Homer was always seen as male by the ancient Greeks, you would think they would know, right? Nevertheless, that is not to hinder author Andrew Dalby, who has written "Rediscovering Homer:Inside The Origins Of The Epic" , in which he muses that Homer may have been a woman.
Please don't misunderstand, it is not that I find this theory distasteful, or innappropriate, or even silly. It's just that I consider it in all likelihood to be wrong. Bards and poets throughout the ages have traditionally been male, and I find it unlikely that Homer was an exception.
In fact, the more likely truth is, Homer was not a man, in fact, he was a whole bunch of men that continued the oral tradition of "The Illiad"-or originally, it has been claimed "The Wrath of Achilles", for a number of centuries before it was finally written down in it's current form. During this time it undoubtedly went through some revisions, and most certainly expansions.
Yet, the author claims that the epic seems to have been written from a female point of view, and further points out the importance of the numerous goddesses, most especially Athene, and their influence.
This theory points out the problem in viewing ancient literature from a twentieth century perspective. In the current age, and going back to now some seventeen hundred years, more or less, not many are used to looking through the lens of that long ago world where the veneration of multiple deities included a good many of the female gender. In the ancient world, it was the norm, so of course the goddesses would play an important role. They were worshipped by men as well as women.
In fact, during the time of the Classical Greek civilization, the cult of Athene was presided over by a male priesthood. And so, though he was not a priest (the Homer who wrote the Illiad, at least, seems to have viewed preists with some degree of disdain), it is certainly no stretch to imagine that Homer would have venerated her as well, in fact, he seems to have been a devotee of this particular goddess.
Another point made by the author is the time spent on matters and hearth and home, most especially in "The Odyssey".
But again, it bears mentioning that epic poets, many of whom were mentors and tutors to young aristocratic heirs, would have spent far more time in these types of environments than they would have on foreign battlefields, though their presence here can certainly not be discounted either. But they would have certainly exhibited an unusual degree of knowledge of and respect for the household lives of upper class women.
By the same token, it is easy to view the inclusion in these epics of female deities as indicative of a degree of high esteem, until you look a bit closer, at the cast of characters. It is a veritable who's who of cranky, meddlesome, conniving, backstabbing, female stereotypes.
Eris-What can you say? She started this whole mess, all because of a snub. She wasn't invited to a wedding, for the reason that, yes, she was an insatiable troublemaker. And she proved this, taking vengeance by playing off the petty jealousies of three other goddesses.
Aphrodite-The crying, whining, capricous, spoiled rotten goddess of love.
Dionne-Aphrodites mother, evidently invented just for this epic, as one of Zeus's illicit lovers, probably a construct to explain why Zeus couldn't have Aphrodite all to himself and thus avert this mess that she initiated following Eris's little tantrum with the apple of discord.
In a departure from traditional mythology, Aphrodite here is portrayed as his daughter. Nevermind that he had engaged in sexual relations with one sister, Demeter, and married yet another. And here I am referring to-
Hera-Zeus's jealous, vengeful wife, who actually comes across somewhat reasonably in the epic. Yet, so determined is she to disobey her husband's wishes to remain neutral in the Trojan War, she uses the wiles of yet another goddess to put him to sleep so she can work feverishly on the side of the Achaeans. She is portrayed as being too weak to stand up to him directly, but thanks to this subterfuge, the all-powerful Father of Gods and Men sleeps probably half-way through the epic.
Artemis-yes, indeed, dear, sweet, wild and free Artmeis, as pure as the virgin forrest. Better not piss her off, though, or she might force you, as she did the Achaean King Agammemnon,to sacrifice your first born daughter to her. Yes, I know that some several centuries later some Greek dramatist decided she had secretly whisked her away in the middle of the sacrifice.
The implication here can be made that, in order for this trick to work, unbeknownst to the mortal participants, the only manner of sacrifice this could have been would have been by way of immolation. Poor Iphigenia was burned alive.
Note, at any rate, Homer made no mention of this change of heart on the part of Artemis. Nor, in fact, do any of the deities in the epic look very good. They are to one degree or another, willful, arrogant, bloodthirsty, deceptive, and self-serving.
Only Athene by and large stands out as being of pure motivation, almost beyond reproach, even though she as well fell into Eris's trap by becomming embroiled in the dispute over the apple of discord. Nevertheless, it was Athene who patriotically encouraged the wayward Achilles to "support the troops" when he decided due to a slight by Agamemnon not to engage in the Trojan war. The slight? Agamemnon had taken for his own a war trophy previously claimed by Achilles-a Trojan woman he had claimed as his personal concubine.
Those damned women, nothing but trouble, huh?
Homers implicit advice to women seems well founded. Like the patient, long-sufferring Penelope, the faithful wife of Odyesseus in "The Oddyssey", they should be loyal, supportive of any necessary war effort, skillful and wise in the ways of diplomacy. Otherwise, they should stay home, until they are married they should remain virgins. Once married, they should remain faithful beyond all reasonable human expectations.
As Tammy Wynnette would croon some tweny centuries later, "Stand by your man". Even if, in this case, he hasn't been around for twenty years and you have no rational reason to believe he is still alive.
Oh, and don't forget to learn how to cook and sew. What kind of woman would neglect such sacred duties as that? Hell, to Homers favorite goddess, that was her favorite pastime, when she wasn't busy kicking Ares' ass down first one side of the street and another. Those two, by the way, remind me of Elly May Clampett and Jethro Bodine of Beverly Hillbillies fame.
True, Elly May was a bit more like Artemis, and Ares was nowhere near as goofy and lovable as Jethro, but it was pretty much the same schtick. In either case, the big, strapping, strong rough as a cob hick says or does something stupid, and you just know a good ass kicking is a'comin' his way.
But it would be unwise to judge Ares too harshly, or Jethro for that matter. All men, no matter how seemingly wise, will fall for that Helen of Troy type of trash anyday. Sure, it might be a bit extreme to think that a major, for it's day, world war might be started over a case of divinely inspired infidelity.
Ah, but after all, remember, Helen was herself part divine.
Thanks to Jason at The Wild Hunt Blog.
