Micro-introduction to Homer

Authors

  • Mario Cantilena
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/myrtia.411851
Keywords: Homer, poet, oral-traditional poetry, Homeric question

Abstract

What do we talk about when we talk about Homer? It is difficult to conceive him as a man, a historical individuum, and the ancient Greeks knew about him as little as we do. Even if we question his poems, we cannot grasp any trait of an author's personality. But his language and his style tell us enough to understand that what we were searching in a single poet must be found in a tradition. The Iliad and the Odyssey must be understood as documents of oral-traditional poetry and not of literature: at least in the sense that they were not meant to be read. Although they have been considered for centuries the archetypes of all western literatures, their place is among the crowded company of the anonymous singers who gave us masterpieces like Beowulf, Mahabharata, Chanson de Roland.

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References

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Published
31-01-2020
How to Cite
Cantilena, M. (2020). Micro-introduction to Homer. Myrtia, 34, 11–22. https://doi.org/10.6018/myrtia.411851
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Section
Artículos