→Dating of Homer: It's -> It is
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[[Image:Auguste Leloir - Homère.jpg|thumb|300px|Homer, 1841, by Auguste Leloir]] |
{{Synthesis|date=December 2022}}[[Image:Auguste Leloir - Homère.jpg|thumb|300px|Homer, 1841, by Auguste Leloir]] |
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'''Ancient accounts of Homer''' include numerous passages in which archaic and classical Greek poets and prose authors mention or allude to [[Homer]]. In addition, they include the ten biographies of Homer, often referred to as ''Lives''. |
'''Ancient accounts of Homer''' include numerous passages in which archaic and classical Greek poets and prose authors mention or allude to [[Homer]]. In addition, they include the ten biographies of Homer, often referred to as ''Lives''. |
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==Dating of Homer== |
==Dating of Homer== |
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Dating Homer's life poses a challenge as there are no known records of his life other than his writings of the ''[[Odyssey]] |
Dating Homer's life poses a challenge as there are no known records of his life other than his writings of the ''[[Odyssey]]'' and the ''[[Iliad]].'' All accounts are based on tradition. The only explicit periodization hinted in written records comes from [[Herodotus]], who maintains that [[Hesiod]] and Homer lived no more than 400 years before his own time, therefore around 850 BC.<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' 2.53.</ref> Artemon of [[Clazomenae]], an [[annalist]], gives [[Arctinus of Miletus]], a pupil of Homer, a birth date of 744 BC. It is often assumed that he lived between 750 and 700 BC.<ref>Homer; Rieu, EV (translator); Rieu, DCH (editor); Jones, Peter (editor): ''The Odyssey'' (Penguin, 2003), p. ''i''.</ref> |
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==The lives and the epigrams== |
==The lives and the epigrams== |
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There are 10 known extant lives of Homer. Eight of these are edited in [[Georg Westermann]]'s ''Vitarum Scriptores Graeci minores'',<ref>{{Cite book|first=Antonius|last=Westermann|title=ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΟΙ: Vitarum Scriptores Graeci Minores|location=Brunsvigae|publisher=Georgius Westermann|year=1845}} Downloadable Google Books.</ref> including a narrative entitled the ''[[Contest of Homer and Hesiod]]''.<ref>Westermann, pages 33-45. Greek language text.</ref> The longest, ''[[Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)|Life of Homer]]'', is written in the [[Ionic dialect]] and claims to be the work of Herodotus, but is certainly spurious (see [[Pseudo-Herodotus]]).<ref>Westermann, pages 1-20. Greek language text. An English translation can be found at {{Cite book|first=Theodore Alois|last=Buckley|title=The Odyssey of Homer: with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice: Literally Translated, with Explanatory Notes|publisher=George Bell and Sons|location=London|year=1891|pages=vi–xxxii}} Downloadable Google Books</ref> It most likely belongs to the 2nd century AD, although the other lives are more recent in origin. |
There are 10 known extant lives of Homer. Eight of these are edited in [[Georg Westermann]]'s ''Vitarum Scriptores Graeci minores'',<ref>{{Cite book|first=Antonius|last=Westermann|title=ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΟΙ: Vitarum Scriptores Graeci Minores|location=Brunsvigae|publisher=Georgius Westermann|year=1845}} Downloadable Google Books.</ref> including a narrative entitled the ''[[Contest of Homer and Hesiod]]''.<ref>Westermann, pages 33-45. Greek language text.</ref> The longest, ''[[Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)|Life of Homer]]'', is written in the [[Ionic dialect]] and claims to be the work of Herodotus, but is certainly spurious (see [[Pseudo-Herodotus]]).<ref>Westermann, pages 1-20. Greek language text. An English translation can be found at {{Cite book|first=Theodore Alois|last=Buckley|title=The Odyssey of Homer: with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice: Literally Translated, with Explanatory Notes|publisher=George Bell and Sons|location=London|year=1891|pages=vi–xxxii}} Downloadable Google Books</ref> It most likely belongs to the 2nd century AD, although the other lives are more recent in origin. |
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The lives preserve |
The lives preserve short poems and fragments of verse attributed to Homer, the ''Epigrams'', which used to be printed at the end of editions of Homer. They are numbered as they appear in Pseudo-Herodotus. These are easily recognized as popular rhymes, a form of folklore to be met with in most countries, treasured by the people as a kind of [[proverb]]. |
