I need an explanation for this Literature question to help me study.
The Invocation/Proem and the Identity of Homer
Review the biographical information about Homer and the background on his two great epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, both dating from 8th Century BCE Greece (which was not yet Greece, but a variety of city states with diverse governments that shared a common language – Ancient Greek – and a common cultural heritage – the Hellenic culture). Then look at the opening stanza of Book I of the Iliad (page 232), commonly called “the Invocation.”Who, or what, is being invoked here? Does this invocation remind you in any way of other ancient texts you might be familiar with, i.e. other epic poems or the Bible?Who was Homer, and what is known about him? Why do we think of him as being the “author” of the Homeric poems, when, as with, for example, the epic of Gilgamesh or the Old Testament, much of the source material – the various myths and stories – were a preexisting part of the oral culture, in this case the 8th century BCE Hellenic world? In what way was Homer an author? How is his work in the production of the Iliad and the Odyssey different from that of the unnamed compositor(s) of Genesis, for example? How can thinking about Homer and his invocation help us to understand what it might mean, in western culture, to be an author?As usual, use these questions to develop an idea for discussion. You need not answer all of them, of course; they’re just to prompt your response to the text.
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