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THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1200 BCE-455 CE)

HOMERIC OR HEROIC PERIOD (1200-800 BCE)

A. What Is Classical Literature?

Classical literature refers to the great masterpieces of Greek, Roman, and other ancient civilizations. The works of
Homer, Ovid, and Sophocles are all examples of classical literature. The term isn't just limited to novels; it can also
include epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, pastoral, and other forms of writing.

Characteristics of Classical Literature.

1. Classical period was based on reason, order and rules

2. Most of the classic Literature's are based on some real-life event. For Example: A Tale of Two Cities- Based on
French Revolution. Anna Karenina, Madam Bovary-Adultery which was slowly growing in Europe during 19th
century.
3. Classic Literature's are not some fancy novels to while away your time. They offer you some valuable knowledge
about family, society and culture, which are even relevant in today's life.
4. Apart from dealing with the main objective, they also deal with other issues. In other words, it is a complete
package. For Example: War and Peace - Apart from dealing with its central objective, it also deals with politics,
love, religion and social cause.
5. They give a detailed description about the place, surroundings and characters involved, which in most cases is
unwarranted.

Homeric or Heroic Age (1200-800 BCE) Greek legends are passed along orally, including Homer's The Iliad and
The Odyssey. This is a chaotic period of warrior-princes, wandering sea-traders, and fierce pirates.

•This is called the "Homeric" period mainly because of the works by the Greek poet Homer. They include Iliad and
the Odyssey.

WHO IS HOMER?
 He was called the blind poet of Greece. Very little is known about him, but his transcendent genius is
vividly impresses upon his works. His countrymen called him “the Poet.”
 He is considered by many to be the earliest and most important of all the Greek writers, and the progenitor
of the whole Western literary tradition. He was a poetic pioneer who stood at a pivotal point in the
evolution of Greek society from pre-literate to literate, from a century’s old bardic tradition of oral verse to
the then new technique of alphabetic writing.
 Nothing definite is known of Homer the historical man, and indeed we do not know for sure that such a
man ever existed. However, of the many conflicting traditions and legends that have grown up around him,
the most common and most convincing version suggests that Homer was born at Smyrna in the Ionian
region of Asia Minor (or possibly on the island of Chios), and that he died on the Cycladic Island of Ios.
 Establishing an accurate date for Homer's life also presents significant difficulties as no documentary
record of the man's life is known to have existed. Indirect reports from Herodotus and others generally date
him approximately between 750 and 700 BCE.
 The characterization of Homer as a blind bard by some historians is partly due to translations of the Greek
"homêros", meaning "hostage" or "he who is forced to follow", or, in some dialects, "blind". Some ancient
accounts depict Homer as a wandering minstrel, and a common portrayal is of a blind, begging singer who
travelled around the harbour towns of Greece, associating with shoemakers, fisherman, potters, sailors and
elderly men in the town gathering places.

Writings

Exactly what Homer was responsible for writing is likewise largely unsubstantiated. The Greeks of the 6th and early
5th Centuries BCE tended to use the label “Homer” for the whole body of early heroic hexameter verse. This
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included “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”, but also the whole “Epic Cycle” of poems relating the story of the Trojan
War (also known as the “Trojan Cycle”), as well as the Theban poems about Oedipus and other works, such as the
“Homeric Hymns” and the comic mini-epic “Batrachomyomachia” (“The Frog-Mouse War”).

By around 350 BCE, the consensus had arisen that Homer was responsible for just the two outstanding epics, “The
Iliad” and “The Odyssey”. Stylistically they are similar, and one view holds that “The Iliad” was composed by
Homer in his maturity, while “The Odyssey” was a work of his old age. Other parts of the “Epic Cycle” (e.g.,
“Kypria”, “Aithiopus”, “Little Iliad”, “The Sack of Ilion”, “The Returns” and “Telegony”) are now considered to be
almost certainly not by Homer. The “Homeric Hymns” and “Epigrams of Homer”, despite the names, were likewise
almost certainly written significantly later, and therefore not by Homer himself.

