Homer: a background on the Homeric Epics
Mood:  accident prone
Who was Homer and what did he do?

Homer was a man who lived and wrote around the time of 800 B.C. He was considered one of the greatest poets in the history of Western Europe and is known for his great, sacred epics, the Illiad and the Odyssey. However for centuries, scholors have debated whether an individual named Homer even exsisted. And if he did, it is uncertain if he composed the poems or collected traditional verses he called his own. There is some evidence that each of the two poems has a consistency of style and outlook that shows them to be the work of one writer. Possibly these poems were written in different stages of his life which may account also for some of the differences found in the themes of these works.
There is also much speculation on whether or not Homer was born on the island of Chios on the western coast of Asia Minor. In knowing that the dialect in which he
composed his works is that of the Asian Greeks, we can say Homer came, if not from the Island of Chios, from at least somewhere in the section of Asia Minor. In addition to other uncertain facts about Homer, tradion sees homer
as being blind. People have come to believe this after reading a section in the Odyssey about a blind man who sings a poem about the fall of Troy. But again, there is no
evidence that the author was describing or depicting himself as we know of no autobiographical information or other literature of that period that has full proof he had survived.
We do know however, that Homer and or other poets
have had an influence on other writers styles and techniques even still today

For my teacher to see
Mood:  don't ask
Questions to consider and answer:

1) What is literature?

-according to the American Heritage Dictionary, literature is 1. imaginative or creative writing, 2. the body of written works of a particular language, period, or culture, 3.
printed material of any kind, as for a political campain

2) What is western literature?

- certain written works from Europe that involve prose or poetry and provides the viewer entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction

- according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, western literature is a history of languages of the Indo-European family, along with a small number of other languages whose cultures became closely associated with the West, from ancient times to the present (European literatures, like European languages,
are parts of a common heritage)

3) Why is literature important?

-it gives people a different perspective showing the reader or observer certain ways or techniques through experience of how to challenge the human mind
- it broadens people's horizons or sense of
emotions through out the world
- it teaches discipline and structure as well as the idea of simplicity and harmony
- it is a part of life's entertainment, challenge and bordom

4) What are the origins of human civilization?
-most scientists believe there have been people on earth for almost 2 million years
- when people started working together in communities or in an orderly fashion