Homer: The Iliad

In the Western classical tradition, Homer (/ˈhoʊmər/; Greek: Ὅμηρος, Hómēros) is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.
When he lived is controversial. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before Herodotus' own time, which would place him at around 850 BC; while other ancient sources claim that he lived much nearer to the supposed time of the Trojan War, in the early 12th century BC.
The formative influence played by the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the teacher of Greece. Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds. Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds.
The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.
Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death and the sack of Troy, prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, so that when it reaches an end, the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.
Along with the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC. The Iliad contains over 15,000 lines, and is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek with other dialects.
This audio collection contains a treasury of 100 classic books and includes info on the life and times of the author, the theme of the book, the characters, the story outline, a concise yet detailed abridgement of the story and a discussion of the values that make each book one of the great classical works of literature.
© ''IntelliQuest World's 100 Greatest Books'' 1995
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

[@valken666]

Best video I've seen in a long, long while. Congratulations and thanks for posting this Eric.

[@victoriaoshea4865]

Very good ! I am going to repeat listening so as to remember better

[@imtiazahmed1922]

good video thanks

[@mikeyohagan2044]

great author ive read the lliad and the oydessey. the chapman translation great stuff!

[@t50teacher6144]

I got the mp3 files.. all the sessions. who is the narrator? what is his name?

[@marioriospinot]

Nice.

[@1cordwell]

Apologies for any misunderstanding but at the end of discussing poleis I used what you said about Sparta and Athens having different constitutions as evidence. And though they had broadly the same cultural beliefs, I'm sure you will agree there were still differences, such as Athens and Sparta's differences in the belief on how to treat slaves. Thank you for mentioning the different words in Ancient Greek for 'love' as I was about to use Plato's Symposium as evidence.

[@sgt7]

Background ends at 25:12.

[@NENDOSIA]

This is the first I heard of this about Patroklos. You are correct about Phoenix as he was Achilleus' pedagoge after Chiron the Centaur. Peleus' brother was Telemon and Telemon's son big Ajax. Making Achilleus and big Ajax first cousins, and on either side of the Greek camp protecting the Greeks. Therefpre Telemon and Peleus are 1'st cousin's with Patroklos as their parents were brothers Aeacus and Meniotes. Aeacus and Meniotes father was Actor and Actor's father Myrmedon.

[@adamscandiman5108]

Please how does the homer Iliad demonstrate that for any community or state, war affects all the key aspects of life -political,social, religious, economic and psychological

[@maxchau8558]

Can you also post socrates tape? I lost that very tape which I loved. thank you.

[@NENDOSIA]

This is why Ajax fought so fiercely for the body and carried it himself This is why he went crazy when Achilleus armour was not given to him as it was his inheiretance, and it drove him to suicide as a result of shame and disrespect.

[@1cordwell]

If you look at Book 9 of the Iliad then I am fairly sure that it is Phoenix, not Partoklus, who is the guardian of Achilles. Patroklus was sent to the home of Peleus for murder and Pheonix went out of choice, escaping the father he wished to murder but was advised against by the gods. Though I do not have a copy to hand and would not be able to read the original, from memory, I believe there was a mention in Xenephon's Constitution of Athens relating to how only a chaste form of the...

[@thethreemusketeers930]

nice vid

[@thethreemusketeers930]

u cool

[@ericmasters9680]

[@1cordwell]

... 'typical' Greek mentor relationship was allowed in Sparta. Though I accept this is evidence against homosexuality in Ancient Greek culture, does it not imply by mention that in other poleis there was practice of a sexual mentoral role? You mentioned earlier about evidence against homosexuality in Ancient Athens being visible in The Athenian Constitution, are you referring to the one attributed to Aristotle? If so which section as I could not find a mention?