 Some maintain that the Homeric poems are dependent on an oral tradition, a generations-old technique that
was the collective inheritance of many singer-poets. The Greek alphabet was introduced (adapted from a
Phoenician syllabary) in the early 8th Century BCE, so it is possible that Homer himself (if indeed he was a
single, real person) was one of the first generation of authors who were also literate. At any rate, it seems
likely that Homer's poems were recorded shortly after the invention of the Greek alphabet, and third-party
references to “The Iliad” appear as early as about 740 BCE.
 The language used by Homer is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other
dialects such as Aeolic Greek. It later served as the basis of Epic Greek, the language of epic poetry,
typically written in dactylic hexameter verse.
 In the Hellenistic period, Homer appears to have been the subject of a hero cult in several cities, and there
is evidence of a shrine devoted to him in Alexandria by Ptolemy IV Philopator in the late 3rd Century BCE.

TWO MAJOR WORKS OF HOMER

 The Iliad and the Odyssey depict the complete life of the Ancient Greeks in action.
 Iliad-shows us the passions and the cruelty found in war
-is a story of love and heroism
 Odyssey-shows us great adventures
 Theme of Iliad and Odyssey- the affirmation of the truth that one’s fate is the result of one’s actions. Ill fate
is results from ignorance and unguided and immoderate passions. The deities give only what a person asks
for; one’s destiny is largely a matter of one’s own making

WHO IS HESIOD?

Hesiod, Greek Hesiodos, Latin Hesiodus, (flourished c. 700 BC), one of the earliest Greek poets, often called the
“father of Greek didactic poetry.” Two of his complete epics have survived, the Theogony,relating the myths of the
gods, and the Works and Days, describing peasant life.

THE ILIAD - HOMER

(Epic Poem, Greek, c. 750 BCE, 15,693 lines)

“The Iliad” (Gr: “Iliás”) is an epic poem by the ancient Greek poet Homer, which recounts some of the significant
events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy (which was also known as Ilion,
Ilios or Ilium in ancient times). Written in the mid-8th Century BCE, “The Iliad” is usually considered to be the
earliest work in the whole Western literary tradition, and one of the best known and loved stories of all time.
Through its portayal of the epic subject matter of the Trojan War, the stirring scenes of bloody battle, the wrath of
Achilles and the constant interventions of the gods, it explores themes of glory, wrath, homecoming and fate, and
has provided subjects and stories for many other later Greek, Roman and Renaissance writings.

Synopsis

The story covered by “The Iliad” begins nearly ten years into the seige of Troy by the Greek forces, led by
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. The Greeks are quarrelling about whether or not to return Chryseis, a Trojan
captive of King Agamemnon, to her father, Chryses, a priest of Apollo. When Agamemnon refuses and threatens to
ransom the girl to her father, the offended Apollo plagues them with a pestilence.

The Greeks, at the behest of the warrior-hero Achilles, force Agamemnon to return Chryseis in order to appease
Apollo and end the pestilence. But, when Agamemnon eventually reluctantly agrees to give her back, he takes in her
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stead Briseis, Achilles’s own war-prize concubine. Feeling dishonoured, Achilles wrathfully withdraws both himself
and his Myrmidon warriors from the Trojan War.

Testing the resolve of the Greeks, Agamemnon feigns a homeward order, but Odysseus encourages the Greeks to
pursue the fight. During a brief truce in the hostilities, Paris and Menelaus meet in single combat over Helen, while
she and old King Priam of Troy watch from the city walls and, despite the goddess Aphrodite’s intervention on
behalf of the over-matched Paris, Menelaus is the victor. The goddess Athena, however, who favours the Greeks,
soon provokes a Trojan truce-breaking and battle begins anew.

The Greek hero Diomedes, strengthened by Athena, drives the Trojans before him but, in his arrogance and blood-
lust, strikes and injures Aphrodite. Despite the misgivings of his wife, Andromache, the Trojan hero, Hector, son of
King Priam, challenges the Greek warrior-hero Ajax to single combat, and is almost overcome in battle. Throughout
all, in the background, the various gods and goddesses (particularly Hera, Athena, Apollo and Poseidon) continue to
argue among themselves and to manipulate and intervene in the struggle, despite Zeus’ specific orders to the
contrary.

Achilles steadfastly refuses to give in to pleas for help from Agamemnon, Odysseus, Ajax, Phoenix and Nestor,
spurning the offered honours and riches and even Agamemnon’s belated offer to return Briseis to him. Diomedes
and Odysseus sneak into the Trojan camp and wreak havoc. But, with Achilles and his warriors out of battle, the tide
appears to begin to turn in favour of the Trojans. Agamemnon is wounded in the battle and, despite the heroics of
Ajax, Hector successfully breaches the fortified Greek camp, wounding Odysseus and Diomedes in the process, and
threatens to set the Greek ships on fire.