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In the Homeric epigrams, the |
In the Homeric epigrams, the subject matter often covers the characteristics of particular localities, for example, [[Smyrna]] and [[Cyme (Aeolis)|Cyme]],<ref>Epigrams 1, 2, 4, Buckley pages 427-428.</ref> [[Erythrae]],<ref>Epigram 8, Buckley page 429.</ref> and [[Mount Ida]];<ref>Epigram 10, Buckley page 429.</ref> others relate to certain trades or occupations: potters,<ref>Epigram 14, Buckley page 431.</ref> sailors, fishermen, goat herds, etc., suggesting that they are not the work of any one poet. The fact that they were all ascribed to Homer suggests that they belong to a period in the history of the Ionian and Aeolian colonies when Homer was a name which drew to itself all ancient and popular verse. |
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Comparing the epigrams with the legends and anecdotes told in the ''Lives of Homer,'' one can hardly doubt that they were the chief source from which these ''Lives'' were derived. Epigram 4 mentions a blind poet, a native of Aeolian [[Smyrna]], through which flows the water of the sacred [[River Meles|Meles]]. Here is doubtless the source of the chief incident of the Herodotean ''Life,'' the birth of Homer, named Son of the Meles to conceal a scandalous affair between his mother and an older man who had been appointed her guardian. The epithet ''Aeolian'' implies high antiquity, inasmuch as according to Herodotus, Smyrna became Ionian not too long before 688 BC. Naturally the Ionians had their own version of the story, a version which made Homer come out with the first Athenian colonists.{{Original research inline|date=December 2022}} |
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==The minor poems== |
==The minor poems== |
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The same line of argument may be extended to the [[Homeric Hymns|Hymns]] and works of the so-called [[Cyclic poets]], the lost early epics, some of which formed the [[Epic Cycle]] and [[Theban Cycle]]. Thus: |
The same line of argument may be extended to the [[Homeric Hymns|Hymns]] and works of the so-called [[Cyclic poets]], the lost early epics, some of which formed the [[Epic Cycle]] and [[Theban Cycle]]. Thus: |
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#The hymn to the Delian [[Apollo]] ends with an address of the poet to his audience. When any stranger comes and asks who the sweetest singer is, they are to answer with one voice, "the blind man that dwells in rocky [[Chios]]; his songs deserve the prize for all time to come." [[Thucydides]], who quotes this passage to show the ancient character of the Delian festival, seems to have no doubt |
#The hymn to the Delian [[Apollo]] ends with an address of the poet to his audience. When any stranger comes and asks who the sweetest singer is, they are to answer with one voice, "the blind man that dwells in rocky [[Chios]]; his songs deserve the prize for all time to come." [[Thucydides]], who quotes this passage to show the ancient character of the Delian festival, seems to have no doubt about the Homeric authorship of the hymn. Many accounts say that he was from Smyrna and lived in Chios later in his life.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} |
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#The ''[[Margites]]'', a humorous poem known as a reputed work of Homer down to the time of [[Aristotle]], began with the words, "There came to Colophon an old man, a divine singer, servant of the Muses and Apollo." Hence the claim of [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]] to be the native city of Homer, a claim supported in the early times of Homeric learning by the Colophonian poet and grammarian [[Antimachus]] |
#The ''[[Margites]]'', a humorous poem known as a reputed work of Homer down to the time of [[Aristotle]],{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} began with the words, "There came to Colophon an old man, a divine singer, servant of the Muses and Apollo." Hence the claim of [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]] to be the native city of Homer, a claim supported in the early times of Homeric learning by the Colophonian poet and grammarian [[Antimachus]]. The [[Suda]] reports Homer being a Smyrnaean that was taken as captive to the Colophonians in a war, hence the name Ὅμηρος, which in Greek means "captive". Homer's name originating from him being a captive is widely reported.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} |
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#The poem called the ''[[Cypria]]'' was said to have been given by Homer to his son-in-law [[Stasinus of Cyprus]] as dowry. The connection with [[Cyprus]] appears further in the predominance given in the poem to [[Aphrodite]]. |