[@1cordwell]

Cont. So, we have established that 'Greece' was comprised of multiple poleis, each autonomous, as shown by your reference to Sparta and Athens both having different constitutions. Each of these had their own laws (except examples such as the Delian League) and it is possible that there are some poleis I do not know who outlawed homosexuality, though Athens and Sparta during the Hellenic period did not. One example of encouraged homosexuality during the Hellenic period, the sacred band of Thebes

[@1cordwell]

re-reading I realise my first sentence is not clear. "...as evidence" hence implying my acknowledgement that you understood that they had autonomous 'governments'. That was the reason why I used "should" in my comment as I assumed you would have been familiar with the idea. That was why I was confused with the use of the word "Greece" as my understanding is that the first recorded use was in Delphi after the Persian wars and that the 'Greeks' would not have been familiar with the concept.

[@1cordwell]

For a person who claims to know a lot about Hellenic history, you should be aware that during the Hellenic period 'Greece' did not exist. Instead 'Greece' was comprised of multiple 'poleis' or City States, Sparta and Athens are two examples of this. It could be argued that 'Greece' existed after being conquered by Alexander the Great (even though it was not named Greece), however this was the Hellenistic period, so I am assuming you are not referring to it. (see next comment)

[@Astyanaz]

Likewise India did not exist before the British, but the words refer to a specific piece of land.

[@nixter888]

Homer: Grandson of Odysseus, son of Telemachus and Polykastis daughter of Nestor at Pylos.His name was Homer Tilemachou Odysseidis ,and he lived the time of Odysseus, and not the 800 BC,and he wrote dawn the story,from first hand! The Roman Emperor Hadrian asked the Delphic Oracle about Homer's birthplace and parentage. The Oracle replied that Homer came from Ithaca and that Telemachus was his father by Epicasta,or Polycastis daughter of Nestor.THE TRUTH HAD TO BE SAID!

[@kalokagathia9990]

Wow! That´s great! I came just to the conclusion that Homer had to be a person who was identical to Odysseus (only Odysseus himself remained alive from all people arriving from Troy, so, he was the only one man, who was able to say anything about the war of Troy, and, as it is known, Iliad ends by Hector´s burial, while for example about the wooden horse we may have knowledge just from The Odyssey etc.)or who lived at the time of Odysseus and who lived very close to him. Can you disclose the sources you found the mentioned info? According to Hesiodos and also Hyginos Telemachus and Polycasta had a son his name was Persepolis, but I haven´t found more data. According to other sources Telemachus had a son also with Circe - Latinus - who was the predecessor of Latins. But there is an info also about Telegonos, who was son of Odysseus and Circe and who killed Odysseus (just he did not know that Odysseus is his father). Sources are various... Also I know that Emperor Hadrian was a well-educated and cultured man and that he admired Hellenic civilisation. Till today you are the only one who can support my theory concerning the different explanation of the early Greek (Hellenic) history as it is shown in the major part of books and publications... Thanks!!!

[@crazyforcoffee5950]

DOH!!

[@habesha9779]

actually there is a Simpson episode about the Odyssey.

[@NENDOSIA]

My apologies on my comment about not being able to read as I messed up on the reading.The sacred band of Thebes, was heroes not homosexuals, but if you do have valid proof I would be interested in learning. I can read ancient Greek so please if you can give me authentic proof and not mistranslations. Or at least the reference so I can find it in the original text.

[@JonesofArc]

Jones of Arc has an interesting interpretation of these epics..i.e Homer's 'secret' message for generations of men. Have a listen...kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIfMlKFsq72VasU

[@christlegreen9458]

Today, there are many Zeus's.

[@NENDOSIA]

This is again a western version of things. We are the direct decendants of the Pelasgians who are the first people to inhabit Hellas. Deukalion was the Pelasgian we decended from and Phyrra his wife and through his son Hellen and Orsieda the Hellenic stock came. The first Hellenic city is Sesklos 7500 bc of which the temple was the blueprint to all other temples even the Parthenon,

[@bellatrixkucich293]

Correct!