Torn between his allegiances, Achilles orders his friend and lover, Patroclus, to dress in Achilles’ own armour and
to lead the Myrmidons in repelling the Trojans. Intoxicated by his success, Patroclus forgets Achilles’ warning, and
pursues the fleeing Trojans to the walls of Troy and would have taken the city were it not for the actions of Apollo.
In the heat of the battle, though, Hector finds the disguised Patroclus and, thinking him to be Achilles, fights and
(again with Apollo’s help) kills him. Menelaus and the Greeks manage to recover Patroclus’s corpse before Hector
can inflict more damage.

Distraught at the death of his companion, Achilles then reconciles with Agamemnon and rejoins the fray, despite
knowing his deadly fate, and drives all the Trojans before him in his fury. As the ten-year war reaches its climax,
even the gods join in the battle and the earth shakes with the clamour of the combat.

Clad in new armour fashioned specially for him by Hephaestus, Achilles takes revenge for his friend Patroclus by
slaying Hector in single combat, but then defiles and desecrates his corpse for several days. Now, at last, Patroclus’
funeral can be celebrated in what Achilles sees as a fitting manner. Hector’s father, King Priam, emboldened by his
grief and aided by Hermes, recovers Hector’s corpse from Achilles, and “The Iliad” ends with Hector’s funeral
during a twelve-day truce granted by Achilles.

Analysis

Although attributed to Homer, "The Iliad" is clearly dependent on an older oral tradition and may well have been the
collective inheritance of many singer-poets over a long period of time (the historical Fall of Troy is usually dated to
around the start of the 12th Century BCE). Homer was probably one of the first generation of authors who were also
literate, as the Greek alphabet was introduced in the early 8th Century BCE, and the language used in his epic poems
is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects such as Aeolic Greek. However, it
is by no means certain that Homer himself (if in fact such a man ever really existed) actually wrote down the verses.

“The Iliad” was part of a group of ancient poems known as the "Epic Cycle", most of which are now lost to us,
which dealt with the history of the Trojan War and the events surrounding it. Whether or not they were written
down, we do know that Homer's poems (along with others in the “Epic Cycle”) were recited in later days at festivals
and ceremonial occasions by professional singers called "rhapsodes", who beat out the measure with rhythm staffs.

“The Iliad” itself does not cover the early events of the Trojan War, which had been launched ten years before the
events described in the poem in order to rescue Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, after her abduction by
the Trojan prince, Paris. Likewise, the death of Achilles and the eventual fall of Troy are not covered in the poem,
and these matters are the subjects of other (non-Homeric) "Epic Cycle" poems, which survive only in fragments.
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“The Odyssey”, a separate work also by Homer, narrates Odysseus’ decade-long journey home to Ithaca after the
end of the Trojan War.

The poem consists of twenty-four scrolls, containing 15,693 lines of dactylic hexameter verse. The entire poem has
a formal rhythm that is consistent throughout (making it easier to memorize) and yet varied slightly from line to line
(preventing it from being monotonous). Many phrases, sometimes whole passages, are repeated verbatim over and
over again throughout “The Iliad”, partly to fulfill the demands of the metre and partly as part of the formulaic oral
tradition. In the same way, many of the descriptive phrases that are linked with a certain character (such as "swift-
footed Achilles", "Diomedes of the great war cry", "Hector of the shining helm", and "Agamemnon the lord of
men") match the number of syllables in a hero's name, and are repeated regularly to the extent that they almost seem
to become part of the characters' names themselves.

The immortal gods and goddesses are portrayed as characters in “The Iliad”, displaying individuality and will in
their actions, but they are also stock religious figures, sometimes allegorical, sometimes psychological, and their
relation to humans is extremely complex. They are often used as a way of explaining how or why an event took
place, but they are also sometimes used as comic relief from the war, mimicking, parodying and mocking mortals.
Indeed, it is often the gods, not the mortals, who seem casual, petty and small-minded.