#The poem called the ''[[Cypria]]'' was said to have been given by Homer to his son-in-law [[Stasinus of Cyprus]] as dowry. The connection with [[Cyprus]] appears further in the predominance given in the poem to [[Aphrodite]]. |
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#The ''[[Little Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Phocais]]'', according to the [[Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)|pseudo-Herodotean life]], were composed by Homer when he lived at [[Phocaea]] with a certain [[Thestorides of Phocaea|Thestorides]], who carried them off to Chios and there gained fame by reciting them as his own. The name Thestorides occurs in Epigram 5. |
#The ''[[Little Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Phocais]]'', according to the [[Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)|pseudo-Herodotean life]], were composed by Homer when he lived at [[Phocaea]] with a certain [[Thestorides of Phocaea|Thestorides]], who carried them off to Chios and there gained fame by reciting them as his own. The name Thestorides occurs in Epigram 5. |
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#A similar story was told about the poem called the ''[[Capture of Oechalia]]'', the subject of which was one of the exploits of [[Heracles]]. It passed under the name of [[Kreophylos of Samos|Creophylus of Samos]], a friend or (as some said) a son-in-law of Homer, and was sometimes said to have been given to Creophylus by Homer in return for hospitality. |
#A similar story was told about the poem called the ''[[Capture of Oechalia]]'', the subject of which was one of the exploits of [[Heracles]]. It passed under the name of [[Kreophylos of Samos|Creophylus of Samos]], a friend or (as some said) a son-in-law of Homer, and was sometimes said to have been given to Creophylus by Homer in return for hospitality. |
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# |
#The ''[[Thebaid (Greek poem)|Thebaid]]'' was confidently counted as the work of Homer.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} As to the ''[[Epigoni (epic)|Epigoni]]'', which carried on the Theban story, there was less certainty. |
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These indications render it probable that the stories connecting Homer with different cities and islands grew up after his poems had become known and famous, especially in the new and flourishing colonies of Aeolis and Ionia. The contention for Homer |
These indications render it probable that the stories connecting Homer with different cities and islands grew up after his poems had become known and famous, especially in the new and flourishing colonies of Aeolis and Ionia. The contention for Homer, began at a time when his real history was lost, and he had become a sort of mythical figure, an anonymous hero, or personification of a great school of poetry. |
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==Arctinus of Miletus== |
==Arctinus of Miletus== |
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{{tone|section|date=February 2020}} |
{{tone|section|date=February 2020}} |
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A confirmation of this view from the negative side is furnished by the chief city among the Asiatic colonies of Greece, [[Miletus]]. No legend claims for Miletus even a visit from Homer or a share in the authorship of any Homeric poem. Yet, [[Arctinus of Miletus]] was said to have been a disciple of Homer and was certainly one of the earliest and most considerable of the Cyclic poets. His ''[[Aethiopis]]'' was composed as a sequel to the ''Iliad'' |
A confirmation of this view from the negative side is furnished by the chief city among the Asiatic colonies of Greece, [[Miletus]]. No legend claims for Miletus even a visit from Homer or a share in the authorship of any Homeric poem. Yet, [[Arctinus of Miletus]] was said to have been a disciple of Homer and was certainly one of the earliest and most considerable of the Cyclic poets. His ''[[Aethiopis]]'' was composed as a sequel to the ''Iliad'' and the structure and general character of his poems show that he took the ''Iliad'' as his model. Yet, in his case, there isnoindication of disputed authorship which is the case with other Cyclic poems. The most obvious account of the matter is that Arctinus was never so far forgotten that his poems became the subject of dispute. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Ancient accounts of Homer include numerous passages in which archaic and classical Greek poets and prose authors mention or allude to Homer. In addition, they include the ten biographies of Homer, often referred to as Lives.
