Homer Flashcards
(14 cards)
Q: How is Homer often seen in cultural memory?
A: As an idealized, constructed figure representing creativity, poetic genius, and originality across ages.
Q: What is Homer sometimes considered?
He embodies elements of myth, fiction, and a collective cultural identity.
Q: How did the ancient world treat Homer’s biography?
A: Ancient sources offered conflicting dates and fictional details, emphasizing myth over historical fact.
Q: What does The Contest Between Homer and Hesiod show?
A: It mythologizes their rivalry and reflects early audiences’ interpretations of poetry and value systems.
Q: In The Contest Between Homer and Hesiod, why does Hesiod win?
A: He persuades people toward peace and agriculture rather than battle and destruction.
Q: What qualities does Homer represent in the Contest myth?
A: Heroic stature, divine heritage (daughter of a Muse, son of Telemachus), larger-than-life creativity.
Q: What role did bards (aoidoi) play within Homeric poems?
A: They were respected performers, integral to community life, distinguished by song themes.
Q: How did bardic performance evolve by the 5th century?
A: Rhapsodes emerged — professional performers who publicly recited standardized versions of epic poems.
Q: What cultural shift happened around the idea of “the poet”?
A: The performer became linked to an absent author — leading to the figure of “Homer” as the ultimate poet.
Q: What do “Lives of Homer” tell us?
A: Different cultures imagined different biographies for Homer, adapting him to their own contexts and needs.
Q: What was the main argument between Unitarians and Analysts about Homer?
A: Unitarians saw Homeric poems as unified; Analysts viewed them as composite and evolving.
Q: What is the current view on Homeric composition?
A: Homer’s work is seen as transitional — originating orally but eventually stabilized in writing.
Q: Why is editing or translating Homer significant?
A: It forces us to reconsider what we mean by “Homer” and how we interpret authorship.
Q: How is Homer perceived overall?
A: As a timeless, unknowable face of epic tradition — a symbol of poetic genius and universal human experience.
