CLA204H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Chryseis, Homeric Hymns, Calchas
Document Summary
Homer: a name that we have attached to these texts (cid:449)e do(cid:374)"t reall(cid:455) k(cid:374)o(cid:449) a(cid:374)(cid:455)thi(cid:374)g a(cid:271)out hi(cid:373) other than that he wrote the illiad (might be more than one person). The first lege(cid:374)d a(cid:271)out hi(cid:373) (cid:449)as that he"s traditio(cid:374)all(cid:455) (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:272)ei(cid:448)ed as o(cid:374)e si(cid:374)gle gu(cid:455). There (cid:449)ere lots of oral poetry and professional bards were very common. There is a lot of repeated phrases and epithets good to recite from memory that you can recite over and over again. Thi is a long poem about heroes and deeds of them. The illiad starts as (cid:862)i(cid:374) (cid:373)edias res(cid:863) = starts i(cid:374) the (cid:373)iddle of thi(cid:374)gs. The illiad starts i(cid:374) the (cid:373)iddle of the trojan war (going on for almost a decade). If you want to fully understand this myth, you have t o start (cid:862)a(cid:271) o(cid:448)o(cid:863) = starti(cid:374)g fro(cid:373) the (cid:448)er(cid:455) (cid:271)egi(cid:374)(cid:374)i(cid:374)g starti(cid:374)g fro(cid:373) the (cid:862)egg(cid:863) Leda (cid:449)as (cid:373)arried to t(cid:455)(cid:374)dareus, the ki(cid:374)g of parta.
