Homer and Homeric Poetry

We know little about Homer, and no one is sure that he wrote all of the Iliad and Odyssey poems, although scholars accept that there is a language and style concistency throughout the whole of both poems.  There is not even much proof that such a person ever lived, although it is known that some poems written by a man named Homer were read aloud in the Greek city of Sparta, about 2,500 years ago. Analysts seem to forget, though, that, in this part of the globe, focussing on the individual creator of any art masterpiece is of far less importance than doing so for the creation itself!

 

One of the reasons why so little is known about Homer is that, in those times, most poets drifted from place to place, singing and reciting poems for food or a little money.  They did not often write down their poems; and sometimes they would borrow verses from other poets, and add to them or change them.  Often kings would listen to these poets, and it is said that Homer’s poems were so well liked that the kings would take time from their war-making to hear them read aloud.  Alexander the Great is supposed to have slept with Homer’s poems tucked away in a golden box lying next to him.

 

Homer’s style has been copied by many poets, and his works have been translated into most modern languages.  Scholars consider the poetry of the Chios native as great as any ever written.

 

It is of great interest to know, nevertheless, that the Homeric poems had the way to sing them embodied into their text; syllables containing short and long vowels received differentiated accents, not to mention the pronunciation of the "spiritus asper" as /h/ or not, of β, γ and δ as plosives and of diphthongs as such, i.e. in one sound or analyzed in the "phtongs" producing them. In other words, there was no need to "add" music to the lyrics as the ancient Greek language had the music built within its words and, thus, it was more "sung" than "spoken".  Having this in mind, one could compare the music of modern Greek "laika" (popular or folk) songs to the Homeric poems: Doing so, we were astounded to find out that the musical "ways" of Greek folk music are very much alike to the "music" built into the Homeric verses! Thus, whenever you join our zeibekiko popular dance, you actually dance to the Homeric poems!!!