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Homer
Homer (c. 750 BCE) is perhaps the greatest of all epic poets and his legendary status was well established by the time of Classical Athens. He composed (not wrote, since the poems were created and transmitted orally, they were not written...
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Homer
A 1st century CE portrait of the Greek blind poet Homer, celebrated author of the Iliad and Odyssey. This bust is based on a 5th century BCE original but even that was an idealised representation as no contemporary portrait existed. (Vatican...
Definition
Trojan War
The Trojan War was fought between Greeks and the defenders of the city of Troy in Anatolia sometime in the late Bronze Age. The story has grabbed the imagination for millennia but a conflict between Mycenaeans and Hittites may well have occurred...
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Portrait of Homer
Marble portrait bust of the blind poet Homer with Greek letters carved on each side, Antonine copy (2nd century CE) of a Hellenistic original of the 2nd century BCE, found 1780 near Baiae (Italy). Now in the British Museum.
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The Apotheosis of Homer
Marble relief depicting the Apotheosis (elevation to divine status) of the poet Homer with Zeus, Apollo and the Muses, signed by the sculptor Archelaus of Priene, ca. 225-205 BCE, found in Italy but thought to have been sculpted in Egypt...
Definition
Ancient Greek Literature
Greek literature has influenced not only its Roman neighbors to the west but also countless generations across the European continent. Greek writers are responsible for the introduction of such genres as poetry, tragedy, comedy, and western...
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Discovery of Troy
In his epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Greek poet Homer (c. 750 BCE) told the story of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by an alliance of Greek city-states. Troy was also known by its Latinised name of Ilium...
Definition
Iliad
Homer's Iliad describes the final year of the Trojan War, a legendary conflict between an alliance of Greek cities and the city of Troy in Anatolia. It was probably written in the 8th century BCE after a long oral tradition. The Greeks themselves...
Definition
Ganymede
Ganymede (pronounced GAH-nuh-meed) is a youth in Greek mythology who is abducted by Zeus because of his great beauty and brought to Mount Olympus to serve as cupbearer. The story first appears in Homer’s Iliad without any suggestion of a...
Definition
Odyssey
Homer's Odyssey is an epic poem written in the 8th century BCE which describes the long voyage home of the Greek hero Odysseus. The mythical king sails back to Ithaca with his men after the Trojan War but is beset by all kinds of delays and...