The main theme of the poem is that of war and peace, and the whole poem is essentially a description of war and
fighting. There is a sense of horror and futility built into Homer's chronicle, and yet, posed against the viciousness,
there is a sense of heroism and glory that adds a glamour to the fighting: Homer appears both to abhor war and to
glorify it. Frequent similes tell of the peacetime efforts back home in Greece, and serve as contrasts to the war,
reminding us of the human values that are destroyed by fighting, as well as what is worth fighting for.

The concept of heroism, and the honour that results from it, is also one of the major currents running through the
poem. Achilles in particular represents the heroic code and his struggle revolves around his belief in an honour
system, as opposed to Agamemnon's reliance on royal privilege. But, as fighter after heroic fighter enters the fray in
search of honour and is slain before our eyes, the question always remains as to whether their struggle, heroic or not,
is really worth the sacrifice.

“Menin” or “menis” (“anger” or “wrath”) is the word that opens “The Iliad”, and one of the major themes of the
poem is Achilles coming to terms with his anger and taking responsibility for his actions and emotions.

THE ODYSSEY-HOMER
(Epic Poem, Greek, c. 725 BCE, 12,110 lines)

“The Odyssey” (Gr: “Odysseia”) is the second of the two epic poems attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer
(the first being “The Iliad”), and usually considered the second extant work of Western literature. It was probably
composed near the end of the 8th Century BCE and is, in part, a sequel to “The Iliad”. It is widely recognized as one
of the great stories of all time, and has been a strong influence on later European, especially Renaissance, literature.
The poem focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey
home to Ithaca following the fall of Troy. His adventure-filled ten-year journey took him through the Ionian Islands
and the Peloponnese and as far away as Egypt and North Africa and the western Mediteranean, as the displeased
sea-god Poseidon prevented him from reaching his home.

Synopsis

Ten years after the Fall of Troy, and twenty years after the Greek hero Odysseus first set out from his home in Ithaca
to fight with the other Greeks against the Trojans, Odysseus’ son Telemachus and his wife Penelope are beset with
over a hundred suitors who are trying to persuade Penelope that her husband is dead and that she should marry one
of them.

Encouraged by the goddess Athena (always Odysseus’ protector), Telemachus sets out to look for his father, visiting
some of Odysseus’ erstwhile companions such as Nestor, Menelaus and Helen, who have long since arrived home.
They receive him sumptuously and recount the ending of the Trojan War, including the story of the wooden horse.
Menelaus tells Telemachus that he has heard that Odysseus is being held captive by the nymph Calypso.

The scene then changes to Calypso's island, where Odysseus has spent seven years in captivity. Calypso is finally
persuaded to release him by Hermes and Zeus, but Odysseus’ makeshift boat is wrecked by his nemesis Poseidon,
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and he swims ashore onto an island. He is found by the young Nausicaa and her handmaidens and is made welcome
by King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians, and begins to tell the amazing story of his return from Troy.

Odysseus tells how he and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms, and how they visited the lethargic
Lotus-Eaters with their memory-erasing food, before being captured by the giant one-eyed cyclops Polyphemus
(Poseidon’s son), only escaping after he blinded the giant with a wooden stake. Despite the help of Aeolus, King of
the Winds, Odysseus and his crew were blown off course again just as home was almost in sight. They narrowly
escaped from the cannibal Laestrygones, only to encounter the witch-goddess Circe soon after. Circe turned half of
his men into swine, but Odysseus had been pre-warned by Hermes and made resistant to Circe’s magic.
After a year of feasting and drinking on Circe’s Island, the Greeks again set off, reaching the western edge of the
world. Odysseus made a sacrifice to the dead and summoned the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias to advise him, as
well as the spirits of several other famous men and women and that of his own mother, who had died of grief at his
long absence and who gave him disturbing news of the situation in his own household.

Advised once more by Circe on the remaining stages of their journey, they skirted the land of the Sirens, passed
between the many-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, and, blithely ignoring the warnings of
Tiresias and Circe, hunted down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios. For this sacrilege, they were punished by a
shipwreck in which all but Odysseus himself drowned. He was washed ashore on Calypso’s Island, where she
compelled him to remain as her lover.

By this point, Homer has brought us up to date, and the remainder of the story is told straightforwardly in
chronological order.
Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians agree to help Odysseus get home, and they finally
deliver him one night to a hidden harbour on his home island of Ithaca. Disguised as a wandering beggar and telling
a fictitious tale of himself, Odysseus learns from a local swineherd how things stand in his household. Through
Athena’s machinations, he meets up with his own son, Telemachus, just returning from Sparta, and they agree
together that the insolent and increasingly impatient suitors must be killed. With more help from Athena, an archery
competition is arranged by Penelope for the suitors, which the disguised Odysseus easily wins, and he then promptly
slaughters all the other suitors.

