Ancient Greece, Early  Archaic Period: Homer

Homer (c.750 BC)

Homer is by general consent the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He almost certainly belongs to the end of the Dark Age when Greek literature began to be written down. The prevalence of Ionic in the language of the poems suggests that he came from Ionia, perhaps Chios as maintained by Simonides of Ceos (c.556-c.468 BC).

The Iliad and the Odyssey have very different themes but they are episodes of a common story, an expedition overseas by the Greeks to the city of Troy in pursuit of Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, who had been carried off by Paris, a son of King Priam of Troy. After ten years of battle the city falls leaving the Greek heroes free to make their way homewards to their wives and families.

The Iliad begins with the anger of Achilles, one of the Greek warriors, who has been forced by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, to surrender a girl won as a prize. Achilles, feeling he has been humiliated by a man he regards as less than supreme, refuses to fight. Eventually, the Trojans, under their war leader Hector, another son of Priam, drive the Greeks back to their ships. Achilles relents in as much as he lends his armour to his companion Patroclus. When Patroclus is killed, Achilles in revenge kills Hector and drags him behind his chariot. As Achilles broods on his victory he is disturbed by King Priam, coming to ransom his dead son. As he sits with the old man, the myth that violence and killing lead to glory is broken for Achilles. He has already been told that he himself will soon die and Priam’s presence makes him realise  the effect his own death will have on his ageing father. 

In the Odyssey, the war has been won and Odysseus, one of the Greek war leaders, begins his journey home. The poem begins with his wife Penelope in their palace at Ithaca besieged by suitors. Odysseus is still alive and unknown to her he has been entrapped by the nymph Calypso. Zeus finally persuades her to let him go but he is shipwrecked by the sea god Poseidon. Odysseus is washed up in the kingdom of the Phaeacians, where he is rescued by Nausicaa, the daughter of the king, Alcinous. Offered hospitality and entertained with games and poetry, Odysseus relates a series of fantastic adventures he has undergone since leaving Troy. They include the capture of himself and his men by the Cyclops, his temptation by the Sirens, and sailing between the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Odysseus eventually leaves for Ithaca. He lands disguised as a beggar, but is eventually recognized by his old nurse and his faithful dog, Argus. After destroying the suitors he is finally reunited with Penelope.

Homer presents the Greek pantheon as a family living on Mount Olympus: Zeus and his wife Hera, their children Ares, the god of war, Hephaestus, god of fire and metal, and by Zeus’ other liaisons, Apollo, god of the arts, and Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. They seldom work in unity. In the Odyssey Athena acts as a protecting goddess while Poseidon, Zeus’ brother, is out to upset him. In the Iliad the gods are even more partisan: Hera and Athena are violently against the Trojans, while Apollo takes their side. The gods can also act unscrupulously with each other to get their own way. Hera tires Zeus with her lovemaking so that she can put her own stratagems in hand while he is recovering in sleep. Humans try to influence the gods by sacrifice, but the gods decide whether to listen or not and have the power to intervene in human affairs at will. They are, however, not all-powerful – in the Iliad even Zeus is unable to save his own son Sarpendon, who is fighting for Troy. The Greeks did not assume that every unexplained event was the work of the Olympian gods. With the power of the gods less than absolute there was some room left for human beings to exercise free will and to take responsibility for their own actions.