Why were the writings of Homer so influential?

“To the classical Greeks, Homer's epics played very much the same role that the Bible plays for a lot of people today. People memorized big chunks of Homer's writings in school, and they repeated bits of it in order to convince other people to do something or think something.” “We have evidence from the classical age in Greece of people memorizing the complete poetry of Homer word for word (over 25,000 lines of poetry); it may be possible that the Homeric poems were memorized with more exactitude than scholars believe.”

“The Greeks regarded Homer as their first, and greatest, poet. They might speak of other names which pretended to greater antiquity, but they had no text to quote. For Homer they did…Homer, for the Greeks, stood at the head of their literary tradition. All knew him…” (Lattimore 13)

“The texts gave Greece a model history that became the base texts for education. Homer taught courage and honor through his poems, encouraging Greeks to be proud of their heritage.”

Not only were Homer’s writings read and valued in Greece, but we still read Homer today. Homer’s two big masterpieces were the Iliad and the Odyssey, although some scholars are doubtful if Homer was the true author of the latter. (source)

“The Iliad deals with only a small portion of the Trojan War; in fact, it covers only a few months during the tenth year of that war. The ancient Greek audience, however, would have been familiar with all the events leading up to this tenth year, and during the course of the Iliad, Homer makes many references to various past events.” (Skill 15)

“The Odyssey describes the return of the Greek hero Odysseus from the Trojan War. The opening scenes depict the disorder that has arisen in Odysseus's household during his long absence: A band of suitors is living off of his wealth as they woo his wife, Penelope. The epic then tells of Odysseus's ten years of traveling, during which he has to face such dangers as the man-eating giant Polyphemus and such subtler threats as the goddess Calypso, who offers him immortality if he will abandon his quest for home.” “The second half of the poem begins with Odysseus' arrival at his home island of Ithaca. Here, exercising infinite patience and self-control, Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants, plots and carries out a bloody revenge on Penelope's suitors, and is reunited with his son, his wife, and his aged father.”

“The Iliad and the Odyssey are, or rather contain, the oldest Greek writings we have. There is no way to date accurately any part of them. Scholars differ widely, and will no doubt continue to do so.” (Hamilton 21)

The Iliad and the Odyssey are important because they record Greek (and Trojan) history. From the rage of Achilles to Odysseus’ return to Ithaca, these epic poems hold precious history and show us the lifestyles and beliefs of these famous characters.

Works Cited

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: New American Library. 1969.

Lattimore, Richmond. The Iliad of Homer. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1951.

Skill, Elaine Strong. Cliff’s Notes on Homer’s The Iliad. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliff’s Notes, Inc. 1986.

Left: part of the Iliad on papyrus


Right: part of the Odyssey on papyrus

The New Kingdom of Egypt: The Golden Age

“More than 1,000 years after the pyramids were built, Egypt reached the height of its powers. The sophisticated, civilized society that we call the New Kingdom was led by a succession of remarkable kings. Between them, they liberated their country, conquered their neighbors and built an empire that stretched from Syria to Sudan. The empire brought Egypt unimaginable wealth and power. And they left a legacy that is still with us today 3,000 years later.”

At the end of the Second Intermediate Period, “the Hyksos were being forced back on the Delta. Seqenenre and Kamose died in battle, but Kamose’s successor…completed the task and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. He became the founder of the mighty eighteenth dynasty, the first in the New Kingdom.”