[@adamscandiman5108]

Please how does the homer Iliad demonstrate that for any community or state,war affects all the key aspects of life-political,social,religious, economic and psychological

[@Toyon95]

Homer Simpson, who could have thought...

[@kingagamemnon1721]

Im alive

[@itstime9986]

LOL

[@galaxies101]

+King Agamemnon How's the wife? ;)

[@1cordwell]

This was an army supposedly comprised of 150 homosexual male couples. The logic was that you would rather die before allowing your lover to die, and if your lover was the man holding their shield next to you, then neither of you would be willing to die: the ultimate military motivation. So, a very clear example of Hellenic homosexuality, definitely not forbidden. In fact it is generally excepted by scholars that Patroclus and Achilles were lovers, not cousins, and so to an extent he may be right

[@NENDOSIA]

Hello Eric. Its a good "western version". The dates for Homer and the war are off by 2000 years. Also what is not know by westerners is that Homer was Odysseus grandson, the son of Telemaxos. The Trojan War happened at 2988 BC.

[@NENDOSIA]

Yes I am because the records show this to have happened. The indoeuropean theory is a recent theory, and this Sumer is not known by anyone before the 1800's. All evidence shows that the Kretans were the first civilization, and everything went out to the world from them.

[@NENDOSIA]

Thanks for the western historical lesson, EΛΛΑΣ existed not as a nation with borders but as a people with the same language and beliefs. If you could read better than you write you would have read the Spartan AND Athenian Constitution ( two separate cities). ΕΛΛΑΣ encompassed modern day Greece, east to Turkey to about Ankara, west to Italy, North to the Danube. So if borders were placed around all the Hellenic societies that would be Greece.

[@tinachavez8522]

he dint write them

[@NENDOSIA]

All evidence confirms Hellenes, Pelasgians, Carians, and the original islanders of Hellas the Pheonicians, who later migrated out to modern Isreal and Palestine. The Pheonicians were later called Palestinians after the name of the Roman Province. In the seventh Century the Arabs annexed the lands. Hellenic culture was dominant in that area since 7 000 bc. .

[@mime1926]

Homer was assyrian not greek. His education is proof of that. The content of the Iliad is very similar to a number of assyrian stories. Have you heard of the fall of Ugarit? invaded by the "sea people". Or the story of King Keret who goes on a military expedition and finds a new wife-Hurriya? Or King Enmerkar who sends an emissionary to another city? Or the story of Aqhat and King Daniel whose son receives a magic bow and refuses to give it up the god of war?

[@iliricumsacrum6036]

houw can exist "greek" at that time ? Greec is from 1821 !!!

[@nixter888]

SHUT UP!..YOU'RE TOO LITTLE AND UNIMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE GREEKS!

[@tozmaj]

nixter888 The first time the term Graeci was used from Aristotle to call the Dorians of Epir that had adapted Hellenism as a culture. Hellenism was a way of life practiced by the Semitic-Ionians in Athens. Homer was a Dorian that he wrote Iliad in Semitic-Ionian language, by using the Semitic-Phoenician alphabet. There were no Semitic-Ionians neither in Iliad nor in Odyssey.

[@nixter888]

