CLASSICS 2E03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Helen Of Troy, Basileus, Iliad
21 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Homer and epic poetry: earliest (perhaps) literature in greek language- c. 750 bce, archaic period: c. 750-480 bce, the iliad and odyssey are written poems descending from an oral poetic tradition. Stories within a larger cycle of stories centered on the sack of troy (the epic cycle) Legendary figure: oral poetic composition: creative uses of stock phrases or fourmulataie expressions. E. g "swift-footed achilles" "pitiless bronze"; "and the roads of the world grew dark: the iliad and the odyssey take place in an imagined past, the age of hero"s, the trappings of the bronze age. Sarpedon and glaucus (iliad 12. 310-321: reciprocity between community and hero. "fire-worshippers and snake-eaters": ancient greek city-state poleis, singular, polis, the main political units in greek history; located throughout the mediterrian basin, the homeric poems composed in the context of the early history of these city states. It is unintelligence to talk of the nation or country of greece in the context of ancient greek history.
