Lecture 8 Flashcards
1
Q
Homer
A
- from Asia Minor
- blind
- wrote the Iliad, Odyssey, and other works
- earliest Greek poet
2
Q
Homeric Question(s)
A
- did Homer exist?
- were the Iliad and the Odyssey composed by one person?
- when were they composed and how?
- did the Trojan War actually happen
3
Q
Historicity of Trojan War: Did it actually happen?
A
- according to mainstream history of Greek and Roman periods, yest it happened between 1400-1200 BCE
- by 18th and 19th century, most saw it as a myth with no historical basis
4
Q
Heinrich Schliemann
A
- 1871
- Believed Trojan War happened and devoted his life after retirement to prove that it happened. He wanted to find Troy to prove it happened. Knew some things based on Homer’s text. Knew it was near the Hellespont in a portion of Turkey, and a tell (manmade hill), among other things. Calgart suggested that Schlieman dig at Hissarlik. He couldn’t dig there himself because he didn’t have enough money so they teamed up.
5
Q
Troy 2
A
- large city wall
- gold, jewelry, and other riches
- burning destruction
- 2600-2500 BCE
- series of land built upon each other, so he digs down and comes to large city, Troy 2
- thought he proved existence of Troy, but got kicked out of Turkey because he stole the gold
- 9 levels of Troy
- couldn’t possibly be Troy of Trojan War because its over 1000 years too early. These people did not have technology or ability to wage war. Civilization was way too advanced
6
Q
Troy 6
A
- 1300-1190 BCE
- Mycenaean Pottery-contact with Greece
- large city with strong walls
- violent destruction
- some weapons and one skeleton found
7
Q
In Greece
A
- Mycenaean period 1650-1150 BCE
- Schlieman found many things
- epithets, strong walled Mycenae
- Sandy Pylos
- Bronze Weapons
- Boar’s Tusk Helmet
8
Q
Periods of Greek History
A
- Minoan
- Mycenaean (most likely to have happened in this period)
- Iron Age
- Archaic (but works of Homer not written till here)
- Classical
- Hellenistic
- 550 Years between the events of the Iliad and the writing of the poem.
- Poems written in the Archaic period can preserve kernels from Mycenaean period
9
Q
Oral-formulaic composition
A
- Milman Parry and Albert Lord
- noticed things didn’t follow the way people normally write things (Sit down and write about what’s happening)
- creation and performance go together
- Yugoslavia; Serbia epic
- bards (recite poems to music)
- type of methods these bards use is same as Homer
- Confirming that Homer never sat down to write the poem, it was composed orally over a long period of time by people speaking and passing it down over generations, not by writing it down in a certain point in time like modern literature
- evidence for oral omposition
10
Q
Formulas
A
- epithets: descriptors of people and places (Troy vs. Ilium)
- “Type Scenes” Repetitive scenes, (warriors arming for battle, sacrifices, all use the same language throughout) Scenes the poet uses as he thinks of next part
- repetition: phrases, speeches, verses
- lists
- all these things make ways of writing the poem easier to recite orally
- they let the bard sing one thing without thinking about it, stay in meter while considering what’s coming next
11
Q
So who was Homer?
A
- most likely personification of the poem and its long composition.
- he’s an idea tied to these texts, rather than someone who ever lived
- all the Yugoslavian bards credited the one particularly good bard for inspiring their best work, very similarly to how Homer is credited.
12
Q
So did the Trojan War happen?
A
- none of the evidence Schlieman found is hard evidence to argue for it happening.
- all circumstantial
- possible that a letter from the Hities and Akhaian denotes a conflict near the Hellespont that could provide a seed to prove the war
13
Q
Hektor
A
- oldest sun of Priam and Hecuba
- greatest warrior of all Trojans, leads Trojan army
- honorable
- wife is Andromakhe
- son is Astyanax
- Paris’ brother
- believes he’s going to die
14
Q
Hektor to Andromakhe
A
- she wants him to stay with her and her baby and to have his men move by the fig tree because the city is weakest there and to defend them.
- Hektor says hell nah because he believes in honor
- believes he’d be a coward if he didn’t go fight on the front lines
- he knows he’ll die when he goes out to fight and that Troy will fall and his wife will become someone’s slave but in his mind honor for his name is more important that his wife’s momentary suffering
- he’s fighting for glory and honor and not for his family. He’s not fighting for his city either or he’d follow his wife’s plan
15
Q
Hektor’s interests
A
- time (tee-may): honor
- arete: excellence
- kleos: glory/fame
