Homer was a woman !!??

Originally posted by Pantagathus   To paraphrase Mr. Dalby (liberally), it's probably best not to use that term in this case because 'Bard' specifically refers to a Celtic vagabond minstrel who sucked up to chieftains & heroes for a free meal.

Edited by Goban - 22-Jul-2006 at 09:02

I look forward to reading your book, Mr Dalby. And having not the object of your thesis for about 5~10 years, I am not really in a position to say anything. But, this question has to be asked, what makes you specifically think that it is a women? Are you just saying that "we should not presume that Homer was a man, she could be a women"? Or is it something that your training picked up?

Originally posted by Arb�r Z [QUOTE=Pantagathus] Read the Illiad and the Oddyssey, then if you got time read Dalby, but I would advise you to wait a bit, time should pass before you read Dalby, if not you will not enjoy the poems.

Originally posted by Arb�r Z Do you believe that there was a single author to the poems (Illiad and Odyssea)? Actually it is more probable that these were part of the oral traditon of the time (Like with the Gilghamesh Epic, scribes were writing down what they heard from some rhapsodes. This poems were sung, therefore we can coll them also "bards"). I really doubt that Homer (if he existed), created the poems. What is the importance of the sex of the author (if there is one author)? I ve read many claiming that Shakespeare was a woman, that Da Vinci was a gay etc etc. well, in my opinion the sexuality of a genial mind is not very important. But still, I am of the opinion that the author of the epic tales were the ancient greeks, and they cannot be referred as feminine or masculine.

I agree with you totally: they were part of oral tradition. They give us, not just the thoughts of any one author, but of a whole culture through several generations.

Now I can understand the argument that says "Therefore, the personality of the poet who got this material written down doesn't matter. It was already there, in the poetic tradition. There's no single personality involved!"

Yes, but my belief about oral tradition is that in reality each performance is different. The poet who finally made the two epics that were recorded in writing, was an astonishing genius, for these poems have been read and enjoyed, for nearly 3000 years, by many more people than almost any other written work. And the strange thing is that ancient Greek texts don't tell us anything about the occasion when these two poems were written down. That's the occasion that I tried to focus on. I wanted to find out more about it. I saw some evidence -- not conclusive, but persuasive -- that suggested to me that a woman (a member of a family of oral poets) might have been responsible. I won't tell you all my arguments here, but I began to feel that this explained some puzzles about the Iliad and Odyssey.

What's the importance of the sex of the poet? Again, a good question. Maybe of very little importance. Except that we always assume it was a man. I wanted to open the question up. Read this response by a classics professor --

'Anthony Snodgrass, emeritus professor of classical archaeology at Cambridge University, said The Odyssey could have been written by a woman because it is about "a world at peace in general terms, with domesticity, fidelity ... endurance and determination rather than aggression". 

But he added: "The idea of a woman writing The Iliad and not being bored out of her mind by the endless fighting and killings is a bit more far-fetched."'

So he thinks that half the world's population would be "bored out of her mind" by the Iliad? I hope I can make people who think like that, think again!

mr dalby?ms dalby probably

Good that he was, if he indeed was.

"A Million Little Authors"

Homer was a woman!?   HAHAHAHAHAHA LOL  Yea and Nile Armstrong was rilly Melly Armstrong...   And I did not exist.  We never went to the moon.   And  JFK is alive       Dear God whats going on with are history...  

Originally posted by Top Gun thats ridiculous because this story is written in helen times and women didn't had much privilege at that time

Sappho made it a little bit later.

Originally posted by Komnenos Dr Dalby, whose study, Rediscovering Homer, will be published by W. W. Norton in September, said: �It is possible, even probable, that this poet was a woman. As a working hypothesis, this helps to explain certain features in which these epics are better � more subtle, more complex, more universal � than most others.�

Ridiculous.  The most probable explanation/speculation for the "more subtle, more complex, more universal � than most others" is that Homer was gay or bisexual, which was very common back then in ancient Greek (and Roman) society.

Put it this way:  If Homer were alive nowadays, he'd probably frequent the Pottery Barn. 

Looks like squeaky wheel phenomena:  Make controversial assertions to sell books and/or get attention.

Originally posted by Komnenos No Ponce, it's not about Homer Simpson.

  
Hmm.  Obviously a preemptive strike against a trouble maker.