Classical Studies 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Epic Poetry, Trojan War, Homeric Question

• School: Western University
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: Classical Studies 1000
• Professor: David Lamari

Document Summary

Classics 1000 david lamari lecture 002. The illiad and the odyssey are epic poems and epic (grand) in their tone and content. Epic poetry is almost the first kind of literature a society preserves. Poetry is usually the first thing written down in an illiterate society because it conveys important things and allows songs (poems) to be easily remember through metre. Anything memorable is going to be preserved in a structured form. Anything memorized by a culture has to be deemed worthy by the culture. In this respect, homer is central to greek education. Homer is full of stories and moral lessons that the. Greeks must know it"s the corner stone of the way the young greeks must know. Great painters paint pictures from homer, great singers sing songs from homer, great performances were performed from homer. The greeks often settled arguments with lines from homer.