Dating Homer's life poses a challenge as there are no known records of his life other than his writings of the Odyssey and the Iliad. All accounts are based on tradition. The only explicit periodization hinted in written records comes from Herodotus, who maintains that Hesiod and Homer lived no more than 400 years before his own time, therefore around 850 BC.[1] Artemon of Clazomenae, an annalist, gives Arctinus of Miletus, a pupil of Homer, a birth date of 744 BC. It is often assumed that he lived between 750 and 700 BC.[2]
There are 10 known extant lives of Homer. Eight of these are edited in Georg Westermann's Vitarum Scriptores Graeci minores,[3] including a narrative entitled the Contest of Homer and Hesiod.[4] The longest, Life of Homer, is written in the Ionic dialect and claims to be the work of Herodotus, but is certainly spurious (see Pseudo-Herodotus).[5] It most likely belongs to the 2nd century AD, although the other lives are more recent in origin.
The lives preserve short poems and fragments of verse attributed to Homer, the Epigrams, which used to be printed at the end of editions of Homer. They are numbered as they appear in Pseudo-Herodotus. These are easily recognized as popular rhymes, a form of folklore to be met with in most countries, treasured by the people as a kind of proverb.
In the Homeric epigrams, the subject matter often covers the characteristics of particular localities, for example, Smyrna and Cyme,[6] Erythrae,[7] and Mount Ida;[8] others relate to certain trades or occupations: potters,[9] sailors, fishermen, goat herds, etc., suggesting that they are not the work of any one poet. The fact that they were all ascribed to Homer suggests that they belong to a period in the history of the Ionian and Aeolian colonies when Homer was a name which drew to itself all ancient and popular verse.
Comparing the epigrams with the legends and anecdotes told in the Lives of Homer, one can hardly doubt that they were the chief source from which these Lives were derived. Epigram 4 mentions a blind poet, a native of Aeolian Smyrna, through which flows the water of the sacred Meles. Here is doubtless the source of the chief incident of the Herodotean Life, the birth of Homer, named Son of the Meles to conceal a scandalous affair between his mother and an older man who had been appointed her guardian. The epithet Aeolian implies high antiquity, inasmuch as according to Herodotus, Smyrna became Ionian not too long before 688 BC. Naturally the Ionians had their own version of the story, a version which made Homer come out with the first Athenian colonists.[original research?]
The same line of argument may be extended to the Hymns and works of the so-called Cyclic poets, the lost early epics, some of which formed the Epic Cycle and Theban Cycle. Thus:
These indications render it probable that the stories connecting Homer with different cities and islands grew up after his poems had become known and famous, especially in the new and flourishing colonies of Aeolis and Ionia. The contention for Homer, began at a time when his real history was lost, and he had become a sort of mythical figure, an anonymous hero, or personification of a great school of poetry.
![]() |
This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (February 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
A confirmation of this view from the negative side is furnished by the chief city among the Asiatic colonies of Greece, Miletus. No legend claims for Miletus even a visit from Homer or a share in the authorship of any Homeric poem. Yet, Arctinus of Miletus was said to have been a disciple of Homer and was certainly one of the earliest and most considerable of the Cyclic poets. His Aethiopis was composed as a sequel to the Iliad and the structure and general character of his poems show that he took the Iliad as his model. Yet, in his case, there is no indication of disputed authorship which is the case with other Cyclic poems. The most obvious account of the matter is that Arctinus was never so far forgotten that his poems became the subject of dispute.