Homeric Question
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The Homeric Question concerns the doubts and consequent debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and their historicity. The subject has its roots in classical antiqu
Rembrandt's Homer (1663)
Homer (left) depicted on a coin of Paphlagonia, 2nd century AD.
Akhilleus Patroklos Antikensammlung Berlin F2278
Iliad
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The Iliad is one of two major surviving ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern readers. Like the Odyssey, the poem
Homeric Question
…The Homeric Question concerns the doubts and consequent debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and their historicity (especially concerning the Iliad). The subject has its roots in classical antiquity and the scholarship of the…
Inscription containing lines 468–473 of Book I, dated to AD 400–500, from Egypt, on display at the British Museum
Iliad, Book VIII, lines 245–253, Greek manuscript, late 5th, early 6th centuries AD
Thetis at Hephaestus's forge waiting to receive Achilles's new weapons, fresco from Pompeii, 1st century
A detail of fresco from the François Tomb at Vulci, showing the sacrifice of Trojan slaves. From left to right: Agamemnon, ghost of Patroclus, Vanth, Achilles beheading a slave, Charun, Ajax the Great, a slave, Ajax the Lesser. 350–330 BC