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History
See other History Articles

Title: Scholar: Iliad, Odyssey Penned by Woman
Source: Discovery Channel
URL Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/ ... ory=human&1guid=20060828100030
Published: Aug 28, 2006
Author: Jennifer Vegas
Post Date: 2006-08-31 13:30:40 by Peetie Wheatstraw
Keywords: None
Views: 143
Comments: 11

The author of the Greek epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey was probably a woman, according to an upcoming book by a British historian and linguist.

Andrew Dalby, author of Rediscovering Homer, argues that the attribution of the poems to Homer was founded on a falsehood.

Homer’s link to the poems, Dalby writes, stems from an "ill-informed postclassical text, the anonymous Life of Homer, fraudulently ascribed to Herodotus," a respected Greek historian who lived from around 484-425 B.C.

Herodotus does mention Homer in his work Histories, but by then the legend of the mysterious, blind, male poet had already taken root, Dalby says.

Dalby explained to Discovery News that the earliest references to Homer by writers such as Herodotus and the Greek poet Pindar indicate the poet lived around 800 B.C.

But based on geographical references in the poems, Dalby believes the Iliad was composed in 650 B.C., while the Odyssey was written in 630 B.C., well after Homer’s supposed lifetime.

Aside from the poems themselves, no concrete clues exist to identify their author, but Dalby builds a case that the person probably was a woman.

"In many oral traditions, the best and most reliable creators, the ones who are used by folklore collectors, happen to be women," he said.

Dalby explained that women throughout the ancient world were "often the last and most skillful exponents of an oral tradition."

For example, the world’s first named poet was a Sumerian woman named Enheduanna, who lived from around 2285-2250 B.C. Dalby said women also saved the ancient oral poetry of the northern Japanese, many Irish traditions, and numerous English folk ballads.

Another recent book, Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales, claims the Brothers Grimm gathered most of their famous stories from women. Author Valerie Paradiz told Discovery News that the brothers "only gave credit to one woman by name," but then linked most other tales to male editors who also gathered stories from women.

Dalby thinks both works were composed by the same person, but that the more developed female figures in the Odyssey — particularly the heroic character Penelope — reflect change in the author's life.

"By the time she came to create her second masterpiece, the woman poet understood at last that in consigning her work to writing, she was able to address a whole new audience (including women)," he said.

While no master copy of the poems exists, many different written versions of the poems were circulating in Greece by 300 B.C.

Anthony Snodgrass, emeritus professor of classical archaeology at Cambridge University, agrees that, because of its emphasis on domesticity versus aggression, the Odyssey could have been written by a woman. But he finds it hard to believe a female could have composed the violence-infused Iliad.

If the poet was a woman, Dalby believes her name is probably lost to history.

"I would guess that Sappho (a female Greek poet) and her contemporary, the male poet Alkaios, probably knew the name, but they did not mention it in their own poetry," Dalby said.

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#1. To: All (#0)

Well, OK...a woman could've have composed the Homeric poems....

But then again, maybe it was just that Homer's wife nagged him into it: "Why don't you get off your blind ass and earn some money, instead of sitting around all day trading war stories?????!!!" That, as any guy knows, would also let a woman take credit for the poems...

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   13:33:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#0)

Aside from the poems themselves, no concrete clues exist to identify their author, but Dalby builds a case that the person probably was a woman.

I believe it, only because the Iliad goes on and on about things nobody really cares about, like the names of all 200+ ships in the armada.

A guy would've just described the armada as "an assload of ships" and skipped to the good part.

"GM is not a car company, it's a bank that gives free cars to its customers when they take out a loan."--Magorn.

Indrid Cold  posted on  2006-08-31   13:41:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#0)

I have always wanted to be penned by a woman.

I work hard, every day of my life, just stayin' alive.

Con Vallian  posted on  2006-08-31   13:43:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Indrid Cold (#2)

I believe it, only because the Iliad goes on and on about things nobody really cares about, like the names of all 200+ ships in the armada.

Not to mention the use of stock phrases, "wine dark sea," "rosy fingered dawn," etc. Today it'd be "we're not communicating," "i'm not picking up after you," etc.

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   13:48:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Con Vallian (#3)

I have always wanted to be penned by a woman.

Well, given the likely date of composition, she wouldn't have used a pen---she would have had to rely on her oral skills....

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   13:49:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#5)

I can hear it now.

I work hard, every day of my life, just stayin' alive.

Con Vallian  posted on  2006-08-31   14:01:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Con Vallian (#6)

I can hear it now.

Oh, but you have to feel it too... :P

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   14:05:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#0)

Samuel Butler long ago argued that the Odyssey, in which women do figure rather prominently, was written by a woman. I can't imagine why anyone would think a woman wrote the Iliad.

Katrina was America's Chernobyl.

aristeides  posted on  2006-08-31   14:05:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: aristeides (#8)

I can't imagine why anyone would think a woman wrote the Iliad.

Maybe she was a war captive like Briseis: she "de-briefed" her captor every night about the day's battles---"So how goes the battle? Who did Aias fight with today? I bet his 'armor clattered about him' when 'the mists of death closed his eyes' and he fell, hunh...?"

No, I don't think a woman wrote the Iliad either.... :)

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   14:15:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#0)

Jennifer Vegas

Ms Vegas, both in her investigation and her reading of this worthless LiberalArts "literature," has way too much time on her hands. You've seen one woman...ahh I mean Medusa..you've seen 'em all. ;) /smirk


LEAP

"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. Government will lead the American people, and the West in general, into an unbearable hell and choking life.
-- Osama bin Laden
"Prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes at the very principles upon which our govt was founded."
- Lincoln
All our liberties are due to men who, when their conscience has compelled them, have broken the laws of the land.
--William K Clifford

IndieTX  posted on  2006-08-31   15:34:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: IndieTX (#10)

You've seen one woman...you've seen 'em all.

La nuit tous les chats sont gris. At night, all cats are gray. Or as I saw on a bumper sticker once, "Nobody's ugly at two in the morning."

Peetie Wheatstraw  posted on  2006-08-31   15:42:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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