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Definition: Homer from Philip's Encyclopedia

(active 8th century BC) Greek poet. Homer is considered to be the author of the the Iliad and the Odyssey, the great early epics of Greek literature. Nothing factual is known about Homer, he is supposed have been blind and lived in Ionia. Literary scholarship revealed that the Homeric poems are a synthesis of oral, bardic stories. The Iliad relates the siege of Troy in the Trojan War. The Odyssey tells of the post-war wanderings of Odysseus on his way back to Penelope in Ithaca.


Homer

From The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Nothing is certain about the man whom the Greeks simply called "the poet"; not even that he was the author of the Iliad and Odyssey . One of the two earliest traditions surrounding Homer's homeland places it in Smyrna , since Homer's original name was Melesigenes (then changed to Homer because of his blindness, for, it was believed, that was the word for "blind" in the Aiolian dialect). Meles, Homer's father, would have taken his name from the river of the same name in Smyrna. The other tradition, pointing to Chios as the poet's birth place, may have sprung from what seems to be a self-reference to a blind bard from that island in the Hymn to Delian Apollo (v. 172), and, above all, from the presence of the Homeridae guild (an association of professional bards who claimed descent from Homer) in chios. Other places disputed Homer's fatherland, first in Asia Minor and the surrounding islands; later, even Athens or Egypt was put forward as Homer's place of birth. Despite these biographical…
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From International Encyclopedia of Human Geography
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Glossary Domestic violence Domestic violence refers not only to physical abuse, but any behavior that is meant to achieve the purpose gaining power and control over an intimate family member. Dwelling The capacity to achieve spiritual unity between humans…
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From International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
Home refers to the geographic region, place, or dwelling that family members identify as a familiar residence to which they can return. Home is not a physical structure, but a complex symbolic concept. The symbols of home are constructed from references to physical, temporal, and affective, or…
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From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Max Busch House, Pasadena, Los Angeles County,...
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Full text Article Homer

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature
fl. 700s BCE Greek epic poet Several locations for Homer's birthplace have been proposed. These include Smyrna, Ioma, Asia Minor, and elsewhere, but no certainty attaches to any of these possibilities. Scholars have generally rejected the suggestion that Homer was blind. More likely are claims that…
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From The Classical Tradition
Legendary founder of the major tradition of Greek epic; undatable. The most recent consensus puts him in the 8th century bce . Herodotus, the earliest author to propose a context for Homer, was explicitly conservative in placing the author of the Iliad and Odyssey "no more" than 400 years before his…
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From The Columbia Encyclopedia
principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. They are composed in a literary type of Greek, Ionic in basis with Aeolic admixtures. Ranked among the great works of Western literature, these two poems together…
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From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Greek Homeros c.8th century BC Greek epic poet, a major figure of ancient Greek literature Homer was regarded in Greek and Roman antiquity as the author of the Iliad (dealing with episodes in the Trojan War) and the Odyssey (dealing with Odysseus's adventures on his return from Troy). He was thought…
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From Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World
Also known as: Homeros (b. ca. 850–d. ca. 750 BCE ) Greek epic poet According to tradition, Homer was the earliest and greatest Greek poet. Two epic poems were attributed to him: the Iliad and the Odyssey , which present certain events of the mythical Trojan War and its aftermath. These two works, …
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From Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
I. In the Fathers - II. Possible influence in the NT. By considering the modes and forms of the reception of the Homeric poems by Christian authors, we can measure their ability to confront Greek civilization as manifested in the work of its most authoritative and prestigious representative. Homer, …
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From The Macquarie Dictionary
a house, or other shelter that is the fixed residence of a person, a family, or a household. Plural: homes a place of one's domestic affections. Plural: homes noun often upper case /hoym/, /hohm/ an institution for the homeless, sick, etc. Plural: homes the dwelling place or retreat of an animal. …
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