Episode 39: The Homeric Question

What this episode covers

In this episode we consider the complex history of the Homeric epic poem, the Iliad. Who was Homer? When did he live? Did he exist? Were oral poets able to tell such a long story (it takes about a day to narrate the whole)? Was writing necessary for such a tight and coherent structure? After giving an account what the ancient Greeks thought (who did not agree), we trace the different ways that modern scholars have analyzed the text and offer a modern theory of its evolution.

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