Jam Zot There were not Semitic people in Greece,Ionians were pure Greeks,Iliad and Odyssey were written with the Greek Alphabet! Greeks never took their Alphabet from the Phoenicians which were not Semites,...The deception that the Greeks took their Alphabet from the Phoenicians is long gone!..The Phoenicians took the Greek letters from the Greek Pelasgians.In early 2007, in an article that appeared in “The Israel Exploration Journal”, distinguished Harvard professors Lawrence E. Stager and Frank Moore Cross commenting on several Philistine inscriptions found in the ancient city of Ashkelon in Israel, wrote that the inscriptions "reveal, for the first time, convincing evidence that the early Philistines of Ashkelon were able to read and write in a non-Semitic language, as yet undeciphered… perhaps it is not too bold to propose that the inscription is written in a form of Cypro-Minoan script utilized and modified by the Philistines - in short, that we are dealing with the Old Philistine script." Cross further states that the script had some characteristics of Linear A, the writing system used in the Aegean from 1650 B.C. to 1450 B.C. This undeciphered script was replaced by another, Linear B, which was identified with the Minoan civilization of Crete and was finally decoded in the mid-20th century. Hence, these Cretan migrants brought with them not only the Minoan Greek language, but also the linear script, the early Hellenic syllabic alphabet that planted the seed for the evolution of a regional rooted alphabet. Archaeology, published a report in Nestor (an American Archaeological Journal of the UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA -- 16th year, 1989, page 2288). In this report, he submits and deciphers plates with Greek Linear writing found at the cyclopean wall of Pilikates, in Ithaca, dated, through the use of modern scientific methods, back to 2700 B.C., The language of these plates was Greek, and the decoding by professor Fore resulted in the following syllabic text, expressed phonetically: A]RE-DA-TI. DA-MI-U-A-.A-TE-NA-KA-NA-RE (ija)-TE. The phonetic equivalent of this is translated, always according to the professor, as: "Ιδού τι εγώ η Αρεδάτις δίδω εις την ανασσαν, την θεάν Ρέαν: 100 αίγας, 10 πρόβατα, 3 χοίρους" [Here is what I, Aredatis, gives to the queen- goddess Rea, 100 goats, 10 sheep, 3 pigs].Thus, Fore proved that the Greeks were writing and speaking Greek at least 1400 years before the appearance of the Phoenicians and their script in history.But, the archaeological excavations in Greece during the last 15 years have given us many more great surprises: The Greeks were writing using not only Linear A and B, but also a type of writing identical to that of the alphabet since at least 6000 B.C. In fact, at Dispilio, in the lake of Kastoria, in northern Greece, professor G. Houmouziadis discovered a plate with writing very similar to that of the alphabet, which was dated, using radioactive Carbon-14 and visual photothermal methodology, back to 5250 B.C. . Three years later, N. Samson, a curator of the Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities Department, discovered shards of vases ("ostraka") with letters identical to the present Greek alphabet while excavating at the "Cyclop’s Cave," on the deserted island of Yioura, near the inhabited island of Alonnissos, in the Northern Sporades island complex. These vases were dated to 5,500 to 6,000 B.C. with the same methods The same archaeologist, while performing excavations on the island of Milos, discovered vessels of the proto-cycladic period (mid-3rd millennium B.C.) with letters identical to the Greek letters: "X," "N," "M," "K," "Ξ" [ksi],"Π" [p], "Ο," & "Ε." ( N. Samson's interview in Davlos, issue 204, December 1998, page 12749.) ENJOY!

[@iliricumsacrum6036]

nixter888 shut up , why ? couse I asked you something ? you must bee very frustrated greek ..............!!!

[@nixter888]

***** Greeks existed since 11600 years ago,dude,and anything you say does not change the truth! Why don't you ask your self where you come from,and leave the Greeks alone! Darling!

[@NENDOSIA]

Your supposed homosexual army never existed since homosexuality was not permitted. That must be the logic of the homosexual translators who were looking to somehow legitimize their preference. What is generally accepted in the west is complete nonsense to Greeks. Achilleus' father was Peleus, and his father Aeacus. Patroklos' father was Meniotes and the brother of Aeacus. Therefore to Greeks Patroklos is his uncle and guardian. To the west he was his homosexual lover. (CONT"D)

[@NENDOSIA]

GOLDVIOLIN - only a homosexual thinks like you. If you knew anything about Hellenic history, you would know homosexuality was forbidden in Greece. Read the Spartan and Athenian Constitution and you will find out what happens to homosexuals. So I don't know what kind of films you will be making. "your story"