Ancient accounts of Homer include numerous passages in which archaic and classical Greek poets and prose authors mention or allude to
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. In addition, they include the ten biographies of Homer, often referred to as ''Lives''.
Dating of Homer
Dating Homer's life poses a challenge as there are no known records of his life other than his writings of the ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Iliad'', ...
,'' as well as the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
.'' All accounts are based on tradition. The only explicit periodization hinted in written records comes from
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
, who maintains that
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
and Homer lived no more than 400 years before his own time, therefore around 850 BC. Artemon of
Clazomenae
Klazomenai ( grc, Κλαζομεναί) or Clazomenae was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia and a member of the Ionian League. It was one of the first cities to issue silver coinage. Its ruins are now located in the modern town Urla ...
, an
annalist, gives
Arctinus of Miletus
Arctinus of Miletus or Arctinus Milesius ( grc, Ἀρκτῖνος Μιλήσιος) was a Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC, he was said to have been ...
, a pupil of Homer, a birth date of 744 BC. It is often assumed that he lived between 750 and 700 BC.
The lives and the epigrams
There are 10 known extant lives of Homer. Eight of these are edited in
Georg Westermann's ''Vitarum Scriptores Graeci minores'', including a narrative entitled the ''
Contest of Homer and Hesiod
The ''Contest of Homer and Hesiod'' (Greek: ''Ἀγὼν Oμήρου καὶ Ἡσιόδου'', Latin: ''Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi'' or simply ''Certamen'') is a Greek narrative that expands a remark made in Hesiod's ''Works and Days'' to construc ...
''. 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). It most likely belongs to the 2nd century AD, although the other lives are more recent in origin.
The lives preserve curious short poems and fragments of verse attributed to Homer, the so-called ''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 interest turns sometimes on the characteristics of particular localities, for example,
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...
and
Cyme,
Erythrae
Erythrae or Erythrai ( el, Ἐρυθραί) later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus (modern name: Çeşme), on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythra ...
, and
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida (Crete), Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida (Turkey), Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which wa ...
; others relate to certain trades or occupations: potters,
[Epigram 14, Buckley page 431.] 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.
Again, 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. Thus, Epigram 4 mentions a blind poet, a native of Aeolian
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...
, 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.
The minor poems
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
The Epic Cycle ( grc, Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος, Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the '' Cypria'', the ''Aethiopis'', the so-ca ...
and
Theban Cycle. Thus:
#The hymn to the Delian
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
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
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mast ...
; his songs deserve the prize for all time to come."
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
, who quotes this passage to show the ancient character of the Delian festival, seems to have no doubt of the Homeric authorship of the hymn. This does not necessarily imply that Homer was born a Chian: many accounts say that he was from Smyrna and lived in Chios later in his life.
#The ''
Margites'', a humorous poem known as a reputed work of Homer down to the time of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
, 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 to be the native city of Homer, a claim supported in the early times of Homeric learning by the Colophonian poet and grammarian
Antimachus. However, this does not contradict Homer being from Smyrna, because Smyrna was founded by Colophonians and there was a possibly close but unfriendly link between the two cities. The
Suda
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...
reports (almost certainly drawing upon ancient accounts that are now lost) 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.
#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
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
appears further in the predominance given in the poem to
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
.
#The ''
Little Iliad'' and the ''
Phocais'', according to the
pseudo-Herodotean life, were composed by Homer when he lived at
Phocaea with a certain
Thestorides, who carried them off to Chios and there gained fame by reciting them as his own. The name Thestorides occurs in Epigram 5.
#A similar story was told about the poem called the ''
Capture of Oechalia
''The Capture of Oechalia'' (traditionally ''The Sack of Oechalia'', grc, Οἰχαλίας Ἅλωσις) is a fragmentary Greek epic that was variously attributed in Antiquity to either Homer or Creophylus of Samos; a tradition was reported ...
'', the subject of which was one of the exploits of
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
. It passed under the name of
Creophylus of Samos Creophylus ( Ancient Greek: , ''Kreophylos ho Samios'') is the name of a legendary early Greek epic poet, native to Samos or Chios. He was said to have been a contemporary of Homer and author of the lost epic '' Capture of Oechalia''. According to ...
, 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.
#Finally, the ''
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...
'' was confidently counted as the work of Homer. As to the ''
Epigoni'', which carried on the Theban story, there was less certainty.
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, in short, 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.
Arctinus of Miletus
A confirmation of this view from the negative side is furnished by the chief city among the Asiatic colonies of Greece,
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
. No legend claims for Miletus even a visit from Homer or a share in the authorship of any Homeric poem. Yet,
Arctinus of Miletus
Arctinus of Miletus or Arctinus Milesius ( grc, Ἀρκτῖνος Μιλήσιος) was a Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC, he was said to have been ...
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
The ''Aethiopis'' , also spelled ''Aithiopis'' ( Greek: , ''Aíthiopís''; la, Aethiopis), is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War ...
'' 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, we find no trace of the disputed authorship which is so common with other Cyclic poems. How has this come about? Why have the works of Arctinus escaped the attraction which drew to the name of Homer such epics as the ''Cypria,'' the ''Little Iliad,'' the ''
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...
,'' the ''Epigoni,'' the ''
Capture of Oechalia
''The Capture of Oechalia'' (traditionally ''The Sack of Oechalia'', grc, Οἰχαλίας Ἅλωσις) is a fragmentary Greek epic that was variously attributed in Antiquity to either Homer or Creophylus of Samos; a tradition was reported ...
'' and the ''
Phocais''? The most obvious account of the matter is that Arctinus was never so far forgotten that his poems became the subject of dispute. This may provide a glimpse of an early post-Homeric age in Ionia, when the immediate disciples and successors of Homer were distinct figures in a trustworthy tradition when they had not yet merged their individuality in the legendary Homer of the
Epic Cycle
The Epic Cycle ( grc, Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος, Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the '' Cypria'', the ''Aethiopis'', the so-ca ...
.
See also
*
Homeridae
*
Life of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)
Notes
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Accounts Of Homer
Homeric scholarship
Biographies of Homer