Speak, Memory

[Dedalus]

jporter wrote:

> Sorry to take up bandwidth just to say this, but: Thanks alot! Does anyone
> happen to know, off hand, the most widely accepted theory of when (where,
> how) the Homeric epics found their way into written form, and if there were
> more than one or even several ancient written versions, perhaps competing?

It is generally believed that Homer used the raw material of the oral Greek
tradition to shape and fashion _The Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ some time during
the eighth century B.C.E.  Interestingly, this is also the century in which the
Greeks learned to write again (following the fires that destroyed their Minoan
culture sometime in the last century of the second millenium B.C.E.).

I seem to recall a professor from college, ages ago, who mentioned that there
had been basic "stories" floating about ancient Greece by various rhapsodes ---
the stories were essentially skeletal, but each poet elaborated according to
the needs of the rulers and palace audiences he'd encounter in his travels.
Homer seems to have used these stories as the basis, elaborated according to
his taste, and that's what we have today.  Competition was likewise common, as
was the earliest Dionysian festivals that gave life to tragedy and comedy.
Several rhapsodes would compete before their audiences in the palaces by
telling the same myths, and elaborating accordingly.

Unfortunately, I have no notes or documentation for this --- only the memory of
what a wonderful university professor once told us.  Memories of an oral
tradition.  Oh, the irony.

Dedalus