Quote:
Originally Posted by All-American
One possible hypothesis, which would be hard to prove, given the lack of information of the Homeric age, is that what Homer did the same thing with the Iliad and the Odyssey that Vergil did with the Aeneid-- that is, he compiled the legends of the Trojan War that took place 400 years earlier. Wouldn't be the first time it happened-- in fact, this seems to be a real tendency for ancient civilizations. The Enuma Elish, the Rig Veda, or even the Book of Genesis and the Pentateuch-- they all do the same thing.
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From what I've read, I think this is right. Homer may well not have invented his plots, just as Shakespeare did not. One interesting fact I hadn't thought about but learned recently is that the Iliad is filled with historical anacronysms. Like all historical fiction its themes and even much of its imagery and material world are more reflective of the time in which it was written than the time it depicts. (I could cite an example, controversial and well known here, but won't for fear of sidetracking this excellent discussion about these poems.)
I hadn't thought much about that the Romans believed they descended from Troy apart from the Aeneid. That really helps explain their deification of their emperors beginning with Augustus.
How could I forget that Lombardo as well just issued a translation of the Aeneid.