Impact of The Odyssey of Homer on Literature
The Odyssey
of Homer is the first great piece of narrative literature of the Western World. Furthermore, it has been deemed to be one of the
oldest complete sets of books in the western world. This epic novel has captured peoples’
imaginations for centuries. The Odyssey
of Homer has had an immense impact and influence on the rest of world
literature, especially the western world.
Some examples include but are not limited to the following: the Greek idylls of Theocritus, Virgil’s
Aeneid, Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Paradise
Lost by John Milton, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and Moby Dick by Herman
Melville. Moreover, the literary areas
that the Odyssey of Homer has most affected in western literature are the epic,
pastoral literature, lyric and dramatic poetry.
To fully appreciate why The Odyssey is a dominant
influence and made such a tremendous impact on western literature it is
necessary to know the background of this fine work of literary art. The Odyssey together with its prequel The
Iliad is the oldest complete set of books that we know of in the Western
world. Although there are many educated
guesses, experts can not agree on who wrote them, or where, or when. As noted classist Gilbert Highet once said, “Suddenly
they gush out of the earth, like living water from a subterranean source, far
back beyond the beginning of our recorded history, and like strong rivers they
have continued to flow with incomparable force and vitality through nearly
three thousand years and over half a planet.” (Bulcher vi)
Much information can be garnered from the literally
meaning of The Iliad and The Odyssey. A
perfect definition can be found in Gilbert Highet’s introduction of The Odyssey
translated by S.H. Bulcher; “Iliad means: ‘the poem about Ilios’, and Ilios was
one of the names of the old Asiatic city Troy. Odyssey means ‘the poem about
Odysseus,’ and Odysseus was one of the Greek princes who captured Troy.” (Bulcher
vi) The Iliad recounts of how a Greek
army besieged the legendary city of Troy. Then The Odyssey narrates the tale of how they
returned home with great difficulty and danger. These epic poems do not tell us
everything. Instead only the essentials
are given and the rest is left up to the imagination.
The
Odyssey depicts a bizarre, violent, and tumultuous world. The world described in the Odyssey is filled
with war, strange creature, and gods. These gods are sometimes helpful and
benevolent and at other times temperamental and harmful. Gilbert Highet gave this description of the
world in The Odyssey in his introduction of Bulcher translation of The Odyssey,
“It is an age of chaos: war everywhere—war and violence; scarce and difficult
communications, pirates, savages and monsters pressing in upon the small world,
peace and law known as ideals but practiced only within narrow limits; and even
in heaven a dynasty of angry, incalculable and violent gods, quarreling with
one another and with men. Clearly it is the kind of world that appears again
and again in history when races and nations are on the march, when
long-established powers are broken down, when unsuspected forces emerge and
struggle for mastery, an age like that of the Vikings and the Crusades and the
Spanish conquests in America, when the chief virtues are cunning and
courageous." (Bulcher vi) As Mr.
Highet continues his introduction, he dates the writings to have been written
some time around 1000 BC and adds to their historical value stating,
“Geographically, the world of the poems is fairly narrow. It is wider than the
world we see through the early books of the Old Testament, but still it is
limited; mainland Greece.”
(Bulcher vi)
The
Odyssey of Homer has had a tremendous impact on the epic. In fact, The Odyssey is crucial to the
historical development of the epic in literature. Examples
of its legacy can be seen in various literary works throughout the centuries. Furthermore, The Odyssey of Homer still
continues to have a profound influence on modern literature.
The
Odyssey is what is commonly
called an epic poem. This is a term
derived from one of the Greek words for poetry. An epic poem is a certain style of writing
based, in large part, on the models and criteria established by Homer's work,
namely the Odyssey. Epic poetry is
extremely important historically in the context of Western literature. Considered the ultimate in literary
achievement, for a long time epic poetry was the best a writer could strive to
create. An epic poem, following the example of Homer, is a long narrative
poem organized in a series of books (usually twelve or twenty four). The
story characteristically begins in the middle of the action and fills in the
details of past events in various ways as the narrative proceeds. What
gives the long work its epic character;
however, is its scope. These works present the reader with what amounts
to a comprehensive vision of experience at a particular cultural moment.
So the poem is not merely a long story about particular people in particular
places; it is also a detailed cultural and spiritual map, delineating an entire
belief system, the very basis of a civilization. This map will include,
among other things, what certain groups of people believe about themselves,
about their relationship with the divine, about their sense of the past and
future, about nature, both civilized and wild, and about what is most important
in life. In other words, the epic quality of an epic poem emerges from
the way in which it holds up for our inspection an entire way of life.
For that reason, a really useful way to come to an understanding of a
particular historical culture is to explore its famous epic poetry.
It
is easy to see why the Odyssey of Homer is categorized as an epic poem. The Odyssey takes us on an extensive trip to
an assortment of people, places, and things.
