The impersonal character of the Homeric poems has left us entirely in
the dark as to the birthplace, the history, and the date, of their
author. So complete is the darkness which surrounds the name of Homer
that his very existence has been disputed, and his works have been
declared to be an ingenious compilation, drawn from the productions of
a multitude of singers. It is not my intention here to enter into the
endless and barren controversy which has raged round this question. It
will be more to the purpose to try and form some general idea of the
characteristics of the Greek Epic; and to do this it is necessary to
give a brief review of the political and social conditions in which it
was produced.
I
The world as known to Homer is a mere fragment of territory, including
a good part of the mainland of Greece, with the islands and coast
districts of the Ægæan. Outside of these limits his knowledge of
geography is narrow indeed. He has heard of Sicily, which he speaks of
under the name of Thrinacia; and he speaks once of Libya, or the north
coast of Africa, as a district famous for its breed of sheep. There is
one vague reference to the vast Scythian or Tartar race (called by
Homer Thracians), who live on the milk of mares; and he mentions a
copper-coloured people, the "Red-faces," who dwell far remote in the
east and west. The Nile is mentioned, under the name of Ægyptus; and
the Egyptians are celebrated by the poet as a people skilled in
medicine, a statement which is repeated by Herodotus. The Phoenicians
appear several times in the _Odyssey_, and we hear once or twice of
the Sidonians, as skilled workers in metal. As soon as we pass these
boundaries, we enter at once into the region of fairyland.