User:Tedjee/sandbox

Homer was a supposedly blind poet who may have lived in Asia Minor, or modern day Türkiye sometime during the ninth and eighth century. Though Homer is widely considered to be one of if not the most influential writer in the history of epic poetry, many details of his life remain mysterious. Where was he born? Where did he live? Was he just one person? Did he ever exist in the first place? As it stands, we have no definitive proof to confirm or deny any of these suspicions, especially since Homer himself was not frequently referenced until long after he would have supposedly existed. Non the less, Homer's legend lives on through Iliad and The Odyssey, two epic poems supposedly constructed by Homer, which, when read together, display a story regarding the united Greek kingdoms nine year siege on the walled city of Troy, and the wars aftermath. It is said in legend that a blind Homer travelled across ancient Greece, gathering war stories and legends along the way, composing them into his two epic poems. These legends also claimed that Homer himself was illiterate. Though it seems odd that a famous writer such as Homer could not read or wright himself, it brings up another important point in the story of Homer, he was not a writer. Homer was what the Greeks called "Rhapsodes", or orators, who would preform poetry, often in hours long portions in front of crowds. This was because the Greek alphabet did not yet exist. Rhapsodes, needing to memorize these long stories would use recurring melodies to be able to remember the story word for word. Even then, mistakes were common, meaning that even if one man did create both stories, they would undeniably have been altered with time. Even so, the stories were eventually written down, and the epic stories of massive cities, bold and clever warriors, and of course, divine intervention, would stand the test of time, and names like Odysseus and Achilles remain household names to this day. Over the years, Homers stories have had many effects on both the world of Authors, and in which we live. Many Greeks, including Alexander the Great, beloved the stories to be true, Alexander even comparing himself to Achilles, a great warrior who featured heavily in Homers works. Centuries later, Roman emperor Augustus committed a poet by the name of Virgil to write an epic poem to show the glory of Rome. In The Aeneid Virgil starred Aeneas a character from Homers Iliad as the ancestor of the Roman people. Today, the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid are all considered a trilogy, even if the third we know was not based on true events. For several millennia, Troy and the war that happened there were considered nothing but legend, fiction created by a possibly fictional poet. That was until 1871 when the City of Troy, right where Homer said it would be, just like homer said it would be, was uncovered atop a hill in what is now Türkiye. Whether not Homer and his stories were real, they have had a very real impact on the writing world as we know, it.