Homeric epics Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Tales of Times Forgotten

What Did Helen of Troy Look Like?

Many people over the years have wondered what Helen of Troy might have looked like. After all, she was supposedly “the face that launched a thousand ships.” Who wouldn’t want to see what that face looked like? The truth, however, is that Helen of Troy never really existed and she can look however you imagine her to have looked. Nonetheless, in this article, I intend to briefly examine how various ancient Greek and Roman authors describe Helen’s appearance and how she is portrayed in ancient Greek and Roman art.

The Importance of the Homeric Poems in Ancient Greek Culture

The Iliad, the Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, and the Homeric Hymns formed the foundation for all of ancient Greek literature and they were the basis for a large swathe of ancient Greek culture. Of these poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey were the most important and influential. It can sometimes be difficult for modern audiences to understand the sheer importance of the Homeric Poems in ancient Greek culture. These poems held a revered status that is paralleled in our own culture only by the revered status of the Bible itself, but yet it would be a mistake to call the Iliad and the Odyssey “the ancient Greek Bible.”

The Other Homeric Poems (The Ones Most People Have Never Heard Of)

Everyone has heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey. They are considered masterpieces of world literature and the foundation of the western literary canon. Likewise, everyone knows that the Iliad and the Odyssey are traditionally attributed to a poet named “Homer.” Most people, however, are not aware of the fact that there were many other poems that were sometimes attributed to Homer in antiquity aside from just the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The True Origins of the Cyclops in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’

The Odyssey has long been one of my favorite books of all time, possibly even my number one favorite. It is a masterpiece of world literature and a true classic in every sense. One of my favorite episodes from the Odyssey is the part in Book Nine where Odysseus and his men have an encounter with the one-eyed giant Polyphemos. Have you ever wondered where this story about a one-eyed giant comes from, though? Well, read on, because, in this article, I will be exploring not only the origins of the story but also some of the clever wordplay and symbolism embedded in this scene from the classic epic.

Did the Ancient Greeks Ever Climb Mount Olympos?

If you know anything at all about Greek mythology, you are probably aware that the ancient Greeks believed that the most important deities in their pantheon, known as the δωδεκάθεον (dōdekátheon), which means the “Twelve Gods” in Ancient Greek, lived atop Mount Olympos, which is a real mountain in the region of Thessalia in northern Greece.

This has led many people to wonder why the ancient Greeks never climbed Mount Olympos and saw that there were no gods up there. The assumption that they never did this has led many people to assume that the ancient Greeks as a whole must have been deeply superstitious and uninquisitive.

The surprising truth, though, is that the ancient Greeks did climb Mount Olympos and it doesn’t seem to have destroyed their religion. In fact, by late antiquity, regular trips up the mountain seem to have become incorporated into the religion itself.

What Is the Difference between a Siren and a Mermaid?

If you enjoy reading about mythology, you have most likely heard of mermaids and Sirens, but you may not be familiar with the difference between them. Most people today generally consider them the same thing. We usually tend to imagine both a mermaid and a Siren as a beautiful woman with the tail of a fish instead of legs. Sirens, however, originally come from Greek mythology and this is not at all how the ancient Greeks envisioned Sirens. On the contrary, the ancient Greeks did not envision Sirens (or, as they are called in Greek Seirenes) as having fish-like attributes at all.

Ares Is Actually Kind of Pathetic

Sometimes it can be fun to debate which of the Twelve Olympians in Greek mythology were more powerful than others. Obviously, there is no doubting that Zeus was the most powerful, but the others are open to discussion. Because what a person considers “powerful” varies from one person to another, you can often make a case one way or another. I, however, think that the weakest of the Twelve Olympians in Greek mythology is clear and obvious: Ares.

What Did the Ancient Greeks Contribute to Modern Civilization? A Lot, It Turns Out.

Most people are aware that the ancient Greeks made a lot of significant contributions to modern civilization, but not everyone knows exactly what they contributed. I cannot possibly hope to list all of the ancient Greek contributions to civilization here, since I could write a whole book on the subject and still not cover everything. Nonetheless, here are just a few of the ancient Greeks’ most famous—and, indeed, most obvious—contributions. These are numbered in no particular order:

Did the Trojan War Really Happen?

The Trojan War and the events ensuing thereafter are the subject of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two foundational epics of all Greek and, by extension, western literature. This one war has had more words written about it than probably any other war in the history of humanity. It has been immortalized through songs, poems, novels, and paintings. Yet, here is a startling question: did it ever really happen at all? We know Troy was a real city, but that does not mean the Trojan War itself really happened and very few Homeric scholars would try to argue that the Iliad or the Odyssey in any way resemble historical narratives—yet many laypeople still view them this way.