“18th Dynasty
· Ahmose [He was successful in unifying Egypt in 1520 B.C, but gives credit to the sun god, Amen Re.]
· Amenhotep I
· Thutmose I
· Thutmose II
· Hatshepsut [She ruled for her stepson since he was not old enough to rule on his own yet. However, she intended to keep the throne, and even when Thutmose III was of age, she ruled with him. He hated his stepmother for this. She took the throne by claiming that her father appointed her as his successor, that she was in the royal line, and that she was the daughter of a god. She had to dress as a male so that she would be accepted more. She called herself pharaoh-not queen. The position of pharaoh was reserved only for males, so she was breaking that rule. She increased Egypt’s wealth by trading at Punt and bringing back many riches. During her reign she built many oblisques and temples and repaired others. She was the first successful female ruler. (video)]
· Thutmose III [After his stepmom died, he took the throne completely. He tried to take revenge on her by wiping her out of history. However, the things in her temples are still there so we know she existed. Thutmose III wanted to have an empire, so he expanded the military-some were volunteers and others were forced to join. He then took his troops of 20,000 men and marched down to Megiddo. Here there was a battle, but his men kept stopping to plunder, so he turned it into a siege instead. Seven months later, Megiddo surrendered and Thutmose III marched back to Thebes with all of their wealth. (video)]
· Amenhotep II [He controlled and protected Egypt not with weapons, but words. He wrote letters to his three enemies to keep the peace. (video)]
· Thutmose IV [This pharaoh erected a granite stela between the paws of the Great Sphinx. The upper part of this stela shows the king making offerings to the Sphinx and tells of how one of the gods promised Thutmose IV the throne if he would repair the Sphinx and clear away the sand that had piled up to its neck. Thutmose IV did just this. (Gahlin*)
· Amenhotep III [His way of diplomacy and friendship was giving gold. (video)]
· Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) [“Akhenaten shook up traditional politics and religion. He moved Egypt’s capital from Thebes to a desolate site three hundred miles away, known today as Armana, and there he built a splendid new city from scratch. At the same time he tried to create a new religion, based on the worship of one god instead of many.” (Marston 13)]
· Neferneferuaten
· Tutankhamen [He abandoned the “capital of Akhenaten, along with the cult of its god. Having changed his name to Tutankhamun, [it used to be Tutankaten,] this young king set about reopening the temples that were closed during the reign of Akhenaten, restoring the old priesthood back to its former power. Despite the importance of his reign, Tutankhamun will probably be best remembered for his tomb, which was found almost intact in the early 1920s.The mummy mask of Tutankhamun is perhaps one of the most famous finds in the history of archaeology.”]
[“Tutankhamun having died without leaving an heir, the throne passed to two of his courtiers. The first was Ay, who is sometimes believed to have been a brother-in-law of Amenhotep III and who married the widow of the deceased king in order to legitimise his claims to the throne.”]
· Ay
· Horemheb" (source)
“The second was Horemheb, a former general who served under Tutankhamun and who may have been married to a sister of Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife. It was during Horemheb's reign that the restoration policy after the Amarna Revolution turned into a policy of destruction: Akhenaten's names were chisled away, his statues torn down and his temples smashed to bits.”
“As he had no male offspring, Horemheb appointed an old comrade in arms, the general Paramesu, to be his successor. With Paramesu's accession to the throne as Ramesses I, the 18th Dynasty had come to an end.”

“19th Dynasty
[“The Nineteenth Dynasty (1320-1200BC) was established by the Horemheb's wazir, or minister, Ramses I who reigned for two years. Ramses and his descendants were warrior kings who recaptured territories lost under Akhenaten.”]
·Rameses I
[“His successor Seti I regained control over Egypt's eastern colonies in Palestine, Nubia and the Near East. Seti I also began construction on a majestic temple at Abydos which was completed by his son Ramses II…”]
·Seti I
· Rameses II [He “reconquered Asia Minor. Ramses also constructed monumental structures like the Ramesseum in Thebes and the sun temples of Abu Simbel.”]
· Merenptah [He “spent much of his reign driving back invaders from Libya and the Mediterranean, but he is believed to be the biblical Pharaoh described in Exodus.”]
· Amenmessu
· Sety II
· Saptah
· Tausret” (source)
·
“20th Dynasty
· Setnakht
· Rameses III [“Under him, Palestine, Syria, and the northern Euphrates area in Mesopotamia were brought within the New Kingdom.”]
· Rameses IV
· Rameses V
· Rameses VI
· Rameses VII
· Rameses VIII
· Rameses IX
· Rameses X
· Rameses XI" (source)

Under “Ramses III, the kingdom was occupied with defending itself against Libyan and "Sea People" invasions. Ramses III constructed the enormous palace temple of Medinet Hebu, but the empire had begun to disintegrate with strikes, assassination attempts and provincial unrest.”
“His successors, who were all named Ramses, presided over the decline of their empire until Ramses XI withdrew from active control over his kingdom, delegating authority over Upper Egypt to his high priest of Amun, Herihor, and of Lower Egypt to his minister Smendes. These two rulers were the last of the New Kingdom.”

Works Cited

Gahlin, Lucia. Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religion. New York: Anness Publishing. 2005.

Marston, Elsa. The Ancient Egyptians. New York: Benchmark Books. 1996.

(Video)

* I was photocopying a page out of this book to use and since it was oversized, the copier cut off the page number!