The Iliad: Homer - Softcover

Homer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1539003590 ISBN 13: 9781539003595

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

‘Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans’. The Iliad of Homer Rendered into English Prose by Samuel Butler Translated by Alexander Pope In the literary Trojan War of the Iliad, the Olympian gods, goddesses, and minor deities fight and play great roles in human warfare. Unlike practical Greek religious observance, Homer's portrayals of them suited his narrative purpose, being very different from the polytheistic ideals Greek society used. To wit, the Classical-era historian Herodotus says that Homer, and his contemporary, the poet Hesiod, were the first artists to name and describe their appearance and characters. In Greek Gods Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths, Mary Lefkowitz discusses the relevance of divine action in the Iliad, attempting to answer the question of whether or not divine intervention is a discrete occurrence (for its own sake), or if such godly behaviors are mere human character metaphors. The intellectual interest of Classic-era authors, such as Thucydides and Plato, was limited to their utility as "a way of talking about human life rather than a description or a truth", because, if the gods remain religious figures, rather than human metaphors, their "existence"—without the foundation of either dogma or a bible of faiths—then allowed Greek culture the intellectual breadth and freedom to conjure gods fitting any religious function they required as a people.

About this title

About the Author:

Homer

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1539003590
• ISBN 13: 9781539003595
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 228