ON HOMER: A DISCOURSE BY DIO CHRYSOSTOM.

A large, decorative ornamental initial letter O features a cherub or child figure—often called a putto in Renaissance art—playing amidst swirling floral foliage and vines. This type of ornate "historiated" initial was a common luxury in 16th-century printing.

Democritus A famous pre-Socratic philosopher (c. 460–370 BCE) known for his atomic theory; here he is cited for his views on poetic inspiration. says the following about Homer: "Homer, having been granted a divine nature, fashioned a world of verses of every kind." He believed it was impossible to produce such beautiful and wise poetry without a divine and supernatural spirit. Many others have also written on this: some openly praising the poet while simultaneously explaining away The Greek term implies "reconciling" or "resolving" contradictions in the text. things he said that seemed contradictory. Others have focused on explaining his inner meaning—not only Aristarchus and Crates Aristarchus of Samothrace and Crates of Mallus were the two greatest rival scholars of the 2nd century BCE, representing the linguistic and allegorical schools of Homeric study respectively., and many of the later scholars who were called "grammarians," though they were formerly known as "critics." Indeed, even Aristotle himself—from whom they say the arts of criticism and grammar took their beginning—discusses the poet in many of his dialogues, mostly admiring and honoring him. Heraclides Ponticus also wrote on this. But before them all, Plato mentions him everywhere; he was struck by the pleasure and grace of the verses, though he frequently found fault with the myths and stories about the gods. He argued they were not beneficial to mankind, as Homer described the gods engaging in greed, plots against one another, adultery, violence, and strife.

Following this, Plato—as he was organizing his own city and constitution—sought to regulate Homer’s influence so that the young, whom he appointed as the guardians and leaders of the city, should not hear such things about the gods. Nor did he want them to hear gloomy descriptions of the underworld Greek: Haidou, referring to Hades., lest it make them too soft to face battle and death. He feared they might be poorly influenced from the start by poems that were not beneficial, as many others had been. From these concerns arises another discourse—greater, longer, and not easily resolved—as to whether Homer actually erred in these matters, or whether he was using myths to reveal certain natural philosophies Dio is referring to "allegoresis," the practice of interpreting Homer’s gods as symbols for physical elements (like fire or water) or moral qualities. and the customs of the men of that time.

It is not easy to tear the poem apart; I think it is like two noble friends where one brings a charge against the other—it is difficult to condemn either one. Zeno the philosopher Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism. also wrote on the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Margites The Margites was a lost comedic or satirical poem anciently attributed to a young Homer. (for this poem is also thought to be a work of Homer’s youth, an experiment of his natural poetic talent). Zeno does not reject any of Homer’s work; rather, he explains and teaches that the poet wrote some things according to opinion original: doxē — representing how things appear to people or common beliefs. and other things according to truth original: alētheia — representing the underlying philosophical reality.. He did this so the poet would not appear to be contradicting himself in certain passages. This argument originally belonged to Antisthenes A pupil of Socrates and a forerunner of the Cynic philosophers., who first suggested the poet spoke partly from opinion and partly from truth. However, Antisthenes did not fully develop the idea, whereas Zeno explained it in detail across specific passages. Persaeus, the student of Zeno, also wrote according to this same premise, as did many others.

Plato, while accusing him as I mentioned, also declares that the power of Homer's poetry is something marvelous. He describes him as capable of transforming into any shape and imitating every sound—literally releasing the voices of rivers, winds, and waves. Yet, Plato orders that we should very peacefully crown him with wool, pour myrrh over him, and send him away to other people, just as women do with swallows. This refers to a famous passage in Plato’s Republic where he symbolically "exiles" the poet from his ideal city despite his beauty.

Even after such a display of grace, many still love the man’s poetry exceedingly. For truly, it was not without divine fortune, nor without the inspiration of the Muses and Apollo, that a poem could become so high, magnificent, and yet so pleasing. It has held the attention not only of those who speak the same tongue and language for so long, but even many of the barbarians To the Greeks, "barbarians" simply meant non-Greek speakers.. Some of these, being bilingual or of mixed descent, are exceedingly well-versed in his epics, even while remaining ignorant of much other Greek literature. Indeed, they say that even among those living very far away—among the Indians—Homer’s poetry is sung. It is said they translated it into their own dialect and tongue, so that even the Indians [know] the stars...