latin appeared in the 3rd century BC. e., although the first translation into Russian was already in the 18th century.

The name "Iliad" comes from "Ilion", the second name of the city of Troy. In the poem, Homer describes an excerpt from the history of the ten-year Trojan War: the last forty-nine days before the fall of Troy. The central character of the poem turns out to be Achilles, a strong and valiant warrior, thirsting for revenge for his murdered friend Patroclus.

Despite the fact that Homer’s poem “The Iliad” is replete with scenes of battles, the main message of this poem is humanistic. Here even Zeus admits his dislike for the god of war, just as Achilles condemns any war other than defensive ones.

In the Odyssey, Homer tells us about the post-war period - a long and adventurous return from the Trojan War. The main character of the poem, another hero of Greek mythology, Odysseus, ten years after the end of the war, is still looking for a way back to his homeland and finds himself in different stories. Unlike the strong and brave Achilles from the Iliad, Odysseus’s main trump card is his sharp mind, thanks to which he managed to get out of more than one scrape, and even help others.

The poem is constructed in a light, fairy-tale genre. It wonderfully reveals the features of life, material culture, customs and traditions, as well as the organization of society in Ancient Greece.

Although in general modern science is inclined to attribute only the Iliad and the Odyssey to the works of the ancient Greek poet, Homer, according to some scientists, is also considered the author of poems called “The War of Mice and Frogs”, “Margate”, as well as a collection of thirty-three divine hymns called "Homeric Hymns".

And now we invite you to listen to an interesting discussion of Homer’s poem “The Iliad” in the following video:

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!