Authorship of The Iliad and The Odyssey has been assigned traditionally to an allegedly blind poet named Homer who lived about the eighth century, B.C. in Greek settlements on the western end of Asia Minor.  And that is all we know about him today. About the origin of the works themselves, we know with certainty hardly anything more.  Certainly, both works date to a long oral tradition in which they were recited or sung; the signatures of mnemonic (memorization) devices are easily identified throughout them.  Both appear in Greek history at the time writing was becoming more common and address the exploits that had already become legendary, helping to shape and fix an identify on the developing Greek-speaking world.  

Both works are heroic epic poems.  As such, they relate the affairs usually of a single major character, a male, and his exploits in battle, and in both adventures and misadventures with the gods.  They are frequently the builders of nations and the destroyers of others, and their characters become instructive to the people who relate their tales.

Readings

Read the Introduction to Homer, pp. 98 - 103
The Iliad, pp. 104 - 209
The Odyssey, pp. 209 - 514

Study Questions

1) Identify the driving passion that spurs Achilles in the Trojan War. What ultimately leads to his demise? Why isn't he a completely sympathetic character?  What seems to be Homer's attitude toward this jealous hero?

2) To what extent do the gods control the outcomes of the warring Greek heroes?  To what extent are their human counterparts able to finesse their influence?

3) Define the code of conduct that the two warring sides must observe, both ritually and personally.

4) As an "Adventure Hero," Odysseus must champion a series of dangerous encounters that impede his return to his wife Penelope in Ithaca as he returns from the Trojan War.  What do we learn of his character through his various episodes?  In what lie his commitments?  To what extent does his character rise above the interests of the episodes themselves?  Why is he justified in the expulsion and slaying of the suitors in his home?

Key Concepts

Personal versus Social Good
The extra-human prowess and sheer skill of the warrior heroes, Achilles and Odysseus, are checked by the necessities that pitch them headlong into the great battles that always threaten and sometimes achieve their undoing.  The question that remains in uneasy balance is the motivation itself--the need to achieve some victory for personal gain or the need to serve and save the kingdom?

The Question of the Greater Good
To what extent are we justified in serving the state, and to what extent can we justify the sacrifice of individuals in its service?  Is the welfare of the state more important than the innate value of the individual?  To what ends are we justified in sacrificing ourselves and those who serve with us?  The ambiguities that derive from the questions are those from which the heroes emerge as champions of one one service or the other--the individual good or the good of the state.  Out of the hero's response, nations are born or brought down and the human condition writ large against a vast canvas of deeds and exploits, plots and counterplots, intrigues, and victories.