Furthermore, various characteristics of the wilderness are
observed. Also, the hero’s values as
well as the other characters in the Odyssey are examined thru a series of
tests. This serves to clarify the
relationship of all things in the story, providing a valuable and detail
picture of a particular culture’s sense of civility, morality and what is means
to be an exceptional human being.
Homer’s
epic work had a direct impact on Virgil, one Rome’s finest poets ever.
Furthermore, the most notable epic influenced by and compared to The Odyssey is
Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil not only used
the Homeric style of writing to write the Aeneid, he used a Trojan hero
mentioned by Homer as his leading character.
This hero as legend and tradition held fled the defeated and sacked Troy
and eventually established Rome after a long arduous journey. Furthermore, it is obvious that he drew
heavily on material from both Homer’s Iliad and The Odyssey to create his
epic. Due to the revival of scholarly
study of Virgil and the Aenid, The Odyssey continued to influence epic
literature.
One
interesting aspect about epic poems is that they usually are written when the
civilization they are honoring is either disappearing or are gone completely. When The Odyssey was recorded in writing, it
was describing a culture which did not exist quite in the same manner as the
time of its attributed author known simply as Homer. The note worthy pattern of epic poetry
describing disappearing or gone civilizations is repeated in western literature
throughout the centuries. Further
examples are found during the Middle Ages, Dante’s Inferno and Malory’s Morte
D’Arthur were both written at a time when the cultural movement they were
describing was changing forever or were by and large absent. Another example from the 17th
century was the great religious epic Paradise Lost by John Milton. Milton’s Puritanical work was written after
the failure of the Protestant experiment and Cromwell’s Commonwealth.
In
more contemporary times the epic has moved away from the poetic form. A couple of examples are War and Peace and
Moby Dick. Furthermore, the epic novel
has essentially replaced the traditional epic poem as the supreme literary
accomplishment a writer can strive to create.
Despite this fact, The Odyssey has had an unmistakable influence on the
epic form of literature.
The
Odyssey has been essential in the expansion epic literature. Innumerable
examples of its legacy can be seen in various literary works throughout the
centuries. Additionally, The Odyssey
still continues to have an enormous influence on modern literature. The impact of The Odyssey of Homer on epic
literature is undeniable.
Next, The Odyssey of Homer has also had its impact on and
has inspired pastoral literature. Although
The Odyssey is described as an epic poem, it has many pastoral elements throughout
the story. The Homeric style of writing
found in The Odyssey has been used by many literary artists to create
masterpieces in Pastoral literature. The Odyssey has greatly influenced directly
and indirectly many great works in Pastoral literature throughout history.
Pastoral
writing is a highly conventional mode of writing that celebrates the innocent
life of shepherds and shepherdesses in poems, plays, and prose romances.
Pastoral literature describes the loves and sorrows of musical shepherds,
usually in an idealized Golden Age of rustic innocence and idleness;
paradoxically, it is an elaborately artificial cult of simplicity and virtuous
frugality. The pastoral tradition in Western literature originated with the
Greek idylls of Theocritus, who wrote for an urban readership in Alexandria
about shepherds in his native Sicily.
Theocritus was heavily influenced by The Odyssey of Homer. One of the first elements that he was
influenced by was the Homeric style of writing within The Odyssey. Secondly, he used characters from The
Odyssey, many times recasting the characters in a different manner to fit his pastoral
style of writing. One example being that
he re-established the character of the Cyclops Polyphemus as simple love sick Sheppard. Also, Theocritus made mention of other thing
in his poetry from The Odyssey such as the skin of strong wine given to
Polyphemus by Odysseus. Although
Theocritus is credited as the originator of Pastoral literature, he was heavily
influenced by the earlier works of Homer including The Odyssey of Homer.
The Roman poet Virgil was influence by The Odyssey of
Homer both directly and indirectly. Moreover,
his indirect influence is due to much of his work also being inspired by
Theocritus. Virgil was the most
noteworthy of Roman poets and is known for both his epic and pastoral
poetry. Virgil work has influenced
writers for centuries, especially writers in medieval Europe and from the
Renaissance Era. One such work from the
14th century is The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. In fact Virgil is even used as a guide to
Hell in Dante’s Inferno, the first part of the Divine Comedy. Therefore, The Odyssey had a huge impact on
Virgil’ work and subsequently these influences were passed on to future
generations of writers up until modern times.
It is clear to see that The Odyssey of Homer was the
stimulus for pastoral literature. Despite
The Odyssey being categorized as an epic poem, it was central to the
development of pastoral literature and continues to influence many great
literary works. Also, the Homeric style of writing found in The Odyssey was a
mainstay in pastoral literature. Finally,
throughout history many works of genius in pastoral literature have been
wrought due to the direct and indirect influence of The Odyssey of Homer.
Moving on to other areas of poetry, The Odyssey of Homer has
also been the forerunner to lyrical and dramatic poetry and has laid roots with
in this type of poetry as well. Most likely The Odyssey was originally performance poetry with roots in a
preliterate oral tradition. Even after
it had been committed to writing it continued to be performed orally. The epic poem The Odyssey of Homer had it
roots in an oral tradition.
