HOMER PDF - Chapter 1 - A Blind Poet from Ionia

# Chapter 1 - A Blind Poet from Ionia Pre-Athenian Greece was not yet the shining beacon of culture and intellect that it would become, but even centuries before the greatest philosophers of that glistening city-state emerged, Greece was a country of love and art. A blind poet of that era, well-edu...

# Chapter 1 - A Blind Poet from Ionia Pre-Athenian Greece was not yet the shining beacon of culture and intellect that it would become, but even centuries before the greatest philosophers of that glistening city-state emerged, Greece was a country of love and art. A blind poet of that era, well-educated for his day, and deeply talented, was lucky to have found himself in such a society that treasured his gifts of oratory and song. Other civilizations may have left him to struggle terribly, but not that of the ancient Ionians. Theirs was a well-populated region on the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, which was part of the western Greek settlement. There, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, a bard and historian called Homer was given quarter. His poems were received with joy and his tales remembered for endless generations. These are the first stories and myths the world knows of that ancient people before their country blossomed into a legend of its own: the first full bloom of Western civilization. During Homer's time, a new alphabet was being used to replace the lost writing system of the prehistoric Mycenaeans. Based on that of the Phoenicians, the Greek alphabet featured 24 letters meant to represent both consonants and vowel sounds. The alphabet followed Greek sailors to exotic destinations and took on new forms and slight variations in many port cities of the Mediterranean Sea. In Ionia, Homer's use of Greek in his popular epic poems helped the language catch on in surrounding realms, much as the printing press would do in the European Middle Ages. It was probably sometime in the late 8th century BCE when Homer composed his most epic works: two long-form poems in Turkish-laced Greek that chronicled the ten-year Trojan War—a pillar of Greek mythology and the long journey home of the lost hero, Odysseus. The Trojan War is in itself a milestone of European history—whether or not it truly did occur. Archaeologists, like C. Brian Rose, professor of classical archaeology at the University of Cincinnati, believe that Troy was a city in ancient Turkey whose geographical location was strategically necessary for migration and trade to the Near East. Rose surmises that there were many wars fought between the Greeks and Anatolians throughout Classical Antiquity, of which Homer's story is one. It may be that Homer's writings were largely fictional works, but they marked an important milestone in the journey of human evolution; for the first time in the Western world, literature, intellect, and art were prized and rewarded enough that an individual could pursue them singularly. Homer, though perhaps not technically an author or writer, is still considered the very first literary mind of the Western world. Though he probably never pressed stylus to waxed tablet, Homer did compose epic poems in memory of the legendary Trojan War. It was and still is an event so ancient and shrouded in mystery that it is at once considered myth and ancient history. In his two lengthy installments, the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey*, Homer tells the story of the siege of the city of Troy by an alliance of Greek tribes. The first story was set during the last year of the war, and through a plot that centers on King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles, the finer details of that siege are laid out. The *Odyssey* then follows the long voyage of one of the heroes of that long war, Odysseus, as he travels home to Ithaca. Both stories use a multitude of deities as both major and minor characters, including Aphrodite, Athena, and Apollo, who literally enter the battlefield on both sides of the clash between the Trojans and Greeks. Close to 3,000 years later, most Western civilizations still know at least part of the legendary story of the Trojan War. It begins with the kidnapping of the beautiful Queen Helen from King Menelaus of Sparta, and it ends with the false gift of a giant, wooden horse. Indeed, the stories of the blind Ionian poet are not just examples of ancient literature; they are proof of humanity's creativity and endless love of tales of adventure with surprise endings. Ancient as they may be, Homer's words are stunningly beautiful and full of feeling. Far from a dry retelling of facts and events, Homer's poems were crafted to entice his listeners into emotionally connecting with the events of the past. He was sure to entangle the hearts of audiences into the stories with clever usage of contemporary cultural norms, like dialogue between multiple Greek gods: > Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say > that we devise their misery. But they > themselves- in their depravity- design > grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns. Of course, since Homer likely never did write anything down—and perhaps never knew how to write at all—his stories were remembered through the act of being told again and again. This was the way of Homer and his ancestors who were adept at recollecting what equated to thousands of pages of words, lines, stanzas, and paragraphs. For Homer, it was probably made easier thanks to his use of the lyre, which was a staple instrument for all the storytellers in his poems. Put to music, poetry was doubly entertaining and much easier to commit to memory. After all, Homer would not have considered himself a writer but a bard. It was his life's work to tell stories in the form of songs. Legends of Homer, told through the writing of Greek poets and writers who came centuries later, say that he earned his living wandering from town to town, offering to entertain households with his stories. Once he'd been invited in, probably for a dinner party, he would take a chair either at the table or just off to one side, pluck the strings of his lyre, and begin to sing the words he'd pieced together in his mind. At 176,000 words, the *Iliad* was not a story that could be told in the space of one short evening. As was the custom of bards like Homer, he probably stayed several days with his host family, revealing the tragedy of the Trojan War piece by piece, song by song, until finally reaching the end one final night. > Any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again. Human history is plagued with violence, war, battles for dominion and supremacy, and organized by laundry lists of great warriors and emperors. For thousands and thousands of years, those inspired to paint pictures, construct great artworks, propose philosophies, and tell stories were required to otherwise engage their energies into necessities like farming, gardening, herding, grinding grain, and maintaining their homes. Archaeology of the prehistoric world is focused on food, clothing, pottery, and migration; little to nothing exists that belies any celebrated artisans with the exception of great architects. Three millennia ago, however, something amazing happened in Greece. A scattering of urban centers became strong and resourceful enough to support a new type of citizen: the philosopher.