Homer: Poet or Historian

Homer's poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are tales based on fact; they are a poetic rendering of legends, Greek mythology, based on historical events. Archaeological findings are revealing that Homer's epics do contain some amount of fact. Like the Bible, the Iliad and the Odyssey, although attributed to Homer, are thought to be oral histories composed by many storytellers; histories that may contain fact, embellishment, and myth. Like the Bible, the Iliad and the Odyssey are stories handed down through generations that explain the culture of the people and which should not be ignored when studying Greek history.

Who Was Homer?

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet credited with authoring the epics Iliad and Odyssey, along with various other fragmentary works. Modern scholars cannot agree on whether or not Homer was actually a real person, or the name given to one or more oral poets who sang epic poems. Indeed, it is questioned whether the same poet was responsible for both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The style of writing, however, is highly suggestive that the same person is responsible for the complete text of both books.

Poetic Reality

The Iliad tells the story of the last year of a ten-year war and siege of the city of Ilium, what we know today as the Trojan War. The Odyssey tells the story of the ten-year long voyage of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, as he returns home from the Trojan War. While both books are traditionally dated to the 8th century B.C.E., many modern-day scholars believe that the events Homer related occurred in the 13th or 12th century B.C.E. and that Troy was located in the vicinity of the Dardanelles in what is now northwestern Turkey.

In Search of Troy

In 1871, a German businessman named Heinrich Schliemann, using the Iliad as a guide, began excavating a site matching Homer's descriptions of Troy's location, a small hill in Turkey called Hisarlik. Using questionable archaeological technique, Schliemann uncovered several layers of settlements under Hisarlik along with a hoard of bronze and gold treasures that he claimed was "King Priam's Treasure." But the riches that Schliemann found and touted as the Trojan king's turned out to be a thousand years too old for Homer's tale.1

More recent excavations of Schliemann's site have revealed the layered remains of ten past settlements dating from 3,000 B.C.E. to 1,300 C.E. At the sixth level is a large city, complete with a harbor, surrounding a hilltop citadel believed to be the Troy described by Homer. Although scholars see the city as a colony of the Hittites, who ruled Turkey at the time, the city both fits Homer's description and existed during the right time period.2

The existence of Troy does not prove there was a Trojan War any more than the existence of Kansas proves there was a Wizard of Oz. However, excavations have unearthed large quantities of sling bullets, evidence of burning, and signs of an earthquake in Hisarlik's sixth level, which appears to have been destroyed around 1,275 B.C.E.3 This, of course, is not certain evidence that Homer's Troy ever existed nor is it evidence of the events of the Trojan War. It is evidence, however, of a large city at the convergence of the Greek and Hittite empires succumbing to some catastrophic event. This could be Troy or Homer could have fused various stories of sieges and expeditions by the Greeks of the Bronze Age.

Poetic Mythology

While telling the story of Troy and Odysseus, Homer, like his Biblical counterparts, used mythology to embellish his story. The heroes of the Iliad and Odyssey such as Achilles, Hector, and Ajax, among the many, keep the story interesting and serve as a medium for philosophical lessons – the story of Achilles teaches us all men, no matter how powerful and indestructible they may seem, have an area of vulnerability.

The Trojan horse has become one of the most potent images of the Trojan War. However, the horse's prominence in the tale of Troy is disproportionate, as Homer made only a few scant mentions of the horse. Some scholars think the Trojan horse was a statue to Poseidon, erected by the Greeks, as thanks for an earthquake that destroyed the walls of Troy; others think it may have been an early siege tower. Whatever its purpose, the horse remains symbolic of deception and for three millennium men have heeded Laocoon's advice to "beware of Greeks bearing gifts."

Summary

The epics of Homer contain grains of truth among the chaff of mythology. If one is to understand Greek history and culture, one must reference the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ignoring these epics as historical reference would be ignoring significant insight into ancient Greek beliefs, a motivation of their cultural development, and thus an important portion of ancient Greek history. To the ancient Greeks, the epics of Homer and other poets became what the Bible is to the Judaeo-Christian world and ancient Greeks believed that the events Homer related were basically true. The Iliad and the Odyssey contain the stories that influenced the culture of not only the Greeks but many areas of Western culture.

References

1. Myth Versus Reality. National Geographic 2004; 205
2. Vergano D. Homeric feat: Legend vs. fact. USA Today. McLean, VA, 2004; D10
3. Bryce TR. The Trojan War - Is There Truth Behind the Legend? Near Eastern Archaeololgy 2002; 65:182-195