Only now does Odysseus reveal and prove his true identity to his wife and to his old father, Laertes. Despite the fact
that Odysseus has effectively killed two generations of the men of Ithaca (the shipwrecked sailors and the executed
suitors), Athena intervenes one last time and finally Ithaca is at peace once more.

Analysis

Like “The Iliad”, “The Odyssey” is attributed to the Greek epic poet Homer, although it was probably written later
than “The Iliad”, in Homer’s mature years, possibly around 725 BCE. Also like “The Iliad”, it was clearly composed
in an oral tradition, and was probably intended more to be sung than read, probably accompanied by a simple
stringed instrument which was strummed for an occasional rhythmic accent. It is written in Homeric Greek (an
archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects such as Aeolic Greek), and comprises
12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter verse, usually divided up into 24 books.

Many copies of the poem have come down to us (for example, a survey of all surviving Egyptian papyri carried out
in 1963 found that nearly half of the 1,596 individual "books" were copies of “The Iliad” or “The Odyssey” or
commentaries on them). There are interesting parallels between many of the elements of “The Odyssey” and the
much older Sumerian legends in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”. Today, the word “odyssey” has come to be used in the
English language to refer to any epic voyage or extended wandering.

As in “The Iliad”, Homer makes frequent use of "epithets" in “The Odyssey”, descriptive tags used regularly to fill
out a line of verse as well as to provide detail about character, such as Odysseus “the raider of cities” and Menelaus
“the red-haired captain”. The epithets, as well as repeated background stories and longer epic similes, are common
techniques in the oral tradition, designed to make the job of the singer-poet a little easier, as well as to remind the
audience of important background information.

Compared to “The Iliad”, the poem has many changes of scene and a much more complex plot. It employs the
seemingly modern idea (later imitated by many other authors of literary epics) of starting the plot at what is
chronologically towards the end of the overall story, and describing prior events through flashbacks or storytelling.
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This is appropriate, however, as Homer was elaborating on a story which would have been very familiar to his
listeners, and there was little likelihood of his audience being confused, despite the numerous sub-plots.

The character of Odysseus embodies many of the ideals the ancient Greeks aspired to: manly valour, loyalty, piety
and intelligence. His intelligence is a mix of keen observation, instinct and street smarts, and he is a fast, inventive
liar, but also extremely cautious. However, he is also portrayed as very human - he makes mistakes, gets into tricky
situations, loses his temper and is often moved to tears - and we see him in many roles (as a husband, father and son,
but also as an athlete, army captain, sailor, carpenter, storyteller, ragged beggar, lover, etc).

The other characters are very much secondary, although Odysseus’ son Telemachus shows some growth and
development from a passive, untested boy to a man of valour and action, respectful to gods and men, and loyal to his
mother and father. The first four books of “The Odyssey” are often referred to as “The Telemachy” as they follow
Telemachus’ own journey.
Among the themes explored by “The Odyssey” are those of homecoming, vengeance, the restoration of order,
hospitality, respect for the gods, order and fate, and, perhaps most importantly, loyalty (Odysseus’ loyalty in
persisting in his attempts to return home, even after twenty years, Telemachus’ loyalty, Penelope’s loyalty and the
loyalty of the servants Eurykleia and Eumaios).

REFERENCES:

C. M. Bowra, Ancient Greek Literature (1960); C. M. Bowra,Greek Lyric Poetry from Alcman to Simonides (rev.

ed. 1961); H. J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Literature from Homer to the Age of Lucian (4th ed. 1961);

H. D. F. Kitto, Poiesis: Structure and Thought (1966);

P. E. Easterling and B. M. W. Knox, ed., Cambridge History of Classical Literature, Vol. I (1985);

C. R. Beye, Ancient Greek Literature and Society (1987); R. Scodel, An Introduction to Greek Tragedy (2010).

J.B. Serrano and M.G.Lapid, English Communication Arts and Skills through World literature(5 th ed. 2001)

https://www.ancient-literature.com/authors.html

English translation by Samuel Butler (The Internet Classics Archive): http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html