Interesting Facts About Homer

Published on October 6, 2012 by Spill Guy in Arts

This is a list of the most interesting facts about the Greek author known as Homer. I hope you enjoy the facts!

15. In the Western classical tradition, Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet.

14. The Greek poet Homer lived sometime in the 9th or 8th century. His exact lifetime remains in debate and most of what is known about him comes from his work.

13. Although there are multiple accounts of Homer’s origins and life, scholars have been unable to validate the historical accuracy of any of them.

12. Homer’s birth date is disputed. Herodotus (who lived about 450 B.C.) believes Homer lived about 850 B.C.; other believe he lived earlier, closer to the Trojan war (11th or 12th century B.C.); some modern experts believe Homer lived later, about 600 B.C.

11. Homer’s works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds.

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10. His epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are included in the Western Canon, which includes the most influential literary works of Western culture.

9. Homer’s reputation in the classical period reached its apex when a religious following of the poet emerged. These followers believed Homer to have been divinely inspired in his writing.

8. Homer’s birth place is also disputed. Many towns in the Mediterranean claim to be Homer’s birthplace; tradition claims the island of Chios in the eastern Mediterranean.

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7. The epic poems were first set down in writing in about 700 B.C., although supposedly they were written long before that, being passed from generation to generation as performances.

6. Legends about Homer were numerous in ancient times. He was said to be blind. His birthplace has always been disputed.

5. Homer’s poetic style has been described as having a consistent formula, almost always using recurring epithets, verses and phrases to reiterate a meaning.

4. For many centuries, Homer’s work remained somewhat obscure. It was only during the neoclassical movement of the Renaissance that his writing regained prominence.

3. Some believe the poems were written by one person, while others believe a number of people contributed to the whole.

2. The study of Homer was required of all Greek students in antiquity, and his heroes were worshiped in many parts of Greece.

1. In the Hellenistic period, Homer was the subject of a hero cult in several cities. A shrine, the Homereion, was devoted to him in Alexandria by Ptolemy IV Philopator in the late 3rd century BC.