¬All of us can recall media which we may not have read, viewed or heard but still we know the basic story, themes and characters. We may even use sayings derived from these works without realising their origin. Any such work which can achieve this level of cultural recognition, especially for prolonged periods of time spanning hundreds or thousands of years, has undoubtedly had an immeasurable and profound effect within it’s culture through morals and lessons taught via fiction or non-fiction. The oldest example of such a cultural powerhouse available to us within Europe comes from one of the most recognisable ancient civilisations, Ancient Greece.
The Ancient Greeks are often looked to as the paternal influence on Western culture. Their height in the Classical Period (480-323 BC) is looked to as a golden age in which the developments of art and architecture, maths and physics and of course political science and philosophy could thrive. Doctrines from Ancient Greece have survived millennia and persist in shaping our world today with concepts such as direct democracy continuing to spark debate. As such the works of many who led advancements in their field are known and well documented such as Pericles (495BC-429BC)-whose renovations to the Acropolis would lead to the lasting monument to Athenian dominance- and Plato (428BC-348BC) -whose opening of an academy in Athens marked the first instance of such an institution (one of higher education) in Europe.
Conversely, little is known of Homer. There is a consensus that he was born between the 9th and 8th centuries BC and within Asia Minor but little else. Even his authorship of the works “The Iliad” and particularly “The Odyssey” are disputed by some. Given Homer’s apparent detachment to the Classical Era (which he predated by several centuries) and lack of surviving records, it may be inferred that the impact of Homer had limited reach. As Charles.R.Hart wrote in an article for The Classical Journal in 1957:
How shall we write of Homer, we who have
The poems, but know nothing of the man
In spite of all this, the poems he composed held a place within Ancient Greece which reflected back to its citizens and to us today the values and morals that people we hold in the highest regard within our society have followed. In this sense, Homer and his works can be seen as delegates for portraying the idealistic view of Greece with a depiction of its most famous achievement, the siege of Troy. The significant impact of Homer can be seen throughout Ancient Greece as the epics were deeply woven into society. On top of this, the Iliad and the Odyssey have proven to stand the test of time not only influencing the Roman empire but also having a large impact in renaissance and modern literature and art as well as modern cultural thinking.
The Influence of Homer in Ancient Greece and Rome
Homer’s works were very highly regarded within Ancient Greek society and many stories of the era help us understand the impact today have survived. One such story is of the famous king Alexander the Great (356BC – 323BC) bringing the Iliad on several military campaigns. Accounts point to the Iliad being his favourite book of which an annotated copy had been made by Aristotle. Several similar anecdotes have lasted and go to show just how well known the stories were from kings taught by renowned academics to commoners who had little to no ability to read but would still have seen and heard depictions around their towns and villages from the vases displayed in inns to travelling bards to mosaics. The deep cultural roots of this work can be ascribed to the timeless story, themes and characters as well as literary techniques which would have involved the present audience.
First of all, it is important to look at the contents of the epics and recognise why the poems composed almost 3 millennia ago are recognised as masterpieces. The story of the Iliad follows the twilight year of the Greek siege of Troy and goes into much detail describing battles, characters and settings with emphatic similes. The pronounced use of this literary technique throughout both works is comparable to Shakespeare’s use (and pioneering) of metaphors. In fact, 9 extended similes are present in the Iliad’s conclusion, Book XXII. The reason this is significant is because it reflects one technique present which led to the Iliad and the Odyssey being both accessible to a wide and poorly educated audience (by playing up to shared experiences) as well as allowing philosophers and those studying to analyse exhaustively the meaning. Back to the contents of the Iliad, the verses broadly follow an Achilles who is torn between arrogance and loyalty to his friends after he refuses to continue fighting in the Greek campaign. Achilles’ character finally chooses to re-enter battle to avenge his companion, Patroclus, and the Iliad ends with the burial of Achilles’ adversary, Hector. The book explores both the glory and despair which war brings and places value on fighting rather then settling for a comfortable life. This would have resonated with all people, whether they owned a humble plot or sprawling palaces because of the universality of the message and how the fictional work’s morals can be applied to more than just war.
The second work which still survives is the Odyssey which follows Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The story is non-chronological as it opens with a scene twenty years after Odysseus sets off and proceeds to tell the story in flashbacks. Due to the use of flashbacks and a plot which when comparing to the Iliad we can infer that the story of Odysseus was likely known to his audiences and that this was likely a further rendition. This is important as the story can indulge in more sub-plots