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Aside from being amazingly long poems, what do the Iliad and the Odyssey have to say to us? The core of the Homeric poems is one of the greatest disasters which can befall man; the destruction of a city. A city is a representation of man's nobility. While living there his life is thoroughly humanized. When the city is destroyed, man must wander the earth or dwell in the open fields. Note however that Homer does not narrate the death of Troy in the Iliad. This could be poetic tact, or perhaps fear that giving detail to this event would swing the sympathy of the reader to the Trojan side.
While the Iliad is about events preceding the fall of Troy, the Odyssey is about aftermath. It is about the displacement and wandering that take place after the city has fallen. The Iliad and Odyssey proclaim that men's lives become forgotten dust unless they are given immortality by the song of a poet. As the narration proceeds with inhuman calm, the truth of life, however harsh or ironic, prevails over the occasions of feeling.
Translation of Homeric Poetry:
For hundreds of years Homer's audience was made up of listeners. Scholars can show us how oral poems are composed; it is less easy to determine how they were received; and almost impossible to hope for a corresponding effect by writing and publishing an English translation.
There are technical differences between Greek & English. Greek is a highly inflected language, English is not; Greek word order is loose, English is strict; Greek has three numbers, singular, plural and dual, where English has two. Greek verbs have three voices, active, passive and middle (a voice, partly analogous to the reflexive, used to show the subjects interest in the action of the verb), four main moods, indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative, and a rich and varied use of infinitives and participles. The English verb system, with it's many monosyllables and its array of auxiliaries, does not work in the same way. Greek also has a number of fairly distinct dialects, to include the Ionic which is used by Homer; modern English, in comparison, is very standardized.
Poetic Devices:
The Iliad is a design of extreme complexity and formal control. The Homeric poem is composed of dactylic hexameters: six feet, usually dactyls (long, short, short) except for the lasts foot, which has two syllables, either a dactyl without the final syllable (long, short) or a spondee (long, long). The poet may also substitute spondees elsewhere in the line to give a slow or heavy movement to his line.
Writing and Stylistic Devices:
The Iliad, like other epic poems, opens with the poets invocation to the Muse of Poetry. In this invocation, Homer states his theme, the wrath, or the anger, of Achilles and its effects, and he requests the aid of the Muse so that he can properly recount the story. The reader is then carried to the point where the trouble originally arose and the story begins.
Many phrases, sometimes entire passages, are repeated verbatim throughout the Iliad. These sequences are probably part of a collection of stock phrases that the oral poets had at their disposal. It has been shown that many of these formulas are based on metrics; they occur mostly at the ends of lines so they can fulfill the demands of the meter. Additionally, many of the descriptive phrases that are linked with a certain character match the number of syllables in a hero's name. For example there are 46 noun epithets to describe Achilles. Each has a different metrical value. The particular one used is determined by where it needs to fit into the poem.
These epithets are one of the most famous stylistic elements of Homer's verse. Some examples are: "swift-footed Achilles", "Diomedes of the great war cry", "Hector of the shinning helm", and "Agamemnon the lord of men". The become part of the characters' names themselves. The define the characters by putting them in their social roles or showing how their heroic stature is due to a particular skill or virtue.
It has been estimated that one third of the Iliad is repeated phrases. Homer contrast this use of stock epithets with extended similes which bring vivid, firsthand experience into the poem. The similes take us out of the battle and into other areas of human experience where events are equally tense and crucial. The similes often depict domestic life (making the poem a form of social encyclopedia), animals (creature of the hunt call our attention to savage, instinctive qualities and show how war exposes the beast beneath human culture), and natural catastrophes (just as natural destruction is inevitable so is the fate of the armies as the clash in battle).
For example, in one form or another, fire occurs about 200 times in the Iliad. Fire, or comparison of things to fire, forms a pattern of associations, all centering around the theme of heroic passion and death. Armor flashing or dashing like fire, the heat of battle, "a devine-kindled fire of stones", heroes who behave like fire, fire that behaves like heroes, sacrifices and funeral pyres. The list could go on. Likewise are water and wind used to the same image making effect, although to a lesser degree in sheer quantity.
Homer often introduces a character and then offers a short history either of his noble genealogy or of his heroic deeds. Sometimes the characters tell their own histories. This is an element of the fact that in a society where few could read history was passed on orally.