No one
knows for certain the exact date when The Odyssey of Homer was written. So it is no surprise that even today its
authorship is still questioned by scholars.
There are various theories on how The Odyssey came to be written. A poet simply known as Homer is attributed as
the author of The Odyssey. Much of what
is said about Homer is subject to debate.
However, the prevalent opinion concerning Homer is that he was a blind
bard. Moreover, it is believed that he
composed and recited both The Iliad and The Odyssey a few hundred years after
the events illustrated. However, there are
those who theorize that Homer was the inheritor of an older bardic
tradition. Still, there are others who
put forward the idea that no individual author named Homer existed but that The
Odyssey was an accumulated effort of numerous bardic poets over time that
recorded in writing this epic poem. If
The Odyssey of Homer was indeed written by a single author named Homer it
definitely originated in and oral tradition.
One thing is for certain, The Odyssey is stepped in an oral
tradition. In any case, The Odyssey of
Homer was meant to be performed, even after it was committed to writing.
To
properly understand the relevance of The Odyssey to Lyrical and dramatic poetry
a definition of both terms must first be established. First, dramatic poetry is any poetry that
uses the dialogue of the characters involved to tell a story or depict a
situation. Furthermore, it is drama
written in verse to be spoken or sung.
Second, lyric poetry means ‘sung to the lyre’. Although it was, strictly speaking, song, the
words were of primary importance and are now all that remain, knowledge of the
accompanying music having been lost in antiquity. Choral lyric was sung (and
often danced) by a chorus (or by a leader answered by a chorus) to a musical
accompaniment usually played on the lyre, occasionally on the flute (aulos, a
wind instrument like the oboe). It was composed from earliest times and
throughout Greek history for public religious ceremonies. To this fact are
attributable the predominantly elevated tone and the inclusion of myth and
moralizing. In fact, Homer mentions many varieties of choral lyric: dirges,
hymns, hyporchemata, maiden-songs, and wedding-songs.
Many
literary scholars like to separately categorize epic, lyrical, and dramatic
poetry. However, any lyric work that
makes use of the fundamentals of drama such as dialogue, conflict, or
characterization is a form of dramatic poetry.
The Odyssey is no exception.
Also, it is a widely held belief that dramatic poetry probably developed
out of earlier Greek oral epics, such as The Odyssey of Homer. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that not
only did The Odyssey of Homer have a major influence on both lyrical and
dramatic poetry but was it is also the forbearer to both.
In conclusion, it is safe to say that The Odyssey,
together with its prequel The Iliad, is the oldest complete set of books in the
western world. Furthermore, The Odyssey of Homer is the
first marvelous occurrence of narrative literature in the western world and has
impacted poetry forever. It has
captivated the thoughts of mankind for generations. The Odyssey of Homer made and enormous impression
on world literature, especially the western world. The Greek idylls of Theocritus, Virgil’s
Aeneid, Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Paradise
Lost by John Milton, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and Moby Dick by Herman
Melville are just a few of the many fine examples of literature following in
the footsteps of The Odyssey of Homer. This
epic novel is a look into the past. It
is captivating and a timeless breakthrough that will be forever referenced and
studied throughout time. It is clear to
see the effects that The Odyssey
of Homer has had on the rest of world literature, including the epic forms of
poetry, the pastoral forms of literature, and the lyric and dramatic forms of
poetry.
Works Cited
“The Odyssey."
The Bedford Anthology of World Literature The Ancient World, Beginnings-100
C.E. Eds. Paul Davis, Gay Harrison, David M. Johnson, Patricia C. Smith,
John F. Crawford, and THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2004. 421-768.
Bulcher, S. H., and A. Lang. The
Odyssey by Homer. New York,, NY: Random House, 1950.
Highet, Gilbert. The
Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature. New
York,, NY: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Ball, Robert J., ed. The
Classical Papers of Gilbert Highet. New York,, NY: Columbia University
Press, 1983.
Johnston, Ian. "Lecture on
the Odyssey." (Aug. 2004)): 10 Aug. 2009
<http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/introser/Homer.htm>.
Johnston, Ian. "Lecture on
the Dante's Inferno." (Jan. 2007): 10 Aug. 2009
<http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/introser/Dante.htm>.
Paradise
Lost The Study Guide." New Art Library (June 20 2009): 10 Aug. 2009
<http://www.paradiselost.org/novel.html>.
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Protectorate." (June 20 2009): 10 Aug. 2009
<http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/361/361-29.htm>.
Lord, John. "Oliver
Cromwell.": 10 Aug. 2009
<httphttp://www.aardbargain.com/oliver-cromwell.html>.
Damen,, . "A Guide To
Writing in History and Classics ." (2008): 10 Aug. 2009
<http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/03EPIC.htm>.
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<http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~jfarrell/publications/intertext/>.
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