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.”
Continue reading “The Importance of the Homeric Poems in Ancient Greek Culture”