Finally, the Iliad is composed in large part of long speeches. These are either dramatic monologues or informal dialogues. This format may have offered the opportunity for dramatics during the recital of the poems. This format makes the poem easier to follow by allowing the characters to express themselves in depth. Further, this format give a the poem an immediate presence. We hear of people doing things, but if they have something to say to each other it is said right before us.
Interestingly, there is almost no interior dialogue in the poem. The characters speak rather than just think. Perhaps a reflection of the Homeric hero who must act to be a hero. Thoughts are private and not known to others, words however are like actions in that they are plain and visible to all.
The Hero in Homeric Poetry:
The homeric hero lives by strict social and cultural norms which guide his life at home and on the battlefield. His status as a hero depends on his understanding his place in society and performing in accordance with society's expectations.
The homeric hero accepts the duties of a hero, to include suffering and death.
The homeric hero believes his thoughts are derived from either society or a god. Nothing comes from within. The hero speaks to "his own great-hearted spirit" as though it were another person helping him make the right decisions.
The homeric hero is in fear of disgrace and fears the judgment of his community. The hero recognizes the rightness of his community's anger.
The homeric hero maintains heroic balance. The hero must insist upon his greatness while maintaining a proper modesty before the gods. He must know himself. He must be able to comprehend a situation and act accordingly. If the gods withdraw their help a hero must withdraw from battle. If a hero fails to recognize how much his action is ruled by the gods and makes his own decision he had to live with the shame of that mistake and the lose of approval and honor.
The homeric hero is depended upon by the community to defend social and religious rites and all other facets of community life.
The homeric hero can only establish his status through combat on the battlefield. He must show respect for social situations and his superiors and loyalty to his friends. In no way can he disgrace his family, community or himself. However, it is no disgrace to withdraw from an impossible situation because that is all a warrior can do at times.
The homeric hero can not endure insults and has to protect his reputation, to the death if necessary. Honor is paramount. His duty is to fight. Only through heroic action in battle can the hero achieve glory and immortality.
The homeric hero believes that men have to stand together in battle. Men have to respect each other and refrain from excessive cruelty. When killing a victim it should be done quickly and should not involve mutilation.
The Gods in Homeric Poetry:
The gods are not hallowed, they are characters, providing contrast to the humans and comic relief. Man is distinguished from the gods by his sense of dignity. The gods perform roles to move the plot along.
The gods also move destiny itself along. While appearing to have freewill, the gods in fact often do what they must do as opposed to what they want to do. While having the freedom of action on a small scale, on the large scale the gods must adhere to destiny. Even Zeus can not defy destiny, although he knows what will happen and may desire otherwise, for that would create disorder among the gods.
Comparisons to 20th Century Americans:
This is a loaded question for me, since I'm not to impressed with current "culture" or "society". Homer presents us with very idealist looks at the past. Even in a situation as terrible as war, the characters are still heroes, or struggling to be heroes and making honest mistakes in the process. Since this work was so popular in those days, I think it would be safe to conclude that the average Greek citizen regarded these characters with a reverence, such as we today place upon Mel Gibson, Kate Moss and the likes. While I will grant you that Mel Gibson has done some fine work, Given the choice between aspiring to be Mel or Achilles, I would take Achilles.
However, I am of the mind that our society is lacking in qualities such as honor, virtue, and morality. So, my choice is easily explained. Further, this is not to use the words honor, virtue, morality in quite the same ways as the "religious right" or even the "atheistic left" uses them. In Homers poems we see this qualities in men at a deeper level, as opposed to today where even these traits are more mask we were than beliefs we hold.
Were the Greeks any better at achieving these lofty qualities than we are? Probably not, they were only human and had all the faults that we have. Every generation believes they are living in the times of moral descent and that "the teenagers of today are going to destroy civilization". The Greeks were certainly as human as we are, and most of them never lived up to the examples in the Homeric poems no more that we live up to the images in our great literature. The Greeks and the Americans are only human, and I don't believe there are so many differences between us and them.
Source Materials:
The Art of The Odyssey, Howard W. Clark, 1967, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Cliffs Notes on Homer's The Iliad, Gary Carey, Editor, 1994, Cliffs Notes, Inc.
Barron's Book Notes, Homer's The Iliad, George Loutro, 1984, Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
Homer, A Collection of Critical Essays, George Steiner & Robert Fagles editors, 1962, Prentice-Hall, Inc.